Order of service- Christmas day 2003
Props: camcorder, nativity set (minus Jesus), Jesus hidden somewhere near manger (or have Him re-appear) reindeer hat, tacky singing Santa, readers, audio going into pa, jokes
10am
Carols playing as folks come in.
Welcome & Happy Christmas!
- jokes
Reading: Luke 2:8-20 Matthew Isaac
Carol 1: O come all ye faithful
(born this happy morning. We come to adore Him!)
Open prayers of praise
WHERE?- where’s Jesus?! (fun and games as kids hunt for Jesus)
- Tessa’s story. (teacher at local school)
o View crib with camcorder… ‘coo’s and ‘aaah’s’
o But something’s wrong! Jesus had been taken
= true!
Somebody had taken a liking to Him… in the wrong way!
o Was able to legitimately say to her class ‘let’s go search for baby Jesus’
- can you help me find Jesus, this morning?!
o Search, and bring all you find up to the front, here
o (they can open them during next Carol)
- Kids search everywhere and find:
o Bells (used later)
o Candy cane (used later)
o Best present wrapped in plain brown paper (used later)*
o Sweets
o Chocolate coins
o Musical, Christmas thingies
o ?stockings
o ? tacky singing Santa
o (stand on stage but don’t unwrap them, yet)
Carol 2: See him lying on a bed of straw
- (or don’t see Him, as the case may be ‘coz He’s missing!)
IS?- is this the true meaning of Christmas?
- kids unwrap what they’ve found
- have a play with all the kids (and adults’!) toys!
o Give out some more presents
- Ask: but is this what we were looking for? Is this what Christmas is all about?
o No: they are real fun… good things… that God wants us to enjoy
But it’s not Christmas without Jesus!
He’s the reason for the season
Prayer (& open prayer) of thanks re our gifts
Carol 3: Girls and boys leave your toys
THE?- darkness
- without Jesus- there is no Christmas… fun
- but without Jesus- the world’s a dark, dark place as well
o there are problems in the world
- Jesus knew all about this! It is a wonderful story… true story
o But God’s gift to us wasn’t wrapped in beautiful shiny paper. It… HE…was wrapped in plain paper
• (like the best present)
A cold manger. Poor family
Experienced he full hardship… suffering of this life
Cried out ‘Father- where are you? Where is your love?’
How do we know God loves us? How do we know that God IS love?
What is he like? WHERE IS THE LOVE?
- Rap to backing music of ‘where is the love’ by the Black Eyed Peas
Rap & PowerPoint to ‘where is the love?- Mics, audio into PA
LOVE
- find Jesus… the love… in the manger after all
- where is the love? – “it’s in the manger, yo!’
Carol 4: Away in a manger
- candy cane- explain
o looks like letter “J”. reminds us it’s Jesus’ DAY.. birthday
o other way up- looks like shepherd’s staff. It’s a reminder that ‘The Lord is my shepherd’
o it’s also made of rock. Now, this has nothing to do with ‘rock the flock’, as you might expect
it’s that the Lord Jesus is a rock… a rock to all who trust Him. ‘the rock of my salvation’
o and here’s how, why. You notice the rock is mainly white- that’s because Jesus was the perfect, sinless, lamb of God
and traditional candy canes have 3 red stripes- which remind us of the stripes on Jesus’ back, and the blood when he died for our sins
• so we could be forgiven… and have a friendship relationship with God.
• That’s why he came at Christmas!
o so- the candy cane shows the true meaning of Christmas!
- bells- explain
o church bells ring to tell happy news!
o Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8
That’s why we ring bells Christmas day. It’s a happy time because we celebrate the birth of God into this world
o Look at the bell. What makes the sound?
It comes from a little ball or stick inside that bounces around and makes all the happy sound!
Our joy comes from inside, too
• We haven’t seen Jesus- but we know Him inside and that makes us so happy
o Give them a jangle!
Do you know what can stop the bell ringing?
• Holding the toggle, or the outside of the bell can dampen the sound
• We mustn’t forget to thank God for Jesus at Christmas… or let anything dampen the sound… our joy!
Prayer/ open prayer of thanks for Jesus
Carol 5- Joy to the World! (Plus jangle those bells!)
Blessing
