Christmas Day C

 

NB  There is now a 2024 version of this post with more stuff.  Please see my archive list in the column at left to locate it. 

Bible Readings: Isaiah 62:6-12, Psalm 98, Titus 3:4-7, Luke 2:1-20

About the Images:

Upper Left: I took this photo at Megiddo (Armageddon) in Israel (more information can be found at http://www.ancientsandals.com/overviews/megiddo.htm) It is a stone manger similar to the one Mary and Joseph probably placed Jesus in. Interestingly and significantly, when I got the photo home and out of the camera, I noticed the shadow of the cross. This is my image so please feel free to use it for worship and related activities.

Upper Right: This is free Coraal clip art on to which I added the text. 

Middle Left: Here in Australia we sing a Carol called The North Wind is tossing the leaves.  North wind days are days when fires are most common and most dangerous.  This is an image of a north wind bringing a bush fire. This is my image so please feel free to use it for worship and related activities.

Middle Right: This image comes from the awesome Church Galleries website which is still down at present. 
Lower Left: This is a free wikicommons clipart image which I call "Mary's Hands". 

Lower Right:  This is a photo of a house somewhat similar to that which Mary and Joseph would have stayed in, in Bethlehem.  It was taken in a very old section of the Old City of Bethlehem.  You can see how the stable would have been located underneath the house and built into the hill behind. This is my image so please feel free to use it for worship and related activities.

Prayer of Confession

From Keith Watkins (Ed.) in Imaging the Word Volume 1 by Kenneth T. Lawrence, Jann Cather Weaver and Roger Wedell (Eds.), United Church Press, 1994, ISBN 0829809716, page 97. (pictured at left)

Kids: A Night the Stars Danced For Joy

By Bob Hartman and Tim Jonke, Lion Publishing, 1993, ISBN 074593899X (pictured at right).

Kids:

This is a great little set of film clips that are just a delight to watch and really engage children because they mix the modern and the ancient together in a rather quirky way. Go to www.paperlesschristmas.org.uk to download the free clips. 

Kids: Nativity

By Cynthia Rylant, Beach Lane Books, 2017, ISBN 9781481470414 (pictured at right).

Film Clip: O Little Town of Bethlehem

This is excellent!!!

Film Clip: The Boy

from the Hungarian Reformed church 


The boy from reformatusponthu on Vimeo.
                                                          

Film Clip: Bethlehemian Rhapsody

There are heaps of versions of this around these days - just google the title,

Film Clip: Funny Nativity
Funny Nativity is the YouTube title but I like to call it "Sing like Nobody is Listening"

Drama: Christmas Play 

By Alix Brown in Hay and Stardust by Ruth Burgess, Wild Goose Publications, 2005, ISBN 1905010001, page 144 (pictured at left). This is a real light-hearted look at the Christmas story and is lots of fun for child and adult alike. Use it as an introduction to Luke 2, to take a fresh look at one of the best known Bible readings in the world - a reading we all often take for granted.

Story: Yates Pool
Found in Illustrations, Stories and Quotes by Jim Burns and Greg Mckinnon (eds.), Gospel Light, 1997, ISBN 0830718834, page 65 (pictured at right).

Poems: From Outback Christmas

By Pro Hart and Norman Habel, Lutheran Publishing House, 1990, ISBN 0859105628, page 32. If you want to give your service a real Australian flavour the following poems and their corresponding artwork go very well with the Luke reading for today: The Ride to Bethlehem (vs1-5), Jesus' Birth (6), The Bethlehem Pub (7), The Stockmens' Story (8-14), Report of the Stockmen (15-20) (pictured at left).

Quote: William H. Willimon

Jesus was the hope of the world but not the hope the world was expecting.

Offering Prayer:

Read When the Song of the Angels is Stilled by Howard Thurman from a Fellowship of Reconciliation Christmas Card. I put up some images to correlate with the words and played Reveil from The Best of Cirque de Soleil album as backing music (pictured at right).

Response Activity: How Far Is It?
Found in Cloth For the Cradle by the Wild Goose Worship Group, Wild Goose Publications, 1997, ISBN 1901557014, page 64 (pictured at left).

Response Activity: Registering Hope 

Found in Cloth from the Cradle (as above), page 65

Handout:
Many people attend church at Christmas even though they are not regular attenders. Take the opportunity to give visitors a small encouragement card with a few bible readings which give people a bit of an idea about the rest of Jesus' story.

Meditation: Quiet Remembering

Found in Meditations from the Iona Community by Ian Reid, Wild Goose Publications, Trowbridge, 1998, ISBN 1901557022, page 16 (pictured at left).

Brilliant Comments on the Gospel

Found in Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey, SPCK, 2008, ISBN 9780281059751, pages 25-37.

Drama: I shouldn't Complain.........

Found in Let's Make A Scene Too by Verena Johnson, Lutheran Publishing, 1991, ISBN 085910608, page 72. This drama is linked to the Luke reading.

Service Starter: The Praising Shepherds

Based on the Luke reading, this is found in The All-Age Service Annual Volume 4, published by Scripture Union, 2010, ISBN 9781844275199, page 22 (pictured at right).

Christmas Day Resources

Found in Hay and Stardust by Ruth Burgess, Wild Goose Publications 2005, ISBN 1 905010 00 1, pages 15-22.

Drama: Hullo, Little One

Found in Let's Make Another Scene 3 by Verena Johnson, Open Book, 1995, ISBN 0859107620, page 79. This drama is based on the gospel reading. 

Reflection and Prayer:

By Kathy Galloway and found in Going Home Another Way by Neil Paynter, Wild Goose Publications, 2008,pages 19ff and based on the Gospel readings. 

Prayer/Action: Some Christmas Saints

Found  in Going Home Another Way by Neil Paynter, Wild Goose Publications, 2008,pages 128 and based on the Luke reading. 

Brilliant Pre-Reading: A Hospitable Birth in a Hard Economy

Found in The First Advent in Palestine by Kelley Nikondeha, Broadleaf Books, 2022, pages 77ff. Based on the gospel reading.