: Robert Parker
: A Christmas Cracker Of Events, Happenings And Special Services So That Christmas Is Never Mis-spent
: Dolman Scott Publishing
: 9798863248998
: 1
: CHF 4.40
:
: Christliche Religionen
: English
: 345
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
Worship in church can be very challenging, especially with young people. This book contains a range of services ideas designed especially for, but not only, young people. Many of those who lead worship in churches, schools, youth centres, etc, need to become very focussed on young people around Christmas time, but even when they think creatively, they have neither time nor the resources to implement their ideas. This book offers a wide 'off the peg' range of services/addresses for Advent and Christmas, through which we believe it possible to create a sense of wonder, awe and excitement. We hope that as worship leaders explore what follows, they will feel stimulated to dip into the contents offered and then create their own events and special services. As readers explore man's relationship with God, they will be led along paths that are as varied as the individual characteristics of those people. Each and every path leads to moments of personal discovery, and with these come satisfaction, great humour and joy. This book shares some of these awesome discoveries. The ideas that follow are an attempt to demonstrate how different congregations have explored the God/Man relationship and we hope the reader will be hugely stimulated and want to become creative in their own way; this is the main purpose for this book. The book is divided into 3 parts: Section 1 is an event which can fill the 'Sermon Slot' in a family service or a school assembly whether it is a Eucharist or another form of worship. Section 2 is made up of a number of complete services, each of which stands in its own right. Section 3 contains some ideas for embellishing both Sections 1& 2. These can also be used as standalone pieces or interwoven with other themes created by the reader.

Robert Parker is a retired priest of the Church of England. Throughout his years as a minister he worked extensively with young people and during that time created each of these services as part of his work. Often he was the spiritual leader of a congregation of 300+ young people, together with their leaders and parents. During his ministry he worked in Sheffield, at Cheltenham College, in Harrow and in Westminster, and was also Rector of St Mary Yate, one of the largest parishes in England. Here he led a ministry team of six, and was responsible for the building of the new church of St Nicolas, and also for the re-modelling of the parish church. The church itself then took on a seven day a week 'ministry' serving the people of the town in a whole variety of ways.

NO 21 ~ A TALE OF FOUR KINGS


This Service requires more preparation than any of the other Nativity Services which follow. Its “bite” comes from the two telephone dramas “No Room in the Ward” and “The Fourth King”.

The Service is exactly as produced in my own Church, and so each of the dramas may need a little adaptation.

ORDER OF SERVICE

Hymn 181

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” (everyone)

(There will be an Offertory during this opening hymn)

Vicar asks all to sit

The Coming of John the Baptist

Narrator from the pulpit

a) To begin at the beginning; Our story starts a long, long time ago. Let us go back beyond the latest Christmas pop-song, way back before Bing Crosby was dreaming of a White Christmas, beyond Christmas cards, Christmas stockings, Christmas presents, Christmas carols. In fact, way back beyond Christmas itself…. To an old, old priest called Zechariah, who worked in the temple in Jerusalem. He was soon due to retire from temple duties, and because of this he was about to perform the most important job of his life; he was going to enter the innermost sanctuary of the temple, and whilst he was there, he was going to be allowed to burn some incense. I will let St Luke continue the story … (and as the story is read from the lectern, Zechariah enters from the vestry door and lights and burns incense on the high altar).

The next section of St Luke’s gospel is read from the lectern.

The Angel Gabriel appears from the transcept and says …

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard; your wife Elizabeth is going to give birth to a Boy, and you will give him the name ‘John.’ Your heart will be full of joy, and many people across the whole world will be glad that he was born; for he will be a great person in the eyes of the Lord, and it will be seen that he was born in order to proclaim the birth of the Saviour of the world.

St Luke says … Zechariah said to the angel

Zechariah says

How can this be true?

I am an old man, and my wife is also well on in years, and past the age of having a child.

And the Angel replies

I am Gabriel the Archangel; I stand at God’s right hand, and he has sent me to you to bring you this good news. But now listen to me. From this very moment, you will lose your powers of speech and will be dumb – you will remain totally silent – until the day when these things happen. This is happening as a punishment because you have not believed me, though when the time comes, you are going to discover that my words are to be proved true.

Narrator (as Gabriel goes to Lady Chapel and Zechariah, because he is now deaf and dumb, and cannot speak, writes ‘something’ on a board nearby in the nave)

And so it happened exactly as the angel had told him. The old man was struck dumb until his baby John was born. When the child was born, Elizabeth, his wife, was going to call the babe “Zechariah” after his father, but the old man, still unable to speak, wrote “His name is John, we must call him John “and after this, God gave Zechariah his voice back, and the first thing that he did was to give thanks to God.

Zechariah says – Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.

3. The Annunciation

The Narrator again reads

But meanwhile, the Angel Gabriel was working overtime. He visited another person; not an old man, but a beautiful young girl called Mary.

Let’s ask St Luke to continue the story:

St Luke reads …

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, with a message for a girl betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The girl’s name was Mary. The angel went in and said to her –

Angel says …

“Greetings, most favoured one: The Lord is with you.”

St Luke reads

But she was deeply troubled by what he said and wondered what this greeting might mean.

Then the Angel said to her

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for God has been gracious to you. You shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall