The Nativity Story in Candy

This is a wonderful children's homily but can be expensive, especially if you purchase jumbo sizes for visibility purposes.

As you reference each candy item, hold it up. As you write you own personal script for this, look for ways to repeat many of the candies so that anarchy ensues as you rifle through the once ordered pile to find what is next. Well, **I** think that chaos is fun.

Obviously your presentation requires the right inflection and pauses for the ultimate in campiness. Not only is this a wonderful children's homily but, the kids get to eat the homily after the service. So, in incomplete sentences, you can wax out the full story for yourself . . .

Angel appears to Mary, you are going to have a BABY Ruth.

He will be a LIFE SAVER

Joseph was a GOODbar about it.

They had to leave town because as an unwed pregnant mother, people in town would SNICKERS

The got on a donkey to SKITTLE out of town

They hit the TRAIL MIX

Exhausted from the trip, they decided to TAKE FIVE

When they arrived, they went from BAR to BAR to BAR (three Hershey's), there was no room anywhere.

Finally, at one inn, in a barn, they found room where Mary gave birth to her SUGAR BABY, our LIFE SAVER.

In the barn there were sheep, cows and maybe even a KIT KAT or a DOVE

Shepherds also TOOK FIVE and hit the TRAIL MIX

Mary and Joseph smothered Jesus with KISSES

(here, you can say "It get's worse.")

Herod was up to his old TWIX and sent three SMARTIES to find a babe in a stable.

They too hit the TRAIL MIX

These wise men astrologers were not DUM DUMs nor were they NERDS

They looked up into the MILKY WAY, assessing all the DOTS in the sky to find a specific STARBURST

Everyone thought they were MIXED NUTS to go on such a perilous journey to find a treasure (drops fistful of gold foil wrapped chocolate coins) in a stable.

When they found him, the gave him gifts of Gold (drops chocolate coins again), Frankincense and WHATCHAMACALLIT

They returned from their SNOW CAP'd journey to Herod and not wishing to reveal the location of Jesus, told him a WHOPPER.

Jesus, our LIFE SAVER is the RAISIN for the season.

When this homily was presented at my church, I don't think many of our kids got the puns but they oooh'd and ahhh'd at each delicious and yummy reveal.

Lessons and Carols for Small Churches

Lessons and Carols for Small Churches

Someone asked for a hymn based lessons and carols format for churches with small or no choir.  Here is a template of one that I have used in the past. 

Welcome
Entrance Hymn "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful"
Opening Prayer
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"
First Lesson Genesis 3:8-5, 17-19
"Once In Royal David's City"
Second Lesson Isaiah 11:1-3a, 4a-9
"Away In A Manger"
Third Lesson Luke 1:26-38
"The Snow Lay On The Ground"
Fourth Lesson Luke 2:1-7
"Angels From the Realms of Glory"
Fifth Lesson Luke 2:8-16
"What Child Is This"
Sixth Lesson Matthew 2:1-12
"We Three Kings"
Seventh Lesson John 1:1-14
"Silent Night"
Blessing
Recessional "Angels We Have Heard On High"

Other carols to consider:  "Joy To The World," "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day," "Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," any Advent hymn or, you can substitute any solo or a choral anthem the choir is working on.

ADVENT

Happy New Year.  At least for the church, this is the beginning of a new church year which begins with the season of Advent.  The season of Advent is now here and for organists, choir directors and pastors in liturgical churches, there will be one common complaint: "Why can't we sing Christmas Carols?"

For many Christians unfamiliar with the liturgical year, there are several misunderstandings about the meaning of the Advent season.  Some people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is actually incorrect.

During this season of preparation, the original intention was that Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for the coming of Christ.  But the “coming” that the 6th century Roman Christians tied to Advent and had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world as told in the book of Apocalypse or Revelation.  Originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas. 

In those days before electricity, the communal purpose for this season of fasting was to ensure that the winter storage of food would last the rest of the winter so, this forty day period of fasting would help stretch out what was stored in root cellars and pantries.  That is also the origins of the famed fruitcake.  All the food which began to show signs of early spoiling would be baked into a cake helping to preserve it a little longer.  Fat Tuesday right before the season of Lent, BTW, originated from the problem of food spoiling because of the spring thaw so, communities held a feast to dispense with all the food that was beginning to thaw and go bad. 

By the 6th century, Roman Christians tied Advent to the coming of Christ and it was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was erroneously linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.

Likewise, the Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, as told in the song, "12 Days of Christmas."  This is distressing to people in liturgical churches around the world where they don't sing Christmas Carols until Xmas Eve (the "X" is Greek for "Chi" or Christ) because the carols are already playing on the radio and in the malls.  The first day of Christmas is actually December 25th.  The Christmas season and the 12 Days song, ends on January 6 which is the date (approximately two years later) that the three astrologers (Wisemen or Kings) were sent out by King Herod whose only intention for sending out the "Three Kings" was to find and kill Jesus.  That is why two of the "gifts" they brought were frankincense and myrrh.  Those spices were used for death rituals and embalming which was also intended to help mask the stench of Jesus' decomposition during the long journey back to Herod.

When Herod heard that the three astrologers had failed him in killing Jesus, Herod then ordered the death of all two year old boys in an attempt to kill Jesus in a mass purge.  The church remembers their "sacrifice" and calls it the "Feast of the Holy Innocents."  It is written that 14,000 or 144,000 boys were murdered.  In reality, the town of Bethlehem was quite small (as noted in the Carol) and some experts agree that only 14 boys were murdered while Jesus and his family secretly escaped.

Somehow this rich history of struggle, survival, longing, hope, preparation, deceit and metanoia, has been usurped by the saccharine, warm, fuzzy holiday and season we celebrate today.   What happened?  Oh, $$$$$$.  Some people will be upset with this blog posting because they have emotionally and poignantly tied this season to their own feelings, family traditions and memories.  That is not the original intention of the season but salvation is.

The church originally believed that Christ was coming but not to be born, but to judge you and the truth in your heart.  Are you ready?  I am, I got him a toaster.