As the Schools team were preparing their message to take around Brighton and Hove and beyond this Christmas, they realised that Christmas provides us with a clear opportunity to share something of the story of Jesus. So many children and school staff do not have a knowledge or understanding of the Christmas story or message. They decided that they would keep it simple and clear this time around, a true reflective biblical representation. To keep it simple in its retelling, the team have used a narration to allow the story to flow as they frantically change costumes and scenes to show the different aspects of the Christmas narrative.
After every scene of the story, questions are posed to the children; how does God come close? and gentle carols help move the story on. The scenes focus on Mary’s visitation by an angel, Joseph’s dream, the shepherds on the hillside, and the wise men following the star. In the scenes with angels, or ‘warriors of light’, shadow puppet imagery is used to convey the message that they are delivering in a different way, and helps bring another visual element to the assembly. The presentation finishes by posing the question ‘how does God come close to us?’ The team share that everyone in the story was changed by meeting Jesus and that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us.
The Christmas assembly has a different feel to it this year with more quiet times and space to reflect to the message displayed. The hope is that the children and staff will remember the peace and stillness of the story in the crazy busyness of Christmas, and that Christians remember that it is a time when God came close to us.
Please pray for the team as they share this message 26 times in 23 schools over the next 3 weeks.