A time-honored tradition in the church during the Advent and Christmas season is to have children act out the Christmas story. This tradition is especially profound at a young, small, vulnerable urban church in a low-income community. I vividly remember the early days of starting and pastoring Lighthouse Community Church. While there seemed to be so many things that we had to fight tooth and nail against, there were also things that we chose to do which were simple, yet powerful reminders and portrayals of who we were as followers of Christ. The acting out of the Christmas story by children in our church was always one of them!
Now, putting together a kids Christmas program is not easy, as children’s program coordinators in churches around the world can attest to! The hours spent trying to corral and focus these wandering and energetic balls of energy is nothing short of amazing. And yet, somehow, the program always seemed to come together. Each year, we saw that it was less important to get everything just perfect and more important to simply watch and laugh at cute kids trying their best to act out a small part of the story that connects us to the drama of the ages, the reality that defines our existence as the people of God. Somehow, in that moment when all of life can be chaotic and stress-filled, the simple beauty of kids playing a part in the greatest of stories, touches us at a very deep place and vividly reminds us of our purpose on this earth.
If you are directing children’s Christmas programs at your church this year or simply coming to watch kids act out the story of Christ coming to this earth, allow yourself to be touched by this reminder of Christ’s coming to reconcile and redeem a lost world to himself. Truly, no matter our situation and circumstances, we can agree with these precious kids, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”
Merry Christmas from World Impact! Read more of our Christmas blogs below:
