(copy 12/5/2010)
Finding Christ
Piano and mandolin - “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”- background music
Narrator 1: [The Christmas Spirit] is the spirit each true Christian seeks. This is the spirit I pray each may find. This is the Christ spirit. No quest is so universal, no undertaking so richly rewarding, no effort so ennobling, no purpose so divine. The Christmas season seems to prompt anew that yearning, that seeking to emulate the Savior of the world (President Thomas S. Monson: “In Search of the Christmas Spirit,” Ensign, Dec. 1987).
Narrator 2: This search for Jesus is not new. In his touching and tender farewell to the Gentiles, Moroni, [the last prophet in the Book of Mormon,] emphasized the importance of this search: “And now I, Moroni, bid farewell. … I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written” (Ether 12:38, 41.) (President Thomas S. Monson: “In Search of the Christmas Spirit,” Ensign, Dec. 1987).
Narrator 3: “Did [the] shepherds, personally invited to undertake a search for the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, concern themselves with the security of their possessions? Did they procrastinate their search for Christ? The record affirms that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. … And they came with haste” (Luke 2:15–16; italics added.) (President Thomas S. Monson: “In Search of the Christmas Spirit,” Ensign, Dec. 1987).
MUSICAL NUMBER 1: “Shepherds, in the field abiding”/ “Angels we Have Heard On High”- Crystal Liddiard and friends , on third iteration, congregation sings first verse of the hymn “Angels we Have Heard on High”
Piano– “Come Follow Me” – background music
Narrator 4: Heavenly Father is ever mindful of those who need, who seek, who trust, who pray, and who listen when He speaks. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God’s gift becomes our blessing (Thomas S. Monson, “Christmas Gifts, Christmas Blessings,” New Era, Dec 1986).
Narrator 1: “Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God. During His earthly ministry, He taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick. He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life. To us He has said, ‘Come, follow me’ “ (President Thomas S. Monson: “In Search of the Christmas Spirit,” Ensign, Dec. 1987).
MUSICAL NUMBER 2: “What Child Is This?” Jenn Knight, Abigail Allen, Brianne Christopher, Laura Sprague
Piano- “Jesus The Very Thought of Thee”- background music
Narrator 2: The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi had a dream in which he saw a beautiful tree, the “beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow” (1 Nephi 11:8). When he asked God to know what the tree was, he was told “Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. ...Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that the tree of life is a symbol of Jesus Christ. He said: “The images of Christ and the tree [are] inextricably linked. … At the very outset of the Book of Mormon, … Christ is portrayed as the source of eternal life and joy, the living evidence of divine love...,(Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 160, 162).
MUSICAL NUMBER 3: “Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree” Jennie Preece, Elaine Huff, Amy Langford, Sarah Flandro
Piano- “The First Noel”- background music
Narrator 3: Former President of the church, Gordon B. Hinckley observed: “Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful. It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Season for Gratitude,” Liahona, Dec 1997).
Piano music stops
Narrator 4: We have the opportunity to feel and share this love throughout the year in a variety of different circumstances. I found this love as I was teaching children about the Savior.
I teach six-year-olds about Jesus in Sunday School, by Deja Earley
A girl I’ve never met meets me at the door,
whines at my leg until I hold her. Thin arms,
thin mouth, a sour smell I overlook while fetching
crayons, glue sticks, snacks. She lifts her dress,
exposes the top of her baggy white tights, looks at me.
We both sing: “Faith is knowing the sun will rise.”
I sit next to her, tap her hands, whisper no.
Kyle, on the front row, holds a cardboard
box on his lap, a green scrawl on the lid.
It’s his turn to toss the bean bag and recite
a miracle, but he stops, looks at me, says
“This is my box,” like I have to meet it
before he can toss. He places it on the chair,
doesn’t know the miracle, returns it to his lap.
Michael sucks on his plastic bat, swings it so
I’m showered in spit. “What’s the bat’s name?”
I ask, taking two fingers to slow it. “Jesus.”
When I end the bat business, he howls and I hold
him like the Pieta, his sweaty back sticking to my arms.
I rock him, pray in his ear until he sleeps,
his tears soaking my blouse, his bat tucked in my bag.
Piano resumes “The First Noel” background music
Narrator 1: We testify of [Christ’s] living reality. We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. This is what Christmas is really about (Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Season for Gratitude,” Liahona, Dec 1997).
Narrator 2: “As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always. We shall learn to forget ourselves. We shall turn our thoughts to the greater benefit of others” (President Thomas S. Monson: “In Search of the Christmas Spirit,” Ensign, Dec. 1987).
MUSICAL NUMBER: Kurt Bestor arrangement of “Silent Night,” by Stephanie Parker
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