Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/600186
2 55/1180&81L-2 Foreword For several years I served on staff at a church that had a long-standing relationship with the late D. Elton Trueblood, esteemed Quaker theologian and author. One of his profound quotes graced the walls of that church building: Jesus Christ can be accepted or rejected. He cannot be reasonably ignored. The teachings of Christ as He ministered among His own people generated the very response of which Trueblood spoke: they either accepted or rejected His claims. There seemed to be no middle ground. The life and ministry of Jesus is characterized by His extraordinary love for others. For three years He taught, healed, served, and preached the Good News. And yet as He approached the end of those three years, there was a stark contrast between those who embraced His message and those who were skeptical. Amazing Love! walks us down the road to the cross as we recount the final hours of our Lord's life when He was rejected, mocked, beaten, and ultimately crucified by the very people He had come to redeem. Jesus' own words served as a foretelling of what was to come: Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) The love of God cannot be measured for it has no end. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:9-10) That is an amazing kind of love! That is the kind of love–the kind of sacrifice–that commands a personal response. The great hymn writer, Isaac Watts, said it best: Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all! May you find hope in the amazing, sacrificial love of Christ! And may it prompt you to fully embrace the claims of Christ, responding with your very best in devotion and service to the One who gave His best for us. —Lloyd Larson Contents Narration 1 ............................................................................... 3 Amazing Love! .........................................................................4 Narration 2 ............................................................................. 12 Lift Up Your Voice and Sing, "Hosanna!" ............................. 13 Narration 3 ............................................................................. 25 As You Serve, Remember Me ................................................ 26 Narration 4 ............................................................................. 36 Alone in the Garden He Prays ................................................ 37 Narration 5 ............................................................................. 46 Behold the Lamb of God! ...................................................... 47 Narration 6 ............................................................................. 57 How Can It Be?......................................................................58 Narration 7 ............................................................................. 66 Christ Is Risen, Sing Alleluia! ............................................... 67 Narration 8 ............................................................................. 79 Amazing Love Demands My All! ..........................................80 & w b w # œ Soprano & w b w Alto ? w b w Tenor ? œ b w w Bass For Preview Only