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    The Gift of the Nutcracker
    The Gift of the Nutcracker
    The Gift of the Nutcracker
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    The Gift of the Nutcracker

    By Matt Rawle

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    About this ebook

    The Nutcracker is a delightful and whimsical Christmas classic that children and adults look forward to every year. First performed in 1892, the music, dance, and story of this classic hold a special place in our cultural Christmas celebrations.


    In The Gift of the Nutcracker, Matt Rawle, author of The Redemption of Scrooge, explores the story to help us understand God’s greatest gift of the Christ child, and the kingdom he came to establish.


    Additional components for a four-week study include a comprehensive Leader Guide, a DVD featuring Matt Rawle, a Worship Resources Flash Drive, and youth and children resources.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateSep 4, 2018
    ISBN9781501869433
    The Gift of the Nutcracker
    Author

    Matt Rawle

    Matt Rawle is Lead Pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. Matt is an international speaker who loves to tell an old story in a new way, especially at the intersection of pop culture and the church. He is the author of Jesus Revealed: The I Am Statements in the Gospel of John as well as The Pop in Culture Series, which includes The Heart that Grew Three Sizes, The Faith of a Mockingbird, Hollywood Jesus, The Salvation of Doctor Who, The Redemption of Scrooge, What Makes a Hero?, and The Gift of the Nutcracker.

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      Book preview

      The Gift of the Nutcracker - Matt Rawle

      Chapter One

      CLARA: WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS

      We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.

      Romans 8:22

      Christmas seemed to be a magical time of the year when I was a child. Every year my parents invited me to compose a list of what I hoped would appear under the tree. The list detailed what you might expect: the latest toy, the best new video game, a new bike, and branded baseball equipment. The latest and greatest toys and gadgets were gifts I looked forward to with great anticipation, but not everything made it to my list.

      Among the wishes for toys and things, I never listed that I wanted the music on the radio to change to joyful melodies accompanied by sleigh bells. I never wrote down that I hoped the houses in our neighborhood would be glowing with lights. I failed to add my excitement about family coming into town to share a meal and gathering with my church family to sing Silent Night by candlelight. Music, lights, family, and worship were left off my list, not because they were unimportant, but because I knew that they would happen. Getting the best baseball helmet on the market was a longshot, but singing with my sisters at the Christmas Eve candlelight service was a blessed given.

      What do you hope will happen this Advent and Christmas season? What are you expecting to happen? Which of your traditions seem so certain that writing them down on a wish list seems irrelevant? Many churches welcome the Advent season by lighting candles to welcome Jesus into the world, anticipating the peace, hope, love, and joy Christ continues to offer to us. How might our worship change if we lit a candle giving thanks for peace that we enjoy, rather than what we anticipate in the fulfillment of Isaiah’s messianic prophecy—Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4)? Could it be that one day love will be so prevalent that writing love on a wish list seems irrelevant?

      For now, we wait. Like Clara, the one who leads us through this fantastic Nutcracker story, we hope that the gifts under the tree will match the picture of the world in our imagination. We just might discover that the world that awaits is even more grand than what we could ever imagine!

      1. THE STAGE IS SET

      You’re sitting in the audience, and the lights begin to dim. The conductor walks to the podium accompanied with a polite but graceful applause. An oboe offers a steady and crisp A-440 from which a cacophony of sound slowly erupts, as if something magnificent is awakening. And then . . . a hint of silence before the baton is lifted and the curtain raised. That pivotal moment between the swell of orchestral chaos and the rising curtain is where the season of Advent lives. Advent, celebrated during the four Sundays prior to Christmas, is a curious season of anticipation for something we know has happened, but has not yet come to fruition. This silent anticipation is a here and yet not experience. It’s like sitting in the audience for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Even if you’ve never seen the ballet, you most likely have some cultural knowledge of the story. The Sugar Plum Fairy, dancing candies, and toy soldiers have graced the stage since 1892, and yet in that moment before the curtain rises, the show has not

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