Humbug!

We're gearing up for a big deal at KidPak - the return of Ebenezer Scrooge! We've got some good casting thus far, and the set people have been working tirelessly to get this complex stage design ready to go for us by next Sunday. The scripts have been written, but we've got a lot of costuming and furniture issues, not to mention a few videos as well. It's going to be a tremendous undertaking, but this is the year to "go for it," as we typically do a lot for the adult church service at Christmas time, and this year seems to be different: Christmas concerts are the thing at Free Chapel this December, as musical artists are visiting to put everyone in a festive mood one Sunday after another. Meanwhile, we don't have to practice or set up for anything monumental in the main sanctuary. At least not yet.

That gives us just enough space to do something semi-monumental with the kids! Enter Ebenezer. He'll have three visitors over three weeks, and we've got the messages all written up and ready to go. In fact, here's our first message here:

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

"Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!"

As the weather turns colder each Christmas, we see the man – Ebenezer Scrooge – and we see the meanness in his eyes, the coldness in his soul, and think upon his remarkable story. When an amazing visitor comes to show him the deeds of his past, Scrooge is understandably frightened. Even more so when the path they are taking goes right out the window on the second floor of his home!

"I am mortal," Scrooge remonstrated, "and liable to fall."

Aren’t we all? Everyone falls. Paul said it best in Romans 3:23: “Everyone has sinned.” Put another way, we have all been on God’s naughty list. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, each and every one of us has done things in our past that we’re not proud of. Like him, how would you yourself like to go back in time and watch a replay of yourself messing up over and over again? It wouldn’t be a pretty sight for any of us.

That’s why in all we do, we must remember that God is watching. Not just Christmastime, but all year long we should do our best to act not like Scrooge – but more like Jesus. You see, God’s making a list and checking it twice. God is watching, and wants to put everyone’s name in a special book, the Book of Life. Will your name be written inside?

If you’re not sure, it’s time to give God the best Christmas gift imaginable: your life to Him. Don’t worry about your past. God’s got it covered. Jesus paid the price so that we could be with him forever in heaven. Don’t squander that gift, and don’t hide it. Like the shepherds from long ago, tell others about the reason for the season!

Like old Ebenezer, our past may not be pretty. But that’s what Christmas is all about: we celebrate because God loved us so much that He sent His Son to take our place. In other words, God was saying, “Your past is past.”

This should be a great December. We've been doing our "Scrooge" research, of course. We own many renditions made available, even the ancient one from 1938. We've got a version with the Jetsons, the Flintstones, Mr. Magoo, the Muppets, the Ghostbusters, Black Adder, and of course Mickey Mouse. We've got the version with Jim Carrey, Patrick Stewart (Daddy's favorite), Albert Finney (Mommy's favorite), George C. Scott, Allastair Sim, and Reginald Owen too. There are plenty of other versions - we hope to add the Barbie version soon for Madison. It's a great story of redemption, and one we're looking forward to doing our own version of here rather soon!

"I'm light as a feather! Merry as a school boy!" - Ebenezer Scrooge