Minty Checkers

Jingle was playing checkers this morning with Snowflake, and it was indeed a sweet game of checkers because they were using different color mints for the checker pieces.  It's been great to see Jingle back each morning, and yeah, Maddie's older, but this is still fun, and part of that great morning traditional December routine with all the advent calendars and fun.  It's a great way to start the day!

Tonight was fun - we went over to Ashebrooke subdivision to see all the Christmas lights there, which of course are numerous.  It's a huge amount of lights, so much that towards the end you're pretty much ready to move on.  What added to the humor was Uncle George's navigation, sort of turning this way and that to the point that we might have got turned around a few times in this massive Christmas light neighborhood. It was pretty good anyway, and once we got home, we all exchanged gifts as Uncle George and Brandon will be going back home tomorrow.  Maddie got a few items, but her favorite just m might be the new Polaroid camera.  Right away, she used it to take a picture of Uncle George and Brandon:

We'll start seeing more pictures with that camera as she gets used to it, but it's something she's always wanted.  I got a really fun SpongeBob shirt and a little remote control Mandalorian on a speeder bike, which we used to terrorize their little dog, Amelia. 

Tonight we read from "Hogfather," and actually finished the book, if you can believe that.  We read this one pretty quickly!  Maddie has been super into it, so much so that she drew a quick sketch of the character DEATH dressed as a snowman, something we read last night.

HO.  HO.  HO.

Pretty fun.  Not as much fun was the carpet cleaning they were doing at the office today.  If there was an x-ray of my lungs today, it would look like this:

It messed me up.  We got Sunday's work finished up for the second Narnia message, and it's going to be powerful.  But next time they do the carpet like that, I'm just doing a U-turn.  Anyway, as we got that message done, and it's going to be incredible.  We said prayers tonight, and went to bed a little earlier.  Before closing out today, here's the message outline/script I worked out for Sunday:

KidPak Adventures: The Kingdom Chronicles

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

    

CUE TRACK 1:  FATHER CHRISTMAS

 

CUE SLIDE:  KINGDOM CHRONICLES

 

HOST:  “Hello, and welcome back to Narnia!  Of all the Chronicles of Narnia, perhaps the best and most famous one is the story of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.’”

 

CUE SLIDE:  THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE

 

HOST:  “Many of you know this story, an incredible adventure that features four brothers and sisters, the Pevensies.  Some of you may know their names.  What was the name of the youngest one?”

 

CUE SLIDE:  LUCY

 

HOST:  “Yes, Lucy.  Youngest and valiant, she’s the one who first enters Narnia in this story.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  PETER

 

HOST:  “Ah, and then there’s Peter.  He’s the oldest of the four and certainly the most sensible.”

CUE SLIDE:  SUSAN

 

HOST: “Here’s Susan.  She too is here for this adventure, quite smart, and known for her skills with her new bow and arrows.”

CUE SLIDE:  EDMUND

 

HOST:  “And that leaves us with the fourth sibling.  His name is Edmund.  After all this adventure, Edmund eventually goes on to become known as King Edmund the Just.  But for those of you that know this story, you know he sometimes acts anything but that.  Look at this scene from this first movie, and you’ll see just what I mean.”  

 

CUE CLIP 1:  LONDON ATTACK

 

CUE TRACK 2:  THE WARDROBE (through 1:26, repeat softly)

 

CUE SLIDE:  EDMUND

 

HOST:  “Edmund just doesn’t listen.  Now when you first read this story, you want to be someone more like Peter, Susan and Lucy.  But many times, instead we act like Edmund.  You see, just like him, sometimes we’re disobedient.  Other times we’re not very nice, and just like Edmund, there are times we only think of ourselves first.”

 

HOST:  “But something is about to change Edmund, and that’s when these four discover… the Wardrobe.”

 

CUE SLIDE: “THE WARDROBE”

 

HOST:  “For just a short time, deep within this amazing wardrobe is an entrance to an amazing place.  And what is that place called?”

 

Let audience answer.

 

CUE SLIDE:  “NARNIA”

 

HOST:  “Narnia.  Lucy discovers this first.  And she doesn’t know it, but Edmund also follows her there.  Lucy meets a new friend in Narnia, Mr. Tumnus.  Edmund, however, meets someone else entirely different.”

 

CUE CLIP 2:  EDMUND MEETS JADIS

 

CUE TRACK 3:  THE WHITE WITCH (2:05 – 3:00, repeat softly)

 

CUE SLIDE:  “EDMUND AND JADIS”

 

HOST enters, holding a piece of candy on a plate, resting it down somewhere.

 

HOST:  “This is a picture of temptation, and poor Edmund is so focused on himself that he doesn’t realize he’s being fooled.  But don’t point fingers at Edmund alone.  For no one is perfect.  All of us are guilty of doing things we know do not make God happy.  In fact, that is point one.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT ONE - WE ARE ALL EDMUND”

 

HOST:  “We are all Edmund.  In our Bibles, Paul put it another way in Romans 3:23.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “ROMANS 3:23”

HOST:  “Everyone has sinned.  No one measures up to God’s glory.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  THE KINGDOM CHRONICLES

 

HOST:  “Everyone has sinned.  The guy who wrote that was Paul, and he said he himself was the worst sinner of all.  In other words, we’re all Edmund.”

 

HOST:  “Surely Edmund had an inner voice that said something was a little off about all this.  I mean, I myself would be pretty suspicious the moment a scary little man chased me down in the snow there.  But he’s ignoring any warnings going off inside his head.”

HOST:  “Sadly, he’s completely blinded by selfishness and jealousy.  All he sees is a chance to show his older brother a thing or two, and also… honestly, those Turkish delights are delicious!”

 

HOST takes a bite of a piece of candy.

 

HOST:  “That candy might taste pretty good, but Edmund is about to give up more than he would ever realize.”

 

CUE CLIP 3:  EDMUND VISITS THE CASTLE OF JADIS

 

CUE TRACK 3:  THE WHITE WITCH (2:05 – 3:00, repeat softly)

 

CUE SLIDE:  “EDMUND IN THE CASTLE”

 

HOST:  “And this is where reality sinks in.  This is where the price of sin really starts to show up.  Yes, Edmund has doomed himself to an icy prison.  But even worse, he’s realizing that he’s done something horrible to his brother and sisters.”

 

HOST:  “Yes, sin and doing things wrong will affect you.  Make no mistake.  But it doesn’t just hurt you – it affects others too, and hurts them too.”

 

HOST:  “Edmund is realizing what he’s done, and he thinks it’s too late.  But if you’re here listening to the sound of my voice, I’m here to tell you that it is not too late, no matter where you are.”

 

HOST:  “In this story, Edmund is rescued.  He’s brought to a camp where Lucy, Susan and Peter are.  But it’s also there that he meets the mighty lion himself, Aslan.”

 

CUE CLIP 4:  ASLAN’S CAMP

 

CUE TRACK 4:  ROASTED DUDE

 

CUE SLIDE:  “JADIS”

 

HOST:  “The worst thing about sin is this:  you can’t make it go away.  It’s there.  It’s what you’ve done.  Edmund can’t erase what he did, and neither can you.  And just like with Edmund, the facts are clear:  when you sin, the payment you get is death.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “ROMANS 6:23”

 

HOST:  “When there is sin, someone must pay the price.  Edmund was not a nice person at all to be around, and if were me, well I’d let him go ahead and pay that price.  But instead, the perfect and mighty Aslan did something for that sinful Edmund.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “LUCY AND SUSAN”

 

HOST:  “Late in the night, Lucy and Susan went alongside Aslan, right up until the moment he asked them to wait and go no farther.  And then, they watched as this mighty, unstoppable, powerful lion did something most unexpected.”

 

CUE CLIP 5:  ASLAN’S SACRIFICE

 

CUE TRACK 5:  LUCY MEETS MR. TUMNUS (until 1:43)

 

CUE SLIDE:  “ASLAN”

 

HOST:  “How could he do this?  Why would he do this?  Such a mighty lion, powerful and strong!  And yet, he submitted himself to torture, humiliation, pain, and eventually death.  And he did all of this, just to take Edmund’s place.”

 

HOST:  “If any of this sounds familiar, it should.  Because remember we all were Edmund.  We all have sinned.  And remember the punishment for sin… is death.”

 

HOST:  “But Jesus, the Lion of Judah, saw us.  He knew our penalty was death.  The devil knew we were doomed to die and be forever separated.  But look what he did.  It’s our second point.”

CUE SLIDE:  POINT TWO – JESUS TOOK OUR PLACE

HOST:  “He took our place.  He didn’t have to.  But the Bible tells us this.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  ROMANS 3:25

 

HOST:  “God gave Christ as a sacrifice to pay for sins through the spilling of his blood.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “KINGDOM CHRONICLES TITLE SCREEN”

HOST:  “Jesus is sinless.  Not only is he perfect, he is powerful, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He’s the Lion of Judah!  And yet… he saw how doomed we were.”

 

HOST:  “And that’s when the King of all the universe did something so remarkable that it shook the foundations of all history.  Jesus came to earth, took our place, and he died for you and me.”

 

HOST:  “But it wasn’t just as simple as that.  It was far worse.  Jesus died an agonizing death on the cross, humiliated and taunted and whipped and beaten.  And there’s this one huge question:  why?  Why go through all that for me?  Why would he do that for you?”

CUE SLIDE:  JOHN 3:16

 

HOST:  “It’s because of His love.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  THE KINGDOM CHRONICLES

 

HOST:  “It’s why we celebrate this time of year.  Jesus came here, to us, and he did it to save us all.  Why?  He died on that cross… because he loves us so much.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  JADIS

HOST: “ Now in our story, the evil queen Jadis might have felt like she won.  She sneered and laughed.  Aslan was out of the way, and now she would rule.  But something pretty big was about to happen, and it’s something you’ve just got to see for yourself.”

 

CUE CLIP 6:  ASLAN’S RETURN

 

CUE TRACK 6:  FATHER CHRISTMAS (until 2:19)

 

CUE SLIDE:  “ASLAN”

HOST:  “And with that roar, I think you and I know it’s game over for the evil queen.  Because not even death could keep this lion down.  It’s a happily ever for all our heroes, although you know for Edmund things meant a whole lot more.  This brings us to our final point, and it’s such a good one.”

 

CUE SLIDE:  “POINT THREE – THE STORY DIDN’T END THERE”

 

HOST:  “The story didn’t end there.  And yes, we were just talking about Aslan.  But the good news of the gospel is that the story of Jesus does not end at the cross.  Though Jesus came down to earth to be the Lamb of God, sacrificed for all our sins… he came roaring out of that grave as the Lion of Judah!”

 

CUE SLIDE:  REVELATION 5:5 NIRV

 

HOST: “Do not cry!  The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle!”

 

CUE SLIDE:  THE KINGDOM CHRONICLES

 

HOST:  “The devil was like that white witch, sneering and thinking that it was all over.  But nothing can keep Jesus down.  He won the battle!  Death has no sting, and because of what he did, and because he loves us so much, we can choose to be with him forever in heaven.”

HOST:  “Let us pray.”