Christmas Hope Opening Night Success

I am always excited to see how God is going to use our Christmas Spectacular programs. I must admit that I went into this year's programs with more fear and trembling than usual. Not because I doubt what God can do, not because I doubt the talents of our church family, but because I wrote the drama for this musical and was worried that what sounded like a great concept in my head would not be received all that well by others in our community.

The musical started out as an idea after a small group from our church participated in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City in November 2011. The entire box office for the concert went to help several churches that work with underprivileged teens and kids in the Brooklyn and Manhattan area. I started wondering about the big issues that these churches must deal with on a regular basis: teens in gangs, teens using drugs, unwed pregnant teens, teens from broken families, teens who steal because they have nothing and nothing to lose. I then wanted to know how I could connect these with the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. Instantly I zeroed in on the teenage pregnancy of Mary and how difficult it would have been for her and Joseph who were not even married to face their friends and family with the news of her pregnancy. That is how I started writing the story of "Christmas Hope".

Tonight's performance went very well for a rainy, yucky evening. The attendance was not that great, but the crowd really enjoyed the program. And best news of all are the decisions that were made. Many people indicated that they rededicated their lives to Christ. Several shared that they accepted Christ for the first time (important variable when many attend who believe in getting saved more than once). And every comment was positive. I want to share a few with you.


  • The little lamb with the feather was very funny (one of the angel's lost a feather from their costume and one of the preschool lambs was running around with it)
  • The angels were very beautiful.
  • Very nice scenery.
  • The policeman has a funny accent (he was doing his best Manhattan cop accent)
  • Sense of humor with the jokes thrown in and the story of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
  • The singing was wonderful.
  • I was wondering if I could join your choir.
  • Very impressive. Singers and dancers were excellent.
  • We were invited by friends. We are glad that churches go the extra mile to bring a message like this to the community.
  • I think it is wonderful for the church to present programs for families to watch together.
  • This was our first year here for your programs and we really enjoyed it. Great performances.
  • You have many talented voices.
  • B-U-T-ful voices.
  • This was an absolute inspiration and blessing to my family. Thanks for putting on this show for the community.
  • Our son has made this a tradition that we look forward to and we have never been disappointed.
  • You have an awesome Christmas program. I thank [church member's name] for telling us about this year's program.
  • I recently joined Oak Grove and I would like to know if I could join the choir.
  • This was wonderful and it pinpoints everyday life and shows how God works through people.
  • This is a beautiful production. I am so blessed to have been present tonight.
So, you have heard it from those who attended. What is keeping you from coming to one of our remaining seven performances? Get tickets online at or just show up. We often have extra seats just going to waste without you in them.

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