h c r u h c e g a ll A resources and prayers

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All wrapped up: A Christmas story from Lebanon

Christmas prayers and all-age church resources

Have you got Christmas covered this year? There are so many lists and tasks that it’s easy to get distracted from the baby at the heart of it all.

These prayers and all-age ideas are here for you to pick and choose what is most appropriate for you and your congregation. You can use all of these ideas, or just one; scatter them across your Christmas and Advent services or use them all in one go. But whatever you choose to do, thank you for remembering the people of the Middle East in prayer.

The baby the shepherds found far from home, all wrapped up in swaddling clothes; God himself covered in flesh and come to us to reconcile us to Him by showing us how to live in peace and generosity … This Christmas, can you make room to remember another baby? A baby who is seeking refuge in Beirut, not Bethlehem. Pastor Michel met her recently as he was visiting Syrian refugees newly arrived in Lebanon. She was not all wrapped up. The desperate family who loved her and would do anything for her could only give her a plastic bag to use as a nappy. There was simply nothing to cover her with … Blankets are a gift often given to new arrivals in our culture too, but can you imagine how these parents felt when Pastor Michel came back with one for their little girl? He brought them nappies and milk too. Such simple items, but he says they became ‘treasures’ to that family. Embrace is supporting Michel, his wife Rita and their church community to keep visiting Syrian refugee families like this one, giving out mattresses, blankets, milk and nappies. It’s an answer to their prayers to make a significant difference to a seemingly overwhelming situation. More than 1.5 million Syrians are now taking refuge in Lebanon and the very fabric of society here is under strain. But Pastor Michel is one of many church leaders Embrace is supporting to do everything they can to bring comfort to those who are trapped and frightened. Jesus said if we do this, it is as if we are feeding, clothing and visiting Him … which brings us back to that first, very special baby. How would we feel if He wasn’t all wrapped up?

A prayer for comfort and joy Leader: Wherever there is busyness, distraction or struggle this Christmas, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy. Leader: Wherever there is fear, grief or anxiety in homes and hearts this year, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy. Leader: Wherever there are refugees living far from home, in danger, uncertainty or need, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy. Leader: Wherever a parent is waiting for the generosity necessary for their children to be warm and full, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy. Leader: Across the Middle East, where we long to see peace restored, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy. Leader: And everywhere we, Embrace and others are seeking to reach out with your love, All: Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.

Through Embrace’s partners, you can help cover what’s really important. This Christmas, let’s make sure that everything that truly matters is all wrapped up.

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All-age talk: a blanket for baby Jesus You will need: an unclothed baby doll and a baby’s blanket • P  ick up the baby doll and cradle it in your arms while everyone is settling down … tell everyone to be really quiet, because that’s what you have to do when a baby is sleeping. • R  emind everyone that Christmas is all about a baby – the most special baby ever born – Jesus, who God sent to show us how much He loves us and to teach us how to love Him and others in response. Read Isaiah 9:6 and reiterate just how special this baby is and just how much in the future depended on Him growing up safely and strong. • A  t this point, pick up the blanket and cover the doll with it. Say that you’re doing this because you don’t want him to get cold … and that it’s very, very important that babies are kept warm. • N  ow say how pleased you are that someone so important was warm enough on those first nights of his life when He was so tiny. (Explain that Jesus wouldn’t actually have had a blanket because two thousand years ago, babies were all wrapped up in something called swaddling clothes. Mums who lived then took long strips of fabric like bandages and wrapped them round their babies to keep them safe.) • E  xplain that special blankets are a present many babies in our country receive when they are born but remind everyone that of all the visitors to the baby Jesus, nobody brought a blanket or swaddling clothes or anything like that. Encourage people to help you list what presents Jesus received and remark how strange these presents were for a baby. • N  ow tell everyone that when Jesus grew up He seemed to still invite strange presents! He actually said that it’s like giving Him a present every time you give a present to someone who really, really needs it; that for example, if you give some clothes to someone who doesn’t have any or some water or food to someone who’s thirsty or hungry, you are really giving these things to Him. (If you want to, you could read out Matthew 25:35-40 at this point.) • A  sk for a volunteer to come and look after the blanket for you, but continue to hold the baby in your arms without the blanket covering it.

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• G  ently rock the baby doll again and then using your own words, briefly describe the situation of the little girl in the Syrian refugee family Pastor Michel visited in Beirut, Lebanon. (You will find this in All wrapped up: A Christmas story from Lebanon.) Remind people how important it is for babies to be warm and then invite your volunteer to come back and cover the baby with the blanket again. • E  xplain that through Embrace’s help, Pastor Michel was able to give a blanket to the baby and that her parents were so thrilled it was as though they’d received great treasure – a nice blanket will bring comfort and joy to everyone, but this blanket brought so much more than that. It helped to keep their baby safe! • S  ay that Jesus would say it was a very special blanket too – in fact He would say that when Pastor Michel gave this blanket to the little girl, it was as if he was covering Jesus himself when He was a baby … and when you think about it, that might just make it pretty much the most special present you could ever give anyone. • F  inish by asking whether this Christmas among all our present giving, we might be able to give some gifts to people who need them so much that they would see them as treasure? And if we did, how happy we think this kind of present might make Jesus as we celebrate His birthday?

Creative all-age prayer idea: a blanket of hope This creative prayer idea is designed to follow on directly from the All-age talk idea and/or ‘All wrapped up: A Christmas story from Lebanon’ but you can use it independently too. Simply set the scene of the story, by talking about refugees needing warmth, shelter, comfort and compassion. You will need: enough patchwork squares of cloth for everyone to have one (or use the patchwork colouring sheets from the Christmas resource pack), suitable pens for writing on fabric and something for people to lean on; a large, designated area of floor that you can use to lay out your blanket of hope; (optional) suitable worship or reflective music to play in the background.

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• G  ive each person a square of cloth or paper (5x5 inches is a good size) and a suitable pen. • Invite people to write a simple prayer for refugees – or even just a few single words they long to see refugees experience such as hope, peace, comfort, joy, shelter or welcome – on to their square. Children might prefer to draw a picture. • W  hen people look like they have almost finished, invite them to start bringing their squares up. Encourage them to place them side by side and then along in rows to build up a blanket of hope for refugees. You might like to have a person overseeing this process to help determine the length of the rows in relation to the number of people taking part! • W  hen everyone has contributed their square, you may use the short prayer below to bless your blanket. You might also like to take photos to share them with us on Twitter and Facebook. Or find a kind volunteer to stitch your blanket together into an installation to display in church to inspire further prayer for refugees beyond your Christmas service. Lord Jesus, bless these squares of prayerful hope to form a rich blanket of compassion. May it cover our hearts, prayers and actions towards those in need. And please use it especially to bring material change to refugees who are feeling the cold or longing for a warm welcome in a new home.

A prayer celebrating generosity Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas for the priceless gift of your generosity. You gave us – a people walking in great darkness – not just some light but the Light; Jesus – the light of your life given to transform our world.

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Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas for the priceless gift of the baby saviour. You gave us – a people in need of a leader – not just a son but your Son; Jesus – our servant king who showed us how to live generously. Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas for all those who seek to imitate your generosity. Thank you for Embrace, who give refugees in the Middle East not just water, food, clothing and visits but also dignity and love. Jesus – help us love as you love. Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas that with your help, we too can become extravagant givers. Thank you for giving us – a people seeking to love like you – not just nice notions but a clear example we can follow in the words of Jesus – who told us we are clothing Him when we seek to clothe those in need.

Prayers of intercession Everlasting Father, thank you for this special time of year and the chance to remember again that you chose to give us what was most precious to you. Unto us a child is born … unto us a son is given – and He is your son. Thank you for this most indescribable gift – our baby king who began His life not in a palace, but in a manger and as a refugee. We thank you too for all the babies you have given new life to in this last year – especially those each of us know personally who bring so much joy. But we ask you to draw extra close to all those who have been born as refugees in the Middle East today. As you did for the baby Jesus, protect them, provide what they need and comfort and strengthen their parents as they seek to care for them in such challenging situations. Lord in your mercy, All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.

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Everlasting Father, you said Jesus was both the Mighty God and the Prince of Peace and we thank you that He is still such a powerful force for peace and justice working together. We thank you too for all who seek to build true peace that brings wholeness, equality and freedom. Keep changing our hearts so we will always be counted among them. We pray especially for nations torn by war in the Middle East today, especially Syria and Iraq and ask you to comfort all who are fearful and uncertain of what to do next. As you did for Joseph, reassure their minds of what is right and enable them to take courageous, new actions as a result. Lord in your mercy: All: Wrap your transforming love around us all. Everlasting Father, you said that the government would be on Jesus’ shoulders and we thank you that the baby you gave us grew up to be a servant leader who showed us how to live generously. Thank you that His kingdom of justice, peace and love has been increasing ever since. We thank you too for all the righteous leaders who seek to discern truth and lead fairly and justly. We pray for those who lead Embrace and other organisations responding to refugees in the Middle East and elsewhere; for the United Nations and the leaders of nations such as Lebanon, where so many Syrian refugees need help. As you did for the Magi, give them all great wisdom and creative insights through your wonderful counsel, so that they can keep vulnerable people safe and help secure hope for their future. Lord in your mercy, All: Wrap your transforming love around us all. Everlasting Father, we want to become more like Jesus and help to build the kingdom He established. Thank you for the gift of His teaching which provides such clear instructions on how to do this. Help us to take Him at His word and follow His way. As you did for the shepherds, lead us again this Christmas to bow in humble wonder, and to be generous in sharing the good news through all we say and do. Lord in your mercy, All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.

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