So some friends of mine – a few of whom attend my church, band some of whom don’t – have put together three excellent short films, exploring the Christmas narrative in a modern setting and showing how it’s a story about regular people encountering God in unexpected and powerful ways.

Rich describes the films as follows:

The first of the three videos highlights the story of Mary and Joseph, and explores the question of purpose. Is there a purpose to my life… what was I made for? We see that Mary and Joseph in humility and obedience to God discover their true purpose, to be the parents of the Saviour.

Then we have the shepherds… normal everyday working folk who were caught up in God’s big story. Perhaps they were asking the question “is God interested in me?” This video shows that God is not some distant being, uninvolved in creation, but instead, motivated by love, He came to live amongst us.

Finally we have the magi, who could be likened to the scientists and politicians of their day. They may have been asking “is there more to life than this?” Searching for meaning and answers, they followed the evidence, which eventually led them to a baby.

So here we have three different stories and three different questions, tied together with one resounding answer: Jesus!

I’d really recommend you check out the videos on YouTube. Each is about 90 seconds long and we used the Shepherds one at our Carol Service last week, which was a beautifully moody way to introduce the Christmas story.

Watch them, like them, and share them to your hearts’ content. Merry Christmas!