Christmas talk ideas

[cowboy]

Looks like I drew the short stra again this year and I'll be the only speaker on the Sunday before Christmas. The problem is that I spoke last year in the Christmas program, and I need new material.

Last year I spoke about the hope the Savior brings and worked in the stories associated with Oh Holy Night, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Then I closed by recounting Mr. Krugers Christmas and talking about coming to know Christ.

I'm looking for theme ideas as well as good Christmas stories that aren't too widely told. Any help is appreciated.

[Soccermom]

Looks like I drew the short stra again this year and I'll be the only speaker on the Sunday before Christmas. The problem is that I spoke last year in the Christmas program, and I need new material.

Last year I spoke about the hope the Savior brings and worked in the stories associated with Oh Holy Night, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Then I closed by recounting Mr. Krugers Christmas and talking about coming to know Christ.

I'm looking for theme ideas as well as good Christmas stories that aren't too widely told. Any help is appreciated.

This is one of my favorite Christmas stories: http://www.kellscraft.com/mansion.html I never hear it told in talks at church, but am sure it is pretty well known. But it is all I have. I hope Katy Lied or PAC can come through on the not so widely told you are looking for.

[YOhio]

This is one of my favorite Christmas stories: http://www.kellscraft.com/mansion.html I never hear it told in talks at church, but am sure it is pretty well known. But it is all I have. I hope Katy Lied or PAC can come through on the not so widely told you are looking for.

Pres Monson gave mention to that story in this evenings Christmas devotional.

[Soccermom]

Pres Monson gave mention to that story in this evenings Christmas devotional.

I totally missed that tonight. Well, there goes that idea.

[YOhio]

I totally missed that tonight. Well, there goes that idea.

It was a nice devotional; about like it is every year. He didn't go into detail about the story, just to say that he reads it every Christmas along with Christmas Carol and Luke 2.

[Soccermom]

It was a nice devotional; about like it is every year. He didn't go into detail about the story, just to say that he reads it every Christmas along with Christmas Carol and Luke 2.

That is cool. I guess I am a kindred spirit with Pres. Monson in that sense then. I read it every year too. Though, I do not read a Christmas Carol every year. I usually watch some sort of movie variation of that. I wonder if they will replay it on BYU TV.

[YOhio]

That is cool. I guess I am a kindred spirit with Pres. Monson in that sense then. I read it every year too. Though, I do not read a Christmas Carol every year. I usually watch some sort of movie variation of that. I wonder if they will replay it on BYU TV.

You can probably catch it online in a day or two at byutv.org.

[DrumNFeather]

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry would be a good one to use.

[TripletDaddy]

Isn't the Sunday before Xmas the one time that there is no speaker, but rather we sing Christmas hymns the entire program. Am I misremembering?

[Parrot Head]

You talk about Joyeux Noel or my favorite pop Christmas song, "Snoopy and the Red Baron." Both carry very good messages of being more Christlike.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Mrs. PAC is in charge of our Christmas program this year, and we're using material written up by a close friend of ours (a few here know him: Stan Preston). I'm a sucker for a great Christmas story, but sometimes a more meaty analysis of the Savior's birth and mission is great (and rarely attempted in the Hallmark approach we often take). Anyway, Stan writes of the contrasts between the key characters surrounding the Nativity: Herod, the "wise men", the shepherds, Joseph, Mary, etc. Drawing from Jesus the Christ, Farrar's The Life of Christ, and writings by J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Stan wrote,

Jesus lived a simple life, in close communion with His Father. He was a close observer of nature and men, able to draw illustrations from various trades and occupations, the shepherd, the farmer, the doctor, the scribe, the habits of the poor and the customs of the rich. He considered the lilies of the field, the grass in the meadow, the foxes in their holes, the hen sheltering her chicks, the moods of the weather.

The fact remains, that Jesus passed 30 years of life in virtual obscurity in a provincial village. There is an eloquent silence in the Gospel surrounding his youth. (LOC, p. 70.) We are grateful for the single word in Mark, “Is not this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:3.) It is full of meaning. For three decades this man, who in the pre-life had risen to the status of Godhood, lived in honest poverty, in monotonous routine, in long toil and deep obscurity--thereby teaching more powerfully than mere words could teach, the nobility of labor, the sanctity of the common and ordinary life, and, most important, that our real existence in the sight of God consists in the "inner" and not the "outer" life. (See LOC, pp. 86-88 and 103.)


If you'd like a copy of the Christmas program, or a related talk Stan gave, send me your e-mail address and I'll send them along.

[The_Tick]

I taught the EQ lesson yesterday and used President Eyrings FP Message from December 2009.

We spent the time talking about family traditions, and how the best memories that everyone had in the class were usually when they ended up doing service for others. Caroling, baking cookies, doorbell ditching. We shared stories.

I spent the majority of the time focusing on something that I am glad President Eyring spoke on, he focused on the fact that some folks don't have the Christmas spirit, and some folks don't like getting together with family...and that it is perfectly okay. Which is something that I don't think we hear enough.

We also talked about family/friends/neighbors/ward members that perhaps we have had a falling out with. President Eyring said that while we have been hurt, we have probably hurt them more and need to ask for forgiveness and apologize.

So I encouraged everyone to bake a plate of cookies and set grudges aside and mend fences. More than likely your apology may not be accepted, but your love of the Lord requires that you try.

I talked about a huge falling out with the MIL last Christmas and how it didn't end well. She passed away in September and we never had a chance to mend the fence. Now we never will. Don't let that happen to you.

Last night, a member of the EQ brought by a plate of cookies and the recipe with his family. He didn't have a hatchet to bury or a fence to mend, but he appreciated the lesson.

Cookies were good.

[TripletDaddy]

President Eyring said that while we have been hurt, we have probably hurt them more and need to ask for forgiveness and apologize.

So I encouraged everyone to bake a plate of cookies and set grudges aside and mend fences. More than likely your apology may not be accepted, but your love of the Lord requires that you try.

This reminds me of President Hunter's final public address before he died. The "Gifts of Christmas" talk. One of my all-time favorite Church talks and one I still will share with friends, NoMos or members alike. While it is primarily a religious address, there is a strong secular component to it that resonates with even the most skeptical mind. My favorite passage from the talk:

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.

Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.

http://lds.org/ensign/2002/12/the-gi...stmas?lang=eng

[snowcat]

This reminds me of President Hunter's final public address before he died. The "Gifts of Christmas" talk. One of my all-time favorite Church talks and one I still will share with friends, NoMos or members alike. While it is primarily a religious address, there is a strong secular component to it that resonates with even the most skeptical mind. My favorite passage from the talk:



http://lds.org/ensign/2002/12/the-gi...stmas?lang=eng

Great talk. I have used it in a Christmas talk before.

[cowboy]

I think my talk was a first for our ward. I didn't open with a bad (or any) joke, I spoke about Christmas without telling a Christmas story, and framed it around the storyline of an R-rated movie.

I started by telling the story of Saving Private Ryan, and recounted Captain Miller's dying words: "Earn this...earn it." I went on to explain that the film suggested that Private Ryan lived his life making every effort to be worthy of the Rangers' sacrifices and that we likewise have a charge to live our lives likewise in appreciation of Christ's gift to us.

Then I quoted Matthew, talked about showing charity through service, and said that showing charity toward others, as we do at Christmas, is one of the best ways to show appreciation for the Atonement. Then I closed with this, which is the only part of the talk I had written down:

This year, as the spirit of Christmas again touches our lives, use it to commit yourself to being better. Commit to serve others all year long, rather than just the Christmas season. Mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort, and make service the focus of your life, because when ye are in the service of your fellow man, ye are only in the service of your God.

Then, you, like Private James Ryan, will begin to live worthy of the sacrifice that was made in your behalf, and you can someday stand before the Savior and say words similar to the words that Ryan spoke as an old man, kneeling at the grave of Captain John Miller:

“My family is with me today. They wanted to come with me. To be honest with you, I wasn't sure how I'd feel coming back here…I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me.”

Interestingly, everyone recognized it was an R-rated movie, but even the most orthodox in my ward said they enjoyed the talk and now wanted to see the movie. For my part, I think I stole the third paragraph from the end from another talk I read somewhere, but I couldn't find it, and couldn't remember where I read it, so I guess I owe a GA an apology somewhere.