Christmas Town 2010

Again this year, I helped out with the Creation Museum’s Christmas Town event. It is a huge production, which is presented free of charge to the community. Over 20,000 people attended this year. The event is designed to have a strong evangelistic focus, as well as dispelling some of the myths of what happened.

I participated in several roles. One was portraying one of the shepherds. In fact, I still haven’t shaved off  my shepherd beard! We did a presentation for the guests that served several functions. On a practical level, we were there to pace the crowd. The next presentation after us took place at the house where Jesus was born. (Yes, house, not stable.) If people get there too soon when nothing is happening, they’ll miss that presentation, which presents the most information about Jesus birth and includes a clear gospel presentation.

The shepherd drama was a lot of fun, and had the crowds laughing. It also conveyed important content. Bethlehem is where the sacrificial lambs were raised. We used this to introduce the concept of sin and the need for a sacrifice. This helped prepare the people for the message they would hear at the manger scene.

I also put together a custom gospel magic presentation that was used to introduce the Magi. I performed it some days, and other magicians did it on other days so I could be available for shepherding duty. The presentation was titled “More Than a Story.” It was designed to show that the safe, sanitized version of the “Christmas Story” doesn’t tell everything. There is much more to it than just a poor baby being born and placed in a manger. This baby was the same God who created the world in six days. He had come to die to provide for forgiveness of our sins, making it possible for us to be in a relationship with God.

It was truly a blessing and an honor to be a part of this event!