A Review of The Nativity Story for Pastors
By Ron Forseth
General Manager, SermonCentral.com
In this Article:
•A Review of the Movie (and a Full
Screening opportunity for Church Leaders)
•Comparisons to The Passion of the Christ
•A Pleasant Surprise
•Preaching Launch Pads and Redemptive
Bridges
•PowerPoints (including a free one)
•Outreach Opportunities and Tools
A Review of the Movie (and a Full Screening of the
Film for Church Leaders)
Three months ago I read
the script for the movie The Nativity
Story. At that time I was quite
edified by the most penetrating telling of the Christmas story since I first
read Luke's account as a seven-year-old.
I was curious about how close the movie would land, both to the script
and to Scripture itself. And I also
wondered how the film would compare to The
Passion of the Christ. With New
Line Cinema (makers of The Lord of the
Rings trilogy) involved, my expectations were high.
This week, along with
Christian producer Wyck Godfrey, Dr. David Jeremiah, and 100 other church
leaders, I had the privilege of viewing a full screening of the film. To my pleasant surprise—and to my relief—the
big screen depiction of the story was wonderfully faithful to the script, and
more importantly, to Scripture. Dr.
Jeremiah commented that the only departure from the biblical accounts worth
noting was the premature arrival of the Wise Men shortly after Jesus' birth. I suspect this artistic twist was driven by
the constraints of compressing the story into just 93 minutes. Beyond that small detail, I don't recall a
single contradiction of Scripture and found the artistic elements of the film's
retelling of the story fully plausible and done beyond expectation. (Note:
I hope you, too, can see the movie before its December 1 release. New Line Cinema is offering 60 screenings
for church leaders across the United States.
Check
here to find one near you.)
Comparisons to The
Passion
The Passion of the Christ captured the last day of the life of Christ. Nativity chronicles the year preceding
his birth and really ends with that event.
Whereas The Passion was the
most violent film I’d ever seen and fully merited its “R” rating, Nativity is a film filled with far more
sweetness, character development, and even romance, appropriately rated
“PG.” Nativity’s riveting portrayal of Bethlehem Night and the Slaughter
of the Innocents justly pushed the rating beyond a “G”, but I myself would take
an eight-year-old to see the movie.
There is no blood, no nudity, and no swearing.
A Pleasant Surprise
The greatest value I saw
in Nativity was its gift of bringing
the Christmas story to life like I never thought it could be. The Christian leadership behind Nativity include producer Wyck Godfrey (I,
Robot and Flight of the Phoenix), screenwrwiter Dan Rich (The
Rookie, Radio, Finding Forrester), and Director Catherine
Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown). In my opinion, they have created a piece of art for the
ages. I remember Passion’s well-done depiction of the relationship between Jesus and
Mary. Nativity outdoes Passion
on this account, portraying a deeper look into Mary’s relationship, not just to
the child within her, but to God, to Elizabeth, to her parents, and to
Joseph.
A most wonderful surprise
for me was the beauty of the relationship between Mary and Joseph. I’m afraid those expecting a perfectly
divine mother of God may be disappointed.
I was not. Mary is played by a
very human teenager, Keisha Castle-Hughes.
She was the youngest actress ever nominated for an Oscar, for her
performance in Whale Rider. Joseph is
played by Oscar Isaac and I think he’s well-named, because he should be
nominated for an Oscar in his performance.
Nativity’s Joseph is the
example of the person of faith and character I myself want to be—and as others
have said, the protective husband every woman would want. The journey of their romance connects with
the audience and offers an appeal for people of all backgrounds, churched and
unchurched alike. It makes Nativity a film you can be proud to take
a friend to.
Preaching Launch Pads and Redemptive Bridges
The film is full of
take-off points for good sermons, preaching, and gospel presentations. My favorite is a natural three point sermon
in itself. After a dangerous journey of
nearly a year, one-by-one the three Wise Men approach the Christ Child with
three simple, but profound lines accompanied by three gifts for the Messiah:
- “A gift of gold, for the King of all kings.”
(Sermon Point: The child born on Christmas is Lord and King.)
- “Frankincense, for the priest of all people”
(Sermon Point: The child born on Christmas is the High Priest of humanity before a holy God. Actually, he is God himself, worth of worship offered with incense.)
- “A gift of myrrh, to honor thy sacrifice”
(Sermon Point: The child born on Christmas is the Lamb who would die for the sins of all people. He was born to die.)
Still other moments in the
movie allow for great sermon take offs:
- The altar scene with the bull in the temple
(not gory, but attention-grabbing) is an obvious connect for highlighting
the sacrificial purpose of Christ coming.
- The qualities exhibited by the characters are
each a sermon in themselves:
- Herod’s fear
- Zachariah’s doubt
- The Wisemen’s diligence and pursuit
- Mary’s faith and humility
- Joseph’s obedience and courage (and humor!)
- Elizabeth’s discernment
- The shepherd’s hope
For sermon manuscripts
already developed and posted on SermonCentral which you can utilize include:
The Experience
the Nativity Series
Why a Manger (This sermon is written by Brock and Bodie Thoene and
parallels their book
by the same title.)
Love was
Born on Christmas
If these resources aren’t enough to help you craft
a sermon you can call your own, there are nearly 800 more Christmas
sermon manuscripts and outlines on SermonCentral.com.
PowerPoints
If you’re doing a sermon related to the movie or
just want a fresh Christmas background for the Christmas season, several
options are available:
Nativity
Believe
(This is free using coupon code NB110306)
Outreach
Opportunities and Tools
This year Nativity offers something very unique
for churches that wasn’t there last year and won’t be there next year. Millions of dollars are being spent to
encourage your community to see the movie on one of more than 3,000 screens
nationwide. That gives you an
opportunity to also invite them to celebrate the message of the movie at your
church.
- The film can be a blessing to the members of your church by taking them beyond the “same old, same old” with a Christmas season that's truly different.
- The film gives churches the chance to offer their communities an appealing experience which takes them into a deeper look at the meaning of Christmas.
No, the film does not
explicitly present the gospel. But it
does give you a great opportunity to do so.
To help you invite
guests to your church this Christmas, a variety of outreach tools are available
from SermonCentral’s parent company, Outreach,
Inc (which is also the official church resource provider for The Nativity Story).
These tools can help
with your Christmas outreach, including Nativity:
and other tools as well,
including video clips which should be available in the coming weeks.
My last word on The Nativity
is this: See it and experience it for
yourself! You’ll be glad you did.
