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March 2004 Table of Contents
Cover Story
The Gospel Drive-Thru
By Wayne Bartley
Minister of Praise & Worship
Yorktown Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, TX
Do you, like me, sit in your office listening to promo music for the Christmas season and wonder how you could get your ministry out there, out of the box, doing something new and different? If evangelism is one of our ministry goals, then how do we get lost people interested? How do we get them close enough to hear, see and experience the Gospel when they are not interested in stepping foot in our churches? Yet, presentations at Christmas are so important to our ministries because it's a time when people everywhere are more open to spirituality, open to celebrating the birth of Christ. What you are about to read is the story of Celebrate Christmas, a drive-through presentation of the life of Jesus Christ-from birth to resurrection-and it reaches thousands of people each year with truth of salvation that is offered through Jesus. It is, as of yet, the most effective time spent in ministry during the Christmas holiday season that I have ever experienced.
Celebrate Christmas began over 4 years ago when a television special attempted to answer the question, "Who is Christ?" I watched that show and realized millions of viewers were being misled about who Jesus really was. That night, I began praying that God would show me a way to share with the world about the Jesus I know and love. I needed a way that our church of 350 could impact our community even with the barriers of space, money and manpower. A few months later, God birthed the idea of Celebrate Christmas in my heart and mind. I pitched the idea of a drive-through presentation to my pastor, Dr. Doug Riggs, and he joined me in praying through the idea. It seemed like an overwhelming task, but God gave us the pieces one by one, from city permits, (you know how that can be) to how to place each scene, to maximizing our drive-through space. The way God answered our prayers and brought Celebrate Christmas together was amazing!
Why a drive-through? At a time of the year when people are driving around looking at Christmas lights and live nativity scenes, we asked ourselves, "Why not tell them the entire story?" So, we did. We gave it to them from the comfort, safety, and anonymity of their own car. Celebrate Christmas has 12 scenes from the life of Christ. It begins with His birth, continues through His resurrection, and concludes with the 13th scene, a modern-day "family Christmas" scene. As a person drives through the presentation, listening to the narration on tape or CD which they pick up at the starting point, the scenes come to life and the truth of Christ is heard and seen in a beautiful and relevant way. For example, one of the scenes depicts the encounter that Jesus had with the woman at the well. (John chapter 4) It challenges the listener to come to Christ if you are like this woman who was hurting from broken relationships and in need of answers or "living water."
Celebrate Christmas has been an answered prayer from the beginning. It now has an impact in 2 different communities: Bedford, Texas (Woodland Heights Baptist Church) and Corpus Christi, Texas (Yorktown Baptist Church). Both churches have seen many blessings from this outreach ministry. We have seen many people drive through (about 1,000 people each night) and have had the privilege to lead people to Christ and opportunities to make connections with people in our community. We have encountered many who are hurting and in need of prayer, but would have never walked through the barrier of the church door. From the beginning, we connect immediately with people in our community as they are greeted and given a tape or CD. At the end of the presentation, the CD asks them to stop by and visit in the hospitality area (outside under a tent or some kind of shelter) where we serve refreshments and get to know people. This can be customized to fit your community. For example, this year at WHBC they created a "Christmas around the World" since they have several ethnic congregations that meet on their campus. As you can imagine, this gives your church a way to meet, connect and follow up with people after the presentation is over and develop relationships with them. The biggest blessing of the ministry is that people have been saved. My prayer is that God will save many more.
Another blessing experienced by both churches is unity and teamwork. This takes the efforts of the whole church; it is not something that just a praise and worship ministry can do alone. It takes teams of people to build sets, lighting, costumes, props, acting, directing, childcare, meal preparation, publicity, etc. This brings your church body together as people of all ages use their gifts and work along side each other for the common goal of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. You can actually see 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 come alive. One teenage girl wrote this after her first year in the cast:
"During Celebrate Christmas I worked as a weeping woman in the 'Jesus carrying the cross' scene. I had so much fun! I also got to meet new people who go to YBC. God has definitely used this in my life. Jesus' crucifixion has become more real to me. Now every time I have to choose between sinning and not sinning, I picture what I saw every time I made the circle around our scene. I see Jesus carrying His cross, Roman soldiers whipping and pushing Him, people screaming from the crowd to "'crucify Him,'" and girls weeping with outstretched hands. In the distance I was able to see the crucifixion scene. This picture has came back to my head numerous times since Celebrate Christmas, and caused me to be just that much more patient with my sister, or, that much more sad for my lost friends. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this."
I prayerfully challenge you to begin praying now about what God would have you do for Christmas this year, and next. Dream big with God about ways to reach out to your community. God has impressed upon our hearts to package Celebrate Christmas in order to make it easier for other churches to present this in their communities. We are offering this to your church for only a love offering. This is not required in order to receive the kit, but does help us offset the cost of production. Please visit the website www.celebratechristmas.info for more information about presenting this in your area. Our goal is to have the kit available to you by June 1, 2004, but please check the website for updates. Pray for us. As I write, we are in the process of recording the narration with original music and having the package (artwork, concept, music and narration) copyrighted. The new tape/CD will have the narration as written by Dr. Doug Riggs, original music by Robert Elkins of G3 Worship and artwork by Ben Pratt. We are so excited to share this outreach tool with you and pray that God will use it for His glory.
Contact Wayne:
361-876-8445
wayne@celebratechristmas.info
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