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All wrapped up: A Christmas story from Lebanon
Christmas prayers and all-age church resources
Have you got Christmas covered this year? There are so many lists and
tasks that it’s easy to get distracted from the baby at the heart of it all.
These prayers and all-age ideas are here for you to pick and choose what is
most appropriate for you and your congregation. You can use all of these
ideas, or just one; scatter them across your Christmas and Advent services
or use them all in one go. But whatever you choose to do, thank you for
remembering the people of the Middle East in prayer.
The baby the shepherds found far from home, all wrapped up in swaddling
clothes; God himself covered in flesh and come to us to reconcile us to
Him by showing us how to live in peace and generosity …
This Christmas, can you make room to remember another baby? A baby
who is seeking refuge in Beirut, not Bethlehem.
Pastor Michel met her recently as he was visiting Syrian refugees newly
arrived in Lebanon. She was not all wrapped up. The desperate family who
loved her and would do anything for her could only give her a plastic bag
to use as a nappy. There was simply nothing to cover her with …
Blankets are a gift often given to new arrivals in our culture too, but can
you imagine how these parents felt when Pastor Michel came back with
one for their little girl? He brought them nappies and milk too. Such simple
items, but he says they became ‘treasures’ to that family.
Embrace is supporting Michel, his wife Rita and their church community to
keep visiting Syrian refugee families like this one, giving out mattresses,
blankets, milk and nappies. It’s an answer to their prayers to make a
significant difference to a seemingly overwhelming situation.
More than 1.5 million Syrians are now taking refuge in Lebanon and the
very fabric of society here is under strain. But Pastor Michel is one of many
church leaders Embrace is supporting to do everything they can to bring
comfort to those who are trapped and frightened.
Jesus said if we do this, it is as if we are feeding, clothing and visiting Him
… which brings us back to that first, very special baby. How would we feel
if He wasn’t all wrapped up?
A prayer for comfort and joy
Leader: Wherever there is busyness, distraction or struggle this Christmas,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Leader:Wherever there is fear, grief or anxiety in homes and hearts
this year,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Leader:Wherever there are refugees living far from home, in danger,
uncertainty or need,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Leader:Wherever a parent is waiting for the generosity necessary for their
children to be warm and full,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Leader: Across the Middle East, where we long to see peace restored,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Leader:And everywhere we, Embrace and others are seeking to reach out
with your love,
All:
Lord Jesus, bring your comfort and joy.
Through Embrace’s partners, you can help cover what’s really important.
This Christmas, let’s make sure that everything that truly matters is all
wrapped up.
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All-age talk: a blanket for baby Jesus
You will need: an unclothed baby doll and a baby’s blanket
• P
ick up the baby doll and cradle it in your arms while everyone is
settling down … tell everyone to be really quiet, because that’s what
you have to do when a baby is sleeping.
• R
emind everyone that Christmas is all about a baby – the most special
baby ever born – Jesus, who God sent to show us how much He loves
us and to teach us how to love Him and others in response. Read Isaiah
9:6 and reiterate just how special this baby is and just how much in the
future depended on Him growing up safely and strong.
• A
t this point, pick up the blanket and cover the doll with it. Say that
you’re doing this because you don’t want him to get cold … and that
it’s very, very important that babies are kept warm.
• N
ow say how pleased you are that someone so important was warm
enough on those first nights of his life when He was so tiny. (Explain
that Jesus wouldn’t actually have had a blanket because two thousand
years ago, babies were all wrapped up in something called swaddling
clothes. Mums who lived then took long strips of fabric like bandages
and wrapped them round their babies to keep them safe.)
• E
xplain that special blankets are a present many babies in our country
receive when they are born but remind everyone that of all the visitors
to the baby Jesus, nobody brought a blanket or swaddling clothes or
anything like that. Encourage people to help you list what presents
Jesus received and remark how strange these presents were for a baby.
• N
ow tell everyone that when Jesus grew up He seemed to still invite
strange presents! He actually said that it’s like giving Him a present
every time you give a present to someone who really, really needs it;
that for example, if you give some clothes to someone who doesn’t
have any or some water or food to someone who’s thirsty or hungry,
you are really giving these things to Him. (If you want to, you could read
out Matthew 25:35-40 at this point.)
• A
sk for a volunteer to come and look after the blanket for you, but
continue to hold the baby in your arms without the blanket covering it.
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• G
ently rock the baby doll again and then using your own words, briefly
describe the situation of the little girl in the Syrian refugee family Pastor
Michel visited in Beirut, Lebanon. (You will find this in All wrapped up:
A Christmas story from Lebanon.) Remind people how important it is
for babies to be warm and then invite your volunteer to come back and
cover the baby with the blanket again.
• E
xplain that through Embrace’s help, Pastor Michel was able to give
a blanket to the baby and that her parents were so thrilled it was
as though they’d received great treasure – a nice blanket will bring
comfort and joy to everyone, but this blanket brought so much more
than that. It helped to keep their baby safe!
• S
ay that Jesus would say it was a very special blanket too – in fact He
would say that when Pastor Michel gave this blanket to the little girl,
it was as if he was covering Jesus himself when He was a baby … and
when you think about it, that might just make it pretty much the most
special present you could ever give anyone.
• F
inish by asking whether this Christmas among all our present
giving, we might be able to give some gifts to people who need
them so much that they would see them as treasure? And if we did,
how happy we think this kind of present might make Jesus as we
celebrate His birthday?
Creative all-age prayer idea: a blanket of hope
This creative prayer idea is designed to follow on directly from the All-age
talk idea and/or ‘All wrapped up: A Christmas story from Lebanon’ but you
can use it independently too. Simply set the scene of the story, by talking
about refugees needing warmth, shelter, comfort and compassion.
You will need: enough patchwork squares of cloth for everyone to have
one (or use the patchwork colouring sheets from the Christmas resource
pack), suitable pens for writing on fabric and something for people to
lean on; a large, designated area of floor that you can use to lay out your
blanket of hope; (optional) suitable worship or reflective music to play in
the background.
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• G
ive each person a square of cloth or paper (5x5 inches is a good size)
and a suitable pen.
• Invite people to write a simple prayer for refugees – or even just a few
single words they long to see refugees experience such as hope, peace,
comfort, joy, shelter or welcome – on to their square. Children might
prefer to draw a picture.
• W
hen people look like they have almost finished, invite them to start
bringing their squares up. Encourage them to place them side by side
and then along in rows to build up a blanket of hope for refugees. You
might like to have a person overseeing this process to help determine
the length of the rows in relation to the number of people taking part!
• W
hen everyone has contributed their square, you may use the short
prayer below to bless your blanket. You might also like to take photos
to share them with us on Twitter and Facebook. Or find a kind volunteer
to stitch your blanket together into an installation to display in church to
inspire further prayer for refugees beyond your Christmas service.
Lord Jesus, bless these squares of prayerful hope
to form a rich blanket of compassion.
May it cover our hearts, prayers and actions
towards those in need.
And please use it especially to bring material change
to refugees who are feeling the cold
or longing for a warm welcome in a new home.
A prayer celebrating generosity
Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas
for the priceless gift of your generosity.
You gave us – a people walking in great darkness –
not just some light
but the Light;
Jesus – the light of your life given to transform our world.
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Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas
for the priceless gift of the baby saviour.
You gave us – a people in need of a leader –
not just a son
but your Son;
Jesus – our servant king who showed us how to live generously.
Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas
for all those who seek to imitate your generosity.
Thank you for Embrace, who give refugees in the Middle East
not just water, food, clothing and visits
but also dignity and love.
Jesus – help us love as you love.
Father God we want to thank you again this Christmas
that with your help, we too can become extravagant givers.
Thank you for giving us – a people seeking to love like you –
not just nice notions
but a clear example we can follow in the words of
Jesus – who told us we are clothing Him when we seek to clothe those in need.
Prayers of intercession
Everlasting Father, thank you for this special time of year and the chance
to remember again that you chose to give us what was most precious to
you. Unto us a child is born … unto us a son is given – and He is your son.
Thank you for this most indescribable gift – our baby king who began His
life not in a palace, but in a manger and as a refugee.
We thank you too for all the babies you have given new life to in this last
year – especially those each of us know personally who bring so much joy.
But we ask you to draw extra close to all those who have been born as
refugees in the Middle East today. As you did for the baby Jesus, protect
them, provide what they need and comfort and strengthen their parents as
they seek to care for them in such challenging situations.
Lord in your mercy,
All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.
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Everlasting Father, you said Jesus was both the Mighty God and the Prince
of Peace and we thank you that He is still such a powerful force for peace
and justice working together.
We thank you too for all who seek to build true peace that brings
wholeness, equality and freedom. Keep changing our hearts so we will
always be counted among them. We pray especially for nations torn by
war in the Middle East today, especially Syria and Iraq and ask you to
comfort all who are fearful and uncertain of what to do next. As you did
for Joseph, reassure their minds of what is right and enable them to take
courageous, new actions as a result.
Lord in your mercy:
All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.
Everlasting Father, you said that the government would be on Jesus’
shoulders and we thank you that the baby you gave us grew up to be a
servant leader who showed us how to live generously. Thank you that His
kingdom of justice, peace and love has been increasing ever since.
We thank you too for all the righteous leaders who seek to discern truth
and lead fairly and justly. We pray for those who lead Embrace and other
organisations responding to refugees in the Middle East and elsewhere;
for the United Nations and the leaders of nations such as Lebanon, where
so many Syrian refugees need help. As you did for the Magi, give them all
great wisdom and creative insights through your wonderful counsel, so that
they can keep vulnerable people safe and help secure hope for their future.
Lord in your mercy,
All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.
Everlasting Father, we want to become more like Jesus and help to build
the kingdom He established. Thank you for the gift of His teaching which
provides such clear instructions on how to do this. Help us to take Him at
His word and follow His way. As you did for the shepherds, lead us again
this Christmas to bow in humble wonder, and to be generous in sharing
the good news through all we say and do.
Lord in your mercy,
All: Wrap your transforming love around us all.
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