A story on the theme of Luke 1.1-56

Theme:  God has a plan and uses ordinary people to accomplish it.

· This sermon is about God.

· This sermon is about God who has a plan.

· This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people.

·This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people in loving, yet troubling ways. 

· This sermon is about God who has a plan by using his people in loving, yet troubling ways and accomplishes it.

(Alternate beginning: The kingdom of heaven is like a little girl whose grandma asked her to do something that she was sure she couldn’t do...)

Change the names and genders and parental configurations as works best for your context.

Jamie couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Her grandma had told her that Jamie would be baking the special Christmas bread for Christmas. The big braided loaves. But she was only 8 years old. How could she bake everyone’s favorite bread? It’s the first thing that got eaten up at Christmas. If she didn’t bake it right, everyone would be disappointed. But her grandma insisted. Jamie was really nervous.

Her grandma saw that Jamie was nervous, but she said, “Don’t worry. I have a plan. I’ll teach you how and I’ll be around while you’re doing it. I won’t leave you alone. I just have so many other things to cook and bake, I need some help and it’s about time I taught you to bake.

They started backing before Thanksgiving -- practice baking that is. Jamie learned how to measure the flour and break the eggs and mix everything together.  She learned how to knead the dough and let it rise - twice! She learned how to make long ropes of dough and them braid them, like she braided her hair. She learned how long to bake the loaves. They practiced a lot. They had to throw away some of the bread. They enjoyed keeping their secret from the others. They ate lots of delicious Christmas bread, even before Christmas.

Then the big day came. Jamie woke up nervous. She knew that she was going to be doing it all alone and she wasn’t sure she’d get it all right, but she knew her grandma would be close by, cooking and baking other things.

She measured and mixed and kneaded and braided and now that it was the real thing, they sprinkled on some sugar and pressed some cherries into the top of the loaves and then put them in to bake. While the oven baked the bread, she waited, wondering how it would come out. Wondering how her grandma could trust her to do something so important.

It turned out to be beautiful and delicious and everyone said how good it was and were amazed when they found out that Jamie had baked it for this Christmas. How proud she was to have been able to do something that she couldn’t imagine she could have done alone.

God is like Jamie’s grandma.  Sometimes he asks us to do things that we don’t think we can do. Make something for someone. Help something with something important. Be a friend to someone who doesn’t have any friends. We may not believe we can do it, but he does and he’ll help us and never leave us alone. I wonder if God is wanting you to do something like this?

Prayer:  Thanks, God, for trusting us to do your work where we live and helping us do it.  Amen.