GraceUncovered

Authors home articles Gracelife

GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

Making Church Skits Cool Again

by

As a teenager, I was in the church drama team. It was cool.

On Fridays we’d rehearse, and on Sunday’s we’d perform. We were so good that we were invited to perform in other churches.

But were we that good?

In hindsight, I wonder if we were. I wonder if the invites came because the bar was low and because pastors were keen to have a drama team perform.

“Here’s 10 minutes of good Christian entertainment to keep the folks amused.”

I don’t mean to sound like a cynical ol’ coot, but let’s be honest. A lot of what passes for church drama is downright cringey.

If you’ve ever had to listen to shouty thespians hammering you over the head with some moralizing melodrama, you will know what I’m talking about.

I remember one play we did. It was about a man who had died and found himself waiting outside the Pearly Gates. The man was quizzed by St. Peter to see if he was good enough for heaven. Was he a regular church attender? Did he read his Bible daily? That sort of thing. Sadly, the man didn’t pass the test and St. Peter sent him off to eternal damnation.

What fun!

Can’t wait for the sequel.

I’ve seen a lot of church skits and many of them either make no point at all, or they use fear to promote dead works.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I am convinced church skits could be great if we packed them full of good news instead of bad news. With that in mind, here are three ideas to make church skits cool:

  1. Ditch the moralizing, and put Jesus front and center.
  2. Instead of telling people how bad they are, tell them how good God is.
  3. Instead of telling people what they need to do, tell them what Jesus has done and what they can do because of what he has done.

These are some of the things I have tried to do with the Jesus Scripts.

The Jesus Scripts are 100 percent grace-based, and you don’t have to go to church to see them. Like the name says, the Jesus Scripts are all about Jesus.

Who are they for? The Jesus Scripts are NOT just for church drama teams. They are for;

  • parents wanting to connect with their teens and tweens
  • youth leaders looking to engage with a device-obsessed generation
  • pastors searching for innovative ways to convey the gospel
  • drama folk who are tired of hammy scripts that leave the heart untouched

This week is Giving Tuesday, and in honor of the occasion, I want to give you a FREE SCRIPT. It is called “The Good Father,” and it’s the perfect script for discovering the Father’s heart. (See a preview here.)

Grab your free script now and have some fun with your family or small group. Not into dramatic storytelling? Grab a copy for your pastor, Sunday School teacher, or youth leader. Tell your friends.

This giveaway ends late Tuesday (PST), so don’t miss out.

Filed Under: Art

Introducing JesusScripts.com

by

I blame Covid.

On account of lockdowns, my kids could no longer attend youth group. I had to step up, and fill the gap. But I am no youth leader, and my Bible classes were boring.

It didn’t help that there was a big age gap between my youngest and the oldest. What worked for small kids, didn’t work for big kids, and vice versa.

I was stumped. How could I teach my kids about Jesus in a way that was fun and engaging for all?

Answer: Jesus Scripts.

I took the stories of Jesus and turned them into scripts that were fun to read. Like a play, but without the pressure of learning lines. So far we’ve done scripts covering all the major events of Christ’s life.

Would you like to play?

The first Jesus Scripts can be found on my brand new website: JesusScripts.com

The scripts work best in small groups of four to ten people. They are ideal for families, youth groups, and Sunday School classes. Most of the scripts are suitable for ages 11 and up. Some of the scripts are suitable for younger readers.

To clarify: these are not books and they are not available on Amazon. They are scripts that you purchase, download, and print. The small charge covers the cost of production, website hosting, etc.

Each script comes with a link to a free Leader’s Guide that comes with discussion questions, fun facts, and illustrative materials. The scripts are short, but the accompanying discussion can go as long as you want. We usually spend 30-40 minutes on each one.

If you like Escape to Reality, you will love the Jesus Scripts. And if you have been looking for creative ways to convey the good news of grace to young people, these scripts will help.

The Jesus Scripts were not written to moralize or lecture but to help you grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus.

My family loves the Jesus Scripts. Hopefully yours will too.

Grace and peace,

Paul

50 fictional fathers

by

For many people around the world, but not me, this Sunday is Fathers’ Day. This gives me an opportunity to do something I enjoy: make a list. Below is a list of 50 fictional fathers. It wasn’t an easy list to make. Initially I wanted to list 50 great dads, men like Atticus Finch and John Walton. But I couldn’t find 50 awesome fathers. To pad out my list of 50 I had to include a few dodgy fathers (eg: Darth Vader, Homer Simpson). And this has given me something to think about. If art mirrors society, where are all the good fathers? Hollywood makes 600 movies a year and a million books are published every year. Finding good fictional fathers should be easy. But it’s not. A few years ago I wrote an article entitled “Fatherless fiction.” In it I shared my observation that many great characters in literature, from Oliver Twist to Batman, grew up without knowing the love of a father. In many children’s stories the moms and dads are either absent or negligent. Parental abandonment is a common trope in children’s literature, and the absence of dads prompted me to write my own children’s story, The [...]

Categories

Recent Posts