Body Parts!

After watching this play develop over the past few months, I can soundly say that our staff and volunteers had a true passion for bringing an outstanding experience to this community. ATFC was a labor of love; love for our God and love for the community.

As a staff member at GRPC who was not directly involved with the production of ATFC, I can tell you how humbling it is to see something evolving that you can't wrap your head around. I am simply not gifted in most of the areas required to participate in the production of a play. So when I saw and heard the amazing things going on day after day, it brought me great joy. Why? Because 1 Corinthians 12 was brought to life in rich ways. This passage describes the necessity of the Body, or the Church, to appreciate the functions of its various parts. Each of us have unique skills, talents, inclinations, and interests, and these are all by God's design. He has written the greatest story, and each of us has been called to fulfill a part in it. We must strive to discover what that part is and then strive to be content with it (that's where it gets hard!). Using an analogy from ATFC, not all are called to be actors with speaking lines, but the play could not run without a dedicated stage crew. Both roles are equally important. God uses both great and small to do marvelous things. And that was certainly true of ATFC.

I pray that many were blessed by the passion and joy of those that worked so hard to share the love of God with their neighbors this Christmas season!

Share your experiences with ATFC

This past weekend, GRPC wrapped up production of our Christmas musical, A Time for Christmas. Our cast and crew had an incredible time throughout and it is our prayer that you were touched by the play. Throughout this blog you will see pictures and read stories from the cast and crew. But even more than that, it is your chance to "Share Your Story" of how A Time for Christmas has affected you and your family this Christmas season. Join the conversation with a question for one of the actors or share what the story meant to you. We've heard many stories of your experiences with the show. Now it is your turn to share those stories with one another.

We want to hear about your experience with A Time for Christmas. Here are a few ideas to get you started...

• What stories made you laugh or made you cry from the show?
  
• How were you or your family affected by the show?
• What character did you most relate to and why?
• Have you ever felt like the Christmas spirit was dying? How did you help keep it alive?
  

Here at Glasgow, we desire to share the good news of our risen Savior with all in our community. Our goal in the production was to bring the joy and the peace of the Lord to Glasgow. It is always a sad time when the curtain closes on the production... but here we can continue the joy and peace we experienced, and together build a community of hope.

From the cast, crew and all of us at Glasgow, Merry Christmas!

How I was Affected by ATFC

I had the privilege of producing A Time for Christmas with the help of an incredible cast and crew. This past year, our whole family was involved in the play. Melanie, my wife, headed up the stage crew, Markie, our 12 year old, was ON the stage crew, and our two daughters, Katie and Mollie were “orphans.” It was really awesome for my kids to interface with other people who love the Lord and are serving him by using their gifts. Markie had a blast on the stage crew. Our stage crew is made up of all kinds of fun people. When that curtain is closed and the scenes are being played out front in Bill or Mary’s apartment, there are all kinds of things happening on the stage! The play brought our family closer together and closer to the Lord. Doing something like this together is awesome because you are intentionally building memories together.

Feel free to share in this space how being involved in the play—either behind the scenes or out front as an actor has affected you. If you were one of our guests, feel free to share how the play spoke to your heart.

Chuck L. Betters, A Time for Christmas Producer

I can relate to that character...

I've known a lot of introspective people who can be alone and really articulate the deep things of their hearts. I am not one of them. But I learned something cool about myself years ago - sometimes, through the words of a song or a character in a movie, I find myself relating to those words or to that character.

Watching A Time for Christmas was no different for me. In the first leg of Bill and Bart's journey, Bill witnesses the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the long-promised Messiah. As the scene draws to a close, Bart scolds Bill, "You saw the announcement of the birth of the Christ-child, the very first Christmas celebration. And all you can think about is sheep?" See, Bill missed the power of what was happening because he couldn't get past the smell of the sheep. I'm a lot like Bill in that. I miss experience God's miraculous work in my life because I'm too busy looking at sheep.

What about you? Is there a character or a particular scene in the show that you related to? Why is that? Share your story with one another.