Crib Service Sermon Notes 2024

 Jesus The Bread of Life, in the Manger, in Bethlehem. 

Has anyone got a crib or nativity scene at home?

 

 It was apparently Saint Francis of Assisi who had the first living nativity scene, a bit like ours today, way back in 1223.

He had a real baby.

I don’t know about a donkey.

 

Here at church we’ve also got a crib scene under the Communion Table and one down by the lych gate, so do have a look at those later.

(You can go round the back if you want to if that’s easier).  

 

This is our crib scene at home. [slide]

Home made stable.

Star / angel.

 

I’m not sure if the tree, and the hedgehogs and the reindeer are really part of it, or if they were just nearby.

 

We used to have a really lovely brightly painted one, but sadly the holy family got a bit chipped over the years, as we all do.

 

You can get some amazing novelty crib scenes.

 

Lego [slide]

 

All sorts of random characters not mentioned in the Bible are sometimes added in - Star Wars [slide]

 

You could probably get AI to generate you some amazing ones like crib scenes with aliens or robots or super heroes, or whatever.

 

[slide]

This nativity scene is from Hobbs House Bakery in Nailsworth in Gloucestershire.

It attracted quite a lot of attention and shares on social media and was on the BBC news and in the papers.

The call it Breadlehem.

The three kings and Mary and Joseph are sour dough.

Baby Jesus is made out of a baguette, and he’s in a rye loaf manger.

They had to varnish the loaves to make sure they last till Christmas.

 

Now, that’s a bit of fun.

And of course Christmas, as well as being lots of fun, is also a very serious business.

 

But what the bakers’ perhaps thought of as a bit of a joke, is really quite appropriate because Bethlehem, the little town where Jesus was born, means House of Bread.

They placed Jesus in a manger, an animal’s feeding trough.

Jesus is put where the food should be.

It’s as if the message is that Jesus is the food in the house of bread - and in way that’s right.

 

Later Jesus would call himself the bread of life.

He said he could give us food that lasts for eternal life.

Jesus is always fresh and always available!

There’s no need to varnish Jesus to preserve him for more than a few days.

 

Jesus said he is the bread of God that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. 

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Jesus said he is real food and if he feed on him, we will live for ever.

Jesus is the food our souls need.

 

What did Jesus mean?

Well, that he essential for our life.

He’s what we really need.

 

He’s the bread of life, not the Christmas cake or Christmas pudding.

We need to depend on Jesus every day.

Jesus is not just nice to have sometimes if we like that sort of thing – like the occasional mince pie.

Jesus is our real daily food and life.

Jesus keeps us going.

Without Jesus we would fade away.  

 

So this Christmas, as you feast and celebrate, may you taste and see that the Lord is good.

May you feed on Jesus, the bread of life, who was placed in the manger, in the animals’ feeding trough, and who gave himself for the life of the world. 

Amen.