So here’s a poem for Christmas on that theme, for use in services, liturgy, or just for personal reflection:

Earthed – a Christmas poem

Ring a bell,
Call a parade,
Get this on the evening news.

Let everything on earth,
And beneath the earth and above it,
And everything in the sea too,
From the oak to the octopus,
Bees, bears, birds, buffalo, bacteria,
And human beings,
Take notice.

We have an announcement.

The waiting is over.
The gap is breached.

Tell the lame they will dance
And the blind they will see rainbows.
Tell the oppressed they will be free
and the poor they will be rich.
Tell the meek their earth is ready.

Tell darkness its days are numbered
And its minions to flee,
Tell the warmongers
That peace will overtake them
And cover their battletanks in dust.

Let the wind shake the forest,
And ripple praise across the grasslands.
Let the mountaintops sparkle with joy.
Your God is for you; your God is with you,
Let all creation sing his welcome.

But whisper it,
The baby is sleeping.

(Jeremy Williams, 2011)

• In gift parcels for sailors, through the Lighthouse Seafarers Mission.
• For school assemblies and outreach in shopping centres.
• A Christmas dinner for international students in Ilford.
• A Brownies nativity will be using Meet the Cast.
• Christmas cards for parents attending a toddler Christmas party.
• A prison fellowship in Northern Ireland.

How are you, or your church, using our materials this year? Leave us a comment below, or tell us about it on our Facebook page.

If you haven’t ordered your Christmas resources yet, it’s not too late! Visit our online catalogue to view the range and place and order.

The calendars are inspired by our 12 Words project, which challenges people to tell the story of the Bible in just 12 words. It’s a conversation starter and we’ve had a number of interesting events and artistic responses to the challenge over the past year. The project lends itself to a calendar, especially as it’s 2012. Each month has a word from the series, a striking image illustrating that word, and a verse that places the word in the context of the Bible’s story.

You don’t have to receive a Christmas card to get a calendar – you can order them from us too. Just call 020 7730 2155, or email uk@sgmlifewords.com, and we’ll get them in the post to you.

(If you’d like to order SGM Lifewords Christmas cards, act fast – we’re now halfway through our limited edition run. Click here to order yours today.)

In the course of researching the idea we phoned around some regular orderers of large print materials to get their views. The general consensus was that the whole booklet might be rather daunting for those with poor eyesight, and that something shorter would be more approachable. With this in mind, the large print version of The Christmas Story was redesigned from a booklet into a fold-out card. If you were one of those people we spoke to, thanks for your insights! We hope the end result is a product that will be as accessible and readable as possible.

The Christmas Story large print version will be available to order very soon.

Every year supporters get in touch and ask us if we do Christmas cards. It’s not something we have offered recently, with the exception of some Pavement Project cards a few years ago. However, with a strong set of booklets in the range, this year we thought we’d diversify and offer something a little different.

New to the Christmas range for 2011 are packs of cards, but with an SGM Lifewords twist. There are two distinctive things about our cards. First, each one has a snippet of the Christmas story from the gospels, to whet the appetite of those who receive them to read the story for themselves.

Second, there is an invitation on the back of the card to order a free limited edition calendar, 12 Words for 2012. This calendar draws on our 12 words project for inspiration, and features 12 words which sum up the story of the Bible, one per month. It’s a great way to spend 2012 reflecting on the story the Bible tells.

The Christmas cards come in packs of ten, five each of two different designs. Each one has a beautiful illustration from Japanese artist Chinatsu Sunaga, who also illustrated our popular children’s resource A Little Story About Something Big. They’re perfect for sending to your friends and family, and encouraging those you know and love to look at the Bible with fresh eyes.

The cards are at the press as we speak, and will be available to order shortly.

Click here to browse the downloads page.

If you haven’t ordered them already, you can order print copies of The Christmas Story from our online catalogue here.

You can now order too by following the link below and we expect to be shipping orders from mid September. Alternatively, use the form on the Booklets page if you would like to be contacted as soon as we receive stock.

Format: 16 page booklet, 10.5cm x 14.85cm | Click here to order

Click or drag on the corners of each page to turn and view the rest of the booklet

The Christmas Story will be available to order from mid September. Please use the form on the Booklets page if you would like to be contacted as soon as we receive stock.

Format: 16 page booklet, 14cm x 12cm

The Christmas Story page 1

The Christmas Story pages 2-3

The Christmas Story pages 6-7