Matt Rawle - The Gift of the Nutcracker Youth Study Book

THE GIFT OF THE NUTCRACKER
YOUTH STUDY BOOK

The Gift of the Nutcracker

978-1-5018-6942-6

978-1-5018-6943-3 eBook

978-1-5018-7614-1 Large Print

The Gift of the Nutcracker / DVD

978-1-5018-6946-4

The Gift of the Nutcracker / Leader Guide

978-1-5018-6944-0

978-1-5018-6945-7 eBook

The Gift of the Nutcracker / Youth Study Book

978-1-5018-6951-8

978-1-5018-6952-5 eBook

The Gift of the Nutcracker / Childrens Leader Guide

978-1-5018-7151-1

The Gift of the Nutcracker / Worship Resources

978-1-5018-6953-2 Flash Drive

978-1-5018-6954-9 Download

The Gift of the Nutcracker / Leader Kit

978-1-5018-7618-9

Also by Matt Rawle

The Faith of a Mockingbird
Hollywood Jesus
The Salvation of Doctor Who
The Redemption of Scrooge
What Makes a Hero?

with Juan Huertas and Katie McKay-Simpson

The Marks of Hope: Where the Spirit Is Moving in a Wounded Church

The Gift of the Nutcracker
Youth Study Guide

Copyright 2018 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37228-1306 or e-mailed to .

978-1-5018-6951-8

Scripture quotations, unless noted otherwise, are from the Common English Bible. Copyright 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com.

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

If you pay much attention to the Christmas decorations at shopping malls, hotels, parks, and maybe even your house, youll probably notice the occasional decoration resembling an old-timey soldier, but with an unusually large head and an even more disproportionately big mouth. Many people recognize these figures as nutcrackers; but many people also have questions. For instance, The only nutcracker Ive ever used looks like a pair of pliers. Why do these nutcrackers wear uniforms and carry swords? Or, What do nutcrackers have to do with Christmas?

The earliest nutcrackers were being made hundreds of years before the first Christmas, and they were pretty simple. One would place a nut between the nutcrackers two handles and squeeze until the shell cracked. In Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, craftspeople began

E. T. A. Hoffmann, a German author living in the early 1800s, made a wooden soldier nutcracker the focus of his 1816 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Hoffmanns story tells of a girl and her beloved nutcracker, which comes to life, defeats the wicked Mouse King, and takes the girl on an adventure to a magical realm. In 1844 Alexandre Dumas, best known for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, wrote his own version of the story. Dumass adaptation inspired the renowned Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to write his ballet The Nutcracker.

Tchaikovskys ballet premiered on Sunday December 18, 1892exactly one week before Christmasin St. Petersburg, Russia. Since then, the ballet has become a staple of the Advent and Christmas seasons. The ballets popularity has made the wooden soldier nutcracker a common Christmas decoration; it also is responsible for some of the seasonal music we enjoy. (The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is especially popular as a Christmas tune. If you dont think that youre familiar with this piece, look it up on YouTube. Theres a good chance that youll recognize it.)

The Nutcracker has had such a lasting impact on our culture in large part because of the quality of the music, the choreography, and many great performances over the past 126 years. But it also has endured because it deals with timeless themes such as joy, fear, sacrifice, and hope. The Nutcracker story is especially meaningful for Christians because it deals with resurrection and offers a vision of a kingdom where people from all over the world come together in peace.

This study examines the many Christian themes in The Nutcracker. It looks at how we can apply the lessons learned from this nineteenth-century story to our lives in the twenty-first century. And it considers how the story and characters in The Nutcracker help us better understand our relationship with Christ.

This exploration of themes in The Nutcracker spans four sessions. Each one focuses on a particular character from the story:

Clara is The Nutcrackers main protagonist, and the story is told from her point of view. Clara is twelve years old, a child on the verge of adult responsibilities. Clara receives the Nutcracker as a gift and brings him to life through her imagination. This session looks at how God is present with us through the highs and lows of growing up and how God draws us into the ongoing story of Gods people.

Drosselmeir is Claras godfather. He creates the Nutcracker and gives it to Clara; he also repairs the Nutcracker when it is damaged. Drosselmeir appears as a dark and mysterious figure, but those who know him see him as a source of warmth and comfort. Drosselmeir tells the story that sets Claras adventures with the Nutcracker into motion. This session looks at how God draws us into the story of Gods people, how God calls us to join in the work of Gods kingdom, and how God is always present with us, providing warmth and comfort.

Like many great adventure stories, The Nutcracker has a strong villain. The bad guy in The Nutcracker is the Mouse King, a human-sized mouse who leads an army of other large mice. He is a frightening and powerful character. This session looks at how God gives us the strength to respond to fears that seem overwhelming and how God shifts the balance of power.

The Nutcracker is created to resemble a soldier. As soon as he comes to life, he finds himself in a battle against the Mouse King and his army of mice. The Nutcracker sacrifices himself to save Clara from the Mouse King. He suffers deadly wounds in the battle, but he is restored and takes on a new form: he becomes a handsome prince. The resurrected Nutcracker takes Clara with him to the Land of Sweets, a peaceful realm where people from all over the world join together in celebration. This session looks at sacrifice and resurrection and the promise of life in Gods eternal kingdom.