Love the Lord series - Heart

Title: Love the Lord with All Your Heart

Characters: Jesus, Narrator, five to six generic actors

Costumes: Jesus costume, white shirt and black pants for everyone else

Verse: Mark 12:30

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

Stage directions: Narration can be voiced over or the narrator can stand center stage. Actors will follow cues, depending on the line the narrator recites.

Links: Link to live performance, Link to demo performance

License and rights ownership: Creative Commons - Attribution-Non-commercial

The Bible says to love your God with all your heart. But how exactly do you do that?

Is it by going to church every Sunday to sing the most heavenly songs of praise, and then going home to listen to Lady Gaga sing about her idea of a bad romance, or Michael Jackson belt out “Thriller!” at the top of his lungs?

Is it by reading the Bible for five minutes every night, just enough to finish that short passage required by The Daily Bread, and then spending the rest of the evening tweeting and clicking the Like button on Facebook?

Is it by giving the exact amount for your tithe, down to the last centavo, and then spending the rest of your money buying extravagant gifts for your boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband?

Is it by mouthing a quick prayer before mealtimes or before going to bed, but spending countless hours online, chatting with complete strangers, or texting a gazillion “eow pows” and “jejejejeje” on your brand new iPhone?

Is it by thanking Him for the gift of eternal life, and then failing to share the gospel to other people because of shame or fear?

The Bible says God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son to the world to save us. Because of his love for us Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead after three days, just to give us the opportunity to spend eternity with him in heaven, where there will be endless singing, where all mourning will turn into dancing, where sorrow will be a thing of the past and we will join a million angels as they continually praise his name!

The Bible says to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. After everything he has done for us, does he deserve anything less?

Do you love the Lord with all your heart?

Untitled #2 (a.k.a. True love is not found in fairy tales.)

Music: Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers

There was once a girl

who knew too little and loved too much

and she found herself

disconcerted.

So she gave too little and expected too much

and she found herself

disappointed.

This girl grew cynical and jaded

and refused to believe that she could be

deserving of the happy ending

Disney princesses always get

and she found herself

disillusioned.

Who will tell her that true love is not found in fairy tales?

That knights often come in rusty armor

And she has to fight dragons by herself?

Who will show her that endings are not always happy

And hearts break quicker than they can heal?

Who will tell her that true love is not in fairy tales?

So she keeps to herself

and braves the world

Alone.

And she tries to prove to everyone

that love is for simple-minded fools

and still,

a part of her wishes for her prince to come . . .

but no one does

and she finds herself

disenchanted.

Who will tell her that life is not made up of happy endings?

That sometimes, the prince charming runs off with

the wicked witch of the west?

Who will save her from the tower she locked herself in?

Who will tell her that life seldom offers happy endings?

Hold your head high, little girl

and don't give up hope

happy endings may not exist

but happiness does

open your heart to endless possibilities

and brace yourself

you will be hurt, you will cry

but it will be all worth it

in the end.

True love is not found in fairy tales

Because fairy tales are just that--tales

But the best stories are often filled with the most painful things

So hold your head up, little girl

And brace yourself

Life is not made of happy endings

but that does not mean

love is not

real.