SYNOPSIS

This ballet uses the music of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and tells the story of a teenage girl named Lottie who attends a Christmas Eve service at a church. Moved by the message and the testimony of a visiting missionary, she responds in faith and is compelled to share with others. She is given a Bible to read and encouraged to pray for God's direction.

As she reads, she falls asleep and dreams of characters from Scripture, their roles in the gospel story and events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and how each one responds. The first act culminates in the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples at Pentecost as tongues of fire, initiating the spread of the gospel - the good news that Jesus has provided a means of reconciliation for sinful people to a holy God, and this reconciliation is available to anyone who would trust and believe.

In the second act, she discovers how this message of redemption was planned from creation, and has been carried by God's people throughout history. The "tongue of fire" visual representation of the Holy Spirit continues to guide and reveal to her that the gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be shared with the nations. She visits eight people groups (representative of the eight Affinity Groups identified by the International Mission Board) and attempts to share the good news of Jesus. These groups include: The Americas, North Africa & the Middle East, Asia & Pacific Rim, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, South Asia, Deaf Peoples, and Central Asia. She experiences mixed results - some people are interested, and some respond eagerly, but many do not. Lottie is disheartened by the lack of "success" in her efforts, but the Holy Spirit teaches her that God is making for himself a people from every tribe, language, and nation. Lottie sees a vision of the imagery used in Micah 5:7 - "The remnant of Jacob [God's people] will be among many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or linger for mankind." God alone knows who will respond in faith and be saved through His grace; we are simply called to share the good news in obedience to Christ's command.

Yes, the Bride of Christ is no one nation or people. It is not by heritage or pedigree, law or morality, that a person might be saved and brought into the people of God. Only by belief in the sacrifice of Jesus applied on our behalf can we trade our sin-captive, death-bound existence for a new, eternal, and abundant life. His death pays for our sin. His resurrection assures our deliverance. His return one day will usher in a new creation, where death is no more, and all who have called upon the name of the Lord are joyously free to worship Him forevermore around His glorious throne.