Live Star Wars nativity at Morristown church

MORRISTOWN – The Liquid Church’s Christmas services will center around Star Wars, coinciding with the release of “The Force Awakens.”

“We want to draw on the excitement surrounding Star Wars in order to reach new people and teach them about the birth of Jesus Christ, in a way they’ve never heard before,” said Tim Lucas, lead pastor and founder of Liquid Church. “We believe we have the greatest story in the world, but the challenge is reaching people with that story. So, as a church, we want to be dynamic, engaging, and culturally relevant.”

Liquid’s “Cosmic Christmas” services began last Sunday and will conclude on Christmas Eve with a live Star Wars Nativity Scene. Guests will be invited to line-up for their opportunity to wield a lightsaber and join the Nativity with Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and R2D2, according to a press release from the church.

“I already have my tickets for the Dec. 18 premiere of ‘The Force Awakens’ – I’m a huge Star Wars fan,” Lucas said. “In fact, as a child I would take the family Nativity and replace the figurines with Star Wars action figures – that’s the inspiration for our live Star Wars Nativity. At its core, Star Wars reflects spiritual faith. It’s the battle between good and evil, the light versus the dark, and that’s something we can all rally around.”

At the Christmas service, children will get the chance to sit on Darth Santa’s lap (aka Darth Vader), share their Christmas wish, and take a photo with Lord Vader and his Stormtrooper “elves.” Each service includes costumed characters, movie clips, and music designed to wow audiences, the release said.

“There are no rules that say church needs to be dry and boring,” Lucas sid. “One of our core values at Liquid is that ‘church is fun.’ It’s okay to laugh and celebrate together while talking about Christmas. If that means having Star Wars characters in costume and dancing Stormtroopers, I’m all for it.”

In a break from tradition, the church will tell the story of the birth of Jesus through the book of Revelation - the last book in the Bible. Kenny Jahng, media pastor at the church, said the use of Star Wars characters allows the church to draw a line from something familiar, in this case Star Wars, to the biblical story.

“In there is a story about an epic battle of good and evil and we will pull in the story from Star Wars and frame it from that perspective,” Jahng said. “We will use Star Wars characters on stage to tell the story. It’s family friendly and Bible based.”

Lucas said the traditional telling of the birth of Jesus comes from the biblical books of Matthew or Luke.

“They tell the story of Christmas from the Earth,” Lucas said. “In Revelation (chapter) 12, it pulls back the curtain on what was happening in heaven on Christmas Eve and the scene in heaven is one of cosmic combat. There is intense spiritual warfare happening in Heaven while Jesus is being born on Earth. We want to tell the fuller story of God and what it cost him to bring his son into a dark world held hostage by sin.”

“Cosmic Christmas” services will be held at all 5 Liquid campuses in Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union counties. The Christmas Eve services are expected to be the largest in Liquid Church history, with an anticipated 7,000 people attending its 14 services, the release said. About 4,000 people regularly attend services held by the church on Sunday, Jahng said.

All are welcome to the free, family-friendly, 60-minute Christmas Eve experience, but tickets are required, the release said.

For more information about “Cosmic Christmas” or to register for their free tickets, go to www.CosmicChristmas.com.