Watch the Life of Christ

Each year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assemble in homes, meetinghouses and the Christmas-bedecked Conference Center in Salt Lake City to hear messages by members of the Church leadership or First Presidency. The messages are accompanied by Christmas musical renditions from the world-renown Mormon Tabernacle, as well as local guest choral groups.

This year, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, first speaker and second counselor in the Presidency, addressed the need to focus on the spiritual gifts of Christmas rather than on the ephemeral. Elder Henry B. Eyring, first counselor to the prophet, testified that the Savior is "light to a darkened world" and recounted elements of His coming both to the Old World in Jerusalem and the New in ancient America. Thomas S. Monson, Church President and prophet, called for an intentioned focus on the love, service, and generosity that marks a life in Christ and that is the true spirit of Christmas, the holiday season, and every season: "The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things."

In the context of these heartfelt messages, President Henry B. Eyring presented a gift to the world: A collection of video vignettes capturing events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ that are now available for people of all faiths to view, ponder, and share. President Eyring suggested that they will not only increase our appreciation of the gift of the Savior to the world, but will also bring "feelings of light and the joy of angelic visitations that marked Heavenly Father's gift of His Beloved Son as our Redeemer."

The videos are viewable at BibleVideos.lds.org, which adapts to desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Additional videos are planned, and will be added until the 100 in the collection are available. Visitors can subscribe to an RSS feed to be alerted each time a new video is posted.

These vignettes depicting the life of Christ—a gift to the world from The Church of Jesus Christ—were shot at the Jerusalem Movie set, an impressively authentic recreation located on the LDS Motion Picture Studio South Campus in Goshen, Utah, about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. The set construction covers an area about the size of a football field. Producer Scott Smiley indicated that extensive research and consultation with experts refined the manner of building and the recreation of the area for the set.

"We found this piece of property which was unique because it has lots of hills and valleys, and even has a river that we will use as the Jordan River. It has a sand dune area. We have groves of trees, we have gulleys, it's got everything," said John Uibel, Director of Creative Story Development and Media Services for the Church. For a behind-the-scenes look at the original permanent set, please visit Church News and Events.

Anyone can easily share the LDS Bible Videos about Jesus Christ through Google+, Facebook, Twitter, or email. A "share" icon is located at the top of each page. As Elder Lynn G. Robbins, executive director of the Media Services Department of the Church of Jesus Christ, stated, "The message of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be shared as widely as possible throughout the world." Twitter users may use the hashtag #BibleVideos when sharing these videos.

A related mobile app, The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos, was released on December 8, 2011. It includes photo slideshows, biblical facts, an "explore" section with maps of Jerusalem and Nazareth, and more.

"The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos app is a wonderful gift to be used by individuals and families to give them a new and meaningful way to experience the stories of Christ from the New Testament," said Elder Per G. Malm, assistant executive director of the Church curriculum department.

(This article is not an official post of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the official site, please visit lds.org. For LDS News, visit the LDS Newsroom.)