Christmas All Age Service 2012
We are going to blow the cobwebs off our imaginations today and add a new character to the Christmas story from the bible- one not there in the stories told by Matthew and Luke. We're going to imagine together that the famous Bethlehem Inn Keeper had a daughter, and we're going to tell our Christmas story through her eyes. Shall we give her a name? How about calling her Hannah?
(Hannah rises from bed and begins working)
Hannah's day begins like any other. You can see her making the beds… and clearing up dishes... and her least favourite job... emptying slops. But Bethlehem is busier than ever, since the Romans announced a census; all mums and dads must return to the town of their ancestors to register. Bethlehem is King David's town, and all his family have come to be counted... including Mary and Joseph. In fact, here they come now.
(lights dim, enter Mary, Joseph and Inn Keeper)
Mary is sore and tired because she is going to have a baby. They are both tired from their long journey and they are anxious because they haven't found a place to stay. Lastminute.com hasn't been invented yet for such eventualities, and anyway, finding Wi-Fi in first century Palestine is a nightmare!
Having unsuccessfully tried several inns, Mary and Joseph now visit our Inn Keeper.
Hear him famously tell them...
Inn Keeper: No room at the inn!
Thanks! I couldn't have said it better. Hannah watches Joseph explain that everywhere else is full, and that they need a bed now for Mary because her baby is coming. She feels sorry for them. So does her daddy. He offers them the stable, and he shows them into it when they gladly accept his offer. Hannah runs to bring them towels and pillows as they settle into the straw. Although it is late, she decides to pop by again soon, to make sure they are comfortable and have some food to eat.
Not long later, something special happened in the hay...
Song: Away in a Manger
(enter shepherds and sheep)
Meanwhile, out of Hannah's sight, in the fields outside Bethlehem, Shepherds spend another long, lonely night watching over their flocks. They have eaten the same dinner, on the same fire, from the same bowls as they do every day. They have sung the same songs, told the same jokes and argued over the same stuff- Romans, religion, fashion... Nothing looks any different from a thousand other freezing, boring nights. Until...
Song: O what a cold, cold night – act it out (Ian White). Angels and Light enter during it
(angels sit at the back of stage, lights dim again)
Hannah knows none of this yet. She just wants to make sure Mary and Joseph have everything that they need. As she approaches, the hustle and noise of several excited, breathless shepherds scares her, so she hides in the shadows and watches them lumbering into the stable. There is barely room in there for all of them to watch in wonder at the scene their angels have just described in heavenly song.
Mary tells the shepherds that the baby is called Jesus- God Rescues Us. Hannah likes that name.
Hannah knows these shepherds. She has never heard them agree on anything, except that the Romans charge too many taxes. Now she sees them dancing and hugging as they all agree- the angels were right, God is born to them in a stable.
(enter wise men and star)
The next visitors to her home are new and wonderful to Hannah. Her eyes open in wonder at their exotic looks. Wise men arrive, wearing strange clothes and speaking in a language she has never heard. They tell a tale about following a star for many days, which would lead them to a new king.
They had first stopped in Jerusalem but had been told by King Herod's scholars that they would be more likely to find the baby in Bethlehem- if he was the king promised by God's prophets many years before. They had been delighted when they found the star again- shining over Bethlehem.
The scholars are right. Their new king was born right here in Hannah's town, in her very own stable! They waste no time in worshipping the special baby. They give him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. She will see them leaving the next morning. Over breakfast they will discuss a dream they'll have, that King Herod wants to hurt her baby. To her relief, they will ask her dad for another way home so they can avoid Jerusalem.
What an adventure! Rome's census has brought a tired couple to Hannah's door. Despite a full house, her daddy has accepted them, and she has helped to care for them. Then the baby arrives. Baby Jesus. So small, so feeble and fragile. All she wants is to help love him and care for him while he stays here.
But the Shepherds had known before her that Jesus was born- angels had told them, they said. And then visitors arrived from the east- following a special star. This was an adventure that would change a life forever!
Who can this be, that all people from all places are welcome? Who can this be, that angels and stars announce his arrival? Hannah has chosen to care for a baby. Without realising it, she has been chosen to welcome a King. By being born here, this king of stars and angels has even accepted her help, little as it is. Hannah smiles as she hides in the shadows.
(lights brighten)
Now she smiles every day, as she thinks about her midnight adventure. She smiles as she makes the beds... and clears the dishes... and even when she empties the slops!
Accepting Jesus that day has changed her life forever. In helping a stranger she has been accepted by a king. Could accepting this king into our lives change us forever, too?
Song: No room in the inn- solo, children, everyone, solo last line
mummy
miriam
No room in the inn
Chorus
No room in the inn
No room in the inn
But you will find room in my heart, Lord Jesus
No room in the inn
No room in the inn
But you will find room in my heart
God's baby was coming on the first Christmas day
But Mary and Joseph had no place to stay
They knocked on the door but were sent away
There's a barn out back. You can sleep on the hay
CHORUS
No pretty place for Mary and her baby
Just an old barn for God's son to be born
Jesus has come now to live in your heart
When will you open the door x2
CHORUS
You will find room in my heart...
Joyful News
Oh what a cold, cold nightE B E E
Oh what a cold, cold nightE B E E
The noisy old sheep just won't go to sleepE E A A
Oh what a cold, cold nightx3B B E E
(B B C#m C#m)
Something is up in the skyC#m C#m C#m C#m
Maybe we're all going to dieF#m F#m F#m F#m
Something is shining so brightA A A A
See there, an angel in whiteB7 B7 B7 B7
Joyful news, don't be afraidE E E E
Leave your sheep, go your wayF#m F#m F#m F#m
A king is born, this early mornA A B B
Find him on a bed of hayx2E E E E
Order of Service – Christmas All Age Service 2012
- Welcome and call to worship
- Song 1 (lift collection)
- Prayer- bidding and thanks- and Lord's Prayer
- Nativity 1- Mary, Joseph, Inn Keeper, Hannah
- Song 2- Away in a Manger
- Nativity 2- Shepherds, sheep and angels
- Song 3- Joyful News
- Nativity 3- Wise Men
- Song 4- No Room in the Inn (Then children return to seats)
- Summing up
- Prayer for others
- Announcements and Prizes
- Song 5-
- Blessing
- Gifts to Congregation on the way out