The remembered nativity
We didn’t have enough children for a Nativity Play so we asked them to paint life-size characters onto hardboard which the adults cut and on the day we brought them in at the appropriate time and stood them up in the chancel to make the nativity scene.
But more importantly, while we did this, the congregation heard the story as the Sunday School children remembered it. To do this, one morning we asked them to retell the story in their own words which we wrote down. We prompted them using questions like ‘What happened next?’, ‘How do you think they felt?’, ‘What words would you use to describe…?’ etc and complied it into one narrative which the children read themselves while the characters were put in place. This is the version they gave us last year but I recommend you do your own because it is amazing what they remember, when you learn about how you tell the story, how they connect it with contemporary culture, and what they add to it. We left it exactly as they retold it to us.
Here is our story of Jesus birth in our own words just as we remember it.
I couldn’t sleep one night
Bring on: MARY, ANGEL & JOSEPH Mary can’t really remember what she was doing the day the angel visited her. Perhaps she was doing the garden. Maybe she was washing the clothes or the dishes. She could even have been sweeping the floor or pouring tea. But whatever it was it didn’t matter. There was an angel standing at her door.
The angel’s name was Gabriel, and he told Mary she was going to have a baby. Mary said nothing for she was so shocked and stunned, but also excited, worried and scared all at the same time. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
How do you think Mary felt when she heard the news she was going to have a baby?
Joseph didn’t know at this point. So Mary told him. But the angel told him also. And how do you think he felt? He was excited and happy, scared and shocked, even a feeling of disbelief. In fact Joseph didn’t believe Mary at first.
But it was all true and eventually they had to travel to Bethlehem because the governor wanted to count all the people. To do that they were to gather in their home towns. Joseph’s home town was Bethlehem, so not long before the baby was to be born, Mary and he set off.
They must have felt tired at the thought of that long journey. Perhaps they were worried because they may not get a place to stay. The roads were very busy and lots of people would be there. It was a far way to travel and it was very uncomfortable as they had to walk.
When they got to Bethlehem, it was a very busy place. It was noisy and smelly with all the animals. Houses were small and made of straw and there were lots of people in them.
Away in a manger
Bring on: STABLE BACKGROUND & SHEPHERDS Mary and Joseph couldn’t find anywhere to stay. But there was an innkeeper and he was kind and said they could stay in his stable. The innkeeper felt sorry for them. He could see Mary was about to have a baby and he was worried about her but happy for them too.
Both Mary and Joseph were grateful, happy that the innkeeper had given them a stable but they might have been happier in an inn.
When they got to the stable they saw that it had a roof of straw. It was a bit shaky and smelly, dirty too with lots of hay. It was dark and at night is would be cold, but maybe there would have been a heater or they could have found two sticks and rubbed them together. Anyway there would have been heat from the animals.
On the hills behind them there were animals and shepherds and sheep. But there were also angels who came down to the shepherds who told them a baby would be born and they were to follow the star to the stable. They gave Jesus some gifts.
If you had been there you would have been excited because you were going to see God’s son. It was very bright with the angels. There was some dust and sparkles. The shepherds felt scared, freaky and frightened. How did they know it was an angel because they hadn’t seen one before? People think ladies were angels and this angel was a boy and this is why they were scared. They might have thought it was a spirit.
But they trusted the angel, took sheep as gifts and followed the star. They ran because they were excited but walked because sheep are slow. They jogged.
See him lying on a bed of straw
Bring on: THE KINGS. But this isn’t the only part of the story. There are kings, animals, a stable and a star, astrologers, wise men and a donkey.
Mary and Joseph had to travel a great distance but so did the three kings. Perhaps they had to go in a boat to follow the star because you use the stars to steer in a boat.
They carried with them gifts of gold, Frankenstein, frankincense, boxes and myrrh and when they arrived at the stable Mary and Joseph were excited, thankful, happy and shocked because they were wondering how the wise men found out. They were scared because they didn’t know who they were and wondered why they had brought such expensive gifts. Why had they come to visit? They were also afraid because they didn’t know whether the authorities had found out they had done something wrong.
But when Mary and Joseph looked at each other they said, “Okaaaay!!!!????” They also said “Great!” because they wouldn’t have to go and buy anything.” Also, “Are these people in disguise? Do we know them?”
But the best bit of the story is that Jesus was born. But other good bits were when the angels appeared and when Mary and Joseph found out they were having God’s son and also when the wise men came to the stable.
We’ve painted all the characters for the story instead of playing them ourselves but if we were to choose a part to play, Scott said he’d be a king and Mia said she would like to be Mary. Megan would be happy playing an angel and so would Jenny. Jamie thought a shepherd would be cool but Sydney didn’t know what part to play, neither did Lorna. Katie didn’t want to be an angel because she’d been that too often though angels could hover if there were no clouds to sit on.
So that is how we have remembered the story together. It’s a story that stays with you where you learn something new every time you tell it and we hope you have enjoyed learning something new with us.
Worship Song