Once upon a time there was a young girl called Mary and she was engaged to be married to a very nice chap called Joseph. One day Mary was doing the housework –
1 back in those days this wasn’t a quick Twirl of the duster – I mean she was on her hands and knees, sweating as she worked…
2 it was certainly no Picnic!
Suddenly – shock, horror! An Angel appears –
3 he doesn’t fudge the issue and gets straight to the point! “You are going to have a baby! –
4 He will be the saviour of the world – the Lion of Judah.”
5 Mary felt a Ripple of fear run through her, but she was always obedient to God. – However, poor Joseph was a bit shocked at the news!
6 But in a dream God told him to marry Mary anyway as she was to have this special baby!
Now when it was almost time for Mary to have the baby, everyone had to travel back to their hometown to register for the Romans…
7 It used to be a Marathon for Mary and Joseph to go back and visit the relatives in Bethlehem, but this time Joseph had a donkey for Mary to travel on…
8 They didn’t have Double Decker buses back then.
9 This census was a Boost to the economy of Bethlehem as every room was booked up for the night as families got
10back together for parties and revels – but there was no space for Mary and Joseph anywhere. Eventually they were allowed to borrow a small stable for the night: Mary had to give birth to her baby in the stable and she laid him in the manger
11 full of rather uncomfortable Crunchy straw…
12 hoping that none of the animals would get the Munchies in the night!
Nearby, in a field, shepherds were watching their flocks of sheep.
13 Now shepherds are not exactly Smarties – in fact you could say they were a right bunch of thickies. But all of a sudden angels appeared to them to tell them about the birth of this special baby.
14 The shepherds were full of Celebrations! Praising God and running to town to see this new baby – 15 they had not a penny between them but gave gifts of lambs to Jesus!
16 Far away, wise men studied the Galaxy…
17 and the Milkyway…
18 to see changes in the millions of stars!…
19 They were amazed to see a beautiful Starburst…
20 could it be Mars rising; NO this star meant the birth of a new king! They followed the star and called in to see the king to ask him where the new baby was born.
21 King Herod was shocked – he called theM all teasers! No baby had been born! The king’s advisors told him that a new baby king was to be born in Bethlehem! The wise men went on their way and
22 Herod was so upset that he had to call his Minstrels in to play him to sleep.
The wise men came to where the baby Jesus lay.
23 They brought him a veritable Bounty of gifts! Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh! They knelt down and worshipped the baby.
Mary watched all this and stored it up in her heart! She knew that this baby was to be the Saviour of the world, and that he would love all of us enough –
24 even to give us his last Rolo!