AWAY IN A MANAGER

GROWING TIMES FAMILY NATIVITY SERVICE
Innkeepers will greet families as they arrive and invite them to hang up coats, put on nametags, choose a candle and find their seats. Those who have gifts for the Mitten Tree can bring them forward at this time.

PRELUDE CAROLS
Oh Christmas Tree! 0 Mitten Tree!
Jingle Bells
0 Come All Ye Faithful

CHALICE LIGHTING
Christmas is a time of light that comes to us when it is dark. Let our celebration by the light of this chalice help us to be like light, too. May we shine in the darkness, each in our own special way, to make the world more beautiful. As we sing the next carol, each family may come and light their candle. Some of our Innkeepers will help you put the candle in a good place where we can all enjoy it.

CAROL
Bring the Torch, Jeannette Isabella

PREPARE A PLACE FOR A SPECIAL BABY
Each Night a Child is Born is a Holy Night.
Tonight we are going to tell together the Christmas Story about one special baby. But that baby isn't the only special one. We believe that every child comes to us as a treasure, as a wonder, a miracle. It's good to remember these wise words:

For so the children come and so they have been coming.
Always in the same way they come
Born of the seed of man and woman
Each night a child is born is a holy night.
Fathers and mothers sitting beside their children's cribs
feel the glory in the sight of a new life beginning ...
Each night a child is born is a holy nightA time for singing, a time for wondering, a time for worshipping.
(Excerpted from "Each Night a Child is Born is a Holy Night," by Sophia Lyon Fahs)

Our littlest, newest special ones are and We'd like to make a special place for them, as Mary and Joseph made for their baby, with the help of some kind people and animals. So while we are singing the next Christmas carol, anyone who has brought a toy animal or something soft and nice to share with a baby or small child can bring it into the middle of the circle. This will be our manger tonight, our special place where anyone can go to be happy and comfortable. We hope that everyone will give special kindness to all the holy children here, especially the ones who are younger than yourself, so that we will all enjoy heavenly peace here in this manger.

CAROL
The Friendly Beasts

THE CHRISTMAS STORY
Now this is the Christmas story. It happened long ago, in a far away land of Judea. A man and a woman named Joseph and Mary had to make a long journey to the city of Bethlehem, because there was a new law that said everyone had to go to the city where they were born to pay their taxes. It was a long trip to Bethlehem - three days of walking, all day - because in those old days they didn't have cars or buses, and only rich people had horses and carriages. Mary and Joseph were going to have a baby soon, and Joseph worried about Mary. He didn't think it was a good idea for her to make such a long hard journey, but he sure didn't want to leave her alone, with their baby coming so soon and all.

"Don't worry, Joseph," Mary said. "I can ride our little donkey, She's strong and gentle and will carry me safely. We'll go to Bethlehem together."

So off they went. Every morning they started out early, with bags of bread and cheese and olives and oats for the donkey - so that whenever they were hungry they could stop and rest and eat. At night they would find an inn where they could sleep for the night.

Mary was glad when they saw the rooftops of Bethlehem in the distance. "Joseph, dear," she said, "let's stay at the first inn we come to. I think our baby is almost ready to be born." But when they got to Bethlehem, they found the little town crowded with people! They stopped at the first inn they came to and knocked on the door. But the innkeeper told them, "I'm sorry, there is no more room here."

At the next inn the innkeeper said, "We're full. Try the place three streets over. It's bigger." Joseph tried another place and another place, but everywhere it was the same story: "Go away, can't you see we're full already?" "Sorry, no room for you here."

All afternoon, they kept looking for a place to stay. Joseph was so worried, he didn't know what to do. "Don't be sad," said Mary. "We'll find a place and everything will be OK." It was almost night when they saw a house at the edge of town with a light in the window. Joseph knocked at the door, and told the innkeeper, "Please help us. We need a place for the night. My wife is going to have a baby soon and I don't think she can travel any farther." And the innkeeper said, "There's no room in the inn. But don't worry. We'll find someplace for you to rest."

And the innkeeper showed Mary and Joseph to a quiet little barn where the animals were. It was clean and warm and smelled like sweet hay. Mary smiled and said, "This is just right for us. All those other inns were too noisy. We can rest here."

That very night, the little baby was born, It was a boy, and they named him Jesus. Mary and Joseph wrapped him in the soft swaddling cloth they had brought with them, and made a little bed for him in the hay.

There were angels in the sky, looking for good news in the world, and when they saw what was going on at the stable behind the inn, they paid attention. Mary and Joseph never saw the angels, but the angels saw them and their little baby and said, "Oh! What a beautiful child!" And they got ready to spread the good news.

That night, like every night, there were shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem, watching the flocks of sheep. (You have to keep your eye on sheep, or they wander off and become lost or hurt.) The shepherds were singing songs and telling stories, just like always, when suddenly they were amazed by a very bright light in the sky, and a strange song coming from nowhere and everywhere, all at once. It was the angels and they were glorious! [Invite angels to stand up and be glorious.] And they said, "Glory to God in the Highest, and peace to all people on earth." They told the shepherds to go find the baby and to tell everyone else about it. And then they flew away, singing, "Glory! Glory!"

CAROL
Angels We Have Heard on High

[Angels may fly, and be glorious.]

After the angels had gone away, the shepherds remembered what they had said - that a wonderful baby had been born and that they could find it, wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a manger, and that a bright star would show them where to go. So the shepherds all said to each other, "Those angels are very strange, but let's go look for that baby."

They had no trouble finding the stable, because of the bright star, and sure enough, there inside were Mary and Joseph, watching their little baby, Jesus, who was sleeping.

And the shepherds all said (very quietly), "Oh! What a beautiful child!" And one of the shepherds gave Mary and Joseph a little wooden lamb he had been carving, and others gave them blankets and hats made out of warm sheep wool and raisins and figs to eat. Then they went away and told everyone what they had seen.

CAROL
Away in a Manger

[Shepherds pass around raisins and dates.]

Most people don't notice quiet things like special bright stars in the sky. Shepherds do, because they are outside a lot at night. And on this night so long ago, there were some others who saw the star. They were wise ones, who noticed things and thought about them. They had seen this star a long time ago, when it was new in the sky, and they watched it grow brighter and brighter. The wise ones said, "Look at the amazing star! It must be shining for something very special!" They decided to go and see what this new star was shining for. So they loaded up their camels with treasures and traveling supplies and followed the star all the way to Bethlehem.

Jesus was only a few days old when the wise ones found him. When they saw him they said, "Oh! What a wonderful child! This child will be our teacher." And they gave the baby gifts of gold, and valuable spices like frankincense and myrrh.

Mary and Joseph wondered for a long time about all of these things that happened when their little child was bom.

"Isn't it strange," said Joseph, "that all of these people would come to see our baby. And give us presents for him. They don't even know us."

"It is strange," Mary said, "but maybe not so strange. New babies just have to be loved - and people who love children are never strangers."

When Jesus grew up, he was a teacher, just like the wise ones said. And one of the most important things he tried to teach people was to love each other and to treat even strangers with kindness and care. Tonight we remember this and invite you to make a gift for the people at (name of organization(s)).

Are there some wise ones who will pass the baskets for the offerings while we sing the next carol?

CAROL
O Little Town of Bethlehem

[Wise ones take the offering.]

Now you have heard the Christmas story. We keep on remembering and telling this story because it reminds us of things that are always true, and because it is very beautiful. To help us remember this special story, we will have a sweet and quiet time, with cocoa and cookies and singing.

People have been telling the Christmas story far and near for hundreds of years. That's why the next carol we sing, "Silent Night," will be in two other languages besides English. We'll sing it in English first, while the innkeepers pass around cocoa and cookies. You can help make this time special by waiting quietly for yours. It would be good if we wait to eat our cookies until everyone has some, and until the first part of the singing is over. It's not so good to eat and sing at the same time. After we sing "Silent Night," enjoy your cookies while I sing it for you in German - because that's the language the song was written in - and in Hungarian, so we can remember the people far away in (name and location of sister church). They are thinking of us tonight, too.

CAROL
Silent Night/Stille Nacht/Csendes ej

CLOSING WORDS ,br. Why not a star? Some bright star shines somewhere in the heavens each time a child is born. Who knows what it may foretell? Who knows what wonderful life may yet again unfold, if we only give it a chance? Who knows what good news can come to the world in our children? Merry Christmas!

CLOSING CAROL
Go Tell It On the Mountain

O Christmas Tree
Oh Christmas tree, 0 Christmas tree!
How faithful are thy branches, (repeat)
Not only green when summer's here,
But in the coldest time of year!
Oh Christmas treee, 0 Christmas tree!
How faithful are they branches!

O Mitten Tree
Oh Mitten Tree, oh Mitten Tree!
The winter wind is biting! (repeat)
Against the cold, warm gifts we bring!
To deck your branches as we sing.
Oh Mitten Tree, oh Mitten Tree!
The winter wind is biting!
Oh Mitten Tree, Oh Mitten Tree!
Help us to help each other (repeat)
May we our love and goodness show
As you stay green through winter's snow
Oh Mitten Tree, oh Mitten Tree
Help us to help each other.

Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh.
O'er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.
Bells on Bob-Tail ring,
Making spirits bright.
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight. Oh!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

I never rode a sleigh
But I love to hear sleigh bells ring.
Especially at Christmastime,
And that is why I sing!

Chorus

We sing of love and hope
We sing of simple joy
We sing to bring some happiness
To every girl and boy. Chorus