“The Nativity"
The Nativitiy - written by Leigh Riches.
© 2004 Oakden Baptist Church.


This is a transcript of the voice-over of the nativity multi-media file available for free download at: http://www.oakdenbaptist.org.au/dramas/The_nativity.mpg




The story of the first Christmas begins with a man named Joseph - a carpenter and a righteous man, and Mary who was told by an angel of the Lord, that although she was still a virgin, she would give birth to a boy. These ordinary people remind us that this was an extraordinary birth - as the Angel had said "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God - Immannuel, meaning God is with us"


A Stable - an unlikely birthplace for a King - but there was no room in bethlehem that night, not even a bed to lie on. So the Christ-child was born amongst the hay and animals, wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger. Why such a poor beginning for a king? Because this was not a King who wanted to be served, but rather one who served others. This stable perhaps in times past the birthplace of lambs, became the birthplace of the sacrificial Lamb and reminds us of our Lord's humbleness and the sacrifice it meant for God to become a man.


That night there were some shepherds in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep.... and these lowly shepherds were the first people that God chose to tell about the birth of the Saviour. Angels filled the skies and proclaimed the Lord's birth, and the shepherds hurried to the stable to find the child they had spoken of. Why do God choose Shepherds? - They remind us that Jesus was the Good Shepherd - The Shepherd who would leave the 99 to find the one that had strayed and bring him back safely in his arms.


That night, the skies above Bethlehem were filled with a new, bright star that shone high above the place where the Christ Child lay. This new star reminds us of what Jesus said of himself - "I am the light of the world - he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life - when I am in the world, I am the light of the world"


About that time, some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem searching for the new-born king. They had followed the new star to bethlehem in search of the one whom the prophets had written about many years earlier. As they laid their gifts of Gold, frankensense and Myrhh before the child, these wsemen remind us of just who this child was - The King of Kings, wonderful, councellor, Mighty God. They show us how to worship and honour the One who was born in a stable, and died on a cross to demonstrate God's love for us..... sent down to earth at Christmas time.