Glad Tidings of Great Joy

Three shepherds,

[On the screen a verse appears : The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel ; this will be followed by a digital calendar starting from BC 530 which runs very fast; when it comes to BC 4 it stops there.

[Shepherds come to the stage.. (BG of sheep crying) as they settle there to eat their dinner,  a bright light shines on them. The shepherds stands up in fear. Looks above as if they saw an angel]

BG (Angel) : “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

BG song (girls): Glory to God in the highest..

Glory to God in the Highest! - Peace on earth to men of good will!

Love shall conquer the world one day - And kings and nations kneel

Blessed light Divine! - All men shall see Thee shine!

Jesus shall reign then in righteousness - And love shall be His sign!

 

Shepherd1 :  hey, did the angel say Good tidings of great joy?

Shepherd2 : yes yes… that too for all people… but what could be this good tiding? 

Shepherd3: Will it gain us, poor shepherds?

Shepherd1: the angel gave us a sign no? Come on, let’s go to the city and see the divine child..

Shepherd2: Yes let us hurry to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has made known to us.

Shepherd3: (looks above and prays) ‘Lord! Until we come back please take care of our sheep’

(shepherds moves away from the stage.

Narrator: The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.  They spread their word about the glad tidings and the babe; all those who heard them were marveled at the news.

Calendar moves forward)

 [Three wise men, carrying gifts in their hands, pointing to a star above, goes slowly to the left green room]

BG music…

(The shepherds come back to the stage again. )

Shepherd1: I can’t understand the meaning of what the angels said that day.

Shepherd2: You are right.. that poor boy.. born to that poor family… how can he bring good tidings to all men?

Shepherd3 : was the angel really  talking about that poor child himself?

Shepherd1: I am sure, he is the one. Remember what prophet Isaiah says…  the ways of our Lord are far beyond anything we could imagine’

Shepherd2: and His thoughts are not like our thoughts

Shepherd3 : Les us then wait till the Lord reveals the meaning of what he told us..

(The calendar moves forward to AD 8 and stops there. 3 Girls come on to the stage from one side and the other 4 from the opposite side; First group dressed as if they come from church)

Girl 1:  Hey! Why didn’t you come to the temple today?

Girl 2:  Oy yeah I forgot to tell you… I got caught up in a lot of work and couldn’t come.

Girl 3:  Didn’t you hear?  Oh man! You missed it!

Girl 2:  No… what happened?

Girl 3:  That young lad… He’s just 12 years old.  It seemed as though God Himself was talking to him.

Girl 4:  Why?  What did he do in the temple?

Girl 5:  He boldly sat with the scholars asking them questions.  It was really very impressive.

Girl 6:  Questions?  Questions about what?

Girl 1:  Questions from the Scriptures!  And all who heard him were astonished at His wisdom.

Girl 2: What is his name?

Girl 3:  I heard his mom calling him Jesus.

Girl 4:  I can’t believe it… a boy of 12 years who learnt the scriptures.  He’s five years younger than us and yet so much wiser.

Girl 5:  Do you know where they came from?

Girl 6:  I saw them in a crowd that was going back to Nazareth.

Girl 5:  He’s from Nazareth! Can anything good come out of that place?

Girl 6:  Oh yea now I remember he’s that carpenter, Joseph’s son.

(Girls go their way…)

Shepherd1: Remember what the angel said 12 years back?

Shepherd2: (wakes up from his sleep and yawns) 12 years back? I can’t remember anything that happened even yesterday!

Shepherd3: Don’t you remember an angel appearing to us and promising good tidings to all men?

Shepherd2 : Good tidings? Yes I remember these words.. Good tidings.. but what’s that to remember now?

Shepherd1 : Did you hear the girls say about a boy named Jesus?

Shepherd2: yeah..  the boy who talked to the scholars in the temple? The carpenter’s son?

Shepherd3: this could be the same boy we saw in the manger 12 years back.

Shepherd1: yes, he is the one. I remember his mother calling him Jesus..

Shepherd2: but I can’t believe a 12 year boy talking great things from the scriptures

Shepherd3: there is something special about that boy.

Shepherd1 : definitely there is, that’s what the angel said “good tidings for all men’

Shepherd2 : but how can this young lad bring joy to the world

Shepherd3 : I think we need to wait to understand the full meaning of what the angel said.

(Shepherds lie down to sleep… Calendar moves forward to AD 26.

[Miracles of Jesus happening in the left green room; sick persons goes in and comes out as healed]

• A man leading a blind man goes from left green room to the right..
• Children coming eating bread from the right green room
• A lame man goes to the right green room
• A poor man carrying a mat and pillow comes very happily from the right green room
• Four men carries another invalid person to the right g.room
• A woman comes happily with his young son
• The lame man comes back cheerfully after being healed
• All the five men comes out happily from the right g.room

(All goes back to left greenroom.)

Shepherd1 : Friends, now it is getting clearer and clearer…. what the angel said that day..

Shepherd2:  you mean about the glad tidings to all men?

Shepherd3: but our prophets like Elijah and Elisha also did many miracles in their time……but that did not bring any glad tidings to the next generation

Shepherd1: yes, I know.. but this man is not just a prophet like them.. we need to wait and see.

(Calendar moves to AD 29 and stops there. )

Narrator: The Israelites were privileged to have great kings and prophets than any others in the world. Their spiritual leaders deemed themselves very holy and close to God. Hence they could not comprehend the words that Jesus spoke to them or the miracles that revealed his divinity. Neither could they accept the poor man of Nazareth as the Messiah promised by Moses and other prophets. They accused Jesus of blasphemy and handed him over to the Roman soldiers. They crucified him along with two robbers, just like a criminal.

(Girls coming to the stage, weeping, one of them carries a jar of spices and sits on the stage; others comforts her)

Girl1: I cant understand why the chief priest and his soldiers crucified Jesus.

Girl 2:  what did he do to deserve such a wretched punishment?

Girl 3: Jesus did only good things to our people. I thought he is our savior, the Messiah

Girl 1:  Lets go to his tomb and anoint his body with these spices

Girl2: but who will roll that big stone from his tomb for us?

Girl3: lets hurry before the sun rises, our God will make a way. (the girls goes away from the stage)

Shepherd1 : what.. what did they say? Jesus is crucified?

Shepherd2: Oh, no… I can’t believe it.

Shepherd3: You mean the good tidings for all men was only temporary?

Shepherd1: It cannot be temporary, man!.. God’s ways are always different

Shepherd2: but how quickly his life was finished.. it was merely 3 years!

Shepherd3: (looking above) O Lord, give us wisdom to understand your ways!!

(John and Peter comes running to the stage from one green room. Other disciples come from the opposite side)

John : His tomb is empty.. I mean the tomb of our master.

Andrew : what? His tomb is empty? Who took his body from there?

Peter : We saw the big stone rolled away and the linen and the cloths lying inside the tomb..

Andrew :  Are you sure you checked the same tomb?

John :  Yes dear…. we are very sure about it. I was standing beside when Joseph of Arimathea buried him in that tomb.

Peter : He is risen, Our Lord is risen as he told us before. Remember, him saying: “destroy this temple, I will rebuild it in 3 days”?

Andrew :  then why did he surrender himself to the death on the cross?

John :  His death was a sacrifice for the sins of the world..

Peter : Yes, the lamb that carried the sins of the world, as John the Baptist said, had to be sacrificed.

John :  Jesus died as an atonement for our sins and rose again that we may have eternal life.

Peter : Now there is no need for any sacrifice, as ordained by Moses in his law. Jesus has done all for us. And this is the glad tidings for all men of this world from now on.

(Shepherds come forward and meets Peter- calendar moves forward slowly)

Shepherd1: hey, did you say Glad tidings?

Peter : yes, Glad tidings for all men. Jesus the Messiah, who was crucified by the Jews, is risen again.

Shepherd2: A long time ago, while we were watching our flock at night, an angel appeared to us and said: “behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy for all men.”

Shepherd3: but all these years we were wondering what could be this glad tiding!

Shepherd1: Now we realize the real meaning of what the angel said. Many people assume Jesus’ birth and the miracles he did as the glad tidings. But we understand that it is his death and the resurrection the real glad tidings for all men of this world.

Peter : Yes, Let us all thank God for sending his only begotten son Jesus Christ to this world to die for our sins.

Conclusion:

Dear Friends,

We were narrating the story of Jesus’ earthly life, his death and his resurrection. But the story does not end here. Jesus who is risen from the dead has ascended to heaven with a promise to return soon. All those who have accepted him as their personal savior will be taken along with him and they will spent their eternity in heaven. For others there awaits a judgment before they go to the eternal fire.

We the senior children of xxxxx Sunday school humbly request anyone who hasn’t yet accepted Christ as their savior, to do so and to have this glad tidings of great joy in their life. 

 

Glory to God in the Highest Glory to God in the Highest!     x2

Glory to God in the Highest! Peace on earth to men of good will!

The Sick persons rejoiced when love was born - Into the world that day.

Blessed light Divine! - In these dark days shine!

Let darkness be broken and love be born - Within this heart of mine!     x 2

 

Glory to God in the Highest! - Peace on earth to men of good will!

The Sick persons were opened and angels’ song - Echoed o’er the hills!

Blessed light Divine! -  In wondrous glory shine!

The Baby at rest on Mary’s breast - Is King of all mankind!           x 2

 

Glory to God in the Highest! - Peace on earth to men of good will!

Love shall conquer the world one day - And kings and nations kneel

Blessed light Divine! - All men shall see Thee shine!

Jesus shall reign then in righteousness - And love shall be His sign!

Blessed light Divine! - All men shall see Thee shine!

Jesus shall reign then in righteousness - And love shall be His sign!     x2