Nativity Service at Christ Church
Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), in the town of Nazareth, lived a young woman called Mary who was engaged to marry Joseph.
God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary and said : 'Peace be with you! You are going to have a baby and his name will be called Jesus.’
At this time, the Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register (or census) there. Mary and Joseph traveled a long way (about 70 miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came from.
When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay. So many people had come to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the guest rooms.
The only place to stay that they could find was with the animals.
So in the place where the animals slept, Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God.
In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep through the long night. Suddenly an angel appeared before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were very, very scared, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will find the baby lying in a manger.'
Then many more angels appeared, lighting up the sky.
The shepherds heard them praising God singing: 'Glory to God in highest, and peace to everyone on earth.'
When the angels had gone the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem to see what has happened.' So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph. The baby Jesus was lying in a manger as they had been told.
When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a great king was born.
The Wise Men followed the star towards Bethlehem (where it said that the king would be born in the old writings). It seemed to stop and shine directly down upon the place where Jesus was. The Wise Men entered the house where they now lived and found Jesus with Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. The Wise Men spread the the gifts they had brought before Jesus. The gifts were gold, frankincense and myrrh.
