[Wiseman #1 has a dislocated arm]

Bill: Not a problem, I can fix this; just need to re-attach the arm like this [pops the arm in place].

Carol: I think we need to take more care when putting everything away, we  need to put all the Christmas things together, you know, get organized.

Bill: By the time Christmas is over, we are ready to just put it anywhere. Here is the Joseph [takes the lamp shade of Joseph's head as things fall  out].

Sara: Oh No!! Look at Mary, she fell over.

Joey: Dad this nativity scene is so old, I have seen new ones at Thrifty-World, they are really cool, they light up, move, and play music.

Bill: This nativity scene has been in my family since the turn of the last century. It has character! It is not made out of cheap plastic like the news ones, it is made out of good sturdy wood [knocks on Joseph's head], and it has real metal hardware [winds Joseph so that he moves a little but gets stuck and stops].

Joey: See what I mean, none of it ever works.

Bill: Of course it does, it just needs a little oil.

Carol: Joey, this set looks more lifelike than anything Thrifty-World has. Besides you do not have to worry about anything falling over when the weather gets bad or the light bulbs burning out.

Sara: I think it's cool.

Carol: Did you kids know that your father's great, great, great grandfather made it himself?

Joey: [mumbles to himself] I just thought it would be a nice change.

Bill: Yea, I know what you thought.

Joey: I guess since it has been in the family so long, I can look forward to inheriting it.

Bill: It does a father proud to know his son is planning for his future. Now help me move everything outside.

Sara: Did anyone find the Shepherds? We just can't have Christmas without Shepherds!

Joey: Calm down Sara, they are over there in the corner, right where I left them last year. See told ya.

Bill: Ok, now that we have found all the pieces, let's move them outside, but remember, BE CAREFUL!!!

Carol: They sure are heavy, I'm glad we have a dolly to do the hard work. [they work together to move figures onto a dolly and roll them out]

Lights Down.

SCENE 2 - Yard Scene

Lights Up.

Carol: Christmas Punch anyone?

Joey: Yea, it is cold out here.

[Carol sings "Deck the Halls" as she enters and passes out punch]  [Patty runs past and throws a snowball at Joey].

Joey: Hey, I'm going to get you for that.

Patty: You have to catch me first.

[Patty runs off stage].

Bill: Joey, can you go to the garage and get that small oil can?

Carol: How shall we hang the lights?

Bill: Like we do every year, around the door, window, then the edge of the roof [shakes his head].

Joey: Why does everything always have to be the same? [Raises his voice and his hands]

Bill: Tradition son, tradition.

Carol: Hello Laura, Punch?

Laura: [takes a sip] This is wonderful, what is in it?

Carol: That is a secret.

Laura: Umm, really warms you up.

Larry: Hey Bill when you get finished come over to our house and check out our yard, we bought a new nativity scene from Thrifty-World.

Joey: Oh really?

Bobby: Yea, it is really cool. I hope we win the “best display award” the city gives out.

Joey: We never win.

Larry: It is top of the line, cost a bundle.

Bill: Hey Larry, do you think you could help me move the angels?

Larry: Sure, they hook together this way.

Bill: How would you know?

Larry: Well you have been using this set as long as I have lived next door to you and I always come over to help. It’s tradition [adds with a laugh]. [they fumble trying to get the angels in place]

Bobby: Ours is just one piece, it lights up and plays 10 different songs.

Bill: Ok, I think that this is it, let's give it a try.[he winds up the angels, the angels begin to sing--off key--and one falls over]

Larry: Got any ideas Bill?

Bill: I guess the oil just needs to sit awhile, all will be just fine, just like always.

Larry: [laughs] Yea, like the time three years ago when Joseph fell on thestreet and the school bus almost ran over it.

Carol: Laura come in and see the decorations I have been working on in the den.

[Laura gives Larry a stern look].

Larry: Then there was the time that a woodpecker tried to build a nest in one ofthe wisemen, by the way, how do you keep that arm on?

Bill: Oh is that what happened...? [looks closer at the arm].

Larry: And then there was the time that... [Bill glares at Larry]

Larry: [clears his throat] How about watching a little of that game?

Bill: Sounds great. I think we could use a rest after all of that work, besides it will give the oil a chance to soak in good.

Larry: [laughs] Sure it will.

Bobby: Joey, come over and see our yard.

Joey: Sure, you will probably win this year!

[everyone has left except Sara, who is working with the figures to try to get them just right].

SCENE 3

[Sara sings "Away in a Manger" [the figurines begin to move]

Mary: I feel a little stiff.

Sara: [watches in disbelief, rubs her eyes in disbelief] Oh my!

Joseph: So do I.

Wiseman#1: I still have that nagging pain in my arm.

Wiseman#2: It is just age setting in.

Sara: [Very excited] Dad, they are working just like you said.

Bill: [Calls from inside the house] Now do not wind them up too tight, the mechanisms are sensitive; could break.

Sara: No, I did not need to wind them, they just move by themselves.

Bill: Sara, I think you are getting a little old for that, now cut it out.

Sara: Nobody ever believes me.

Mary: I got awfully stiff in the attic this year. Every time we are put outside, it is cold.

Joseph: You should be used to it by now.

Sara: [surprised] You can talk!

Shepherd#1: Burr, its cold.

Mary: Of course we can. You talk and we don’t think that it’s strange.

Wiseman#1: My arm is really feeling the cold.

Wiseman#3: Mine too, this trunk is really heavy, I wonder what is in it.

Sara: How come you never talked before.

Joseph: No one ever wanted to listen.

Sara: Sounds familiar.

Mary: You called me Mary, why?

Sara: I called you Mary because that is your name, or at least that is who you represent. [Mary looks puzzled]

Mary: Who I represent?

Joseph: Christ Child?

Sara: Yes, the Christ Child, Jesus our Savior, who came to earth, born of a virgin, to save the world from their sins. That would be the baby you are holding.

Mary: [speaks to Joseph] My name is Mary.

Joseph: Really, that is a nice name, what is my name?

Sara: Your name is Joseph.

Joseph: Joseph,... I like that.

Wiseman2: What is my name?

Sara: The Bible does not tell us the names of the Wisemen, only that they came from the east.

Angel#1:Do I have a name?

Sara: [laughs] No you are an Angel, all three of you are Angels.

Angel#2: What is an Angel?

Sara: You mean you do not know?

All: [they all look at each other and say at once] No.

Sara: All of this here, the stable, everything reminds us of our Lord Jesus Christ's birth.

All: Tell us more.

Sara: [sits down and begins to tell the story] Well it happened a very long time ago.[all listen very intently]

Sara: Joseph was espoused or engaged to Mary. Then an Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary and told her that the Holy Spirit would descend upon her and that she would bear a child and the child would die for the sins of the world, his name would be Emmanuel.

Mary sings "What Child is This"

Mary: This is the Christ Child! [with feeling]

Sara: Yes. The Angel also spoke to Joseph [Joseph looks up in fascination] and explained the situation to him.

Angel#2:Are we the Angel?

Sara: No, you are the Angel Choir, like I told you, [raises her hands and exclaims] the Angel Choir sang in the heavens to proclaim that the Christ Child had been born.

Angel#3: We can sing [they try, but are still off-key].

Sara: Now, where was I? Oh yes, the Angel told Joseph that the Christ Child would be born to Mary and that he should marry her and take care of them because this was God's plan.

Joseph: Then what? [Joseph listens intently].

Sara: In those days, Joseph had to pay taxes in the city of his fathers (which was Bethlehem), so Mary and Joseph had to travel a very long way. They either walked or road a donkey. Mary was great with child.

Mary: The time for the Christ Child to be born was near?

Sara: Yes. When they got to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph went from place to place, but because so many people were in Bethlehem to pay taxes, it was very crowded and they could not find a place to stay. They finally went to an Inn, but they didn’t have any room either.

Joseph: How sad that must have been. [wipes away a tear].

Shepherd2: Be careful there, you could rust.

Sara: They went from place to place and then finally, they were told they could stay in the stable with the animals.

Mary: Sounds dirty... and cold.

Sara: I think that it probably was, but it was shelter. Then the Christ Child was born and the Angels sang in the heaven, and a star shown bright over the stable.

Angel#3: How exciting. That’s us!!

Sara: Yes, ...except those Angels...

Angel#1: We can try harder!!

Sara: Of course you can, then there were some Shepherds lying in a field watching their sheep.[the Shepherds straightened and point to themselves].

Sara: Then all of a sudden the shepherds saw the Angels in the sky singing "Glory to God in the Highest" and on earth peace, good will toward men. Shepherds: [sing verse 1 of "Angels We Have Heard On High"; Angels [try to] sing the chorus].

Angel#1:Glory to God in the Highest! and on earth, peace, good will toward men.

Angel #3:Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall beto all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager.

Shepherd#1: Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

Mary: [humbly] So this is the meaning in all this. Every year we are taken out of the nice warm attic and are placed here, outside, in the cold and we have never known why.

Sara: A little while later, Wisemen traveled from a far off country in the east by following a star to see the Christ Child. The wisemen gave Baby Jesus expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [the Wisemen begin to sing 1st verse and the chorus of "We Three Kings Of Orient Are".]

Wiseman#1: So that is what is in the trunk.

Sara: Today, we can not give gifts to the Christ Child like the wisemen. So, through “tradition”, give gifts to our loved ones, friends, and people in need so we can remember the blessing which God gave to us on the day our Lord was born.

Angel#2:I wonder if we have a gift to give? [everyone becomes stiff as Carol and Laura enter]

SCENE 4

Laura: I really like the decorating you have done this year Carol.

Carol: Thank you. You know it really was not all that expensive.

Laura: Oh my, there’s Mr. Griffin, the Christmas display judge.

Laura: Oh hello, Mr. Griffin. Merry Christmas.

[Mr. Griffin walks past with a pad of paper] .Mr. Griffin: Merry Christmas!!! [tips his hat]. [carolers slowly enter and begin caroling, including Patty]

Carol: Come on outside you guys. We have carolers!!

Bill: [calls from inside the house] I guess we can, it's half-time. Need us to bring anything?

Carol: No, we have everything we need. [Carol and Laura pass out punch to the carolers, Patty helps].

Larry: That is some game, how about them Cowboys?

Bill: Yea it was great. Hey where did Joey and Bobby get off to?[Bill and Larry exit to stage right, Carolers are still singing, (quietly)]

Sara: Mom, you would not believe what happened.

Carol: [hands her some punch] What is that dear?

Sara: Well I told Mary and Joseph and the others the Christmas story.

Laura: You know Carol, I know a great child psychologist.

Carol: Sara, I am concerned about you and your constant day dreaming.

Sara: Mom, it is true, I did tell them the Christmas story.

[Bill, Larry, Joey, and Bobby enter].

Bill: See how wonderful everything looks?

Larry: You know you are right Bill, your Christmas display is very nice.

Laura: Actually, I do not believe that I have ever seen it look more realistic.

Mr. Griffin: This is the best display I’ve seen this year, nostalgic! I give it first place!

Patty: Wow!

Sara: It is because they know the real meaning of Christmas. [the Angels begin to sing (on key) and the others move back and forth near the Baby Jesus] "The First Noel The Angel Did Say" [All join in with the Angels].

The end