All I Want for Christmas is... Joy (Children's Christmas Pageant) - 12/14/2025

Welcome, everyone, to our very simple, very joyful Christmas pageant.

Our cast today includes kids and adults who have not rehearsed a single moment,

which honestly is exactly how shepherds and angels behaved that first night anyways.

Today, we tell the story of how God came into the world in the gentlest way possible.

As a baby born to Mary, watched over by Joseph, visited by angels and shepherds, and welcomed in love.

There is only one person who speaks, me.

Everyone else will do their best adorable acting, and that will be perfect.

So let us begin. Go ahead, Dale.

Okay, first we need Mary and Joseph to come to the front, please.

Mary and Joseph, come on down.

Now, Mary and Joseph lived in a town called Nazareth.

One day, they had to take a long trip to Bethlehem.

And when I say long, I mean like, are we there yet, long?

It was the kind of trip where your feet hurt just thinking about it.

Kids playing animals, would you please wander on to the stage now?

And adults. And youth.

All of our animals want to come on stage?

We'll need all our cows, sheeps, llamas, chickens, and some animals that I can't

quite identify but has ears and tails.

Oh my gosh.

Okay, Mary and Joseph, will you please begin walking and start walking just across the front here.

Every time they took a few steps, the animals also walked in circles or flopped

down or scratched behind their ears.

Really, whatever the normal animal does.

We didn't rehearse this, so they're just doing what they normally do.

Now, eventually, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, a town so full of people.

It made a holiday airport look peaceful.

So we need our innkeeper. Innkeeper, please step forward and look a little bit

apologetic, like maybe a little bit more apologetic.

Mary and Joseph asked for a room And the innkeeper shook his head No room,

not even a little room You can,

uh, nope, nope We don't even have room in the mop corner Nope,

sorry But the innkeeper points them towards the stable The place with the animals

The stinky ones Yeah, those stinky ones,

Mary and Joseph, will you go sit by the manger, slash stand by the manger?

All righty, Dale.

Now comes the miracle. In that simple, ordinary place, God did something extraordinary.

Mary and Joseph look lovingly at the manger because this is where baby Jesus is born.

Today, baby Jesus is a real baby, which is even better than a doll. He's so stinking cute.

This birth was not announced with trumpets or royal news crews.

Instead, God chose the people working the night shift, the shepherds.

Shepherds, will you please come to the front?

Maybe, maybe not.

Shepherds, can you please pretend like you're watching your sheep and your animals

and you're making sure they stay in line, right?

You may could pet the sheep or, you know, the sheep will wander.

So you got to you got to keep them in line.

This is the most accurate part of the story.

Suddenly there were angels angels will you come out and spread wherever you can fit in.

Angels can you raise your hands and twirl and sparkle Woo!

Our beautiful angels.

Our star angels. Beautiful.

The angels announced good news.

Do not be afraid. God is doing something wonderful. A savior is born.

So the shepherds hurried to see the baby.

Shepherds, yep, walk towards me. There we go. Animals, feel free to react dramatically.

Yeah, go see the baby.

Angels, you may follow and glow supportively because this is what we did for Mary and Joseph, right?

Now everyone gathers around the manger now.

Mary, Joseph shepherds angels

wise ones animals this is the heart of Christmas God comes close God comes gently

and God comes in a way everyone can reach even in the littles littlest among us Dale.

And so we celebrate the good news. Jesus is born for us, for the whole world,

for the joyful, the tired, the curious,

the wandering, and the wiggly, for every person here today.

In Jesus, God chooses to be with us in our noise, in our questions,

in our wonder, in our hoping. God shows up in love so deep and so real that it changes everything.

Thank you to our wonderful cast, unrehearsed, unpredictable,

and absolutely perfect today. Yay!

Bravo! Bravo! Yay! Woohoo!

Merry Christmas, everyone, and may the hope of this night shine in us and through

us so that the story of God's love continues in the world.

Amen. Amen.

Look for Jesus Christ who comes anew. Let your heart be filled with the hope

that brightens your future, the peace that passes all understanding,

the joy that fills your soul, and the love that guides your actions as you love, serve, and welcome all.

Thanks be to God and we will. If you're inspired by this week's.