The Christmas story

To consider the true meaning of Christmas.

by Jenny Tuxford

Suitable for Key Stage 2

Aims

To consider the true meaning of Christmas.

Preparation and materials

• This could be a class assembly.

• You need ten readers and you might want to have children miming the story while the narrators read the verses.
• The children could be dressed in costume.

Assembly

Reader 1

Now, have you heard of a thing called tax?

Well, it’s money that adults pay –

Income tax, council tax. VAT,

It’s like giving it away.

We all learn History, sure enough,

About life as it was then.

Most folk had to pay a tax –

Except perhaps for Cave Men.

Reader 2

Now, going back two thousand years,

When Jesus was born, of course,

They had to travel to pay a fee,

It wasn’t deducted at source.

Reader 3

Think of the place where you were born,

Where would you have to go?

If you went back to where you were born

Where would it be, do you know?

Imagine the jams on the motorways,

And in cities, in the air, on the sea!

If we had to travel to pay a tax

Just think of the chaos there’d be.

Reader 4

Mary was having a baby,

But the order came straight from Rome,

And with no comfy hatchback to take her there,

A donkey took her home.

So Mary went to Bethlehem

With Joseph – a long, long way.

When they reached their destination

They could find no place to stay.

Reader 5

Joseph knocked on every door.

‘Help us, please,’ he said.

‘Mary is having her baby,

We have to find a bed.’

Reader 6

At last one landlord seemed to care.

‘I’d help if I were able.

Every room in the inn is taken, sir,

But I can offer you a stable.’

Reader 7

So there the baby boy was born,

Not in a hospital bed,

Not in a castle or palace grand,

But in a humble cattle shed.

No instant air conditioning,

He was warmed by the breath of a sheep,

No music from hi-fi or compact disc

Lulled this Little One to sleep.

Reader 8

And who do you think came to see him,

This baby, newly born?

Not the Queen, or Prince Philip, or Princess Anne,

On that first Christmas morn.

Reader 9

And what did they bring as presents

For this special little boy?

Well, they didn’t bring disposable nappies,

Clothes or a cuddly toy.

Reader 10

The shepherds probably brought a lamb

And to keep him warm, some fur.

And the three Wise Men brought presents too,

Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Here was a boy like no other,

God’s son, King of Heaven and Earth,

And every year, at Christmas,

We celebrate his birth. 

(Children freeze in tableau.)

Carol: ‘Away in a manger’

Time for reflection

Prayer

People dancing, laughing, playing

Round a festive Christmas tree,

Having happy, fun-filled times,

We pray that it will always be.

Families loving, caring, sharing

That special kind of Christmas bliss,

Giving so much more than presents,

Oh, may it always be like this.

Best friends helping one another,

Lending, giving, smiling, singing.

Now’s the time to stop and think

Of all the joy we’re giving.

People working hard, and praying

In many different foreign lands.

We want to live in peace together,

Our future’s in our hands.

Let’s take time to look around

In all the bustle and the shout.

And think of that first happy Christmas,

And what it was all about.

Amen.