| | | Nativity Play -
Sunday 16 December 2012 |
St. Mungos' Sunday School children presented their adaptation of the
nativity play. The congregation were involved as well as
James Bond and associate spy Carrie who set out to resolve the mystery
of Mary and Joseph, their visit to Bethlehem. and the birth of Jesus.
 The
play opens with two spies, dressed in dark coats, hats and glasses,
coming onto the stage from opposite sides, obviously looking for
something. They bump into each other, and then and look out at the
audience, bidding everyone 'good morning'.
After announcing that
they are on a special mission 'Operation Isaiah' they introduced
themselves as 'Bond', James Bond' and associate spy 'Carrie', played by Sam
and Sophie McDonald.
They checkout some of the audience to
gather information that could help their operation be a success. One audience member asks
who do they work for? Carrie replies "It’s hard to tell.
Sometimes we work for the Romans, sometimes for the Jewish rulers.
Basically, anyone who is willing to pay". In answer to how long
have you been spies? Carrie responds. " Probably since we were
teenagers. But we don’t want to give away our age, so let’s
leave it as “long enough”, and quickly move on to the next
question.
Having never been caught on any mission Carrie was
asked why they were working on Christmas Day, the day that
Jesus was born? This interested the spies who asked
"
What’s this about Jesus? I think you know more than you are
letting on".
In answer to what clues they had so far,
Carrie said they had names in code of people they were looking
for, asking the audience for help in decoding them.
The coded names were
V N M C D Q E T K B N T M R D K K N Q
Q S J O D F P G Q F B D F
Y T H G I M D O G
Our spies worked with the audience to crack the codes, which they eventually manage as
WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR
PRINCE OF PEACE
MIGHTY GOD
One of the spies’ mobile phone rang, and they rushed off.
We sang the carol - Still the Night
 Mary
and Joseph,played by Ruby and John Sprott and John Sprott on their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, stop to rest.
The spies see them and sit beside them. Joseph is wary and tells
Mary not to say anything about their journey to anyone. James Bond
asks where they are heading too, and Joseph replies "Bethlehem for the
taxation". Carrie asks Mary when her baby will be born and Mary replies
"soon", but thought Carrie nosy when she asked if it would be a boy!
Mary convinced Joseph that they had to tell someone soon and
confides in the spies that they had heard that a new king may be born
soon. A king sent from God, in Bethlehem. James Bond noted that Mary
and Joseph were going there. Carrie thanked them for their
information and wished them well as they set of on their way.
The choir then sang 'When the Angel came to Mary'
We
moved to the three kings, played by Rebecca and Abbey Robertson, and
Anna McDonald who stopped to rest. They were not sure how far they
had to go following the bright star in the heavens which was still
moving.
Our spies come across the kings and explain that they
are looking for a king. "We don’t know much about him yet. We
have some names, like “Prince of Peace” and
“Wonderful Counsellor”, and we have heard that he is to be
born in Bethlehem".
 The
kings understood he was to be the King of the Jews, and that Bethlehem would be very unlikely as the place to be
born. they were thinking more of Jerusalem, which is where they were
planning to visit the palace there. They thought that the star was
heading towards Jerusalem.
Carrie said that "Bethlehem is only a
day’s journey away from Jerusalem". But the kings thought it made
much more sense for a king to be born in the capital of the kingdom, so
they were going to check out Jerusalem first. So our spies join
the three kings on their journey.
We sang the carol: We three kings
The
party arrives at Herod’s, played by Mary Paterson, Palace in Jerusalem, where Herod
asks "So, I am told you are looking for a new king. As you can see,
there is no new king here. Where do you expect to find this new king?"
" Sir, we expected to find the king here in Jerusalem" replied
one of the kings. Herod insisted he was the only king in Jerusalem.
One
of Herod's advisors, played by Isabel Donachie, reported that according to Micah the prophet, there
could be a king in Bethlehem. Carrie looked at James Bond and
said "Bethlehem, told you!"
Herod let the party go, saying "If you find a king, make sure you come back here to tell me about him".
We sang the carol "Unto us a boy is born"
 As
the party travels on the road to Bethlehem our spies bump into the
Archangel Gabriel, played by Charlie (Charlotte) Sprott. James Bond asks Gabriel
"Who are you?", and Gabriel replies "I am the Archangel Gabriel.
You see those shepherds coming in our direction? I am waiting for them."
Bond
continued "We are on a mission. We think we are looking for a king, who
is to be called the “Prince of Peace” and “Wonderful
Counsellor”, who we believe will be born in Bethlehem very soon,
but we are not sure how close we are." Gabriel noted that they had done their homework well!
 The
shepherds, played by Rebecca and Abbey Robertson, with Anna McDonald
(after a quick change) and Shona Steel (who said there were only three
kings / wise men?) arrive and fall down at the
sight of Gabriel. Gabriel set their fears to rest "Fear not good
shepherds. I am here to bring you only good news. Tonight, in
Bethlehem, a child is born who will be Christ the Lord. He will save
his people from their sins. This will be a sign to you: the child will
be wrapped in cloths and you will find him lying in a manger."
Gabriel
and the angels say together: "Glory to God in the highest. Glory
to God. And on earth, peace to all men." before leaving the party.
The
shepherds realising it was true headed off to Bethlehem. Carrie
reckoned the spies should follow. We all sang "While humble
shepherds watched their flocks"
Mary
and Joseph were now in the stable with Mary holding her baby, when
in comes the innkeeper, played by Gordon Macdonald and asks "how is your baby doing? Does he have a
name?" Joseph replies "Yes, Jesus”.
 The
innkeeper hearing a knock on the door finds the two spies "I think that
these two people are looking for you" he says to Joseph. .Mary
realising they are the same people they met on the road to Bethlehem
asked them "Do you know about your king?"
Bond replied "Indeed we do, And I don’t know whether you noticed, but there is a special star right over this stable".
Carrie added "We have asked, and this is the only new baby in town, and
we believe that your son is the king given us by God, and he will be
the saviour of the whole world. So we have come to worship. And we
don’t think that we will be the only ones coming tonight."
We sang 'Love came down at Christmas.'
The
spies kneel at the feet of Mary and Joseph. The shepherds come in,
present their lambs to Mary and Joseph, and sit down. Then the kings
come in, present their gifts and sit down. Finally the angels join. We all sang "Love came down at Christmas"
A
few days later our spies meet Simeon and Anna, played by Sandy
Robertson and Christine Jackson, who welcome them to the temple.
Bond
says to Simeon "We understand you have been promised that you will not
die until you have seen the Messiah". Simeon replies "That is
so". Simeon takes the baby from Mary, and says "Sovereign Lord, as you
have promised, you can now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes
have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all
people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your
people Israel. Bless you both, and blessed be this child. Here is Anna.
She too has been waiting to see this moment."
Anna
thanks God for giving us his son. "All of us who have been looking
for God to save his people can now rejoice. Thanks to God for his gift."
Carrie
then reports "Mission accomplished! We started not knowing what we were
looking for, and now our investigations are completed."
Bond
replied "Who was it that said that today was Christmas? When we spoke
to you before, you knew all about Jesus. Now we understand what you
were saying. You knew all about this all along, didn’t you?
and you are spending the day celebrating, so, do you think we
should end with a party?"
Everyone agrees it is time to have a party, and finishes with the Carol " Joy to the World"
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