Luke 2: 1-20
POY! SKIT GUIDELINES:
- In a small group, participants might simply read their lines, or glance at their lines to get the idea so they can speak in their own words.
- Most POY! skits require no practice in advance.
- Have any small children play a brief part. Most scripts have an optional part for children, listed last under Participants.
- Most scripts have a Narrator who should read the script beforehand to see how to keep moving the story along.
- It is not necessary to employ costumes and objects, unless the skit recommends such.
- It is not required to have an audience watch the skit. All present may participate.
- Scripture and paraphrases, if any, usually appear in bold.
PARTICIPANTS:
Shepherd # 1, who also serves as Narrator
Shepherd #2Angel
Mary
Prompter (Optional). Prompter shouts a brief line and Companions repeat it.
Companions (Optional): children and all adults who want to take part. Make sure Companions know who the Prompter is, and that they are to repeat Prompter’s words.
SCRIPT:
|
Shepherd #1 |
I’m a shepherd, sitting on a hill near Bethlehem in the year zero. The sheep are quiet tonight. There’s nothing to fear. Who’s taking the first watch? |
|
Shepherd #2 |
I get to sleep first! Hey! Look up there. What’s that light up in the sky? I’ve never seen a light so bright at night. Whoa! It’s getting brighter and closer. Run! Hide! |
|
Shepherd #1 |
The light’s blinding me! Oh, look! It’s… It’s… Help! Help! |
|
Angel |
Don’t be afraid. |
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Shepherd #2 |
“Don’t be afraid,†he says! Ha! What’s he expect? He’s an alien from outer space! He could zap us in an instant, he’s so blazing! |
|
Angel |
No, that’s not why I came. I’m merely God’s messenger, with very good news. Go into town and you’ll find in an animal’s feeding trough a newborn baby who will be your Savior. |
|
Shepherd #1 |
Look! There’s a whole army of angels! They’re singing in harmony so beautifully that no human could ever forget it. It’s so powerful! So comforting! |
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Shepherd #2 |
Oh, Look! Angelic Hosts! |
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Prompter & Companions |
Glory to God in the highest! Peace earth to all men! |
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Shepherd #1 |
Hurry! Let’s go to Bethlehem, find the baby and worship Him! |
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Shepherd #2 |
Can you believe it? Our King and Deliverer born in a barn! What a strange place for a savior to be born! Oh, here’s His young mother. She seems very nice! |
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Shepherd #1 |
Young lady, angels sent us to see your child. He will be our Savior. Just think! Our Savior! |
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Mary |
I’m moved by what the angels told you about my son.It makes me weep with joy. I will always treasure it in my heart. |
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Shepherd #2 |
But why are you out in this barn with all these smelly animals? |
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Mary |
There’s no room in the house, and the town is crowded with people. We came from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the Roman tax. Many others had already come for the same reason. |
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Shepherd #1 |
Then you were also born in Bethlehem, the city of David? |
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Mary |
Yes. King David was ancestor to both my husband Joseph and me. Have you registered yet for the tax? |
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Shepherd #2 |
Uh, no. I’m going to escape the Romans’ attention. I hate those… those… |
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Mary |
Careful! You could get in serious trouble! This tax is an edict of Emperor Caesar Augustus. You won’t escape. |
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Shepherd #1 |
What kind of savior will the baby be? Will he crush those greedy Romans, so we don’t have to pay their cruel taxes? |
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Shepherd #2 |
I thought the Messiah would come to free Israel, but the angels said He would bless all nations.Strange. Let’s go tell our friends the good news, so they can praise God with us. |
DISCUSS:
Artists have painted angels as benign, tender, motherly beings ? so why were the shepherds so terrified, as was everyone else in Scripture who saw real angels?
Why did God permit His Son to be born out where smelly animals were, instead of in a grand palace?
What Old Testament prophecy wasfulfilled that night, concerning the location of the Messiah’s birth?
(Good answers: Micah 5:2 foretold Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Also, Isaiah 7:24 foretold He would be born of a virgin.)
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