Christmas

17 pages

Large, flexible cast.

PowerPoint visuals, music, and narration blend together to form this beautiful Christmas program that you personalize to make uniquely yours. "God's Great Gift" is seen through three program parts: the Creation story, the Christmas story, and your own church story. Start with our eight photos of the heavens taken from outer space (included) and collect your own slides along with statements of thanksgiving from each of your Sunday school classes. Adults and children alike can celebrate together in this service of worship because the production is done ahead of...

27 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 girl, carolers if desired.

The family is trying to ready the barn for the annual nativity scene, but no one feels much like celebrating since Brenda has just suffered a miscarriage. Eleven-year-old Anna Bell is taking it the hardest, especially since her favorite cat, Glory Excelsis, has been missing for days, too. But Sarah, a wise mother, comforts the family when she makes them realize that God must have known sadness when He sent His only Son to earth. That's why Christmas should be celebrated, to thank Him for His great gift. A warm and wonderful story with optional nativity ending...

20 pages

2-3 adults, 7 children

It’s Christmas Eve in the 1770s, and a father is depressed he cannot afford to buy his eight motherless children any gifts. Suddenly he thinks of a present that won’t break or wear out, one they can all enjoy together. He sings a beautiful round about the Savior’s birth and the children quickly join in. An old sea captain living upstairs offers them money for peace and quiet. But without singing, the family’s mood becomes somber once again. Father tells the oldest child to return the moneythe family is going to sing! Ultimately, the old captain still gives th...

37 pages

4 m, 3 w, 4 flexible parts.

Dylan and Tyler Shepherd, brothers whose arguing finally stopped when they were brought together one Christmas (see "The Shepherds Who Gather"), are back in this sequel. It's five years later and now they are working together on a Christian TV show. Unfortunately, the station has a new owner, Tabitha Rafferty, to whom ratings are more important than people or their priorities. She has little sympathy for Dylan whose wife has recently died, leaving him to raise their young son alone. But Christmas is a time of giving. Some unusual "gifts" given by some unlikel...

14 pages

4 speakers

Add something special to your holiday service with one of these beautiful monologues. Titles include "Footprints in the Snow," about a lonely old lady whose Christmas guest left only footprints leading into her home; "Old Otto's Song," about a young boy who receives an old man's gift of song which saves his village; "Silent Night, Heavenly Light," about a new minister who helps a bitter old man find peace; and "Once Upon a Midnight Clear," about a little shepherd boy on the first Christmas Eve.

20 pages

7 m, 5 w, 2 teen girls, 2 boys, extras as angels.

Leah, a teenager, has never spoken a word in her life, and her mother, an old servant woman at an inn, feels guilty and worried about the future. But that all changes when Baby Jesus is born at the inn's stable. As shepherds come to worship Him, another miracle occurs and Leah speaks for the first time, to sing a lullaby. A beautiful, dramatic story. Performance time: 30 minutes.

39 pages

3 m, 4 w, 1 g.

Kate Sherman, grieving over the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law from a car accident, finds it almost impossible to show her love for granddaughter, Tammy. Kate won't even allow any Christmas decorations in the house including the now dusty star Tammy's daddy made for her. A climax is reached when Tammy steals her late mother's christening dress for a nativity scene being staged by a young visiting minister, his wife, and friend Jo, whose brother was the drunk driver who caused the fatal accident. At the end, Kate shows her renewed faith when she vows ne...

32 pages

3 m, 1 w.

Three wounded Confederate soldiers are confined to a makeshift field hospital and cared for by Liddy, a black woman. As the men's differing personalities begin to clash, they gradually uncover a dark, common past which has shaped their present, and threatens to destroy their future. They become embroiled in their own personal "civil war," and each struggles with his own form of slavery. Liddy, assumed to be a slave, offers the only key to freedom for them all: the self-denial and humility of the first Christmas. This uniquely American drama is beautiful and p...

29 pages

9 flexible parts, approx. 3 m, 5 w, 1 child.

Linda is worried because her recently widowed mother, Susan, is adamant about staying in her Florida condominium rather than coming up north to celebrate the holiday. Linda decides she and her husband and children better see what's wrong, even if it means they won't be celebrating Christmas the "right way" with all the familiar traditions. And non-traditional it is! Instead of warm fires and sled rides the kids are sunbathing and riding jet skis. But when Linda objects because her mother may miss Christmas Eve services, she finds the real and generous reason ...

37 pages

4 m, 4 w, 1 girl.

Have you ever received a gift you didn't really want? A young married couple, Stephen and Pamela, find themselves on the receiving end of a grandfather's will, and the inheritance, should they choose to accept it, is his retarded adult son. Although they are Christians, Stephen and Pamela undergo a critical test of faith and marriage, as they share the Christmas season with this unexpected "presence," Uncle Duncan, plus some friends and family members who complicate their custodial decision and their holiday. Humor and pathos color their unfolding dilemma. Ch...

50 pages

5 m, 9 w, 2 boys, 1 girl, extras

It's frantic in the Albert home. Mom is trying to direct a Christmas pageant that no one wants to be in. Dad, an obstetrician, is hoping he doesn't have to deliver any babies the night of the pageant so that he can attend. David, 12, is trying to avoid Victoria Monroe, the meanest girl in town, who insists she play Mary to his Joseph so that they can hold hands. Molly, 15, is worried and guilty when her dreaded math teacher, Miss Morris, informs her mom just how far Molly and her friends have begun harassing the new girl, Darlene. But some special Christmas m...

15 pages

1 w, 7 flex.

A federal court has ordered that a traditional Christmas cross on top of the fire station not be lighted this year. At a town meeting numerous people voice their opinions, including an ACLU attorney, a born-again Christian, and the free-thinker who brought the suit against the city in the first place. Into this melee walks a pregnant, illegal refugee who needs help. A fascinating play which shows that being a Christian takes more than putting up a Christmas cross.  Performance time: 25 minutes.

55 pages

4 m, 5 w, 2 flexible, 1 girl and extras

No one loves Christmas more than Chrysanthemum Parker. As she and her grandma Gertie are discussing plans for a possible Christmas celebration show, Sheriff Gideon Gumption arrives to say that escaped convict Jedediah Thornside is on the loose. Jedediah actually is in the area with his partner-in-crime, Belinda Burnheart. They’ve concocted a sinister plan to swindle the town away from its current deed holder, the sheriff himself, AND cancel Christmas! Through a series of blunders, Sheriff Gumption falls for their scheme and the town now belongs to the villain...

18 pages

Flexible cast

Here is an impressive, 45-minute, candle-lighting service for the congregation. The program can be presented with minimum time for rehearsals for there is little memory work needed. Most portions may be read. It's a new and different presentation to interest those who have become bored with the same message heard in the same way.

52 pages

9 boys, 8 girls, 1-5 flexible, many extras, choir

Christmas is a time for singing, and this children's musical features festive folk music for a lively portrayal of the birth of Baby Jesus. Eight original songs including a warm welcoming song, "Shalom!" and a song with claps, "The Angels' Song," keep the action moving and the children totally involved. Some other songs include "May's Song," and "I Know His Name." There are also opportunities to add a favorite carol or two, if desired. The costumes, props and staging are simple, the narratives short enough for easy memorization, and the music arranged for the...