From The Manger To The Heart samples

 

Overview: “From The Manger To The Heart” was written as a sequel to “A Night I Will Never Forget”, but it can also be performed as an independent play.  The children witnessed the birth of a Baby in the play, ”A Night I Will Never Forget”, when they snuck out of their houses. In this play they meet again and discuss what they saw that night in the stable in the Inn. The children want to confirm that weren’t dreaming, they did see the Birth of Jesus. They speak with the Innkeepers and talk to the shepherds that were there the night Jesus was born.  The shepherds explain how Jesus continues to live in our hearts.

 

CAST Of CHARACTERS

 

Joel      (teen-age boy)                                    Mrs. Potterman

Caleb   (teen-age boy)                                    Innkeeper

Eli       (teen-age boy)                                    Hannah (Innkeeper’s Wife)

Joshua (young son of Mrs. Potterman)          Rachel  (teen-age girl)

James (young son of Mrs. Potterman)           Elizabeth (teen-age girl)

Shepherd1                                                      Ruth   (Hannah’s Sister)

Shepherd2

Shepherd3

 

 

 

 

SCENE 1 – Street in Bethlehem

SCENE 2 – Stable in Bethlehem

SCENE 3 – A field in Bethlehem

 

PROPS – Slingshot

                Stable (can be painted)

                Hay Bales

                Clothing appropriate to the time of Jesus

                Manger

                Rock Wall (can be painted rock wall)

 

 (As the lights come up, the setting is a street in Bethlehem. Joel and Eli are at stage right talking. There is another group of teenagers talking together at extreme stage left. This group includes Rachel and Caleb, whose back is turned to Joel and Eli.  Joel is telling Eli about the trouble he saw James and Joshua get into with their mother).

 

 

ELIZABETH:             It is so good to see you again, Caleb. I haven’t seen you since the night we all sneaked out to the stable.

 

ELI:                            Do you guys think about that night any?

 

JOEL:                         That was a night I will never forget.

 

ELIZABETH:             Me either, I think about it all the time.

 

RACHEL:                   Me too, but when I try to explain it to people it never sounds as good as it was at the time. They act like I’m crazy or like I am making something up.

 

ELI:                            Sometimes I wonder if we really saw what we think we did. I mean it was a baby and all…but the whole Messiah… you know, Son of God thing, maybe that part was just … I don’t know…emotions, caught up in the moment.

 

ELIZABETH:             Eli, I looked into that babies face. I felt the spirit that surrounded that Mother and Child. I have seen and held a lot of babies, but I have never seen or felt anything like that. That Child was Holy.

 

 

MRS. POTTERMAN: Ridiculous…virgin birth. Son of God. That is nonsense. You kids need to put that blasphemy out of your heads.

 

ELIZABETH:             Did you ever look into that Child’s face?

 

ELI:                            We were there. We saw Him.  

 

CALEB:                      We saw the shepherds.

 

RACHEL:                   Really, Mrs. Potterman , there was nothing normal about that night.

 

MRS. POTTERMAN: You children, best forget all that Messiah foolishness and help Caleb’s mother tend to poor Aunt Phoebe.

 

(Mrs. Potterman exits in the direction of her sons, calling out their names as she exits).

 

CALEB:                      Is everybody around here like that, about the Child?

 

ELIZABETH:             Almost everybody. There are a few of us who believe we saw something really incredible that night.

 

JOEL:                         I’ll bet the inn keeper feels like we do. He was there.

 

RACHEL:                   Let’s go talk to him and see if he knows what happened to Emmanuel.

 

ELI:                            Are you serious?

 

CALEB:                      I think it is a good idea. I’d like to go.

 

ELIZABETH:             Me too.

 

ELI:                            Alright then, let’s go.

                                        (As they exit the lights fade). 

 

 

(Scene opens in front of the stable. Rachel, Elizabeth, Caleb, Joel and Eli are talking to the innkeeper).

 

INNKEEPER:            What I am trying to tell you is that, yes I was here and yes it was…well it was certainly not your average night at the inn, but I have not kept up with what happened to them (points into the stable) since then; the child or his parents.

 

ELIZABETH:             Haven’t you been the least bit curious?

 

INNKEEPER:            Honestly kids, I stay pretty busy just running this old inn.  Besides, you know a lot of folks think the whole thing is foolishness.

 

RACHEL:                  Foolishness?

 

INNKEEPER:            Virgin birth and all.

 

CALEB:                      No harder for God than parting the Red Sea and you have no problem believing that.

 

INNKEEPER:            I will tell you that my wife, Hannah, and her sister Ruth have tried to keep up with the Child.

 

ELIZABETH:             Really?!

 

INNKEEPER:            Wait here and I will send them out here to talk to you.

 

(Innkeeper exits as the teens sit down).

 

CALEB:                      I cannot believe how many people think the whole thing is foolishness.

 

JOEL:                         I don’t know, Caleb if we had not seen it, we might feel the same way. Even though I did see the baby, sometimes I wonder.

 

ELIZABETH:             (Interrupting) Joel! Surely you cannot doubt what you saw.

 

ELI:                            Take it easy Elizabeth. I don’t think it is a sin.

 

JOEL:                         All I am saying is, seeing Him again or maybe some sign…you know some proof would help.

 

HANNAH:                 Are you the youngsters who want to know about Emmanuel?

 

ELIZABETH:             Yes.

 

HANNAH:                 I recognize you. You were here the night He was born.

                                    (She turns to Caleb) And you, you were the one who came up to the inn to tell my husband and I what was happening.

 

(The teens nod, encouraged, that they have been recognized by the innkeeper’s wife).

 

 HANNAH:                I am Hannah and this is my sister, Ruth. (Greetings are exchanged). Now, tell me, what do you want to know about Emmanuel?

 

ELIZABETH:             Everything. I know that He is a special child.

 

HANNAH:                 Oh no, He is more than that, HE is a Holy Child.

 

ELIZABETH:             (To the others) I told you He was Holy!

 

RACHEL:                  How come we have not heard or seen anything of Him since then?

 

CALEB:                      There seem to be a lot of people around here who think there is no truth to the things we saw that night.

 

HANNAH:                 You are right, but never mind them. They believe in nothing except their own self-righteousness.

 

RUTH:                        And most of them don’t know the whole story.

 

ELIZABETH:             Please…please tell us. Tell us everything.

 

RUTH:                        Well sit down and listen. By all means if you have a question, ask.

 

(The kids sit down to listen to Ruth. She remains standing.)

 

                                    Joseph and Mary…

 

RACHEL:                  Joseph and Mary?

 

RUTH:                        Oh, I am sorry, that is the names of the baby’s parents. Mary and Joseph stayed here with us for awhile. While they were here they explained how the angel of the Lord had appeared to both of them and revealed exactly what would happen.  That Mary being yet a virgin, would give birth to a son conceived by the Holy Spirit.

 

HANNAH:                 They were both so full of the Spirit of God.

 

RUTH:                        On the eighth day the baby was circumcised and given the name “Jesus”.

 

 ELIZABETH:            I thought his name was “Emmanuel”?

 

RUTH:                        He was called Emmanual , which means “God with us” by the prophets, but the angel instructed Joseph to call Him “Jesus” for He will save His people from their sins.

                  

CALEB:                      Jesus…Jesus. I like the way the sounds.

 

RACHEL:                  We were there at the stable three years ago when you arrived, praising God and looking for Jesus.

 

ELI:                            You invited us to worship Him with you.

 

SHEPHERD 3:          I remember; the brave young ladies and the scared young men.

 

ELI:                            That’s us.

 

SHEPHERD 2:          What brings you from the innkeeper’s stable to the shepherd’s field?

 

CALEB:                      Questions.

 

SHEPHERD 2:          Such as?

 

JOEL:                         Such as, do you still believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

(Shepherd 2 looks at the other two shepherds and then answers).

 

SHEPHERD 2:          I wish you could have seen the angel of the Lord as he stood before us and said   “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

 

SHEPHERD 3:          And then the glory of the Lord shone all around us.

 

SHEPHERD 1:          You have not seen glory like the glory of the Lord.

 

 

SHEPHERD 1:          And because YOU have not seen the physical presence of God, you yourself begin to question your belief, even though you have tasted the Goodness of God.

 

SHEPHERD 2:          You said, “time has passed and nothing has happened”. That is not exactly true. What has happened is that WE have changed. Our faith now comes from, not what we have seen, but from the spirit that dwells in us. That spirit of God and the glory of the Lord that shown all around us that night, now comes from inside of us.  I believe that we have not seen the last of the Messiah, but even if I should never again see Him in the flesh, He dwells with me in the Spirit.

 

ELIZABETH:             That is the same feeling I have when I look into the stable behind the inn.  Jesus, the Christ Child has moved FROM THE MANGER TO MY HEART