Two young female children in a cozy indoor setting, wearing floral and striped dresses under string lights. 3:16
Southland Christian Church channel icon Southland Christian ChurchOriginal creator 7.5M views Save

Kids narrate the nativity and adults act it out

In this telling, Gabriel finds Mary in the middle of doing laundry. Kids supply the words for this take from Southland Christian Church in Kentucky, and grown-ups in costume act out every one. more

Mary is really scared. Gabriel's big news gets stuck halfway out. "Mary, you're gonna have... I can't say it good." When it finally comes out, Mary has objections: "I'm not gonna have a baby yet. I'm only a teenager and I'm not married."

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Gabriel arrives while Mary is doing laundry, and she's really scared.

Joseph gets a visit from Gabriel too. "Mary is not lying." So the couple heads for Bethlehem, or "Bethle-ha-ham," which was Joseph's old town. They ride a donkey, sound effects included, until a second voice votes for a camel. "Oh, yeah, a camel."

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Joseph hears that Mary isn't lying, and the trip to Bethlehem begins.

A moment later Mary says, "This donkey's fast." At the hotel, the keeper is firm. "We have no rooms. Literally, no rooms." Mary and Joseph walk away sadly, until he points them to the only place left in Bethlehem, a stable.

Out with the sheep, the shepherds hear angels announce a new baby "who is king of the Jews." One small voice sings the angels' song, holding a single note as long as it can, and a sheep gets in a "baaah." The shepherds talk it over and agree, one by one, with the last giving a sigh: "I think we should go and meet 'em." "I agree with you." "Yeah, me too."

Getting there means walking through a bunch of grass and bushes, and maybe camping out a night. Then the wise men hear about it, a star appears, and they reason it out. "We should probably follow that star. It's pointing down to the barn." Then, a little less sure, "So maybe we should follow it. Maybe."

The gifts are the best part. A stuffed animal, "like a hippo one I have at home." Diapers, wipes and milk. Shoes, "some Jordans." And at last, gold, Frankenstein and myrrh.

Two young female children in a cozy indoor setting, wearing floral and striped dresses under string lights. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
In this telling, Gabriel finds Mary in the middle of doing laundry.

One young critic has doubts about the barn. "I don't know how I would survive in that barn. Too stinky, too crowded." The room was very smelly, so the baby, the critic decides, probably pooped.

Then the mood turns sweet. "He's going to be our best friend." And the line fans quote most: "I love you, and you the best baby I ever seen. There, I said it."

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Mary smiles as a young voice calls Jesus the best baby ever seen.

The last word comes after a giggle. "The new baby is going to change the world."

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