OVERVIEW The Emoji Christmas Program uses skits, songs and Scripture to re-tell the Christmas story in a fun, new way that can involve everyone in your Children's Ministry. The Emoji Christmas Pageant is the brainchild of Dave, a smart phone user who has decided to share the Christmas story with his friends and family using his favorite Emojis. Emojis take on the roles of the Angel, Herod, the Shepherds, and more as Dave uses music and scripture to share the good news about the baby Jesus. All scriptures are taken from the NIrV translation of the Bible. PAGE 1
MATERIALS NEEDED PROPS: A clipboard A megaphone COSTUMES SUGGESTION: You will need to create some simple costumes to make your Emojis look like Emojis. You can do giant cut out face masks, or use face paint and black body suits, or make GIANT Emoji costumes. Whatever your budget allows. CHARACTERS Dave - A guy with a phone full of Emojis Smiley Emoji - The Narrator Skeptical Emoji (The Emoji scratching his chin doubtfully) Laugh Til You Cry Emoji Angel Emoji Surprised Emoji Angry Emoji Heart Eyes Emoji Character Note: If you have a large number of students who want to participate in speaking roles, there is room to create more. Additional Emojis can take on the roles of Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, the men in Herod s court, and additional shepherds. PAGE 2
SCENE ONE Dave enters. DAVE: Hello friends! My name is Dave, and if you re receiving this message, it s because you re one of the friends or family in my phone. Christmas is coming, and it s my favorite holiday of the year. It s the time when we celebrate the birth of my Savior Jesus. Now I could simply send you all Bible verses and such to share the good news, but I decided to get a little creative. You see my phone is full of all these funny characters called Emojis, and I think they can tell the story of Christmas for me. Skeptical Emoji enters. SKEPTICAL: Hmmm, I m not so sure about this idea, Dave. DAVE: Oh, hello there, Skeptical Emoji. What aren t you so sure about? SKEPTICAL: Dave, I applaud you for wanting to tell the Christmas story. But a Christmas pageant with Emojis? Don t you think that s a little, I don t know, silly? DAVE: I don t know, Skeptical Emoji. Do you think Emojis are silly? Are you calling yourself silly? SKEPTICAL: I m a round smiley face with a skeptical look on my face who is always rubbing my chin in a constant state of doubt and disbelief. I think that s about as silly as a person can get, don t you? DAVE: Okay, so maybe it is silly. Maybe it s a little odd. But I think we can work together to tell the story of Jesus in a way that my loved ones will never forget. SKEPTICAL: I doubt that very much, but since there s no stopping you, I wish you good luck. DAVE: Thank you. SKEPTICAL: And if you need me to play a part, do let me know. I ll be happy to lend my talents to the part of one of the wise men. DAVE: I was thinking more along the lines of the Grinch. Laugh Til You Cry Emoji enters laughing. He stops and pats Dave on the back, laughing uncontrollably. He turns around and walks off, still laughing. SKEPTICAL: There s nothing quite like having the Laugh Til You Cry Emoji put you in your place. I am humbled. DAVE: If a part comes up, Skeptical, I ll let you know. Meanwhile, we need to clear the stage. It s time for the opening musical number. PAGE 3
SCENE ONE SKEPTICAL: Music? There s music in this show? I hope your songs are all properly licensed. DAVE: Just enjoy the show, Scrooge. Dave and Skeptical exit. The choir enters. PAGE 4
SONG: GO TELL IT ON THE TWITTER Go tell it on the Twitter Facebook, and Reddit, and Instagram Go tell it on the Twitter That Jesus Christ is born I did a search on Google To help me find my way But then I found my Jesus And now I want to say-ay Go tell it on the Twitter Facebook, and Reddit, and Instagram Go tell it on the Twitter That Jesus Christ is born One hundred sixty letters Is not enough to say Just how my Jesus saved me That s why I want to say-ay Go tell it on the Twitter Facebook, and Reddit, and Instagram Go tell it on the Twitter That Jesus Christ is born PAGE 5
SCENE TWO Dave enters. DAVE: All right listen up all you emojis. Please be quiet! May I have your attention please? Silly Face Emoji, Angry Face Emoji. Come on guys, all eyes up here. Thank you. The kids just did a great job opening up our Emoji Christmas Pageant. Now it s your turn. I need all the Emojis appearing in scene one to get to their places. Smiley, you re my narrator, so get to your mark. Now where s my Angel? Has anyone seen the Angel? The Angel Emoji enters. ANGEL: (yells) DON T BE AFRAID!!!! DAVE: AHHHHH!! ANGEL: I said don t be afraid! What part of that do you not understand? DAVE: Don t sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack! ANGEL: Really? DAVE: Yes! ANGEL: Wonderful! I think I m ready for my scenes. DAVE: I don t know, Angel, after the scare you gave me, I think I need to save you for Halloween. ANGEL: Silly Dave, don t you remember what happened in all those scenes with the angel? DAVE: Yes. The angel appeared and told Mary that she was going to have a baby, and that his name would be Jesus. Then the angel went to see Joseph and told him that the child Mary was carrying was the Son of God. ANGEL: What a wonderful message! But no, that s not what I mean. What was the first thing the angel said? Do not be afraid! I can only think of one reason why the angel would say such a thing. DAVE: And that is? ANGEL: It must have scared the willies out of everyone, seeing an angel appear in your living room. DAVE: Good point. But I think do not be afraid means more than that. Thanks to Jesus, we don t have to be afraid of sin or death. Jesus came to conquer them all. Now that we have Jesus, he can take away all our fears. PAGE 6
SCENE TWO ANGEL: Why Dave, that s so brilliant! Did you think of that? DAVE: No, I got that from the Bible! ANGEL: I m so excited that I get to be the angel. DAVE: I guess you were made for the role, huh? ANGEL: And what a role! Telling the mother and father of the baby Jesus that they will be parents to the Messiah! DAVE: It s the most exciting message ever given! ANGEL: When can I give it? When can I give it? DAVE: We re almost ready, Angel. Go ahead and get in your opening spot, and I ll give you the signal. ANGEL: Okay! The angel exits. DAVE: All right, places everybody! Sheep emoji, you re not on until we get to the Nativity! Horse emoji, put the long ears on and get ready to play the donkey. And shrugging emoji? Hey, Shrugs! Where is that guy? The Angel jumps out again. ANGEL: DO NOT BE AFRAID!!! DAVE: AHHHHHH! ANGEL: Sorry! I couldn t resist! Dave exits. Smiley enters. SMILEY: In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph. He came from the family line of David. The virgin s name was Mary. The angel greeted her and said ANGEL: The Lord has blessed you in a special way. He is with you. SMILEY: Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. But the angel said to her PAGE 7
SCENE TWO ANGEL: Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago. The Son of the Most High God will rule forever over his people. They are from the family line of Jacob. That kingdom will never end. SMILEY: How can this happen? Mary asked the angel. I am a virgin. ANGEL: The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God. Your relative Elizabeth will have a child even though she is old. People thought she could not have children. But she has been pregnant for six months now. That s because what God says will always come true. ANGEL: Joseph, son of David, don t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That s because he will save his people from their sins. SMILEY: All this took place to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel. The name Immanuel means God with us. Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:20-24) Smiley and the Angel exit. SONG - O Come O Come Emmanuel PAGE 8
SCENE THREE Dave enters with Angel Emoji. DAVE: All right everyone, great job! Great job. Angel Emoji, you were fantastic in that last scene. I really felt like I was there, hearing the angel share the good news with Mary and Joseph. ANGEL: Really? Was I really good? DAVE: You were angelic. ANGEL: Oh thank you so much! DAVE: You re in the next scene too. Better get to your cue. ANGEL: You re right! I have to share the good news with the shepherds! The Angel Emoji exits. DAVE: Now where is my shepherd? Surprise Emoji, where are you? Surprise Emoji runs on screaming with delight. SURPRISE: Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! I can t believe it! Is this my scene? Oh my goodness this is amazing!!! Oh wow! DAVE: Wow, you re already in character, aren t you? SURPRISE: No! This is the way I always am! DAVE: Really? All the time? ANGEL: (off stage) All the time! DAVE: My goodness. Don t you ever get tired of being surprised? SURPRISE: NOOOO! DAVE: Okay then. Now in this scene you re playing the shepherd. SURPRISE: (screams) I can t believe it! I m the shepherd! DAVE: Yeah, and you re going to be visited by an angel. SURPRISE: An angel? A real angel? I can t believe it! DAVE: The angel will tell you that Jesus has been born. PAGE 9
SCENE THREE SURPRISE: Jesus? Did you say Jesus??? DAVE: I said Jesus! Surprise screams in surprise. DAVE: And of course after hearing what the angel has to say, you go running off to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. SURPRISE: I get to see the baby Jesus? For real??? DAVE: Yes. Surprise screams again. DAVE: Wow, and you re really like this all the time. SURPRISE: I m the Surprise Emoji. It s what I do. DAVE: I see. SURPRISE: This, this is real surprise right now. I am so excited! This is God s Son! Jesus is coming to save the world from sin! DAVE: Yes he is! SURPRISE: After all those years of waiting, all the prophecies, he s finally here! DAVE: Hey, save it for the stage, Surprise Emoji. Your scene is starting right now. SURPRISE: (screams) It s my cue! Time for my big scene! DAVE: Break a leg, Surprise Emoji! Surprise Emoji screams. Dave shakes his head and exits. Smiley enters. SMILEY: There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were taking care of their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. Angel Emoji enters. Surprise Emoji screams. SMILEY: But the angel said to them PAGE 10
SCENE THREE ANGEL: Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger. SMILEY: Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising God. They said ANGEL AND CHOIR: May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace be given to those he is pleased with on earth! SMILEY: The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another SURPRISE: Let s go to Bethlehem. Let s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. Surprise runs off stage screaming. SMILEY: So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger. After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over. The shepherds returned. They gave glory and praise to God. Everything they had seen and heard was just as they had been told. (Luke 2:8-20) SONG - Angels We Have Heard On High PAGE 11
SCENE FOUR Dave enters with Skeptical Emoji. DAVE: Well what do you think of the show so far? SKEPTICAL: Well, it s been okay. I think you made some odd choices in the casting. Especially the Shepherd. DAVE: Hey, I thought Surprise did a nice job. You d be excited too if you were visited by angels and told about the baby Jesus. SKEPTICAL: Yes, but I thought she could have made some different choices in her performance. DAVE: I really like the choices Surprise made. SKEPTICAL: You really enjoyed all the screaming? DAVE: I would rather have the screaming than a shepherd that s too sheepish. Laugh Til You Cry Emoji enters laughing. He stops and pats Dave on the back, laughing uncontrollably. He turns around and walks off, still laughing. SKEPTICAL: You made that bad joke on purpose. DAVE: Yes I did. Skeptical exits. DAVE: Okay Emojis, let s move on to the next scene. I need the three wise men cued up off stage, and on stage I need King Herod. Where s King Herod? Has someone seen Angry Emoji? Angry Emoji enters. ANGRY: I m right here, Dan! DAVE: It s Dave. ANGRY: It doesn t matter what your name is! DAVE: Wow, you re in character already. I really believe you re the angry king. ANGRY: I m not in character, Don. I m really angry! DAVE: You are? PAGE 12
SCENE FOUR ANGRY: How come everybody else gets to be excited about Jesus but me? I thought Jesus was the Savior of the world! DAVE: He is! ANGRY: I thought he was God s son! DAVE: He is! ANGRY: I thought he came to die for our sins! DAVE: He did! ANGRY: Then why do I have to be angry about it?? DAVE: You re the Angry Emoji! That s your job! ANGRY: You re typecasting me! That s what this is! Just because I go around expressing anger and frustration, I get typecast as King Herod. DAVE: It s not typecasting. Okay, maybe it is. But who else am I going to get to play Herod? ANGRY: Get Happy Face over there! He can be like, Oh, I m so excited that the newborn king is here, but deep down he s like, I m gonna wring his little neck! DAVE: Angry, listen, I know that you re ANGRY: Say it, Dirk, just say it. DAVE: I know that you re angry. ANGRY: You bet I am! DAVE: But this is an important part of the story. Herod isn t just an angry king who thinks someone wants to steal his throne. He represents sin and darkness. The world was ruled by sin for thousands of years. Then Jesus came and set us free. We need you to be that villain. To be the world that Jesus conquered. We need everyone to see that Jesus had to come to set us free from sin and death. ANGRY: I don t like sin. And I don t like death. And I don t like darkness either. It really gives me the willies every time you put your phone to sleep. I m scared it will never light up again. These are all scary things, and if you need me to be the bad guy in this little drama, well, I ll do it. I want the kids to know Jesus saved him from all those bad things. DAVE: Thanks, Angry. See you at the cast party. PAGE 13
SCENE FOUR ANGRY: You gonna serve those little finger sandwiches? DAVE: Yes. ANGRY: Blecch! I don t like finger sandwiches! DAVE: Hey, save it for the stage! Angry and Dave exit. Smiley enters. SMILEY: Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. This happened while Herod was king of Judea. After Jesus birth, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose. Now we have come to worship him. Angry enters. SMILEY: When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too. So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them ANGRY: Where is this Messiah going to be born? SMILEY: In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied. This is what the prophet has written. He said, But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least important among the towns of Judah. A ruler will come out of you. He will rule my people Israel like a shepherd. ANGRY: I don t like the sound of that! SMILEY: Then Herod secretly called for the Wise Men. He found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. He said ANGRY: Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report it to me. Then I can go and worship him too. Angry exits. SMILEY: After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh. But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road. (Matthew 2:1-12) SONG - O Little Town of Bethlehem PAGE 14
SCENE FIVE Dave enters. DAVE: Okay Emojis, it s time for the big finish. We ve told everyone the story of Christmas, from the angel announcing the coming of the Messiah to the shepherds to the wise men. Now it s time to seal the deal. I want everyone who sees this Emoji Christmas Pageant to know that Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. There s only one Emoji who can share the love like that. Where s Heart Eyes? Heart Eyes, I need you. Heart Eyes Emoji enters. HEART EYES: (with an endless stream of nervous anticipation) Uh oh, did someone say Heart Eyes? DAVE: Oh there you are. HEART EYES: Uh oh, are you about to use Heart Eyes? DAVE: Yes I am. HEART EYES: Ohhhhh, I am so excited. This can only mean one thing! DAVE: And you know what it is! HEART EYES: You have a crush on someone! DAVE: I what? HEART EYES: You don t have to hide it from me. You have a crush, and you know it. DAVE: No I don t. HEART EYES: Who is it? Huh? Is it someone we know? Someone in your phone already? DAVE: I think you ve got the wrong idea. HEART EYES: It is someone in your phone, isn t it? It s Liz! DAVE: Liz? HEART EYES: You ve been texting her a lot lately. DAVE: How do you know? HEART EYES: Cause you ve been sending her Smiley Face. And Winky Face. PAGE 15
SCENE FIVE DAVE: Come on. HEART EYES: Kiss Face said you almost sent her just the other day! DAVE: Will you cut it out about Liz? Okay? This isn t about me having a crush. This is about Christmas. This is about the greatest Christmas gift ever given. HEART EYES: Something you got for Liz? DAVE: No! It s something God gave the whole world! HEART EYES: Ohhhhhhhhh! You mean Jesus! DAVE: Yes! Jesus! HEART EYES: Yeah, there s no way you can ever top that gift. Not even for Liz. DAVE: Jesus is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive, and I want all my friends to know it. Will you help me? Will you tell them all what Jesus has done for them? Please? HEART EYES: Dave, it will be my honor. I ll go out there and flash my big heart eyes, and let the whole world know just how much God loves them! DAVE: Thank you. HEART EYES: And later, when you re ready to tell Liz how you feel DAVE: Just get out there Heart Eyes! HEART EYES: Okay! Okay. DAVE: Okay, places, everyone, this is the big ending. We want to make it memorable. Skeptical enters. SKEPTICAL: Just a moment, young man, just a moment. I think you have forgotten something, something very important to this story. DAVE: I have? SKEPTICAL: We saw the angel tell Mary and Joseph about the baby. We saw the shepherds and the wise men. But you know what we didn t see? We never saw the baby in the manger! DAVE: Skeptical, quit being so skeptical. We ve saved that part for this scene coming up. PAGE 16
SCENE FOUR SKEPTICAL: We have? DAVE: And as I promised, there s a part in it for you. SKEPTICAL: You mean, I get to be Joseph? DAVE: No, you re the innkeeper who doubtfully sends them into the stable. SKEPTICAL: I doubt that role is the best one for me. DAVE: Trust me, it s a good fit. SKEPTICAL: Very well, if you insist. DAVE: I guess this pageant turned out better than you thought? SKEPTICAL: I ll admit, it s been fun. Maybe we can do it again some time. You know, do an Easter Pageant. Or the story of Genesis. Have Embarrassed Face Emoji play Adam when he eats the apple. And get Work Til You Sweat Emoji to play Noah the boat builder. Laugh Til You Cry Emoji enters laughing. He stops and pats Dave on the back, laughing uncontrollably. He turns around and walks off, still laughing. SKEPTICAL: And let Laughing Boy there play Abraham s wife, Sarah. (look into the audience) Thank you, all of you who laughed at that one. DAVE: Go on, get to your place on stage, Mr. Innkeeper. Take us home. Dave exits. Smiley enters. SMILEY: In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of everyone in the whole Roman world. It was the first time a list was made of the people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to their own town to be listed. So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there because he belonged to the family line of David. He went there with Mary to be listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby. While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. That s because there was no guest room where they could stay. (Luke 2:1-7) SKEPTICAL: I m sorry. No room here. I doubt we could squeeze anyone else in. (calls off to Dave) How was that, Dave? Skeptical exits. Heart Eyes enters. PAGE 17
SCENE FIVE SMILEY: Long ago, in a stable behind an inn, a baby was born who changed the course of history. He was no ordinary child because his Father was our Heavenly Father. He was the Messiah, long promised and now come to save his people. God knew we could never afford to pay the price for our sins, so he paid that price for us with his only Son. HEART EYES: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. SMILEY: Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. He is the greatest gift you will ever receive. We hope you and yours will welcome Jesus into your hearts this Christmas and every day of the year. SONG - Hark the Herald Angels Sing DAVE: I hope my Emoji friends have brought a smile to your face. But more importantly, I hope this Christmas you will invite Jesus into your heart. There s no greater gift you can give yourself than a relationship with Jesus. God sent his only Son to be our Savior. That is why we text you all a Merry Christmas. SONG - We Text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas In 160 characters or less! Good tidings we bring about Jesus Christ Who saved us from sin and gave us a new life! We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas In 160 characters or less! Laugh Til You Cry Emoji enters laughing again and slaps Dave on the back while everyone in the choir looks on then walks off the stage laughing while everyone continues to watch. The singing below should resume once Laugh Til You Cry is off stage. Repeat the chorus one more time. We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas We text U a Merry Christmas In 160 characters or less! Blackout. THE END PAGE 18
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