Plays On Word Radio

Ep 153: 'CHRISTMAS JOE' 2025

• Pastor/ Artist Fred Kenney Jr. • Season 3 • Episode 153

Share episode

Send us a text

"Today, we are going to share what we affectionately call 'CHRISTMAS JOE'. This is a recent performance from our 2025 tour. Merry Christmas Y'All!"

We share Joseph’s first-person journey from shock to trust on the night the shepherds arrive, weaving Isaiah, Micah, Ruth, and Boaz into the birth that fulfills ancient hope. A carpenter’s resolve turns from fixing problems to carrying promise as prophecy meets a manger.

• the shepherds’ announcement and angelic chorus
• Joseph’s plan to divorce and the dream’s command
• Isaiah’s sign of the virgin and Emmanuel
• Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and the Magnificat
• Zechariah’s silence, Gabriel’s message, and John’s calling
• journey to Bethlehem and Davidic lineage
• Ruth and Boaz as the pattern of redemption
• no room in the houses and the stable birth
• Micah’s promise of a ruler from Bethlehem
• the names of the child and Joseph’s calling

(Please click on the underlined links below.)

Plays On Word Newsletter Sign Up: https://playsonword.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/newsletter-sign-up
Does any of today's podcast resonate with you? Let us know here: https://playsonword.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/podcast-reviews
To Support Plays On Word Radio & Plays On Word Theater, please visit: https://playsonword.networkforgood
The Plays on Word Theater team is always setting up new performance dates! If you want us to visit your church/venue/community, please reach out with your inquiries here: https://playsonword.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/event-submission-form

Plays On Word website
Plays On Word YouTube
Plays On Word Facebook
Plays On Word Instagram
Email us: team@playsonword.org

SPEAKER_02:

Lord you know you're now listening to play is the best God must be punishing me for something I did that's why the shame has come upon me now I am uh I'm a carpenter by trade and I I build things I repair things in in fact I usually make the yolks for the oxen and if anything in the entire village is broken everyone knows they come to Joe they bring it to Joe and I usually can fix it today we are going to show the festival of Christmas dollars.

SPEAKER_01:

This is a written performance of our 2025 sports.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to Place on Word Radio, where we discuss, analyze, work, and play on the Word of God. Thank you for joining us on this Thursday today. Let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenny Jr., the founder of Place on Word Theater, as he does a deep dive into the Word of God.

SPEAKER_02:

They're finally asleep. Let me make sure I got the story that you shepherds came and told us tonight. You said that you were out and you were shepherding the flocks, and an angel of the Lord appeared before you, uh, and the glory of the Lord shone all around you, and you were afraid, right? That's I got that right, I didn't mess that up. That's basically what you shepherds came and told us. And uh then you said that the angel said, Don't be afraid, for I bring you good news for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a baby lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling cloth. I got that right, right? I didn't mess that up.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

And oh, and then you said that I gotta make sure I get this right. You said that that the heavens like opened up, and you saw multitudes and multitudes of the heavenly hosts, and they were all proclaiming glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth and goodwill to men. That was that was it. That was basically the story that you should you should have. I didn't oh man. This is amazing. I mean, this is absolutely if you would have told me nine months ago that I would be here in Bethlehem with Mary and the baby, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have believed you. No, I I wouldn't I wouldn't have believed. You know what though? Nine months ago, she tried to tell me that she was pregnant. I didn't have nothing to do with that. Put yourself in my sandals for one moment. The one that is promised to you, the one that is betrothed to you. She comes and tells you that she's pregnant. You had nothing to do with it. But wait, there's more. She tried to tell me. She just she said, it was by the Holy Spirit. I was like, what? What? I had all these emotions going on. I was angry. How can this be? I was hurt. How can this be? I was afraid. Because if the people found out that she's pregnant outside of marriage, they can stone her. I remember thinking to myself when she told me this news. God must be punishing me for something I did. That's why the shame has come upon me. Now, I am a I'm a carpenter by trade. And I I build things, I repair things. In fact, I I I usually make the yokes for the oxen. And if anything in the entire village is broken, everyone knows. They come to Joe, they bring it to Joe. And I usually can I usually can fix it. And I remember when she came and told me this news, I remember thinking to myself, how do I fix this?

unknown:

I got it.

SPEAKER_02:

I'll divorce her quietly. No one will ask any questions. That's the fix. Oh, God, it's so good. It's in the law of Moses, so that's gotta be the fix. I mean, I I'll divorce her quietly. I mean, I don't want, I don't want them to stone Mary. I don't want them to kill her. And I want to do what's right, I want to be right in God's eyes. That's the fix. So, that angel that you shepherds came and told us about tonight. I think I know the exact one because when I made up my mind to divorce Mary quietly, and I went to sleep that night, that angel flew to me in my dream. And when he landed, I was like, what? And the angel said to me, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She'll give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. For it is he that will save his people from their sin. Man, when I woke up, when I woke up from that dream, I'm telling you, I I was like, when I woke up, I was like, what is of the Holy Spirit? What does this mean? Wait, she's telling the truth. Wait a minute. Is of the Holy Spirit? What is this? So, God is so good. From that point on, God, he started to bring to my remembrance all these scriptures that I heard when I was a little boy, and the rabbis in synagogue would be going back and forth, and yeah, they had New York accents, going back and forth, these rabbis going back and forth about these scriptures. And this one rabbi, I remember, he he talked about Prophet Isaiah, who prophesied about 700 years ago from where we are right now. And Prophet Isaiah, he said, uh, the virgin will be with child, and she'll give birth to a son, and we'll call his name Emmanuel. That means God with us. Now, Mary, she went to go stay with her relative Elizabeth down in Judea. And hey, and Elizabeth was pregnant too. You don't seem to understand. Elizabeth is old. No, you don't seem to get it. No, Elizabeth is really old, man. You still don't seem to quite get what I'm saying. Elizabeth is too old. And when Mary came to the door, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy because the baby Elizabeth was carrying knew who Mary was carrying. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she went to the door and she said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why does the mother of my Lord come to me? And Mary came in and sang a magnificent song. She said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. He's been mindful of his servant's humble estate, and from now on, everyone will call me blessed. Now, Mary would stay with Elizabeth for about three months. And when she came in the house, Elizabeth's husband, Zachariah, he couldn't say anything. He was just like, he couldn't say anything. You know why? Because six months earlier, he's one of the priests. He was doing his priestly duty at the temple. He was working in the temple, and he was at the altar of incense. And I think it was probably the same angel that you shepherds told us about. He was sitting at the altar of incense, and all of a sudden, whoo! And the angel said to him, Zechariah, don't be afraid. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John, and he will be great before the Lord and a source of joy and gladness. He is not to drink strong drink or wine. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. And he will turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers, and he will go in the spr the strength and spirit of Elijah. And now get this. He really didn't believe the angel. He said to the angel, he was like, How's this gonna be? I'm old. My wife, she's really old. And the angel said, I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God. And I've been sent here to bring you this good news and to speak to you. And now you will be silent and unable to speak until all these things come to pass because you have not believed my word. And then he then took off. He took off right there. So Zechariah, the people outside were all worried about Zechariah because he was in there way longer than he should have been. And Zechariah comes running out of the temple, and he's like. And all the people looked at him and they were like, What's wrong with you? And that's why when Mary came into the house with Elizabeth, he was just like that's all he could say. He couldn't say anything. So Mary would stay there about three months. We began to make our way down here to Beth Lachem, you know, Beth meaning house of, Lachem meaning bread. Beth Laem, house of bread. You know, we started coming down here, and you guys should. Oh, you might not know. You shepherds don't get cell service or Wi-Fi out in the fields, do you? Oh, you wouldn't know. Yes, Caesar Augustus, he called for a census in the entire Roman world. So everyone has to go to their town of origin where their families are from. And I'm from Bethlehem, right here. And you know, some great things happened right here in Bethlehem, the house of bread. Some incredible things. I mean, the the patriarchs, the fathers, Abraham came through here. And Isaac came through here. And you remember, Isaac's mother, she was she was too old to give birth. She really, she should, she was unable to give birth because she was past the age of childbearing. So Isaac was basically a miracle child. Huh. And his son Jacob had the twelve tribes of Israel. And you know that they came through here, Bethlehem. And then who could forget the great love story of the scriptures that happened right here. You know the love's the great love story. Some of you shepherds are looking at me. You got you, how can you not know the great love story? You shepherd the flocks, your flocks, in the fields owned by the man of God in the great love story. I tell you what, I'll tell let me tell it to you. Over 900 years ago, from where we are right now, from right now, 900 years ago, there was a man from right here, Bethlehem, Ephraim, right here. His name was Elimelech. And he had a wife and two sons. And a famine hit this land, and there was no bread in the entire house of bread. So he decided to get up with his family and move to the land of Moab, another country, another land. And he got up and moved to the land of Moab. After he was there, he died. Oh my goodness, this is bad news for his wife. His wife's name is Naomi, which means pleasant. And this is an absolute disaster. But thank God she still has her two sons. Oh my goodness, that is that would be absolutely catastrophic. Her husband dying and her not having any sons. So her two sons take foreign brides from the land of Moab. One's name is Orpa, the other's name is Ruth. And they live there about ten years. After about ten years, both sons, Malon and Killian, were their names. Both sons, Malon and then Killian, both died. Oh, this is terrible. This is absolutely now it's a catastrophe. Naomi has lost her husband and she's lost her two sons. She has no hope and no future. She's lost everything. Then she hears through the grapevine that El Shaddai, God Almighty, has visited his people once again here in the house of bread. And there is once again bread here. So she decides to move back here. And she gets up, and as she does, her two daughters-in-law, they try to come with her, and she says, No, go back. Go back to your families and your family's households. God's made my life very bitter. If I had two sons right now, would you wait for them to grow up? No, it's it's far more bitter for me. You go back, you go back to your families. So Orpa went up to her mother-in-law and kissed her and went back. But Ruth clung to her. And Ruth said, No, where you go, I will go. And where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people. And your God will be my God. And where you die, there I will be buried. And God, deal with me, be it ever so severe, if anything but death separates you from me. And Naomi walked right up to Ruth, got right in her face. Okay, come on. And they started making their way back here to Bethlehem. When they got back here, all of the women, all of the women said, is that Naomi? Remember, Naomi means pleasant. Can that be Naomi? Is that Naomi? And Naomi said, Don't call me Naomi. No, call me Mara, which means bitter. Because El Sedai, God Almighty, He's made my life very bitter. I left here full. And I've come back empty. Don't call me Naomi. So they just happened to come back at the time of the barley harvest. They just happened to come back at that time. Exactly. And Ruth asked her mother-in-law if she could go behind the harvesters and glean from the scraps left over. And Naomi gave her permission. So Ruth went, and Ruth just happened to find herself in a field that was owned by a godly man. His name was Boaz. And Ruth gleaned, and when Boaz got to the work site, he greeted all of his employees. He said, The Lord be with you. And they all said back to him, The Lord bless you. Could you imagine getting to work and being greeted like that? I bet you somebody would call HR. And so immediately Boaz noticed Ruth. He said, Who's that? And the employee said, That's Ruth the Moabitus. She's come back with Naomi from the land of Moab. She's worked all day long. She's been gleaning behind the harvesters. And Boaz gave specific instructions to all of his employees. Don't any one of you bother her? In fact, I want you to pull out some extra for her. And if she wants Water, you let her, okay? And so then he gave specific instructions to his employees. Then he went right over to Ruth and he said, My daughter, I've I've heard about all the good that you've done since you've come back from the land of Moab for your mother-in-law Naomi. Stay here and work with my servant girls. I've instructed my men not to bother you. If you want a water, you get water. If you want to take a break, you take a break. Only stay here in my fields. And Ruth was so happy. She said, I found favor in your sight. So Ruth would glean behind the harvesters that day. She gleaned and gleaned and gleaned. When she got back to the house where Naomi was staying, Naomi opened a door and saw all that Ruth had gleaned. And Naomi said, I re, where did you glean today? And Ruth said, I gleaned in the fields owned by a kind man. His name is Boaz. When Ruth said that name, Naomi went, God has not stopped showing kindness to the living and the dead. He's a kid's redeemer. He's a close family member. So Ruth would glean the entire barley harvest. She gleaned behind the harvesters. And at the end of the barley harvest, Naomi gave specific instructions to Ruth to go down after the man had had a bunch of wine and food and he was merry, and to go down to the threshing floor. And after he falls asleep, uncover his feet, lay down at his feet, and he'll tell you what to do. So Ruth did exactly that. Ruth went down. Boaz was all happy, and he was all full, had wine, and he was all merry, and he laid down and went to sleep. And in the middle of the night, something startled him, and he woke up, and there was a woman at his feet. And Ruth said to him, She said, Spread your garment over me, because you are a kinsman, redeemer. And Boaz knew exactly what Ruth was saying. Ruth was requesting to be redeemed. And Boaz said, My daughter, this is greater than the kindness that you showed at first. You haven't run after all the younger men. I will do all that you ask. So, before the sun came up, Boaz went over and measured out six measures of barley to bring back to Naomi. And so when Ruth got back to the house where Naomi was, Naomi opened the door, and Naomi said, Who are you? And Ruth showed her the six measures of barley that Boaz had given her. And Naomi went, Oh, the man won't stop until this is taken care of today. So Boaz went to the city gate where all the transactions took place. And it just so happened that there was a kinsman redeemer that was closer than he was, who legally had the right to all of Elimelech's estate. And it just so happened that this other Redeemer just happened to be walking by. And Boaz said, Hey brother, hey, come here. Do you want to uh redeem uh our brother Elimelech's estate? And the other Redeemer said, Okay, I'll do it. Oh no, this is terrible news. Because Boaz had really grown to really like Ruth, and Ruth had really grown to really like Boaz, and now it looks like they're not even going to be able to be together because this other Redeemer is gonna redeem everything. And then Boaz says to the other Redeemer, on the day that you do redeem everything, you acquire, you also acquire Ruth the Moabitus as your wife to keep alive the name of her dead husband. And the other Redeemer was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, you go ahead, you go ahead, you go, you got that. I might endanger my own estate. You go ahead. So the way was cleared for Ruth and Boaz to come together. And they did. And they got married. And Ruth had, yes, a baby boy. And when she had this baby boy, all of the women, all of them, they all, with tears coming out their eyes, they all proclaimed, Naomi has a son. Naomi has a son. And they scooped up that little baby boy. And they placed the baby boy on Naomi's lap, and tears are coming out of everybody's eyes. Because at one point Naomi had no hope. She had no future. And now, because of the man of God, she has a hope and a future. As she was just holding on to that baby boy crying. They named their baby boy Obed. Obed would grow up and he would have a boy. He would have a son. His son's name would be Jesse. Jesse would grow up. And he would have a son. And his son's name would be David. The shepherd that became king. I am directly in line to this king David. Yes, I go back through all the kings of Judah, back to Rehoboam, back to Solomon, back to David. In fact, if the Romans weren't ruling over us right now, and things were the way they were way back then in Israel of old. Instead of just a carpenter. And you know, I come down here to Bethlehem where you shepherd your flocks. And you know, you shepherd your you shepherd your flocks in the fields owned by Boahaz. Yeah, that's where you shepherd your flocks. And I know, I know the tradition. The tradition is that you supply the lambs for the sacrifice at the temple. And when you I know that you find, you wait to find the perfect lamb without blemish. And when you do, you take that lamb and you wrap it in swaddling cloth and you place it in a manger. I know the tradition. Yeah. And you know, I I come down here every every summer, and I participate in the Davidic wood cutting ceremony for the temple. My family, my clan members, they all know me. I all I know them all, and we chop wood for the temple. And you know, tonight before she gave birth tonight, I was knocking on my family members' doors. And I'm like, can we come? She's about to give birth. Can we please come in? And not one person from the house of David let us in. They all said there's no room. No room. There's no what do you mean there's no room? Every one of these houses has an upper room. Specifically for family members that are traveling to the temple. I know this, I come here every summer. Not one person from my family let us in. Except this guy, this kind man who let us stay down here with the animals. And and I was upset. I was upset. But God, He's He's so good. He brought to my remembrance another scripture that the rabbis in synagogue with the New York accents going back and forth, these rabbis, they're talking about these scriptures. This other rabbi talked about Prophet Micah, who prophesied alongside of Isaiah 700 years ago from right here. And Prophet Micah, what did he say? He said, Though you, Beth Lahem, Ephra, right here, though you're small among the clans of Judah, from out of you will come the one who will be ruler of my people, whose origins are from ancient times. One of the rabbis even teaches that his origins are from eternity. And then tonight, as Mary gave birth, I received Jesus with my own hands. We didn't have a midwife, I mean. And this one was also from Prophet Isaiah 700 years ago. This one says, For unto us a child is born, right. This shepherd gets Wi-Fi. He knows it. Yeah. But there's more to it. For unto us, a son is given. And uh the the government will be on his shoulders. And and he will be called um uh what wonderful, but there's there's more to it. Uh counsel something, uh uh counsel counsel something, counsel, counselor, counselor. There's still more to it, the mighty something. Right, right, right, right. Yeah, that's right. Mighty God. Uh, but there's still more to it. Everlasting something uh everlasting uh the the the father of everlasting, everlasting father, right? And but there's still more to it, Prince of something. Prince of Prince of peace? Whoa! That's say that again. Yes, Prince of Peace. The scriptures now are in focus, and the scriptures now are making sense. The virgin will be with child, she'll give birth to a son. She will call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. From out of Bethlehem will come the one who will be ruler of God's people, whose origins are from eternity. And for unto us a child is born. For unto us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders, and he'll be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. I'm gonna raise the Son of God. I'm gonna raise the Son of God I'm gonna raise the Son of God. I'm just a carpenter.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll I'll I'll do my best.org.

Head Shot

Fred David Kenney, Jr.

Host