Volunteers from First Baptist Church of Norman Park will take on roles of Bethlehem townspeople during a living nativity, ‘Return to Bethlehem,’ Friday through Sunday.

Christmas cards remind us to “Remember the reason for the season.” How better to do so than to walk the streets where Mary and Joseph trod on their way to the stable where baby Jesus was born?

But since Bethlehem is about 6,000 miles from here — and with 2,000 years of history in between — that could prove a little difficult.

This weekend, First Baptist Church of Norman Park will offer the community a glimpse at what residents of that city might have seen on that holy night.

“Return to Bethlehem” will feature about a hundred volunteers, including both actors and the behind-the-scenes crew, in a living nativity.

“You get to see Caesar Augustus, the marketplace, Mary and Joseph, and angels, and all kind of stuff,” said Eric Gonzalez, one of the organizers.

The event will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights on the sports field of the Georgia Baptist Conference Center; registration will be at Hope Chapel.

Gonzalez said groups or individuals can show up any time after 6 p.m. They’ll be organized into groups of 15-20 and escorted through a depiction of Bethlehem streets. He said they’ll stop taking registrations at 9 p.m. and will close down whenever the last group has gone through.

First Baptist started the annual “Return to Bethlehem” in 2007, but the congregation took the last couple of years off, Gonzalez said. This will be the first set of performances after the hiatus.

“We had so many folks call us the years we weren’t doing it — It was something that really reached the community,” he said.