The Nativity

In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world.  So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there.  This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay.  Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.

The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept.  In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lay down.  It was warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened.  Mary and Joseph had a baby!  But it wasn’t just any baby, it was Baby Jesus!  The creator of the whole world, the King of Kings, the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary’s arms and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep, they were so glad to have this special baby join their family.

Some shepherds who lived near Bethlehem, were out at night in their fields watching over their sheep.  They were worried a bigger animal might come and hurt the sheep, so that sat on a hill visiting and watching their sheep together.

Suddenly there was a bright light.  Now this wasn’t just any bright light, the light was so bright that they had to close their eyes for a minute because the light hurt their eyes.

When they opened their eyes to see what was going on, a beautiful angel was standing in the air just above them with his arms opened wide.

The shepherds looked at each other in disbelief, but realized it must be real, because they were all seeing the same thing.  All at once they were very afraid, but they didn’t run because they were too stunned to do anything.

Then the angel spoke to them.  “Do not be afraid.  I’m here to bring you good news for all people.  Today in Bethlehem a baby has been born, He is the one that will save the world.  You will know the baby because He will be wrapped in cloths, and laying in a manger.”

Suddenly, just as quickly as the first angel came, there were a large group of angels, and they said together, “Glory to God, and peace to all people on earth.”  After they spoke, they floated away.

The shepherds were amazed and excited, did everyone know this news, or just them?  They had to go see this baby the angels were talking about.

They ran as fast as they could, and soon found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  The shepherds fell to their knees when they saw Jesus, they were filled with joy that they had found the Lord.

During the time when Jesus was born there was a very mean king who ruled the land, his name was King Herod.  Remember his name, because we will talk about him later.

Soon after Jesus was born,  wise men were traveling on their camels; one night they noticed a very strange star in the sky.  They knew that this star meant that the King of the Jews, the One who would save the world had been born.

When the mean King… (what was his name again?) Herod heard this he got very worried.

He called a meeting with all the other important people in the area and asked them where this special baby had been born.  The people replied, “In Bethlehem, because they heard that one day a special person would come from there and take care of all the people.”

Then King Herod called the wise men to a secret meeting and found out from them exactly where they saw the star.  He then told them, “Go and find this child.  As soon as you find him, tell me, so that I can go and worship him.”

After they had spoken to the King, the wise men left to find the baby.  They didn’t know exactly where the baby was, but at night they followed the star in the east.  They followed the star until it hung right over the very place where Jesus was.

Since it took the wise men a while to get to baby Jesus, they probably didn’t arrive the day Jesus was born but sometime later.  When they finally had arrived they were very excited and happy.  They found Jesus laying in Mary’s arms, and they bowed down and worshipped him.

After that they opened the gifts they had brought Jesus.  They were gold, frankincense and myrrh.  These were very expensive gifts, gifts that you would give to a King, not to a baby.

The story of Christmas is special, full of miracles and strange visitors all coming to visit a King and someday the Savior of the world.

The Christmas Story – Part 1
The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 3

The Wise Men

During the time when Jesus was born there was a very mean king who ruled the land, his name was King Herod.  Remember his name, because we will talk about him later.

Soon after Jesus was born,  wise men were traveling on their camels; one night they noticed a very strange star in the sky.  They knew that this star meant that the King of the Jews, the One who would save the world had been born.

When the mean King… (what was his name again?) Herod heard this he got very worried.

He called a meeting with all the other important people in the area and asked them where this special baby had been born.  The people replied, “In Bethlehem, because they heard that one day a special person would come from there and take care of all the people.”

Then King Herod called the wise men to a secret meeting and found out from them exactly where they saw the star.  He then told them, “Go and find this child.  As soon as you find him, tell me, so that I can go and worship him.”

After they had spoken to the King, the wise men left to find the baby.  They didn’t know exactly where the baby was, but at night they followed the star in the east.  They followed the star until it hung right over the very place where Jesus was.

When they finally had arrived they were very excited and happy.  They found Jesus laying in Mary’s arms, and they bowed down and worshipped him.

After that they opened the gifts they had brought Jesus.  They were gold, frankincense and myrrh.  These were very expensive gifts, gifts that you would give to a King, not to a baby.  Mary thanked them for bringing the gifts for Jesus, and the wise men went to find a place to sleep for the night.

As the wise men were sleeping, they each had the same dream.  They were not to go back and tell King Herod where they found Jesus.  King Herod didn’t want to find Jesus to worship him, he wanted to kill him because he was jealous that this baby would someday be better than him.

So the wise men went home another way so that Herod would not know where they had come from.  They also decided that they would not tell King Herod anything about what they had seen.

When the wise men had left, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.  “Get up,” the angel said, “take Jesus and Mary and run away to Egypt.  Stay there until I come to you again, because Herod is going to search for Jesus to kill him.”

Joseph immediately got up and woke up Mary, and she gently picked up Jesus so he wouldn’t wake from his sleep.  They left in the middle of the night for Egypt, so no one would see them.

They were safe in Egypt, and after King Herod died an angel appeared to Joseph and told him could go to a place called Nazareth.  And that’s where Jesus grew up.

The Christmas Story – Part 1
The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 4

The Angels Visit the Shepherds

In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world. So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there.  This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay.  Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.

The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept.  In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lay down.  It was warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened.  Mary and Joseph had a baby!  But it wasn’t just any baby, it was Baby Jesus!  The creator of the whole world, the King of Kings, the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary’s arms and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep, they were so glad to have this special baby join their family.

Some shepherds who lived near Bethlehem, were out at night in their fields watching over their sheep.  They were worried a bigger animal might come and hurt the sheep, so that sat on a hill visiting and watching their sheep together.

Suddenly there was a bright light.  Now this wasn’t just any bright light, the light was so bright that they had to close their eyes for a minute because the light hurt their eyes.

When they opened their eyes to see what was going on, a beautiful angel was standing in the air just above them with his arms opened wide.

The shepherds looked at each other in disbelief, but realized it must be real, because they were all seeing the same thing.  All at once they were very afraid, but they didn’t run because they were too stunned to do anything.

Then the angel spoke to them.  “Do not be afraid.  I’m here to bring you good news for all people.  Today in Bethlehem a baby has been born, He is the one that will save the world.  You will know the baby because He will be wrapped in cloths, and laying in a manger.”

Suddenly, just as quickly as the first angel came, there were a large group of angels, and they said together, “Glory to God, and peace to all people on earth.”  After they spoke, they floated away.

The shepherds were amazed and excited, did everyone know this news, or just them?  They had to go see this baby the angels were talking about.

They ran as fast as they could, and soon found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  The shepherds fell to their knees when they saw Jesus, they were filled with joy that they had found the Lord.

The shepherds only stayed for a few minutes,  they realized that Mary needed to sleep.  As soon as they left they began shouting in the streets and telling everyone they met about what they had seen, and about the arrival of baby Jesus.

Mary sat and watched Jesus sleep, she was so happy.  She was thinking about what it would be like when her son got older, and what an important person He was.

The Christmas Story – Part 1
The Christmas Story – Part 3
The Christmas Story – Part 4

Hello Everyone!

Each year about this time, I like to remind families how important it is to tell the Christmas story to our little ones.  Even the older ones love to hear the true Christmas story about the birth of Jesus.  The Christmas story is paraphrased below from the New Testament Books of Matthew and Luke in the Bible.  It will be told here in 4 parts.  Be sure you print them and keep them to read to the children at your family gathering this Christmas!

The Christmas Story (Pt. 1)

The Story of Baby Jesus

A long time ago, in the town of Nazareth, lived a young woman named Mary.  Mary did her chores, was kind to others, and loved God very much.  She was engaged to be married to Joseph, who was a carpenter.

One day, while Mary was at home cleaning her room, an angel suddenly appeared.  Before Mary could say anything the angel told Mary that she was favored by God, and that God was with her.

Mary was surprised.  She was trying not to be afraid, but she had never seen an angel before.  After all, Mary was just a regular lady like you or I.  Why was this angel visiting her?  What did the angel want?

The angel quickly tried to reassure Mary, “Do not be afraid!”  the angel said.  “God has found favor with you.  You will have a baby boy, and are to give him the name Jesus.”

Mary was confused, she was not yet married to Joseph, so how could she have a baby?  The angel thought that this might concern Mary so he said, “The Holy Spirit will perform a miracle, and because of this your baby will be called  the Son of God.”

To Mary’s surprise the angel had more exciting news;  “Even your cousin Elizabeth is going to have a son in her old age.  Many thought that she couldn’t have children, but she is already pregnant.  Nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she didn’t know what to say.  She realized that she was trembling, and knelt down.  When she was finally able to speak she said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I hope everything you have said will come true.”

The angel then disappeared, and Mary was left alone.

Soon after, Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a baby.  Joseph was confused and upset by this. But an angel came to him in a dream and said, “Joseph do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.  The child Mary is going to have is God’s son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

When Joseph woke up he remembered what the angel had said.  He knew that everything was okay, and he wasn’t upset anymore.

In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world.  So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there.  This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay.  Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.

The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept.  In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lay down.  It was warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened.  Mary and Joseph had a baby!  But it wasn’t just any baby, it was Baby Jesus!  The creator of the whole world, the King of Kings, the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary’s arms and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep, they were so glad to have this special baby join their family.

The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 3
The Christmas Story – Part 4