My First Story of Christmas

Tim Dowley

Cover

Title Page

My First Story of
Christmas

T I M D O W L E Y

I l l u s t r a t e d b y R O G E R L A N G T O N

Copyright

First published in the USA 2004 by Moody Publishers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – for example, electronic, photocopy, recording – without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Worldwide co-edition produced by Lion Hudson plc, Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR,England.

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ISBN 13 978-0-8024-1758-9
ISBN 10 0-8024-1758-2

Printed in Malaysia 4 Printing LH/Year 10 August

Moody Publishers, a ministry of the Moody Bible Institute, is designed for education, evangelization, and edification. If we may assist you in knowing more about Christ and the Christian life, please write us without obligation:

Moody Publishers, c/o MLM,
Chicago, Illinois 60610 USA

Chapter 1

Long ago, in the time of King Herod of Judea, there was a girl called Mary.
She lived in a little village in the hills.

One day God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary.
“Don’t be afraid!” he said.
“God is pleased with you.”

“God is going to give you a very special baby,” said the angel.
“You must call him Jesus!”

Then the Angel disappeared.
But Mary was very happy.
She sang a song to thank God.

Mary married Joseph, the village carpenter.
They began to get ready for the baby.

It was almost time for Mary’s baby to be born.
Then the governor of the country decided to count all the people.

So Mary and Joseph had to go on a long journey, to a town called Bethlehem, to be counted.

When at last they arrived in Bethlehem, Mary was very tired.
They knocked at the door of an inn.

“No room!” said the man.
So they had to sleep in a stable.

That night, with the donkey and cows standing close, Mary’s baby boy, Jesus, was born.

In fields nearby, shepherds were looking after their sheep.

Suddenly an angel appeared.
The shepherds were scared.
“Don’t be afraid!” said the angel.

“Tonight a special baby has been born in Bethlehem.
He will save his people.”

Then crowds of angels filled the sky, singing,

“Praise God in heaven!”

The angels disappeared as quickly as they had come. All was dark again.

The shepherds rushed off into Bethlehem.
They had to find the new baby!

The shepherds soon found Mary and Joseph in the stable – and baby Jesus lying in a manger.

At the time that Jesus was born, in a far country wise men were looking at the night sky.

“Look!” said one. “I’ve never seen that new star before.”

“It means a new king has been born,” said a second.

“We must follow the star and find him,” said the third wise man.

So the wise men set out on a long, hard journey, following the star by night.

When they arrived in Judea, they went straight to King Herod’s palace.
But the new king Jesus was not there.

At last the star stopped over Bethlehem.

As soon as they saw little Jesus, the wise men knelt down.

They knew he was the new king.
They gave him rich presents: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Each year we remember that first Christmas, when Jesus was born in a stable.

We give each other presents, just as the wise men gave presents to Jesus.
And just as God sent Jesus as the best gift of all.

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