JESUS
Far across the great ocean, where the big ships sail, there is a land
That used to be called the land of Israel. In that land, more than
Eighteen hundred years ago, a young woman lived whose name was
Mary. And God sent one of His good angels down from heaven to
Speak to Mary.
When she saw the angel she was afraid. But he told her not to be
Afraid, for he said that God was pleased with her, and would give her a
Son whose name should be Jesus. And Jesus should be a King, the
Angel said, greater than any king in the world, because He would be the
Son of God
After the angel had told Mary this, he went up to heaven again.
Now Mary was not rich or great, she was only a poor young woman.
And her husband was poor too; his name was Joseph, and he was a
Carpenter.
After these things Mary and Joseph came to a city named Bethlehem.
They did not live in Bethlehem; it was not their home. They came
There to stay only a little while, so they went to the inn, or place where
Travellers stopped to sleep. But the inn was full of people, and there
Was no room for them? Then they went into the stable to sleep.
And while they were there, God gave Mary the little son that the
Angel had promised her. And she named the child Jesus.
It was not in a beautiful house, such as rich people have,
that Jesus Was born He was born in the stable in Bethlehem.
Perhaps the Cows and oxen were around Him, lying down asleep, or
were eating Their food out of the trough, or manger
And His mother had no nice bed, or cradle, to lay Him in there
in The stable so when she had wrapt some clothes around Him,
she laid Him in the manger for His cradle
Now in that country the people used to have a great Many sheep and these sheep
stayed out in the fields To eat the grass but the fields had no fences around
Them to keep the sheep from getting lost And beside the danger of getting lost,
there were Wild beasts in that land, such as wolves and bears,
That sometimes came into the fields to kill the sheep.
Therefore Somebody had to stay with them all the time,
to keep them from getting Lost or killed.
The men who stayed with them were called shepherds.
They stayed With the sheep not only in the day, but in the night too,
for that was The time when the wild beasts would come to kill them
And on the night that Jesus was born, some shepherds were keeping
Watch over their flocks out in the field.
And all at once a bright lightShone around them, and an angel came down from heaven
and spoke To them the shepherds saw the angel and heard his voice,
and were Very much afraid; for I suppose they had never seen an angel before.
But the angel told them not to be afraid, for he had come to bring Good news to them,
and to all the people. There had been born for Them, he said, in the city of Bethlehem,
a little child who was the Saviour. The angel meant Jesus.
He called Him the Saviour because He
Was the one who had come down from heaven (as I told you before) to?
Change our wicked hearts into good hearts, and to make us good,
and To save us from being punished at the Judgment Day
Then the angel told the shepherds that if they would go to Bethlehem
they could see this little child. They would know Him, he said,
By the clothes His mother had wrapped around Him, and by finding Him
Lay in a manger.
As soon as the angel had told the shepherds this, there came a
Great many more angels from heaven, and they all began to speak, and
To praise God, and to tell how good and kind He is to the people who
Live in this world. Then the angels went away,
up into heaven again.
I have never known how to make use of prayer in speaking to God.
