The Shepherds

Luke 2:8-21

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called the Gospel of Luke. Luke loved Jesus and wanted others to know and love Jesus, too. And the word gospel means “good news!”

The true story of Christmas happened a long, long, loooong time ago when Jesus was born. Now, because Jesus is God’s Son, you would think that He was born in a very special place like a . . . 


. . . CASTLE! And there would be a big party with lots of confetti and lots and lots of people! But that’s not what happened.


Jesus was born in a stable where animals live. There wasn’t a party or a lot of people. It was just Mary, Joseph, and some animals. 


Do you think that is the end of the Christmas story? No, that is not the end of the Christmas story. You see, God wanted EVERYONE to know that His Son, Jesus, was born. So, on that very same night, God sent a special message to some shepherds out in a field. There’s our word! "S" is for SHEPHERDS!


What do you think a shepherd’s job is? They take care of a certain kind of animal. Do you think shepherds take care of giraffes? 


No, not giraffes. Do shepherds take care of frogs? 


No, not frogs. What animal do shepherds take care of? That’s right! Sheep! Shepherds take care of sheep.


Back to the Christmas story. While the shepherds took care of their sheep, an angel appeared in the sky and said to the shepherds, "I bring you GOOD NEWS of great JOY! Jesus is born!"


Then, the whole sky was full of angels who started praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest!"


When the shepherds heard this good news, they ran to find Baby Jesus. 


When they found Him, they were amazed! They wanted everyone to know that Jesus was born. So they ran and told everyone that God gave us Jesus, and that’s how we know God loves us.




Bible Paraphrase: God has given a son to us. —Isaiah 9:6, NCV

Text Truth: The angels tell about Jesus.



Family Devotional

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
—Luke 2:15-21

Our Bible story was about shepherds. "S" is for Shepherd. When the shepherds heard the good news that Jesus was born, they ran to see Baby Jesus. Then they ran to tell everyone that God gave us Jesus! God loves you and God loves me so much that He gave us Jesus!

God has given a son to us. —Isaiah 9:6, NCV

The shepherds told people that God gave us Jesus. So, with your family, make a list of people you can tell that God gave us Jesus.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, Thank You that we get to hear about how You gave us Jesus. Help us to tell (read the list your family made) how You gave everyone Jesus because You love everyone so much. Merry Christmas, God! We love You! In Jesus’ name, amen.”

-
Some story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported license.

Some story illustrations are in the Public Domain.
-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Early Christians Shared Everything

Image
Acts 4:32-37 Our story comes from a book of the Bible called Acts. That name is short for “the Acts of the Apostles.” The word "Apostle" is another word to describe a helper of Jesus. Our Bible story tells us about some people who loved Jesus. The people were gathered together in a room. Buzz, buzz, buzz. The room filled with talking and laughter. The people called themselves Christians because they did what Jesus Christ said to do (Christian means "follower of Christ"). The Christians knew that Jesus was God’s Son. They wanted others to know about Jesus, too. Grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, and children met together in homes. They would pray, sing, and learn about Jesus together. All these people loved Jesus. They were like one big, happy family. Because they loved Jesus, the Christians happily shared what they had more than others. Everything a person had was happily shared with the rest of the Bible-time Christians. They shared food so every
Read more

Abraham and His Family Moved to a New Land

Image
Genesis 12:1-9 Our story comes from the book, or part, of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis means "the beginning." A man and woman lived in a land called Ur. The man was named Abram and the woman was named Sarai. Abram and Sarai were husband and wife. God called Abram and Sarai and gave them new names! Abram means “nobel father.” But God changed his name to “Abraham,” which means “father of many.” Sarai” means “princess.” But God changed her name to “Sarah,” which means “mother of nations.” Now they were Abraham and Sarah, "father of many" and "mother of nations!" Abraham grew up in the land called Ur. When he was grown, Abraham moved with his family to a new land called Haran. But then, in the land of Haran, God appeared to Abraham and told him to leave his country. God told Abraham to move to a new land. God promised to be with Abraham and show him where to go. God also promised to give Abraham children, grandchildren, and many g
Read more

Isaac Did Not Fight

Image
Genesis 26:12-25 Take-Home Our story comes from the book, or part, of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis means "the beginning." The Bible tells us about a man named Isaac. God gave Isaac lots of land. God blessed Isaac by helping him have many animals and servants. When the animals needed water to drink, Isaac and his helpers took them to a well. A well is a hole in the ground that helps you reach water that is under the ground. The animals and people drank the water from the well. The people who lived near Isaac were upset because he had more animals than they did. They filled Isaac’s wells with dirt so the animals couldn’t drink the water. But Isaac didn’t fight. He knew fighting doesn’t fix problems. The people told him to move away. Isaac didn’t have to go, but he packed his things and moved. Clippity-clop. Isaac made a new home on his land for his family and animals. Diggity-dig. Isaac dug a well so his animals would have water to drink. But Isaac
Read more