The Christmas Story
Long,long ago a carpenter named Joseph and his wife,Mary,lived in the city of Nazareth.
They had a small house,and they had a donkey,but they did not have any children.
One day an angel appeared before Mary. It was the angel Gabriel.
"God has chosen you to be the mother of His son,Jesus,"the angel told Mary.
That made Mary very happy.
Not long after,Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to pay their taxes.
"It is a long journey,"said Joseph."But you can ride our donkey."
And so they went.
When Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem,it was late at night and they were very tired.
There was no room for them at the inn，but the innkeeper said they could sleep in the stable.So they went there to rest for the night.
In the stable were a cow,a lamb,a goat,and a dove.The animals were friendly.
They let Mary use their hay for a bed.
That very night the baby was born.Mary wrapped him up to keep him warm.
There was no crib for the baby,so Mary laid him in the animals" manger.
In the fields nearby,the shepherds who were watching their sheep saw an angel appear in the sky.
The angel said to them,"I bring you news of great joy.Tonight in Bethlehem,a bady has been born in a stable.He is called Jesus Chirst and he is our Lord."
The shepherds went to they saw the little baby in the manger,they were filled with joy.
The shepherds knelt before little Jesus.Then they went out to tell people what the angel had said about the newborn baby.
Far away in the east lived three wise men.
They saw a new star in the sky.
The three wise men knew the star was a sign-a sign that their Lord Jesus had been born.So the wise men set out to follow the star.
The star led them all the way to Bethlehem.
It came to rest right above a little stable.
The wise men went inside the stable.They saw Joseph and Mary with the newborn baby.
They knelt down before the baby Jesus and gave him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Everyone was filled with joy.Even the nimals in the stable seemed to know how special this baby was.
Now every year at Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,because he brought the good news of God"s love to the world.
