Dear Parents,
   This week in our Bible time we will be moving from the Old Testament into the
New Testament as we review the life of Jesus.
   We will be studying Luke, chapters 1 and 2, focusing on the beloved truths
of the birth of Jesus.
   Our prayer is that we instill in our students a deep reverence for the beautiful
story of our Savior's birth and that it never become common-place to us.

                                                                   The Child Jesus

 * Mary, who was a young woman gentle and good, lived in the town of Nazareth.  She was 
    soon to marry a carpenter named Joseph.  She was visited one day by an angel named
    Gabriel who told her that she would have a son and that she should name him Jesus.
    He said the Holy Spirit would be with her and the child would be the Son of God.

 * Mary and Joseph were married. Then one day they had to travel to Bethlehem to pay their
    taxes.  It was a long journey.  When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no place for 
    them at the inn. They spent the night in the stable.   That night the baby was born.
    They named him Jesus, just as the angel had said.

 * An angel appeared to shepherds who were in the nearby fields.  A great light shone
    down on them, and the angel told them, "Do not be afraid.  A Savior who is Christ
    the Lord is born tonight."  The shepherds left in search of this child.  They found him
    in the stable.

 * Wise men from the east followed a star to Jerusalem in search of Jesus.  King Herod
    tried to trick the men, so he could find out where this child was that they were calling
    "King of the Jews." (He was afraid the child would one day take his throne from him.)
    The wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem in a house.  They worshiped him and gave
    him gifts of gold, frankincense (incense) and myrrh.

 * When Jesus was twelve years old, Mary and Joseph took him with them to 
    Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.  On the way home there was such a crowd,
    they did not know Jesus wasn't with them.  When they went back they found him 
    in the Temple talking to the teachers and the doctors of the law.
    He told them, "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"
    He went back to Nazareth and was obedient to them.  Jesus grew in wisdom,
    stature, and in favor with God and men.

    These stories of Jesus as a child can be found in Matthew chapters 1 and 2 
    and in the book of Luke chapter 2.
 
Memory verse:
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for 
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.

                                                     Luke 2:10-12

You can listen to the story of the Birth of Jesus at:  http://gardenofpraise.com/bibl23s.htm