Joy to the World!

The Children’s Word is a weekly bulletin for Orthodox Christian young people. Copyright 2014 Alexandra Houck.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Mark 10:4

Sunday, December 21, 2014 Volume 2, Issue 51

JOY to the World!JOY to the World!JOY to the World!JOY to the World!

Angels. Shepherds. Wise men. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Even as

the littlest kid, you knew the story. But

you know lots of stories, don’t you?

What’s different about the Christmas

story?

Well, the Christmas story is true! And it

brings you joy! On Christmas Eve, we’ll hear

about the shepherds, who saw an angel

standing in front of them. And what did he

say? “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you

good news of great joy which will be to all people.”

Wait. To ALL people? Not just for my family and me? Not just for my friends

at church? Not just for Christians? No! Joy to all people. Joy to the world!

Sometimes we might think that our Lord, Jesus Christ is just for us Chris-

tians. But the Bible tells us that He came to earth to bring joy to ALL people.

Did you know that YOU can help bring that joy to all the world? When you

try to be like Christ, you help bring joy to the world. When you are kind and

loving to others, you can share the joy of Christ to everybody around

you...even people who aren’t Christians, even people who don’t go to your

church, or to any church at all! Yes, joy to all the world!

A Ministry of the

Orthodox Christian Network

Jesus Christ is for everybody!Jesus Christ is for everybody!Jesus Christ is for everybody!Jesus Christ is for everybody!

What’s in an icon?

WHAT DO YOU SAY?WHAT DO YOU SAY?WHAT DO YOU SAY?WHAT DO YOU SAY?

This icon was made

more than one thousand

years ago!

Can you find Mary, the

Theotokos and our Lord

as a baby?

Unscramble these

words to find out

what you can say

to people at

Christmastime!

Greeting:

CSHIRT SI ROBN! __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __!

Answer:

GIOFYLR MIH! __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __!

Greeting: Christ is born! Answer: Glorify Him!

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS!

How do YOU get ready for

Christmas? Do you buy or make

presents? Do you help cook a fancy

dinner? Do you decorate the house?

We all have ways of getting ready for

the great day.

But in today’s Gospel reading, we hear

about how people had been getting

ready for the very first Christmas.

They had been getting ready...for al-

most two thousand years! We hear,

“Abraham was the father of Isaac, and

Isaac the father of Jacob…” and so on, all

the way down to Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Abraham lived almost two thousand years before Christ was born!

Ever since then, the faithful people had waited. They got ready for the

first Christmas. Not with fancy dinners or pretty Christmas trees, of

course. They prayed that God would give them a Savior, somebody

who would save the world. This Somebody was our Lord, Jesus Christ!

So on Christmas Eve night, when you are excited for Christmas to come,

just remember the people who really had to wait...for two thousand

years! Then, let’s thank God that He has come!

We celebrate the Nativity of our Lord on Thursday, December 25th!

OUR waiting is the easy part!OUR waiting is the easy part!OUR waiting is the easy part!OUR waiting is the easy part!