Zondervan - The Story of Jesus for Kids: Experience the Life of Jesus as one Seamless Story

DISCOVER THE BIBLE
FROM BEGINNING TO END

SELECTIONS FROM THE
NEW INTERNATIONAL
READERS VERSION

This book tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time: the story of a true God who loves his children, who established for them a way of salvation and provided a route to eternity Each story. in these 31 chapters reveals the God of gracethe God who speaks; the God who acts; the God who listens; the God whose love for his people culminated in his sacrifice of Jesus, his only Son, to atone for the sins of humanity.

Whats more: this same God is alive and active todaystill listening, still acting, still pouring out his grace on us. His grace extends to our daily foibles; our ups, downs, and in-betweens; our moments of questions and fears; and most important, our response to his call on our lives. Hes the same God who forgave Davids failures and rescued Jonah from the dark belly of a fish. This same heavenly Father who shepherded the Israelites through the wilderness desires to shepherd us through our wanderings, to help us get past our failures and rescue us for eternity.

Its our prayer that these stories will encourage you to listen for Gods call on your life, as he helps write your own story.

M AX L UCADO and R ANDY F RAZEE

The Story for Kids is unlike any book youve ever read. Think about your favorite book. What does it have in it? Adventures? Excitement? Drama? Heroes? The book youre holding has all those things and more. But unlike many other books you may have read, this story is completely true. Its a Bible that reads like a novel.

If youve read the Bible before, you know how long it is. It has chapter and verse numbers to help you find Bible passages. Maybe youve looked up Bible verses during Sunday school.

In The Story for Kids, these numbers are gone, and instead selections of Bible text were put in order according to when each story happened in history. Using the New International Readers Version (NIrV), this book has actual Bible text along with transitions written especially to help link parts of the Bible together so its easier to understand what each story means and how they go together. The transitions are in italic font to show they are not part of the Bible text.

After each story, you will find discussion questions. Try talking about your answers with your family, friends, or Sunday school class. You might be surprised what they say!

We hope The Story for Kids helps you understand the Bible better and helps you see how the Bible relates to your life.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth didnt have any shape. And it was empty. Darkness was over the surface of the ocean. At that time, the ocean covered the earth. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

God said, Let there be light. And there was light. God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day. He called the darkness night. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.

God said, Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water. And thats exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water that was under the space from the water that was above it. God called the huge space sky. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.

God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear. And thats exactly what happened. God called the dry ground land. He called the waters that were gathered together oceans. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, Let the land produce plants. Let them bear their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds. And thats exactly what happened.

And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.

God said, Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let them serve as signs to mark off the seasons and the days and the years. Let them serve as lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. And thats exactly what happened.

God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day. He made the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars.

God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness.

God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day four.

God said, Let the waters be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the ocean. He created every living and moving thing that fills the waters. He created all kinds of them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them. He said, Have little ones and increase your numbers. Fill the water in the oceans. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.

There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.

God said, Let the land produce all kinds of living creatures. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals. Let there be all kinds of them. And thats exactly what happened.

God made all kinds of wild animals. He made all kinds of livestock. He made all kinds of creatures that move along the ground. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, Let us make man in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Let them rule over the livestock and over the whole earth. Let them rule over all of the creatures that move along the ground.

So God created man in his own likeness.

He created him in the likeness of God.

He created them as male and female.

God blessed them. He said to them, Have children and increase your numbers. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Rule over every living creature that moves on the ground.

Then God said, I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that bears its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food.

I am giving every green plant to all of the land animals and the birds of the air for food. I am also giving the plants to all of the creatures that move on the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes. And thats exactly what happened.

God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six.

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.