SUNDAY STORIES
[I. The Message to the Shepherds]
In the dark night, all was still and quiet in those fields at Bethlehem, where the shepherds watched their flock and gazed up into the starry sky, waiting for the dawn.
But as they looked, suddenly they saw an angel of the Lord close to them, and a wonderful light shone all round them—such a glory as they had never seen before, even in the brightest day.
The shepherds were very frightened, but the angel spoke to them at once; and he said to them, what God says to us so many times in the Bible: "Fear not!"
You may think how anxiously the shepherds listened to the angel's words; and those words have been repeated thousands and thousands of times all over the world, and have made heavy hearts rejoice.
Listen to the angel's message: "Fear not! for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."
Still the shepherds held their breath to listen, and still the glory of the Lord shone round them.