A N N O D O M I N I P U B L I S H I N G FORMAT 128 pages 226 x190mm Cased AUTHOR Rhona Davies, a trained teacher, writes for children with a keen sense of staying faithful to the spirit of the biblical text. Actively involved in her local church, she is married with teenage sons. ILLUSTRATOR Gustavo Mazali has been drawing since he was a little boy in the 1960s. Based in Buenos Aires, he started illustrating comics, then children s books, and has made a name for himself illustrating Children s Bibles, helped by his personal faith and mission. MY FIRST COMMUNION BIBLE My First Communion Bible 80 81 Caring and Sharing J OHN 6:1-13 The storm on the lake LUKE 8:22-24 It had been a busy day. Jesus asked his friends to sail across to the other side of Lake Galilee. Before long, Jesus was sleeping at one end of the boat, gently rocked by the waves. But after a while, a storm blew up. The wind howled and the waves tossed the little boat up and down, up and down till the disciples felt sick. Even the sailors among them feared for their lives! Help us, Jesus, or we will drown! they shouted. Jesus sat up and looked at the storm. Then he stood up and spoke to the wind and waves. Be calm, be still, he said. The disciples looked on, astonished, as the sea became calm and gentle once more. Who was Jesus, that even the wind and waves obeyed him? Rhona Davies Illustrated by Gustavo Masali My First Communion Bible This new illustrated Bible is designed for children taking their first Communion. As they engage with a wide range of Bible stories they learn more about God s love for them and the faith that brings them to this special occasion. The sun was going down. Jesus had been teaching and healing people all day. They were more than 5000 people on the hillside, most of them a long way from home. Where can we find food for these people to eat? Jesus asked Philip. They must be tired and hungry. Philip knew they didn t have money to buy food for the huge crowd. But there was a boy in the crowd with his own picnic lunch. He told Andrew he would be happy to let Jesus have his five pieces of bread and two little fish Andrew brought the boy to Jesus. Jesus thanked the boy and then thanked God for providing the food. Then he asked his friends to share it out among the people. Each person shared with the next until everyone there had something to eat. It was a miracle. No one went hungry that day and there were even twelve baskets of left-overs! God had blessed the hungry crowd. 86 87 www.ad-publishing.com CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION: info@ad-publishing.com
MY FIRST COMMUNION BIBLE My First Communion Bible Rhona Davies Illustrated by Gustavo Masali
My First Communion Bible Rhona Davies Illustrated by Gustavo Masali 4
In the beginning G ENESIS 1 Right at the very beginning, God was there. God spoke into the cold, deep darkness and said, Let there be light! God created the light, and the day and the night; God brought the water together into seas and shaped world into mountains and valleys, soil and sand. God made tall trees, fruit trees, flowers and leaves to grow on the land. God made the sun shine and the moon and stars shimmer. God made fish dart in the water and birds fly in the sky. God made bees and butterflies, mice and monkeys, lions, bears and giraffe and every kind of wonderful creature; and God made man and woman, who felt and thought and loved just as God did. God s world was good; it was very good. 10 11
Moses and the princess EXODU S 2: 1-10 By the time Joseph and the old king had died, there were thousands of Abraham s descendants living in Egypt. The new king was afraid of the foreigners he called Hebrews. He made them his slaves and he gave orders that every new-born Hebrew boy child should be drowned in the River Nile. When Miriam s mother gave birth to a baby boy, she hid the baby from the soldiers until his cries grew too loud. Then she made a basket for him and hid it by the side of the river. Oh! It must be one of the Hebrew babies! said the princess when she came to bathe in the river. She smiled at the little baby. He will live with me in the palace. I will call him Moses. 26 27
A burning bush EXODU S 3:1 4:17 Moses grew up in the palace but he saw what was happening to his people. He knew that the king was cruel to them. Moses hated what he saw day after day. Then one day Moses saw a slave driver beating a man so hard, he couldn t stand it any longer. Moses was so angry, he stepped in to help the man and killed the slave driver. After that, he couldn t stay in Egypt. Moses ran away into the desert. Then one day, God spoke to him from a burning bush. Go to the king of Egypt, Moses. Tell him to let my people go! 28 29
Plagues in Egypt EXODU S 1, 5:1-2 Moses took his brother Aaron and went to see the king. They gave him God s message but it made the king angry. Who is this God? he said. I don t know him. I will NOT let his people go. So God sent plagues to the land of Egypt. First the waters of the Nile turned to blood. Then croaking frogs appeared in every house, in every room, cupboard and cooking pot. There were biting gnats and buzzing flies. Itchy, oozing boils made the people miserable and a plague killed the sheep, goats and cattle. There was a terrible hailstorm and locusts that stripped every green plant in the land. Then there was a deep, deep darkness over the land for three days. 30 31
A path across the sea EXODU S 14:15-29 God led Moses and his people to freedom. God appeared to them by day as a pillar of cloud and at night as a pillar of fire. By the time they reached the banks of the Red Sea, the king had already changed his mind again. They could see the dust of his chariots behind them! Moses raised his stick over the waters and the sea divided in front of them. All God s people crossed over the sea on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to follow, Moses raised his stick again and the waters of the Red Sea flowed back. Now they were free! 34 35
Ten rules for life EXODU S 21:2-26 The Israelites walked in the desert until they reached Mount Sinai. Moses went up the mountain and God gave Moses rules to help them live. God is the only God. Love him alone. Don t make idols or worship anything else but God. Respect God s name. It is special and holy. Keep the Sabbath as a special day. Love and respect your parents. Don t murder anyone. Don t steal someone else s wife or husband. Do not steal anything from anyone. Do not lie to anyone. Don t be jealous of other people s things. The rules were written on two large stones and were known as the Ten Commandments. 36 37
Spies in the land J OSHU A 2:1-15 Moses died before they reached the land of Canaan. Joshua became their leader who would take them back to the land where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had lived long ago. Joshua sent spies into the walled city of Jericho to see how friendly the people were. But when the king found out, he sent his soldiers to capture them! Quick! Hide here under the flax on my roof, said Rahab. We all know your God led you safely out of Egypt. We know you will take our city. Promise me that you will protect my family when you come. The spies promised and Rahab let them down the city walls so they could escape by night. 38 39
The very first king 1 SAMU EL 9:1-17 While Samuel was prophet, God s people decided that they wanted a king like all the nations around them. God is your king! said Samuel. He will take care of you. But the people still wanted a king. So God told Samuel to anoint Saul. Saul was tall and handsome and became a brave king. For a while the people were happy. Then Saul decided that he liked power and wanted to do things his own way. He led the people to do things that God s people should not do. And things began to go wrong. 46 47
The kind widow 1 KINGS 17:7-16 When the water in the brook dried up, God sent Elijah to Zarephath. There he met a woman collecting sticks for a fire. Do you have some bread and water you can share with me? Elijah asked. I have only enough for one last meal, she replied. Then my son and I will die, because there is no more. Share it with me and God will bless you, Elijah told her. The woman used her last drop of oil and her last grains of flour to make bread and she shared it with Elijah and her son. But when she looked again, there was just enough oil and just enough flour left for the next meal. So she shared her meal with Elijah again. For as long as the woman shared, there was just enough oil and just enough flour to feed them while the drought lasted. God had blessed them. 56 57
Jonah runs away J ONAH 1:1-3 Jonah did not like the violent people who lived in Nineveh who made war on God s people. So when God told Jonah to go there, Jonah boarded a ship going the other way. He did not want to go! Jonah was asleep when a terrible storm tossed his boat high on the waves. The sailors clung on in fear for their lives. Throw me overboard! Jonah shouted. This is my fault for not listening to the God who made all the world. But as Jonah went under the water, God sent a huge fish to rescue him. Jonah sat and prayed in the body of the fish for three days. Then the great fish spat him out on to the shore. He went to Nineveh with God s message and the people there listened. They were sorry for the bad things they had done. And because God is kind and compassionate, he forgave them. 60 61
The blazing, fiery furnace D ANIEL 3:1-27 Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were also taken captive in Babylon. They were educated young men so they were trained to work for the king. But they didn t forget who they were. They didn t forget that God was the only God and that they had promised to love and worship only him. So when they were ordered to bow down and worship a statue the king had made, they would not bow down as everyone else did. The king was very angry; and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace. The king watched in amazement as the men seemed to be walking around in the fire protected by an angel! The king had them released from the fire. He realized that their God had saved them. 62 63
Thrown to the lions! D ANIEL 6:1-16 The king saw how clever Daniel was. The king saw that he could be trusted. Soon Daniel was a very important man in Babylon. Jealous men began to plot and plan against Daniel. But Daniel seemed to have no faults. He did nothing wrong. One day they went to the king with an idea about a new law to be passed. The law said the king was very great and that only he should be worshipped by all the people Anyone who broke this law should be thrown to the lions! The king was rather pleased. He did not realize that he had been tricked. Daniel knew about the new law but he loved God. He prayed to God three times a day, just as he had before. The king had no choice but to have him thrown to the lions. The king was very sad indeed. He went to the lions den next morning expecting bad news. Daniel, the king said. Has your God saved you from the hungry lions? He was very surprised when Daniel answered him! God had kept Daniel safe. 64 65
Peace in all the world LUKE 2:8-16 A very long time later, God s plan for his people and for the whole world began to unfold on a hillside outside Bethlehem, the city where King David had lived long ago. Shepherds were taking care of their sheep that night when they were startled by a bright, shining light which broke through the darkness. Angels had come with a message from God! Don t be afraid, they said. We have good news today your Saviour has been born in Bethlehem. You will find him lying in a manger. The shepherds listened to the sound of heavenly music as the angels sang of the child sent by God to bring peace to everyone on earth. Then the shepherds left their sheep and went to find the baby. 66 67
First friends and helpers LUKE 5:1-11 Jesus was ready to begin the work God had planned for him and the prophets had spoken of long ago. Jesus had come to set prisoners free. Jesus had come to save people from their sins and teach them how to love God and live the way God had always intended. Jesus chose helpers, friends who would be with him and would learn from him. The first of the twelve men known as his disciples were fishermen. Peter and his brother Andrew had been fishing all night but caught nothing. Let your net down on the other side, said Jesus. And their net filled with so many fish, they were afraid it would break! James and his brother John came to help. Come and follow me, said Jesus, and you will catch far more than these fish. You will be fishers of men and women. Then they left their nets and became followers of Jesus, along with Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew the tax collector, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot. 74 75
The hole in the roof M ARK 2:1-12, LUKE 5:17-26 Everyone wanted to see Jesus and to listen to him talk about God. So no one could get close to him when he met in a house in Capernaum. It was full to bursting! The four men carrying a mat on which their paralyzed friend was lying thought quickly. They carefully made their way up the steps outside the house to the roof. The only way Jesus could heal their friend was if they lowered him down through a hole in the roof! Jesus smiled up at the four faces looking down at him and at the man on the mat now in front of him. Pick up your mat; you can walk home, said Jesus. Everyone watched, amazed, as the man walked home. It was a miracle. 76 77
Jesus, the teacher M ATTHEW 4 Jesus talked about God to his friends as if he really knew him. He told the people who came to him how much God loved them. No one had ever told them such things before. Don t worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, said Jesus. Look how beautiful the flowers are! See how the birds find enough to eat. God takes care of them and he will take care of you because he loves you even more. God knows you need all these things. Trust him and he will take care of you. Learn to love other people even if they are not kind to you. This is the way you will change the world, by loving and forgiving and being kind. Don t be selfish or greedy. Share what you have with people who need it. 82 83
The blind beggar M ARK 10:46-52 Bartimaeus sat by the roadside begging, day after day. He could hear the birds singing and he could feel the warmth of the sun but Bartimaeus could not see the faces of the people around him because he was blind. One day he heard a great fuss going on along the road. Someone was coming, someone important. Bartimaeus could hear many voices and the sound of many feet. When he realized that it was Jesus, Bartimaeus became very excited and called out, Jesus, help me! Bartimaeus already knew who Jesus was. He knew that if he would, he could help him to see. Jesus, please help me! he shouted again. Jesus stopped and asked someone to bring Bartimaeus to him. What do you want? asked Jesus. I want to see! he replied. Jesus was happy to heal Bartimaeus because he trusted him to help him. But once he could see, Bartimaeus was so happy, he wanted only one thing, to follow Jesus. 96 97
Breakfast at sunrise J OHN 21:1-13 The disciples had not seen Jesus for a few days. I m going fishing, said Peter. I ll come too, said Thomas. Six of the disciples went with Peter that night. Together they fished the waters of Lake Galilee as they had three years earlier when Jesus had first called them. As the sun rose over the hills, they heard a man calling to them from the shore. Have you caught anything? he shouted. No, nothing, they answered. Try the other side! the man shouted back. The fishermen were tired but they cast the nets one last time and felt the pull of the nets as they filled with fish! Peter knew who the man was and jumped into the water to get to the shore faster. It was Jesus! Jesus was warming bread and cooking fish. Together they ate breakfast on the shore. Then Jesus asked Peter three times: Do you love me? Peter could not forget the night when he had denied that Jesus was his friend. You know that I love you! he answered. I want you to take care of the others, Jesus told him. 120 121
T his new illustrated Bible is designed for children taking their first Communion. As they engage with a wide range of Bible stories they learn more about God s love for them and the faith that brings them to this special occasion. MY FIRST COMMUNION BIBLE