A Christmas Tale

The tale of three trees is a

traditional folk tale that

beautifully depicts the mes-

sage of Christ’s birth, minis-

try on earth and death on the cross. It is a story that has been

told for many years and speaks to all generations. It is much

more than a Christmas story, but is especially meaningful

during the Christmas season. Read it together as a family, re-

flect on the meaning through your advent season or share it at

the dinner table on Christmas day. Merry Christmas!

This file includes: A foldable mini story book, coloring

page, foldable treasure chest, cut and fold cone trees for

decorating, colored and outlined tree banner,

large and small printable images

On

a s

un

ny m

ou

nta

in t

op

far

aw

ay

, th

ree

litt

le t

rees

beg

an

to g

row

. T

hey

wer

e sm

all

and f

ull

of

dre

ams.

T

he

firs

t li

ttle

tre

e dre

amed

of

rich

es a

nd w

ealt

h.

“I w

ant

to

hold

gold

and d

iam

onds!

I w

ill

bec

om

e th

e m

ost

bea

uti

ful

trea

sure

ches

t in

all

the

worl

d!”

T

he

seco

nd t

ree

looked

longin

gly

at

a li

ttle

str

eam

, fl

ow

ing

dow

n t

he

mounta

in s

ide

and i

nto

the

gre

at o

cean

. “I

wan

t to

sail

the

mig

hty

wat

ers

and c

arry

pow

erfu

l kin

gs!

I’l

l b

e th

e

larg

est,

most

str

onges

t sh

ip i

n a

ll t

he

worl

d!”

T

he

thir

d t

ree

looked

dow

n a

t th

e busy

lit

tle

vil

lage

in t

he

val

ley,

full

of

men

at

work

and c

hil

dre

n a

t p

lay.

“I d

on

’t w

ant

to b

e cu

t dow

n.

I w

ant

to s

tay h

ere

on t

he

mo

un

tain

to

p a

nd

gro

w s

trai

ght

and t

all.

I w

ant

to b

e so

tal

l th

at w

hen

peo

ple

look u

p a

t m

e, t

hey

see

me

poin

ting t

o h

eaven

an

d t

hin

k o

f

God.”

T

he

yea

rs w

ent

by.

Rai

ns

cam

e an

d t

he

sun s

ho

ne

on

th

e li

ttle

tree

s. T

hey

gre

w t

all

and s

trong.

One

day

, th

ree

wo

od

cutt

ers

cam

e cl

imbin

g u

p t

he

mounta

in s

ide.

On

e wo

od

cutter lo

oked

at the first tree an

d th

ought, “T

his

tree is beau

tiful, it w

ill work

perfectly

for m

e.” He sw

ung h

is

axe an

d th

e first tree fell to th

e gro

und. “N

ow

I will b

e mad

e

into

a beau

tiful treasu

re chest to

hold

gold

and d

iamonds!”

Th

e first tree tho

ught.

Th

e nex

t wo

odcu

tter looked

at the seco

nd tree an

d said

, “This

tree loo

ks v

ery stro

ng. T

his is d

efinitely

the tree fo

r me.” H

e

swu

ng h

is axe an

d th

e second tree fell to

the g

round. “N

ow

I

will b

ecom

e the stro

ngest sh

ip in

all the w

orld

!” thought th

e

secon

d tree.

Th

e third

tree grew

sad, an

d h

er heart san

k as th

e last wood-

cutter w

alked

tow

ard h

er. She h

ad g

row

n v

ery straig

ht an

d

tall, reachin

g u

p to

the sk

y. S

he sto

od p

roudly

as the w

ood-

cutter

loo

ked

u

p

at her.

He

did

not

seem

impressed

. H

e

swu

ng is ax

e and m

uttered

, “I don’t n

eed an

yth

ing sp

ecial,

any tree w

ill wo

rk fo

r me.” T

he th

ird tree fell w

ith a th

ud.

Th

e first tree was carried

into

a carpen

ter’s shop, w

here sh

e

was cu

t and

nailed

togeth

er to fo

rm a feed

ing b

ox fo

r ani-

mals. T

he sad

tree realized sh

e was n

ot ev

er goin

g to

be co

v-

ered in

go

ld o

r filled w

ith fin

e treasure. In

stead, sh

e was d

irty

and

filled w

ith fo

od fo

r hungry

anim

als. T

he seco

nd

tree grew

excited

as the w

oodcu

tter bro

ught h

er

into

a ship

pin

g y

ard. “M

y d

reams are co

min

g tru

e! I will b

e-

com

e the m

igh

tiest ship

in all th

e

world

! I will sail th

e great o

cean!” In

stead, th

e mig

hty

tree

was cu

t and h

amm

ered in

to a sm

all fishin

g b

oat. S

he w

as no

t

strong en

ough

to sail th

e mig

hty

ocean

or b

ig en

ough

for th

e

fast riv

er. In

stead sh

e w

as tak

en

to a

quiet

lake

to catch

smelly

fish.

The th

ird tree w

as sad. A

ll she ev

er wan

ted to

do

was g

row

tall and p

rou

d an

d p

oin

t peo

ple to

heav

en. In

stead, sh

e was

cut d

ow

n in

to lo

ng p

ieces of w

oo

d an

d left in

a pile at th

e

lum

ber y

ard. “I w

anted

to p

oin

t peo

ple to

Go

d, n

ow

I’ve b

een

left here an

d th

ey’v

e forg

otten

all about m

e” she th

ough

t. T

he

day

s p

assed b

y an

d th

ree trees

forg

ot

all ab

ou

t th

eir

dream

s. T

hen

, one n

ight, a p

recious b

aby w

as wrap

ped

in clo

th an

d

placed

in th

e wo

oden

feed b

ox to

sleep. P

eople cam

e and

bow

ed d

ow

n to

th

e bab

y,

anim

als gazed

in

w

ond

er an

d a

gleam

ing star sh

ow

n d

ow

n o

n h

im. A

ll of creatio

n seem

ed to

sing fo

r joy. T

he w

ind

whisp

ered an

d th

e trees rustled

. In th

at

mo

men

t, the first tree k

new

that sh

e was h

old

ing th

e mo

st

valu

able treasu

re in all th

e wo

rld!

One d

ay a g

roup o

f tired trav

elers gath

ered o

nto

the sm

all

fishin

g b

oat. O

ne o

f the m

en fell asleep

as the b

oat d

rifted o

ut

onto

the w

ater. The rain

started to

fall, thun

der crash

ed an

d

win

d to

ssed th

e wav

es. Th

e little boat ro

cked

back

and

forth

. Th

e se

con

d t

ree

was

sca

red. S

he

was

not

big

en

ou

gh

or

stro

ng

eno

ugh

to

kee

p t

he

trav

eler

s sa

fe d

uri

ng t

his

sto

rm.

Sudden

ly,

the

man

th

at w

as a

slee

p s

too

d u

p.

He

stre

tched

out

his

han

ds

and

co

mm

anded

the

wav

es t

o S

TO

P!

Th

e se

a an

d t

he

win

d

ob

eyed

. A

ll w

as a

t pea

ce.

It w

as t

hen

th

at t

he

seco

nd t

ree

re-

aliz

ed s

he

was

car

ryin

g t

he

gre

ates

t K

ing i

n a

ll o

f h

eaven

and

eart

h.

On

Fri

day

morn

ing,

the

thir

d t

ree

was

yan

ked

har

shly

fro

m a

wo

od

pil

e an

d n

aile

d t

oget

her

. A

n i

nju

red

man

pic

ked

her

up

and

car

ried

her

acr

oss

his

ble

edin

g b

ack.

He

carr

ied

her

dow

n

a ro

cky p

ath,

thro

ugh a

cro

wd

of

angry

peo

ple

. T

hey

yel

led a

t

the

man

and s

pit

on h

im a

s th

ey p

asse

d.

Sh

e w

as h

orr

ifie

d a

s

sold

iers

nai

led t

he

man

’s h

and

s to

her

, th

en s

too

d h

er u

p i

n

fro

nt

of

ever

yone.

They

hu

rled

insu

lts

and

mo

cked

the

man

.

Th

e tr

ee f

elt

asham

ed a

nd

co

nfu

sed

as

the

man

hu

ng t

her

e to

die

. B

ut

then

, so

met

hin

g w

on

der

ful

hap

pen

ed.

Su

nday

morn

-

ing c

ame,

the

gro

und s

ho

ok a

nd

th

e ea

rth

rej

oic

ed!

The

man

that

h

ad b

een nai

led to

a

tree

w

as al

ive!

H

e h

ad d

efea

ted

dea

th a

nd

chan

ged

ever

yth

ing.

Th

e tr

ee k

new

that

fro

m n

ow

on

, ev

ery t

ime

som

eone

loo

ked

at

her

th

ey w

ou

ld t

hin

k o

f

Go

d.

A C

hristm

as T

ale

1 2 3

became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only

Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 John 1:14

became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the

Father, full of grace and truth.

1 John 1:14

The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!

The One Who Made Us Has Come To Live With Us!