Even though it is made up of many different books, the Bible actually makes one big story.

In the Bible we can read about a lot of different men and women. One of these men is Abraham, who was chosen by God to be his friend.

Abraham's descendants became a great nation, called Israel, made up of twelve tribes. They also became slaves in Egypt, and God asked someone called Moses to lead them to a land that he had promised them.

Hundreds of years later the people of Israel struggled to obey God.

He sent them messengers cand other leaders to help them but in the end God let foreign nations conquer them and to take them to their own countries. This is called the Exile.

After 70 years the people of Israel returned to their own land and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem which had been destroyed.

About four hundred years later, God sent his son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and to die upon the cross.

God had spoken through his servants in the Old Testament. Now he spoke through his own son. For that reason Jesus has been called the Word of God.

The apostle Paul was one of many followers of Jesus who began to take the message about God and his son Jesus to the rest of the world.

Today there are Christians all over the world.

Christians believe that God will one day bring to an end what he began in creation. Jesus will return and God will be worshipped by everyone.