The Group Around
The Cradle
By REV. J. EVERETTE NEESE,
Pastor, First Christian Church, Henderson
“Let us go now oven unto Bethle
and see this thing which is come
which the Lord hath made
known ’unto us.” Luke 2:15. “When
. , t h:w had opened their treasures
fhV presented unto him gifts; gold,
frankincense and myrrh.” Matt. 2:11.
Proud Augustus sat in imperial
calender upon the Roman throne.
With a touch of his hand he set in
l{ion the machinery of government
"f l the civilized world. Proud of his
°, a ith he compiled a register of the
Population of his vast domain. That
p ,[ ct sc t in motion the whole land of
Tul a. For, in accordance with Jew
custom, the census was taken at
Th e places where the people were
born as members of the original
melve tribes.
Tims a humble pair leave Galilean
Nazareth to enroll themselves in royal
Bethlehem —Joseph, the village car
npr, and Mary, his espoused wife.
Southward like an invisible hand, that
r oV al decree draws them. They find
Bethlehem overcrowded with strang
le on the same errand. Neither inn
nor friendly house receives them, and
co that very night the infant Savior
■, cra dled in a manger. Next morning
the registration proceeds and on goes
the busy world, ignorant of the fact
that the greatest event in history has
t 3 ken place. Every cradle holds a shut
cLket of unknown possibilities. But
that one in the lowly stable holds the
Messiah of the Jews, the Son of God.,
and the Savior of the world. A group,
strangely prophetic, and as strangely
absent led. surrounds the cradle.
I. In The First Group We Find the
Shepherds.
Under the starry sky of those rocky
ridges they tended their flocks, where
David had done the sum-- centuries
before. They were the plain, honest
toilers and were looking somehow for
the coming One. Suddenly from the
starry heavens burst the angel song.
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“Eear not; for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy.”
First, we may say. It was a mes
sage of good cheer. “I bring you good
tidings of great joy.”
It was a dark and dreary world in
which the child was born, but his
birth was the beginning of a new
hope When Christ made his advent
mto the world it was in a deplorable
condihon. Human wisdom, philosophy
and false worship had failed to lift
the world’s tired head. The human
soul had a deep yearning for some
hing upon which to rest and build its
lopes. The world Was sinking undhi
the weight of woe and guilt. There
was no free government, no equa’
lights; childhood was neglected,
motherhood unhonored, marriage cor
rupt, the religion was pagan and with
out love, the false Gods, who were
without pity, brought no relief to the
sin-cursed world. This new message.id
the world was good tidings indeed. Ti
lifted the weight, opened a path to'a
brighter and better condition and se*
in motion ideals which were soon .to
revolutionize the world. . -v U
Second, It is a message of good
cheer to us today (“I bring unto you
this day.”) > f.
Two expressions should be em :
phasized in this part of the text,
“You” “this day.” This message is fori
us today, because it meets the desires
of the soul as it did in former days*
It answers the question, “Shall I liyci
again?” It is the only thing that dan
give us hope. It is indeed a star hha 1
is capable of illuminating this life
and the life to come. This good mes
sage is like a fountain in the desert
Wherever it sends forth its healing
streams into the desert of sin, the
beautiful and fragrant flowers df
Christian virtue grow and flourish;
This good cheer message of Christ's
birth is for you today.
A mother took her little daughter
St Nicks-in Full Uniform—HoldFirst Convention
itefl i wmbP®!
Tn full .uniform, delegates to the first Santa Claus
convention . in' New York drink a toast to each
Other. More .than a dozen department store St.
to church,. when the minister preach
ed an earnest sermon against sin, try
ing to bring the subject home to the
hearts psi-bis. hearers. The little girl
listened with wide-open eyes, and sud
denly, turning to her mother, in great
distress,. She .whispered, “Mamma, he
means us!" Unto us, to you, to me—
is born ‘ a ’ Savior. Tt means us.
Christmas is the universal festival.
The world, is on pilgrimage to Bethle
hem today because the world’s Savior
was born thebe. Jesus is the Savior for
all races: the Hebrew with his re
ligion, the Greek with his culture, the
Roman with his strength, the civilized
man with his refinement and the
savage with his courseness—a Savior
for all sorts and conditions of people.
I have read that somewhere in Eu
rope tbbre is a bridge with pictures
of Christ on its sides. One picture re
presents him as a peasant, another as
a physician, still another as a car
penter, and yet another as a teacher.
The thought of the artist was to por
tray a Savior suited to every class.
Jesus is this, because he goes beneath
the surface of men’s lives and touches
the deeper need, and this need is the
same in all men.
Luke : tells about the shepherds.
They were of the poor; class of peo
ple, yet the message was for them,
and they were drawn to the manger in
which the Christ-Child lay, and went
away rejoicing.
11. In ’the Second Group We Find
The Wise 1 Men.
The angel preacher and th e heaven
ly choir were followed by the Mage.
“There came wise men from the east,”
the story runs, “And when they were
come intb 'the. house, they saw the
young child; .with Mary, his Mother,
and felj down and* worshipped him;
and when they- had opened.' their treas
ures, they ,f>beserited hinaf with gifts;
gpld, frankincense, and myrrh.”
, The ; chpir cannot voiOe ' the entire
Christmas spirit. The Magi are need
ed. The .song ' must be accompanied
by the , gift—gold, frankincense and
myrrh. The sentiment of the wise
men found, its expression in gifts.
They gave, gold—a gift to relieve
wants, and it probably was used on
the journey to Egypt. The y gave
frankincense, a gift of fragrance. It
was the most fragrant of. all incense,
and was burned before the veil of the
temple and in the most Holy place.
They gave myrrh—a gift of friendship.
It was given when one wanted to]
show real friendship. From these gifts
we get an excellent Christmas lesson.
It is impossible for us to gether a
round the manger cradl e and offer
our gifts to the Lord, but he has said,
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
the least of these,” etc.
Our gifts today should be gifts
which relieve wants. Riches are a
blessing when they can be used for
the relieving of human suffering.
A poor little girl went into a coun
try store and said to the clerk, “I
want some good warm mittens for
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HENDERSON, N. C. DAILY DISPATCH, FRIDAY. DECEMBER 24, 1937
Santa Clauses drink a toa
Safe And Sane Driving
During Holidays Urged
By State Patrol Chief
Raleigh, Dec. 24.—An intensive cam
paign for safe and sane driving dur
ing the Christmas season is hearilty
my mamma’s Christmas present, be
cause mamma is a washer-woman and
has to be out in the cold so much that
her hands get cold.” That is true giv
ing.
Our gifts at this Christmas season
should, also, be gifts of friendship.
The tie of friendship is one of the
strongest ties of the human heart.
Your Christmas gifts should be such
that they will strengthen this tie. A
true friend is an inspiration as well as
a comfort, not so much by what he
does for us as by what he incites us to
do and be, because of his example, his
deeds and his ideals. Friendship
cheers like a sunbeam; charms lik e a
good story; inspires like a brave lead
er; .tinds like a golden chain; and
guides like a heavenly vision.
The best gift we can make is to giv e
ourselves to Christ. There has been
no gift which has meant so much to
the world as God’s gift of his only
Sen. God made his gift to us. Let u.s
give ourselves to Him. A story is told
of an Indiean man, to whom the
Gospel was given—the message of the
love of Christ for us. As he listened
his heart was touched, and he said, “I
must give Jesus something. I will give
him my dog.” This was much for a
poor Indian hunter to give. His dog
was his companion and helper on the
hunt, and he loved him. Because he
loved him and because of his helpful
ness, he placed a high value upon him.
And this possession, woi’th so much,
he wanted to give Jesus.
He. listened to mor e of the wonder
ful love of a more wonderful Savior,
and he said, “I must give him my
gun.” The gum meant his living; but
he was willing to give it to the One
who had given so much for him.
A little while passed, and he said,
“I must giv e Jesus myself.” Now the
Indian had reached the place where
God wnated him—the condition of
mind and heart in which he was
ready to give all, even self, to the Son
of God.
God wants us to give ourselves to
Him. What an excellent time it is to
make such a gift! Just as we are
thinking of God’s gift to us, and of
presenting gifts to our friends, we
should also think of presenting our
selves unreservedly to our Savior.
Let us now join the group around
the cradle.
st at New York convention
Nicks attended the conclave which was called to
elevate Santa Claus standards. But what would a
child say coming upon all of them at once ?
endorsed by Major Arthur Fulk, head
of the State Highway Patrol and di
rector of the Safety Division of the
Motor Vehicle Department.
Such a campaign has been launched
by the executive committee of the
National Safety Council. It has been
endorsed by Governor Clyde R. Hoey
in a recent proclamation calling on
all citizens to cooperate in its suc
cess.
A “Safe and San e Christmas Re
solution” of the council calls atten
tion to the fact that each Christmas
a vast number of American citizens
are slaughtered by traffic on the
streets and highways. It cities the fact
that last Decern’er th e human toll
reached the “terrifying total” of 4,290
—more Americans than were killed in
the Revolutionary War.
Another “whereas” clause points to
the hurry and hustle of holiday ac
tivities,- the icy streets, lowered visi
bility, sleet and snow and fewer hours
of layiight as contributory factors in
making driving at this time parti
cularly dangerous.
The council urges all citizens to
“replace indifference with indigna
tion, to temper sentiment with sanity,
and to interpret the - Christmas spirit;
of good will in concrete terms, of pro
tecting life and limb on the high
way.”
Specific recommendations ar e that
all participate in the campaign by
“being careful and considerate of
others on the streets and highways,
whether driving or walking; by driv
ing and walking with special caution
during the holidays; by not driving
after drinking, and by supporting
strict enforcement of the laws against
reckless and drunken driving.”
•
ADMINISTRATRIX NOTICE
Having qualified as Administratrix,
of the estate of A. R. Walters, deceas
ed, late of Vance County, North Caro
lina, this is to notify all persons hav
ing claims against the estate of said
deceased to exhibit them to the under
signed on or before the 27th day of
November, 1938, or this notice will
be pleaded in bar to their recovery.
All persons indebted to the estate will
please make immediate settlement.
This 27th day of Novmber, 1937.
MRS. A. R. WALTERS,
Administratrix of the Estate
of A. R. Walters, deceased.
| THE HAPPIEST TIME jj
i OF THE YEAR |
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H At Christmas time we lay aside our wor- jp
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1— M. G. EVANS I
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