OUR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS

“And this is the way to have eternal life—

to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,

the one you sent to earth.”

John 17:3 NLT

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Some time ago Pastor Jared asked Donna and me to briefly share our “Childhood Memories of Christmas” at our church on the First Sunday of Advent.

Since this Blog Link is emailed to many people beyond those who gather for the Second Service at WCAG, I thought, why not share our “Memories” with the rest of you. No big deal, just our “Childhood Memories of Christmas.”

Donna & I are both of German decent, and grew up on farms in SD, so our childhood memories of Christmas, not surprisingly, have similarities.

Iver’s Memories:
My earliest childhood memories of Christmas come out of the great depression of the 1930’s. I have no recollection of ever getting a Christmas toy. We never had a Christmas tree or decorations at our house. But every Christmas my Dad would bring home a block of halvah candy for the family, a tradition his parents brought from Russia. Since my Dad read aloud from his German Bible every morning, he must have read the Christmas story to us at Christmas.

My childhood Christmas memories mainly come from the Annual Christmas Eve programs at our little one room country church, which was five miles from our farm. If snow was too deep for our Model T, we would go by bobsled. Our little church was heated by a potbellied stove in the middle of the room. Gas lanterns, hanging along the walls, were our source of light.

There always was a large live Christmas tree on the platform. It had a few decorations, and burning wax candles. Under the tree were brown paper bags with nuts, candy, an apple and maybe an orange. The part I remember most about the Christmas program was how all of us Sunday School children would come to the front one by one to recite our Christmas piece, hopefully without any need for prompting. The entire program was in German, and would end with everyone joining in singing Christmas carols, which always concluded with "Schtilhe Nacht, Heilige Nacht". At this point all the children’s heads turned toward the door at the back of the church and in came Santa Claus. He passed out the treats that were under the tree – I think most all of us kids knew he was just one of the men from the church.

Donna’s Memories:
Christmas Eve at our church was always something we looked forward to. We had the usual program of recitations, songs, and the drama of the birth of Jesus with all the shepherds and wise men in their bathrobes. After the program, the Sunday School teachers gave small gifts to the children in their classes, and the ushers distributed bags of candy, nuts and fruit to each of the children.

When we got home from church my sister and I went right to bed. After we were out of the way, Mom and Dad set up the live Christmas tree, decorated it and put the gifts around it.

We were always too excited to fall asleep. So we very quietly tiptoed into our parents’ bedroom which had a heat register in the floor directly above the living room, where they were working. We were hoping to hear some clue as to what gift we might get for Christmas, but we never did.

Christmas morning we would dash downstairs to the living room to see the Christmas tree all decorated and with real burning wax candles. It was beautiful, but also rather dangerous. One Christmas an ornament caught fire, dropped down to the floor and went rolling around the tree. I was really scared, but Dad was right there and immediately took care of it.

We never had candy bars at our house, but one Christmas, there was a chocolate candy bar under the tree. By this time there were six of us kids, and we all wondered who it was for. But Mom solved the problem by cutting it into six pieces. I still remember taking very small bites to make it last as long as possible.

Our parents taught us from little on about Jesus, and Christmas was always a very happy time for our family.

Iver’s Conclusion:
These are some of our childhood memories of Christmas - Seemingly not all that “spiritual” but in that environment, Donna & I and all our 13 brothers and sisters came to know the Christ of Christmas in a personal way.

We are so thankful for the wonderful heritage that has been ours and is being passed on from generation to generation.

We trust you had a very blessed Christmas with many cherished memories to hold on to.

SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH EVERYONE

“And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

After seeing him,

the shepherds told everyone

what had happened

and what the angel had said

to them about this child.”
Luke 2:16-17 NLT

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After the angel and the heavenly host were gone, the shepherds knew they had to check this out. So they hurried to Bethlehem (I believe it was that same night). They found the stable where Mary and Joseph were staying, and just as the angel had said, there was the baby, lying in a manger.

This was not just another baby, this was the one whom the angel of God had announced to them. This was “The Savior, Christ The Lord”— whom the prophets had foretold would be born of a virgin. The one of whom Isaiah had said “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” 9:6 NLT What awe must have filled the shepherds’ hearts as these prophecies may have flashed through their memories! I am sure they stayed around for a while to soak in the wonder of it all.

By the time they left the manger, and started back to their flock, it must have been daylight, because they ran into people. They told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

As I thought about this, I began to realize we have a much fuller story to tell about Jesus, than the shepherds had. The Gospels tell us how Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. How He taught the disciples and the crowds all that the Father taught Him. How He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead. How he ascended to heaven with the promise that He would come back again to rule and reign. He sent The Holy Spirit to indwell us and make all these truths become real to us.

You see we do have a much fuller story to tell than the shepherds did. We have even greater reasons to be glorifying and praising God than they, and tell everyone that the Babe of the manger is now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And the day is coming when every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue confess that He is Lord!

Let’s Pray-
Thank you Father, for the Good News of Christmas. BY your grace we have come to personally know the Babe as our Lord and savior. Help us to share the Good News with everyone we meet along life’s way.
Amen

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GOOD NEWS - GREAT JOY - TO ALL PEOPLE

“I bring you good news

that will bring great joy to all people.

The Savior—

yes, the Messiah, the Lord—

has been born!”
Luke 2:10-11 NLT

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Prophets had predicted that some time in the future a Savior would be born. People were waiting and wondering for hundreds of years, “when would it ever happen?” I suppose some had lost hope and no longer expected it to literally come to pass. Most likely those who were still holding on to the promise assumed when the Messiah would be born, it would be announced to some one “important” like a prophet, priest or king.

Among the lowliest people of that time were shepherds, sheep herders, who lived with the sheep day and night. Not in their wildest dreams, would it ever have occurred to them that they would be the first to hear of the Savior’s birth.

In 1 Corinthians 1 Paul tells us why God does things like that, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.” 26-27 NLT. God is not prejudiced against the worldly wise and powerful, He just knows they seldom put their trust in Him. He also knows the people the world calls foolish, weak and unimportant are the very ones more apt to trust Him, so He chooses to work through them.

It’s to the lowly in heart that God reveals His greatest truths - truths of “good news,” which bring “great joy.” What could be better news for us who have broken God’s law and stand guilty before Him, than to learn that a Savior has come to erase our guilt and set us free?
“It is joy unspeakable and full of glory!” May this Advent Season find us joining the “heavenly host” singing with greater joy than ever.

“Joy to the world! The Savior reigns: Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.”

Let’s Pray-
Heavenly Father, we have taken Christmas for granted for so long it has lost its’ meaning. Please forgive us, and restore to us again the joy of our Savior’s birth!
Amen

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HAVING OUR NEEDS MET

“Don’t worry about these things,

saying, ‘What will we eat?

What will we drink? What will we wear?’

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers,

but your heavenly Father

already knows all your needs.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,

and live righteously,

and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:31-33 NLT

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In the early 1930’s the north central part of SD, where I grew up, was experiencing the “Dust Bowl.” On some of the plowed fields all the top soil blew off and piled up in drifts like snow (click on picture). Crops failed year after year. My Dad bought bailed hay from MN to feed the workhorses. All that the milk cows got were tumbleweeds. One summer two of my older brothers went to the Brownsville, TX area to shock grain. For their pay they came back with a pickup load of oats for the next spring’s planting. Those were difficult days. People thought this might be the end of the world and were talking about Jesus coming back soon.

My mother made clothes for me from other peoples worn out things. I clearly remember as a child of 4 or 5, sitting on the kitchen table watching her sew together a little jacket by hand for me to wear to church. I said to her “Mama, why are you making me this jacket – Jesus is coming back soon.” As a young child, on a simplistic level, I seemed to believe that would solve all our problems.

How is it, that the more material things we amass, the more we are inclined to put our trust in them? And when they are threatened, like now, we begin to worry and ask questions. What if we lose our health insurance? How are we going to pay the bills? ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’

Today, like in the 30’s, I am hearing people talk about the Lord’s return as the solution to the problems we are facing. That could be, but even if He doesn’t come back now, He has us covered! Jesus talking about us worrying about financial needs says, These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Worrying is out of place for us believers, because our heavenly Father has made provisions to meet all our needs.

However, these provisions are conditional. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. We don’t earn God’s provisions by working at fulfilling these conditions, we are simply opening ourselves up to Him so we can receive them.

Let’s Pray-
Thank you Father that you have our needs covered. This world has blurred our values. We often see wants as needs. Help us to seek your Kingdom above all else, live righteously, and let you determine what our needs are.
Amen

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