AN O B J E C T L E S S O N
the angels telling the poor shepherds of the Baby born in the manger of Bethlehem. Then from these insig nificant, unimportant, poor people of the community, we switch the spot light on the three pompous, rich, wise men who followed the star in the east till it stood over where the young child was. God’s gift is inex pressible, because His gracious invi tation to receive His Son was given to people in both walks o f life . . . the rich and the poor. No one was ex cluded. He remembered to give to everyone. Have you accepted His INEXPRESSIBLE gift? The next gift is quite large and impressive. Many peopl e would choose this package because it is big. It must be important. (I used a large box and wrapped it in colorful pa per. I outlined the letter ‘F’ in a bold sweep with a felt pen. I used a big red ribbon to tie it up, and an im pressive bow in the corner.) Well, it really is, because the ‘F’ on the wrapping stands for FOREMOST. With all our excitement about buying gifts, we often forget to purchase one for someone. As you look down your list, which name is on the top? It is Jesus’ birthday. Have you for gotten to give Him something? The FOREMOST gift you could give Him is yourself. We may think of ourselves as big and important and impressive as this package, but God’s Word tells us that we are sin ners. We all need the Saviour. His invitation is to “ Come unto me. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” To Him, the foremost gift you have to give is yourself. Have you given the FOREMOST gift to Him? This last package is a beautiful, shiny one. (I used a nylon stocking box, wrapped with silver paper, tied with gold ribbon. I made the letter ‘T’ with a purple felt pen.) The ‘T’ stands for TIMELY. Today is the day of salvation. The Bible tells us not to boast about tomorrow. We may not be here. So, really, the most important package today is this last one. It reminds us to act right now. Tomorrow may be too late. Will you receive the GREATEST gift (display the small ball), God’s Son? Will you accept His .INEXPRES SIBLE gift, the invitation is for all. (Display velvet.) Will you present the FOREMOST gift, yourself, to Him? (Display large package.) Will you use the TIMELY gift, and respond right now to Him? (Display the silver.)
The Best Gift o f Christmas by Mrs. Wilber S. Antisdale
C hristmas is such an exciting time of festivity. The aroma of spices and goodies emerge from Mommie’s kitchen to fill the house, and even float down the street. School pro grams, church choirs, parties and visiting all add up to spell JOY at this season. But the greatest fascina tion of all lies in the secret corners of the house . . . under Daddy’s bed, down in the fruit cellar, on the top shelf in the closet, tucked away in the unused laundry bag, locked in an old trunk. What is it we are looking for? Yes, packages of all sizes and shapes and wrappings. In our searching, sometimes we actually come across a bunch of gifts, and we try to guess what’s in side the beautiful wrapping. We shake the box to see if it rattles. We sniff it to see if it smells. We weigh it to see if we can figure out what it is. Isn’t it fun to guess what is the best gift? This first gift we are going to look at is surely small and wrapped very plainly. (Display a ball wrapped in brown paper. I selected a golf ball, and used % -inch light brown sticky tape to cover it.) It must not be very important. Do you think you would choose this gift as the best one? Written on the outside of this brown paper is the letter G. It stands for GREATEST. Would you believe it at Christmas? Because it is round,
it has no beginning or ending, so we will let it represent God for us. He is eternal. He always has been. No body made Him. He never was born. He will never die. He always will be. But on that first Christmas Day long ago, God did a wonderful thing. He came down to earth in the form of a little baby. Jesus was God in the flesh. He came down from the glory and beauty of heaven to be born as an insignificant, tiny baby in an old stable, nothing big and terrific to “ squeal with delight” over if you just look at the outside plain wrap ping. But this Christmas, this is the GREATEST gift. Have you received God’s love gift for you, Jesus Christ? This next package is wrapped in precious, exquisite velvet. (I used a jewelry box, wrapped in blue velvet material. Then I outlined the letter ‘I’ with Elmer’s glue and sprinkled silver sparkles on it before the glue dried. I used silver ribbon to wrap . . . just around the corners so that it didn’t distract from the letter T .) Isn’t this a beautiful package? The letter ‘I’ on it stands for “ INEX PRESSIBLE.” The B i b l e says, “Thanks be unto God for His un speakable gift” (II Cor. 9:15). God’s love and mercy are so inexpressible, so wonderful, for His gift at Christ mas is an invitation for all to re ceive it. You remember the story of
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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