Christmas Program #3

We are fortunate as Latter-day Saints to have not only the biblical accounts of Jesus� birth and the prophecies foretelling that great event, but also the account found in the Book of Mormon.

After Nephi had heard the things his father saw in a vision he was desirous to see, and hear, and know of these things for himself. Nephi believed that the Lord was able to make them known unto him and as he sat pondering in his heart he was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord into an exceedingly high mountain where he was shown the things his father had seen. In first Nephi chapter 11 he records his vision and prophesys of the birth of Christ.

13 ... in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.
14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?
15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.
16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?
17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.
18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.
19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.
21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?
22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.( 1 Nephi 11:13-22)

In the thirteenth and fourteenth chapter of Helaman we read the story of Samuel, the Lamanite.

�And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year, � there was one Samuel, a Lamanite, [who] came into the land of Zarahemla, and began to preach unto the people ... [and] he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart ...

�And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

�And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

�Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.

�And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.

�And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven.

...�And behold, thus hath the Lord commanded me, by his angel, that I should come and tell this thing unto you; yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy these things unto you

�... [that] ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.(See Helaman 13:1-3/ & 14:2-12)

In the first chapter of 3 Nephi we read that five years after Samuel�s dramatic prophecy to the Nephites in Zarahemla,

... in �the ninety and second year, behold, the prophecies of the prophets began to be fulfilled more fully; for there began to be greater signs and greater miracles wrought among the people.

�But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite.

�And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying; Behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled; therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain.

... �Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.

�Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.

�And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.

�And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

�Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. (See 3 Nephi 1:4-13)

Luke 2:4-16

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 � And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

That same night on the other side of the world:

�... it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.

�... And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.

�And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

�And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word. (See 3 Nephi 1:15-21)

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID�S CITY (#205 congregation)

In this year�s December issue of the Ensign President Gordon B. Hinckley said: There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection.

... When all is said and done, when all of history is examined, when the deepest depths of the human mind have been explored, nothing is so wonderful, so majestic, so tremendous as this act of grace when the Son of the Almighty, the Prince of His Father's royal household, He who had once spoken as Jehovah, He who had condescended to come to earth as a babe born in Bethlehem, gave His life in ignominy and pain so that all of the sons and daughters of God of all generations of time, every one of whom must die, might walk again and live eternally. He did for us what none of us could do for ourselves.

... This is the wondrous and true story of Christmas. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea is preface. The three-year ministry of the Master is prologue. The magnificent substance of the story is His sacrifice, the totally selfless act of dying in pain on the cross of Calvary to atone for the sins of all of us. (Gordon B. Hinckley,

The epilogue is the miracle of the Resurrection, bringing the assurance that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" ( 1 Corinthians 15:22). [�The Wondrous and True Story of Christmas,� Ensign, Dec. 2000, 2)

The December 1984 Ensign contains the following story entitled �The Christmas Dad Would Have Wanted.�

It was almost Christmas�just one more day to go. The tree was up, lights were strung around the front window, and a couple of chickens had been purchased for Christmas dinner. (Not the usual fare, but it would do.)

The traditional Christmas family home evening went as well as could be expected under the circumstances. And the ward Christmas party had left the children happy. The gifts that would be exchanged this year were under the tree�all but one, that is.

That gift lay unwrapped in the top drawer of the dresser in Bonnie�s bedroom. It was to have been such a fine surprise. All summer the children had secretly tucked away money that they had earned. Bonnie had spent hours ironing; Stan, Dick, and Elwood had washed windows in the neighborhood; and even little Dennis had fed the bishop�s dog while its owners were on vacation. On Sundays the children had met in Bonnie�s bedroom to count the pennies, nickels, and dimes that were slowly filling the jar, and Dick would tell them how much was still needed for the special gift.

Finally, the day had come to make the purchase�a wristwatch for Dad. No more would he need to finger in his vest for the old pocket watch. Now he could tell time like the other men at church, who only had to glance at their wrists. All the children had walked to the store that day to see the watch, beautiful and shiny in its new case. The final touch was an inscription on the back. �Let�s just put �To Dad, from your children,� since that�s all the money we have for the printing,� said the oldest brother. And that satisfied all of them.

But that thrilling, exciting day when the Peterson children had bought the watch for Dad now stung their hearts with its memory. Dad had died of a sudden illness on November 2. Despite her own grief, Mom had tried hard to keep the Christmas traditions and see that the things the children looked forward to were still done. The tree had been placed in its customary spot. The Christmas cookie baking had been finished the Saturday before. But the things Dad usually did were left undone: the cards from friends and relatives were not clipped to strings in the shape of a tree on the back of the living room door, and no one had wound the string of lights on the porch railing.

The afternoon shadows were starting to appear that Christmas Eve when a light tap came at the door. Stan answered the door. The boy who stood there must have been about his age. Stan had never seen the boy before. His clothes were unkempt, and his coat seemed very light for a chilly winter day. The boy held out a waxed paper bag that contained a few pieces of homemade chocolate candy. �I�m selling candy. It�s only 25 cents a bag. Will you buy some?�

Stan asked the boy to wait while he went to the kitchen and asked Mom if she would be interested in buying a bag of candy. Sister Peterson peeked around the kitchen door and saw the little boy standing patiently in the doorway. She got her purse from the cupboard and looked first among her change; then, putting the quarter back, she took a dollar from her wallet and gave it to her son. �Tell him he can keep the change, Stan,� she said.

The little boy�s eyes lit up with surprise and delight at the sight of the dollar. He thanked Stan several times, turned, and headed down the street. Stan took the little bag of candy to the kitchen. His mother watched the boy out the window, then turned to her son and said, �Stan, go out and call that boy back. I want to talk to him.�

Stan found the boy a few doors down the block. As he approached, the little boy looked scared. And when Stan told him to come back to the house, the boy seemed crestfallen. Undoubtedly he thought they wanted their money back.

Sister Peterson sat on the couch across from the boy and started to ask him questions. Where did he live? Well, right now he and his family were �kinda camping under the overpass just outside of town.� Where did they come from? �Arkansas.� His dad was to get a job at the airbase here, but when they arrived, Dad was sick, and the job was given to someone else. Did they have any place to go? No, not until his dad got a job and they could find something to rent. Where did he get the candy? His mother had made it over a campfire, and the children were trying to sell it to buy food.

Sister Peterson was overcome with compassion. She began to form a plan. �Go and get your mother,� she said, �and bring her here.�

Later that afternoon, the boy returned with his mother. Sister Peterson greeted them warmly, and began to ask more about the family and their situation. There were five children, about the same ages as her own. The father was still too sick with pneumonia to find work. The children weren�t going to school. The family had been living on half-rotten potatoes they had found in the rubbish behind a market.

�Come stay with us,� Sister Peterson pleaded, �at least over Christmas.� The mother sadly but firmly refused the offer. After much coaxing, however, she consented at least to come the next day for Christmas dinner.

After the mother and little boy left, the Petersons went into action. First, Elwood was sent to the store for two more chickens and a few more carrots; Bonnie scurried to the kitchen to start another Christmas pudding; Dennis was assigned the job of stringing the Christmas cards in the shape of a tree on the back of the living room door; and Stan was set to work winding the lights around the railing of the porch. Sister Peterson hurried out to the local five-and-dime store. Soon she was back with a bag under her arm.

That evening everyone gathered in the living room, and one by one many of the presents under the tree were given new tags�names of the children who were to be their Christmas guests. The few gifts Sister Peterson had purchased that afternoon were wrapped and tagged and placed under the tree. Far into the night the family bustled about, trying to get everything completed by the following morning,

It was hard to sleep that night at the Peterson home. Had any Christmas before been as exciting as this one? Was any family in all of Sacramento feeling the spirit of Christmas as they were? �I think this must be the kind of Christmas Dad would want us to have. I�ll bet he is happy, too,� thought Stan.

The next day proved to be everything they had hoped it would be. Stan�s heart filled with pride when he saw his mother, who thought no one else was watching, give the mother of the family one hundred dollars. (It was at least 20 percent of Dad�s insurance money.) Yes, this was probably their most exciting Christmas.

Later the little family was able to find an old house to rent with the money Sister Peterson had given them, and the father found employment and eventually was able to buy a small farm near Sacramento. ("The Christmas Dad Would Have Wanted" By Connie Sherwood; Ensign December 1984)

In the December 1997 Ensign President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.

It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.

It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.

We testify of His living reality. We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. This is what Christmas is really about. (Gordon B. Hinckley, �A Season for Gratitude,� Ensign, Dec. 1997, 2)