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THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE A Light to Lighten The Gentiles REV. G. A. TELFORD, D.B. St. Andrew's United Church Few of those wno had a part in that first Christmas could have had any understanding of the tre- mendous significance of the thing that was happening before their eyes. Caesar in Rom knew noth-/ ing of the effect of his decree. The | maji saw a sonder child who might be a King. The shepherds saw the glory about the child of a poor woman. Mary dimly per- ceived that God had a great plan for her son. But a week later in the temple, Simeon, a devout old man, saw more clearly than the others the meaning of the advent of Jesus. "Here" he said "is one who will' bring light to the nations." And Simeon spoke more truly than even he understood, for in Christ, as in no one else, the nations of the world have found One who alone can lead them from darkness in- to light. ~ Looking back over these two thousand years we can see in the advent of Jesus that God had hope for men. Into that sad and vicious world He thought fit to send One who would give poor humanity a fresh start on the road back to- ward Himself. It is well to re- member that when wise men in that day had lost hope for the sur- vival of the good, God had not lost hope or patience. If so this Christ- mas must bring us a message of hope for our own times. It is easy, in a day when we grow fearful, and anxious and discouraged, and even cynical, to remember that in an even darker time God thought it worth while to come down to us in the blesses guise of His Son. And if Christmas is a message of hope it is also a message of beau- tiful simplicity. We have -accumu- lated vast theologies and a world of doctrines. Perhaps we delight in complex creeds. Maybe we hun- ger ofr the miraculous and long to see God do supernatural things in see. God do supernatural things in out day. But at that first christ- as He called our attention to the ralness of love. His Jesus was very simple in his demands. He came to teach man to love and obey "God as Father, and it was said of Him that He went about doing good. He staked His Life on the reality and power of gentle- ness, selfishness and service, and the cross is the symbol of His vic- tory. We gentiles certianly owe to Christ all the light we have on the * business of successful living. The candle that was lit at Bethlehem has become a powerful beam of light. There is no need to yield to despair of the world so long as God sends us Christmas to re- mind us of His hope and patience. Jesus is still the Light of the world, and no darkness can finally extinguish that Light. What Christmas Means REV. SEUART B. COLES Knox Presbyterian Church "WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS" is a quéstion that gets murkier every year, as we watch the drift- ing shapelessness of the multitude's religious notions in any Canadian community. For most of us the sea- son means a siege of bedlam in our social and business and gastro- nomic affairs; and bedlam is a cor- rupted form of the name Bethle- hem. The curious darkening that has already thus happened to this original meaning of Christmas. The Star of Bethlehem is cor- rupted to the fog-light of a red- nosed reindeer. Santa (which mean St.) Claus formerly was a' medi- aeval saintly man who exempli- fied the Christian grace of Giving; but we have corrupted him now by merciless commercialization in- to a preposterous and yet very potent god of Getting. Parents ren- der brainless encouragment to bus- iness interests who exploit him to inflame the virus of greed in their children; quite heedless that this "always-wanting-more-than-I - have now' constitutes the galloping ec- onomic cancer of our Western civ- ilization. Not Jesus Christ the Bethlehem -born and Calvary-crucified King of angels and men, but rather this grossly inflated and grotesquely un- sanctified Santa Claus appears to be the popularly worshipped Lord of Christmas time. Increasingly, as the percentage of Christians in the growing Canadian populace steadily curves downward, those who are Christians must be ready to pay the price of being different They must become intelligently a- ware of the basic differences bet- ween "their own Biblicallly-deter- mined faith and all the jumbled myths and commercialisms. The bedlam of these neo-pagan confus- ions and crudities must not be per- mitted to jam out for believing households the angel-music of Beth- lehem's gospel. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appear- ed to all men; teaching us that denying ungodliness and world- ly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, the glorious ap- pearing of the great God our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity." "If | Had Not Come." (John 15:22) REV. E. F. DANZEY College Hill Pentecostal Tabernacle Significant were tne words of our Lord, whose birth, again, we celebrate at this festive season of the year. "If I had not Come", God's Son in the flesh appearing, we would not have had this spe- cial occasion of making merry. When the angelic host heralded their message of "Peace on earth and good will toward men" those many years ago, their's was a message not only for the shepherds on the Judean Hills, upon the oc- casion of the birth of the Prince of Peace, but twas a message intended to ring down through the centuries of time to be heard wherever man was found. While at this very time humanity every- where is celebrating the Saviour's Coming with rejoicing and glad- ness, let us also make it a time to benefit by the true significance of that Birth. His was the birth of a Redeemer -- One who would redeem a world from sin. He came to give his life a ransom for many that men might have life 'and have it in a more abundant meas- ure. If He had not come this glad season would not hold any promis- ing hope for eternity -- the aged and feeble would have no joy -- no hope of expectancy beyond the grave. But He did come -- new life for the young, hope and cour- age for the old, peace within man's soul, love for fellow-man, the spirit, of cheer to brighten life's pathway, and soul satisfaction that reaches far deeper that the senses can' know -- because He came. Where Is He That Is Born King? es of. Oshawa and understand the purpose of Christ's coming?" Why should I write pedantically in this brief article about the inter- national upheaval, and piously about, '""Peace on earth', when we know there is domestic disintegra- tion going on and our'young people have not the faintest sense of peace in their hearts, as evidenced by all their avid seeking, and they seek and know not what. The Lord Jesus Christ declared expressly the reason and purpose of His coming. "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost". (Luke 19-10.) + "I came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance", (Luke 5-32). "I am come that they might have life, and they mught have it more abundantly', (John 10-10). The Wise Men found Him, the Shepherds found Him, and Jesus said in Matthew 7-7, "Seek and ye shall find". Have you found Him? How then can we celebrate the birthday of a person we do not know? To those who seek, find and know Him, there comes "Peace on earth." The prayerful good wishes of Calvary Baptist Church and her minister, for the city of Oshawa and its environs, are expressed in these words, "May thousands at this Christmas Season and in the year ahead, come to know and en- joy this blessed peace'. God-Given Challenge REV. F. J. WHITELEY Centre Street United Church 'And This Man Shall Be The Peace' (Micah. Ch. 5, V. 5) These words from the prophet Micah express the hopes and fears of all the years', namely that peace should be the prevailing apd abiding condition of all mankifd. But as the years pass disillusion- ment in this hope has been the lot of so many of the people. To- day a mood of despair has settled upon the world. Into such a situation the Christ- mas message comes as a God- given challenge to all who would declare 'there is no peace.' God has opened to us a way unto Him- self in 'this Man' of whom the prophet declared would be the peace. Christ is Himself the peace for which we long. To abide in Him js to bring our lives into the centre and source of abiding calm in the midst of life's storms. The need for such Good-news as the Christmas message declares is becoming more evident daily. Once again we hear 'the Christmas an- gels their great, glad tidings tell.' And to each of us is given anew the opportunity to respond-- 'O come to us, Abide with us, Our Lord, Emmanuel' What Does It Mean? REV. R. W. WIGHTON, F.R.G. Calvary Baptist Church Wise are the men who seek to know where. Jesus is, and from that day so long ago when wise men came from the east to seek Him, millions of wise men and women have sought and found Him, not because they had pomp and power, but because they had a desparate soll need which He alone could meet, and which He has met completely, since the ul- timate of His coming to earth was to seek and to save that which was lost through His sacrificial death upon the Cross. In this confused and bewildered age of ours, after well nigh 2,000 years of making Him known to men and women, we are hearing this soul query, "Where is He'? and with approx- imately 95 per cent of the people outside the House of God on the Lord's Day, the question arises, "Have they been misdirected, niis- informed, misled or do they mis- a REV. R. A. BOMBAY PENTECOSTAL CHURCH "And ye know that He was mani. fested- to take away our sins; and . in Him is no sin." I John, 3:5. Such an event as His birth and 'such a person as Jesus must not be allowed to pass without looking into the purpose of God in sending Him. Clearly, God intended something more through His Son than was to be éxpected of any other person who had ever lived before Him, The angels told the shepherds, '"'unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." The Wise men were in quest of Him Who was born King of the Jews, "For we have seen His star in the East and are come' tg worship Him." This was no ordinary Child. He was declared to be the Son of God with power. The glory of the Lord; the an- gelic message; the testimony of the Wise Men; all these would have been meaningless without the Life and Ministry of Jesus' that followed. But the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. The work of the devil in this world has always been to put enmity between God and men. How well Satan succeed- ed is abundantly attested in our world today. Sin with its awful con- sequences; sickness and disease with their suffering and misery all come from Satan's polluted hand. In the face of that, we know that He was manifested to take away our sins and to destroy the works of the devil. The knowledge of this gives meaning and purpose to the Birth, the Life, the Death and Re- surrection of Jesus. What does all this mean to YOU? It will mean nothing to you without the Faith by which all things are brought to us from above. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. What He has done for others, and is doing now, He will do for you. Without Faith it is impossible to please God. Let Christmas introduce to you the Christ who alone has power, on earth to forgive sins; Whose Word can give you Faith and whose pow- er can transform you. With this message I bring Crhistmas Greetings to all. The Way of Christmas REV. 8S. B. GRIFFITH Free Methodist Church At the centre of history, like a pivot, stands Jesus Christ. Why did He come? Why the Baby Jesus? Why Calvary? He was God's ans- wer to the problems of human life, sin, death, and the struggles of the human soul. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begot- ten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But why did God send His Son in the way He did? He did not spring into being as a wise philo- sopher. He came as a little babe, who nestled in His mother's arms and cried when He was hungry. He was born in a stable and looked into the face of a peasant mother. He grew into manhood not as a prince but as an apprentice in a carpenter shop. His hands were hardened by toil. He knew the bit- ter struggle for bread. He felt the pinch of poverty. He knew what it was to be turned out of doors into the darkness of the night with no- where to lay His head. At last He died an agonizing, shameful death upon a cross between two thieves. Was this God's way for solving human problems? Obviously it was. Why Christmas? "For unto you is born this day in the city' of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you." What shall the sign be? A crown? A throne? A jewel-stud- ded cradle? Ah no! "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." By redeeming the common place He gave His assurance that He would redeem all. God sent His Holy Son for the full reden:ption of the race. That is the mearing of Christmas. The Star of Christmas REV. H. A. MELLOW Northminster United Church Thank you, Mr. Editor, for this privelege. A letter came this morning from a girl of 18 in England. In it she says, _ "What a state this world is in. We always seem to be fight- ing even if there isn't a war'. They are calling up. all our 18 years old lads now. We are full of troops here, and we have an aerodrome near our house, which has jets stationed on it." You and I, also, see the miser- able '"'state"" of the world. And we know that it is so because our race of men and women with God- given freedom to choose have chosen, and choose, selfishness, suspicion and brutality, But there is the Star of Christ- mas in this dark night of the world. Christmas to me is as the flood- ing of warm light into darkened room. It is love leavening greedy and lustful men and women. It is gentleness entering the lists to challenge "might and power'. It is gladness singing good cheer to desolate hearts: It is assurance that God "hath not left the world without witness" of His goodness and good purpose for us. It is the seal put upon the gracious guaran- 'tee that whatever may fail us, there remain, stedfast and imper- ishable, those inner treasures which are able alone to provide "abundant life." "Blessed be the Lord God for He hath visited and redeemed His people". May Christmas say its glad trans- forming word of each! The Significance of Christmas REV. R. LORNE McTAVISH, D.D. Westmount United Church The most significant event in family life is the birth of a child. Christmas therefore is the most tf [notable day of the year because it is the anniversary of the great- est event in human history--the Advent of Christ Child. His coming in this way sancti- ties the home by linking it with God's gracious revelation of Him- self, and in it we behold God's emergence in human life. God and man must work together. The divine child depended on human co-operation. He received nourishment and loving care from His Mother and grew to manhood in a humble home. He gained per- sonal efficiency in Joseph's car- penter shop and took His place in the Nazareth community. In His later ministry He who spoke as no other, whose deeds manifiested matchless love and power and whose face reflected the glory of God, nevertheless chose disciples who would carry on His work, By them the Gospel would be proclaimed throughout the world This divine-human co-operation is emphasized by Jesus in one of His latest utterances, ';Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spi- rit is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me." How shall we celebrate Christ- mas in 1951? Our world is torn asunder by strife, is threatened by destructive forces and moving at terrific speed, but lacking control and high purpose. Shall our cele- bration be self-indulgent revelry, or bearing in mind it is Christ's day, and realizing that He alone can meet our need, shall we re- new our dedication until with Paul we are able to exclaim "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." ; The Christmas Message REV. C. WINGER Pilgrim Holiness Church "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David. A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). What a beautiful message spok- en by the angels to the humble shepherds as they watched over their flocks by night! How star- tled they must have been when out from the heavens there burst upon them the strains of sweetest music! Little wonder that they trembled at this unusual happening and were 'sore afraid." How ten- der and assuring must have been the voice that bade them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great Joy." And, thus the angel's' announcement was made on that night of -all nights: that holy night; and Bethlehem's man- ger cradled a King! Your King! My King! The God-sent King, from out of the ivory palaces, int~ g world-of-woe -- because God so loved!" The two words 'Fear not' are the thrush-notes of the Bible. The thrush sings in the depth of the forest; It is marvelously sweet! It is unique, and absolutely alone. There is nothing else like it! And men's genius has many times tried to capture it and thrust it within the bars of music, and always fail- ed in the attempt! It seems al- most as if this is the note that was dropped out of the angel's music. Maybe they left it in the world the night they sang at Bethlehem; for, they had it in that Christmas anthem. Is it really applicable to the now in which we live? Yes,it is part of the music of life; one of -the high notes of the music, "Fear not!" In this world where we live quite largely in a world of fear, there must be a very personal mes- sage in this for every one of our hearts. We are well aware that the present world condition does not present a very bright picture. It is a dark and cloudy day, when men's hearts are failing them for fear. Shall we not then take down the precious old Book and turning its pages, seek to find how those in other generations, in other decades, weathered the storms of life. May we as the shepherds of old with hushed hearts heard the angels song and message, that we also may enjoy a Blessed and Merry Christmas. Jesus the Light of The World REV. M. W. DERKATCH Ukrainian Pentecostal Chyrch John 1:5 "And the Light shineth in the darkness and the darkness apprehendeth it not." The ancient Zoroastrians believ- ed in two great principles in the universe, one of darkness and the other of light, each with its own re retiinue. The darkness of demons: the light of angels. They did not underestimate the powers of dark- ness and neither must we. The darkness and the light co- exist. When light became incarn- ate in the babe of Bethlehem the darkness was incarnate in the life of Herod. By that darkness the in- nocents were slaughtered in the attempt to seize the Christ child. God kindled a light in Bethle- hem. John tells us this revealing was that of the light of the whole world. By the fore-gleams of that light men began to portray the new age of peace and good will hund- reds of years before the birth of the Child. Men lived in hope and not overruled by darkness were not in despair. Christ made these challenging words, "I am the Light of the world", the darkness was met openly and defiantly. By the shining light of Christ, victories over demons and darkness have been won. In the light of Christ men have become themselves sons of light, light becoming the very nature of themselves. Through re- demption they become light incar- nate, light eternal and light vic- torious, by Christ living in them, and now they live in expectation for the coming Christ as thousands did in Jesus' own country hoping for the Messiah when Jesus was born into the world. But only a few like saintly Anne in the temple were living in expectation. But it is because of these few that the light of the Gospel has been spread throughout the world. Peace by Christmas Em REV. N. C. KRITSCH Grace Luptheran Church PEACE by Christmas Is there anyone among us who would not accept peace as the gift most de- sired at this Christmas season? If not absolute peace, would we not settle for at least a respite from war, a Cease Fire, even though we still felt that a new and fresh outbreak be inevitable? Per- haps, perhaps we might still wit- ness the unexpected, perhaps by some chance the Cease Fire might blossom out into actual Peace. But even the most optimistic among us feels that the efforts of our peace-makers are not as yet in a position to assure us of Peace by Christmas. Peace with Christmas here we have something more reliable, something, if we but study the terms of this treaty of peace, holds out some promise of being a lasting peace. The Christmas peace is the peace of Christ, the Holy God, offering to sinful and offend- ing mankind the most acceptable peace terms ever offered. For- giveness to the sinner, reconcilia- tion with God, the promise of heaven, with no thought of repar- ations now, no installment pay- ments of war debt, but as Isaiah tells us, "without money and without price." Accept your peace under these most attractive terms, Jecause the - Christ of Christmas| offers it at Bethlehem. Peace by Christmas is and must remain a hope. Peace with Christmas is a reality. Though we may not acnieve the one at this season, we do have the consolation of Christ's achievemen. of the other. My prayer is that this consola- tion may serve to ft mper our disappointment at having failed to accomplish what Christ has done long since. May Christ bless your Christmas. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1951: District Pastors Festival of Childhood them out. The Eternal Word of God manifests Himself in our midst in the undefeatable power of, Geed Will and Brotherhood. - That Word, which first lifted up baby hands from a crude stall in Bethlehem is the same that ham- mered nails and melted glue and planed wood in Nazareth's carpen- ter shop; the same that bore the cross and the same that broke the hands of death that first Easter Morn. That Word made flesh calls us, who acknowledge His King- ship, to bind up the wounds of our bruised and broken world and redeem it from selfishness and hate. To our sacred task then, with minds and hearts fired by the fact of His birth and life and glorious i | victory. Nothing is impossible with God, who in the flesh of that little t child draws near to us. As Christ REV. CANON D. M. ROSE, St. George's Anglican Church Christmas is widely hailed as the Festival of Childhood. All the world loves a baby. Cradled inno- cence and helplessness carry an appeal which tugs at the heart strings of the most hardened adult. Because of the Babe of Bethlehem a large part of Christmas celebra- tion revolves around the children. For them the Santa Claus legend has been expanded by enterpris- ing merchants, until, from being an invisible mysterious midnight visitor, he has many flesh and blood representatives who start work six weeks before Christmas, parade the streets and inhabit the toy shops. That Jesus Christ came as one of humanity's weakest, most defenceless members has been a major influence in creating present day concern for all that can contribute to childhood's larg- est welfare. It is not too much to say that Christianity discovered the child. But Christmas celebrations and Christmas thinking should not be allowed to remain upon the level of childhood. Christ's work was done with and His message given to adults. His mission was speci- fically to.the mature. They were, and are, those alone who can so follow His way that human society could become the very Kingdom of God. The really adult mind will not be dismayed at ®he apparent incongruity of countless choirs singing "Peace on earth, good- will . .." at a time when war tears Korea to pieces, when the Middle East is ready to burst into flaming strife, when diplomats wrangle in month-long fruitless debate over matters which good will would set- tle in a few days. It will remember the kind of world to which Jesus came more than 1900 years ago, a world of totalitarianism at the centre with Caesar Augustus as Dictator, with a satellite Judea off to one side whose puppet king was the murderous jackal Herod. Yet in the divine providence the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, the coming to earth of God in human form occurred "in the fulness of time', "When all things were now ready". To human view no period could have been more unpropitious for the purposes of God than that moment which has become the watershed of all history, B.C.--A.D. It was however God's time. Our day appears unfavourable to the proclamation of the angelic mes- sage "Peace on earth, good- will ..." Actually it may be an- other divine 'fullness of time". It will be if we and a multitude of others would celebrate Christmas as the time when the Christ of Bethlehem again becomes incar- nate, -- in us. The Central Message ; of Christmas REV. JOHN K. MOFFATT Simcoe Street United Church '""We have seen His star as In the East where it first stood still We have heard the song of the Angel Throng, '"And on earth. peace, good will" But the little lights confuse, The nearer sounds obsess And our hearts withhold from the Lord of love The lives He would use and bless ..." Can we, dare we, "withhold from the Lord of Love the lives He would use and bless?' Not if the birth of that child in "Bethle- hem's manger means anything to us. What is the central message of Christmas? Is it not this: that your life and mine, can and must be different because He came? No longer is evil master of the world; no longer does death hold sway; no longer need despair cripple our best efforts; for this is Christmas and Chfist is born. Love has spoken. The lights of Faith and Hope and Peace shine in the dark- in the comes to dwell' in your heart and by your hearth may this be the most blessed Christmas you have ever known. Are We Ready for Christmas? REV. HARRY ATKINSON Albert Street United Church There among the cattle in the stalls the most significant event ® in human history occurred. The Son of the highest entered into hu- man life in the birth of a child the child Jesus. God came down among men that night, yet the inn- keeper turhed Mary away, and no one offered to give up his room for her. There is a revealing poem by R. B. Williams on the "The Bethle- hem Innkeeper's Speech'. The inn was full. There was no room. And yet of course I might have made Arrangement. But the evening gloom Came on--a man must keep his trade. The guests were in--they all had paid. , There was no room. The inn was full, ' And it had been a busy day; So many vexing questions pull A landlord's heart. All cannot stay-- The late ones must be away. But certainly .I could have done something If I had known for whom-- Ah that my door should be the one To shut out Mary and her Son! Are we ready for Christmas? That is the real meaning of Christ- mas, or is it just a festivgl, a holiday? We are not ready for Christmas if we do not see in it the miracle of God's love. As Christina Rosetti has sung, "Love Came down at Christmas, love all lovely, lowe divine." On that first Christmas night, so silently, so unobtrusively, God came to be with men. We are not ready for Christ- mas if we do not make. room for that amid our festivities. We must never lose the child spirit and the child mind, that spirit of natural- ness, the spontaneous affection, the trust that is in every child. We are not ready for Christmas unless we have the spirit of for- giveness. Jealousy, hate revenge, pride, all these are contrary to the spirit of the Christ child. There was no room in the inn for Christ. We are ready for Christmas only when we are ready to make room for Him, and to say day after day, "There is room in my heart Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for Thee." World's Greatest Event - turned KEV. J. JACENTY Ukrainian Presbyterian Church The birth of Jesus is the central point of the world's history. It is the greatest event and the greatest era in the life of humanity. We establish all dates in history by CHRISTMAS GES ness and the darleess cannot put MESSA (Continued on Page 11)