Living Nativity; joyous Christmas

Dorothy Harvey, member, St. Luke AME Church:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

My favorite church-related Christmas memory goes back many years, when the families of St. Luke AME Church prepared to present a play around a living Nativity scene.

The men of the church, mainly fathers, prepared the manger and other props. Mothers and any of the women who could sew made the costumes.

After weeks of practice, we gathered at the church on a cold, crisp night. The only lights on in the church were those on the tree, and the spotlight that was focused on the baby in the manger, Mary and Joseph.

The music was being softly played and we weren’t surprised to hear a 3-year-old loudly proclaim, “I don’t remember when it was her turn to speak.” But with a little coaching from the background, she got through her part.

A 5-year-old proudly sang in her clear childish voice, “Away in a Manger.” The youth choir sang many Christmas carols.

The play was presented, and as the night drew to a close, the congregation formed a circle around the sanctuary and individual candles were lit as we sang “Silent Night.”

As we left the church with our tired but excited children we stepped out to a beautiful white wonderland, making our evening complete – a white Christmas.

Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe

Sharon Rohlmeier, member, Cornerstone Southern Baptist Church, 802 W. 22nd St. Terrace:

There is one Sunday that really stays in my memory. I was a young teenager, and I had been doing a lot of thinking about God and his son, Jesus Christ. What did it all mean?

Jesus came to save us, born on Christmas. At Easter we celebrate that Jesus died for our sins. He died that I might one day live in heaven with him for eternity!

I was listening to the sermon this particular Sunday. For the first time in my life, I realized what sin was. God is perfect, without sin. God is so perfect that he cannot look at sin or be around sin.

I, on the other hand, am far from perfect. I have done many things that I’ve regretted. I think about doing bad things sometimes; I can’t help it. How could I enter heaven with all this sinful baggage?

As the hymn in our hymnal goes, “Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe.” It was as if someone turned on the light, and I really understood something I’d never quite understood before. Jesus died so that I didn’t have to. I could be without sin and could actually spend eternity with God the father, and Jesus the son in Heaven!

I went forward that Sunday to accept this wonderful gift of Jesus’ life in place of mine. What love and peace I felt. I had never felt like this before. I wondered why everyone in church that day did not go forward to receive this gift of life.

Jesus has since become my very best friend. He is with me through everything, good and bad. Jesus is the direction of my life. Do I have problems? Sure. Am I ever sad? Sure, but Jesus is always there. That Sunday, my life changed forever, and it is a day that I will never forget.