The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 24, 1927, Page 17

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE | TUIRD SECTION 2" - ON EARTH, “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1927. PAGES SEVENTEEN TO TWENTY-FOUR PEACE AND GOOD-WILL ¢ “ Christ, Qur New-Born Ki[-ig. 4 Cog to Gladden World '(REV:) J. F. HAyEs, S. J. The Eternal Father having given His only Begotton Son to all nations of the Earth as His inheritance, Christ became K;;nq of Kings by right of in- % heritance:s . Earthly &Kings were- wont to come into their Kingdoms with marks of pomp and splendor, -but Christ would . “eome into His Kingdom in a differént manner. Strinped of all marks of His Divine Majesty, He came into our midst as a helpless little babe that we might approach and serve Him with- out fear. He came as a poor little ehild suffering hunger and cold and all the pangs of poverty that He might win owr sympathy. He came as a most winsome babe that He might win our love and fealty. Christ wished to be our King in a moral sense. He did not wish to be a temporal King. His purpose was not to rob earthly Kings of their power; but rath- er to bestow power upon them, or con- firm them in their authority, as He in- formed us when He said to Pilate, “You have no power but from above,” —and in speaking to the Pharasées: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’'s.”’ 4 He would not gain His Kingdom by shedding the blood of His subjects. If need be, He would shed His own blood for them as He did at the close of His life. Having defeated our enemies. by, the shedding of His own blood and by % His sufferings and death, Christ be- came our King by another title; name- ly by the right of conquest. Thus, by His life and death, He showed that He wishes to reign in our hearts not by the force of His power and majesty but by the force of love. He wishes us to serve Him not through motives of fear but through motives of love. He wishes us to accept Him as our spiritual King by our own free choice. He has loved us with an everlasting . love. .He loved us even when we were persecuting Him, yes, even when we were crucifying Him, He gave proof of this by praying for us when he said, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We should aim, therefore, to serve our New-Born Kin%athrough the spirit of love, and pray that He may rule in the hearts of all, even in the hearts of Kings—that being ruled and guided by His Holy inspirations and by the saving principles of His Gospels, we may prove ourselves men of good-will and thus merit to enjoy that peace and joy which Christ Our Saviour came to spread upon earth. Brightest Cheer at This Season- REv. HARRY R. ALLEN As the blessed and joyous Christmas season again approaches I gladly take this opportunity of ewtending to you Christmas morn, “G to God in the highest, and on Earth, Peace, Good -Will toward men,” its brightest cheer. to r heart a . home for thi: season of love and good will and fill . your heart with a true and genuine " devotion to God Jar His unspeakable gift to all manki; 44 1 that you ma experience anelgma:dtoofamuggdepg;‘t]wmk A to the sons of gfib “A Little Child Shall Lead Them” DeAN C. E. RICE It is a wonderful thing that at this season practically the whole of civili- 2ation is observing the anniversary of an event that occurred more than nine- teen centuries ago, and that event the birth of an infant in a little, obscure Syrian village. Kinzs have lived and died; empires have grisen and crum- bled away; great citiés have been buwilt and destroyed; countries and people again laid waste. But the event which give us the Festival of Christmas was one whose interest 18 universal and un- fading; ome with which we'are as: much concerned as were the shepherds of Bethlehem, and which will be of no less importance to_the last generation of men than to us. Why? Because, the morning Christ was born, there came into human life One in Whose face men of all ages since have learned to see God; Whaose voice, they are convinced, speaks the eternal wisdom of God; Whose life was the life of God Himself lived in terms ?fj, and under the conditions of, human ife. Centuries before the Prophet Isaiah had foreseen. Him ‘eoming and bene- ficient rule, and thE most significant thing in the whole picture of the his- tory that was to be was that, “‘a Little Child shall lead them!’ y And the Little €hild DOES lead them. The earth s in its manifold activities and salutesHim on His natal day. It dreams of peace o earth, of good will among men. It looks to Him for a revelation of the Father's char- acter, and His will for mankind. And the Little Child leads on — through joys and sorrows; through faith and doubts; through suecess and | failures of life—to the Presence of Ged! May we all be richly blessed this season in following Him! Good Tidings of Great Joy; Celebrate REV. and MRs. CHAs. C. PERSONEUS Again the Christmas season ig here with its joy and good cheer, but there i8 a tendency in the world to day to forget WHY we celebrate Christmas. WHY do we send glad greetings to one another? Because the angel cried.,, “Behold, 1 bring you good. tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day a Saviour which 1s Christ the Lord.”. WHY do we sing songs of praise and joy? ’Tis an echo of that angelic host who sang: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men,” when the Son of God left the throne of glmmo become our Redeemed. The angel said: “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.’ But how? “Asg the children are partakers of flesh . and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.’ Hebrews 2. WHY do we give gifts? Because some of God's love 18 reflected in our hearts. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His-only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Let us remember with love and gratitude the greatest Gift ever given, Jesus, the Son of God. Wishing dm all a Blessed Christmas and a New Year, - adw Salvation Army Cheer and Season’s Greetings CAPTAIN and MRs. C. OLIN EDWARDS The Season’s Greetings to all our many friends in Juneau and elsewhere. Christmas, the time of ycar when hearts grow warmer toward one an- other. A time when the very alt- mosphere seems changed and a spirit of fellowship peculiar to Christmastide prevails. Iaany hard things are set aside and we cherish all that is for the highest good. The “Christmas Spirit” is irresist- ible to any rational, normal man or woman, boy or girl. We naturally come nto this beautiful enclosure when we begin to think of others. We speculate as to what we can do for others, what they would like to have. We desire to please some dear friend or relative, we put our best into our giving, for the purpose of bringing, cheer, and a song of gladness to some heart and home. We should not forget the unfortun- ate. It takes so little to make one glad, so little when done in the spirit of Christmas. Now while we aie thinking of others and our gifts which are perishable, may we not forget the greatest of all gifts, God’s gift of Jesus to the world. Paul’s Christmas Spirit REV. R. A. GAILEY As we contemplate the coming of a New Year it is wise to take counsel with the past. What are the motives which « have actuated wus thus far? Have they brought to us that degree of happiness, contentment and the con- fidence of others which we had ex- pected? If they have not, can we ex- pect any better results from them in the future? Over against the long list of objec- tives which people commonly consider worth while, I place the objective of St. Paul, recorded in Phil. 3-8; “Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, Jesus my Lord.” This was Paul’s Christmas spirit. “He crystalized. his admiration for his Lord by emulating him in.a life of loving service for humanity. We can find no better standard for our service than the life of Jesus. To serve, as he served, should be our objective. Finding Christ at Christmas REv. 0. A. STILLMAN There. came wise men from the east to Jeru- salem, saying Where Is He—? Matt. 2:-1-2, When the wise men saw the Star they sought the Prince for whom it shone until they found him. When the Glory of the Lord faded from the Jud- ean hills, and the echoes of the angel’s songs had died away, the shepherds hastened to the Bethlehem manger to find the Babe for whom the Glory shone and the angels sang. In later years the poor and needy, - the blind and the lame, the sick and the sinful, sought the Christ, and, find- ing Him, found help, and health, and courage, and comfort, and forgiveness, and strength for right living. Now, in honor of His name and birth, we celebrate the Christmas time, and, perhaps, in the multitude of the things we have, and do, and give, and get, lose sight of Him who is greater than all the rest. Do we mot, some- times, mourn with Mary Magdalene: * m e taken away my Lord, and 1k t where they have laid Him?” May you, cach and all, enjoy the 18 irees, the children’s songs, stars, the colored lights, and e, with all the joy and sweet- Christmas spirit; but more ay he be very real and very as born in Bethlehem and vary; and in this Christmas find the Greatest Gift of all LI