The ultimate sacrifice
Joseph Damien was a Belgian priest who went in 1873 to minister to lepers on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii. As soon as he arrived he began trying to build friendships with the residents of the leper colony, but they rejected him. He poured himself into this ministry, building a small chapel and holding worship services. But hardly anyone came. 
After twelve long hard years, he was about to give up. While standing on the pier about to board a ship that would take him back to Belgium, he looked down at his hands. The white spots he saw could mean only one thing. He had contracted leprosy. So instead of going home, he returned to his work in the leper colony. The news of his disease spread throughout the community within hours. 
The following Sunday when he arrived at the chapel, the 
small building was filled to overflowing. He had always started his sermon with the words, 'My fellow believers.' But this morning he began, 'My fellow lepers.' Those three words express the ultimate sacrifice and love of a man not only willing to live among the outcast, but also to become like them.

Imagine the moment...
The wonder of Jesus coming into our world is that He knew all it would mean and yet still He chose to come. His birth meant becoming a man not only for 33 years but forever. We are told in the book of Hebrews 10:5-7 that a body was prepared for Him. Here we come face to face with a mystery so deep that wonder and worship can be our only response. Imagine the moment in heaven when the Son of God departs. God becoming a foetus. God as a new born baby. God as a child.

He left it all behind
When kings and world leaders travel to engage in great affairs of state they dress themselves in their finest apparel and surround themselves with all the trappings of their wealth and status. When the Queen visited America a few years ago her 4000 lbs. of luggage included two outfits for every occasion, a mourning outfit in case someone died, forty pints of plasma, and white kid leather toilet seat covers. She took her own hair dresser, two valets and a host of other attendants. When Jesus the King of Kings came to this earth He clothed Himself with dust.

Stooped so low
The Christian writer and theologian J. B. Phillips once wrote a story of an angel describing the splendours of the universe to a junior. Past whirling galaxies and blazing suns, they crossed the infinite distances of space to a galaxy of 500 billion stars. The senior angel pointed to a small sphere turning slowly on its axis.
It looked as dull as a dirty tennis ball to the little angel, whose mind had been filled with the immensity and glory of what he had just seen. 
'Watch that one particularly,' said the higher ranking angel, pointing with his finger. 
'It looks very small to me,' said the little angel. 'What's so special about that one?' He listened in stunned disbelief as the senior angel told him that this planet, small and insignificant, was The Renowned Visited Planet.
'Do you mean that our glorious Prince stooped so low as to become one of those creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?' 
'I do, and I don't think He would like you to call them creeping, crawling creatures. For strange as it may seem to us, He loves them. He went down to visit them to lift them up to become like Him.' 
The little angel looked blank. Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension.

Never the same again
We live in a universe of parallel worlds. One consists of lakes and mountains and temples and inns with shepherds watching their flocks by night. The other of angels and supernatural forces and places called heaven and hell. One night in the cold, dark and starlit sky those two worlds came together. 
Little wonder a choir of angels broke out in spontaneous song, disturbing not only a few shepherds but the entire universe. The world would never be the same again.

This is taken  from The Wonder of Christmas by David Holdaway. Although it contains humorous items, and some intriguing facts about Christmas, best of all, the little booklet focuses on the Christian perspective of Christmas. Those who read it will find their hearts warming and worship rising.

If you would like a copy for yourself, or to use as a gift, contact the author by telephone on 01685 722970 or by e-mail  djholdaway@tinyworld.co.uk

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Copyright 2008  Catherine Slight and Lin Pearson.  All rights reserved worldwide