November 28 The Christmas Box James 1:17
ANNOUNCEMENT: Baptist Tabernacle Church will be 100 years old, in 2022. A grand celebration is planned for May 22, 2022, to commemorate the first service as an organized church body! Special information, recognitions, God’s Word, and a catered meal will be a part of the celebration. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the festivities.
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***Due to the rise in COVID19 related illnesses, we are strongly encouraging the use of Masks, within the sanctuary, and to continue to observe “Social Distancing.” Together, with a faithful reliance on God, we will overcome this present challenge!!***
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Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)
It was Christmas 1963, and this, seven years old, was excited about the prospects of a real “haul” come Christmas Day. My list completed, and a letter sent to Santa, I was ready to collect! My parents told me that this might be a small Christmas, because of the medical bills that they were dealing with. The entire nation was dealing with reduced expectations and feeling a sense of loss. President John Kennedy had been killed on November 22, 1963, and the entire country was trying to come to some sense of normalcy. Regardless of all of that “Grown-up Stuff,” I grew more excited, by the day! One of the highlights, of every Christmas, was the present that I always received from my Uncle Marvin. He was like a second Daddy to me, and he always gave the best gifts! The day came and Uncle Marvin was due any minute, and my excitement was overflowing. I was apparently extremely annoying to my mother, because she told me to get still and sit down somewhere. No sooner had I dropped into a chair, I heard his truck. Could it be? Is he really, here? This, eleven months, and three weeks wait, as always, would be worth it! Sure enough, Uncle Marvin bounds through the door bearing gifts for all. Mama received a beautiful scarf, and some leather gloves and Daddy got a tie and socks. Wait a dadburn minute! Where is my present? His bag was empty! I knew that Mama would have a spell if I asked, “Where is my present?” So what! I was willing to risk it! “Uncle Marvin, where is my present?” “You know that I have not forgotten you! Come outside with me!” We went to the truck, and he pointed to the back, where there was a large red wooden box, with a lid. What could he have gotten for me that required a strong wooden box to carry it in? He and Daddy took the box from the truck and took it inside of the house. I was “beside” myself, wanting, speculating, and anticipating the amazing gift that must be inside of this sturdy frame. We got inside, and I am jumping around like a bug on a hot rock, and Uncle Marvin said, “What do you think?” I said, “can I open it?” “Sure!” So, the long, awaited moment, had come; I slowly removed the wooden lid from this “treasure” box, only to find a box full of “empty!” Where, was the present? Uncle Marvin said, “How do you like it?” Like what? I thought to myself! There is nothing inside. Then the reality became clear! This red wooden box with the heavy wooden lid, was THE PRESENT! Having been brought up to be grateful (remember the chocolate covered cherry incident), or at least show it, I said, “Thank you Uncle Marvin!” On the inside, I was saying, “where are my toys that you always give?” Christmas passed, and the wooden disappointment sat in the corner of my room, next to my closet. On New Year’s Day 1964, I was really bored, and I took the lid from the box and crawled inside of this empty box, only to discover that this might be fun. Suddenly, I was sitting in the cockpit of a jet fighter, then, without any stress, I was driving a tank, across a riverbed. I discovered an amazing gift that day! Initially, what seemed to be an empty box; became a racecar, a jet fighter, a tractor-trailer truck. My imagination was in overdrive. Suddenly, I understood the gift that Uncle Marvin had given to me! It wasn’t a box full of empty, but a vehicle, to put reality to, my imagination! Wow! What I once thought was a nothing gift, became the best present that I had ever received, up to that date. Many Christmases have passed, Mama and Daddy and Uncle Marvin are now with Jesus, but each Christmas, I stop and think of that red wooden box, and it reminds me that we should never overlook the simple blessings, while seeking the “Big Deal!” Uncle Marvin made that box with his own hands and every board and nail, were fashioned together with love. God loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus, to be born into an “empty” stable. From a human perspective, not much of a gift, however, He was the BEST GIFT EVER!! This Christmas, please remember the reason for the season and rejoice for the Gift of Grace! Stay Strong, Stay Focused… THE BEST IS ABSOLUTELY AND WITHOUT DOUBT, YET TO BE!