NELSON MINISTERS’ ASSOCIATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 28 December 1926, Page 6

NELSON MINISTERS’ ASSOCIATION

A united Christmas service, under the auspices of the Nelson Minister's Association was held in the Presbyterian Church on Christmas Day. ; The service was presided over by the Rev. J. McNeil and the address was delivered by the Rev. P. N. Knight. There was a large attendance. In the .course of his address, the Rev. Mr Knight said that Christmas was the expression of an unfathomable and limitless joy. It was the foretaste or prep phecy of ,a ; great consummation which was beyond this world. The gay homes, decorated churches, pealing bells, smiling faces, cheery greetings ringing carols, glad gatherings and numberless gifts—all were small symbols of great realities. Continue the Christmas spirit throughout the year and they had the iriillenniriin. To take the Christmas spirit out of life would be like taking the perfume out of., the flowers, the colour from the rainbow and God and the stars, from the sky. The Christmas spirit safeguarded the world from greed and selfishness. .God gave love and . Christmas,.time, every man, be he rich . Or .pbbr, wanted .to be a giver. At the heart of. an apple there was a, little sanctuary where the seed lived, carrying the, future iri fts bosom. Ahd in the heart of toe worst man there was a holy place where hope and memory had their rooms. In that holy place dwelt the vital germ of a new life, and it was at Christmas time that the seed most quickly germinated and grew. Ghrist- * was Day was the only universal holiday among tlie nations of the old world and the new, and Jesus Christ was the one common' Hero. The real enemy of war whs the Christmas spirit with its widening brotherhood and its universal goodwill. “To understand this life and the life beyond, we must gaze at Christ’s Cradle, stand by His Cross and sit with the angel in His empty, tomb. Let. ..us go to Bethlehem this Christmas morning,and worship at the cradle of oiir Lord.”