The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 45

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PousiisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNODICAL CoNFERENCE oF NortTH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter.

- Vol. XI.

St. Louis, Mo., December, 1889.

No. 12.

Best of All.

“Please, grandmamma, tell us a story,”
Cried the children one and all,

From three-year-old baby Alice
To Harry so grave and tall;

‘We'll be just as still and listen
To every word you say.”

Thus coaxingly plead the sweet voice
Of merry, mischievous May.

Then grandmother looked up smiling,
From her seat in the old “armchatr,”’

- With a twinkle of pride in her eye as she gazed

On her grandchildren rosy and fair.
* Well, dears, what shall the story be?
You’ve ’most exhausted my store;
Grandmother scarcely knows what to tell
That she has not told before.”

“Oh, anything you tell, grandma,
Is as nice as nice can be;”
And the little eager faces
Looked up in expectant glee;
When Harry spoke out gravely—
“Grandma, please tell us to-day
Of the Babe in the lowly mangér,
Born in Bethlehem far away.

“Yve heard you tell that story
Just often and often before,
But it never grows old or tiresome,
And I love it more and more.”’
Then grandmother told the story
That her heart held of priceless worth,
The story of glad redemption
For the sinful millions of earth.

And the little upturned faces
Grew strangely bright to hear
Again that wondrous story
In accent tender and clear:
While the children, from baby Alice
To Harry so grave and tall,
Pronounced the grand “old story’’
The very ‘best of all.’’

-Food for the Lambs.

Is ee

The Unspeakable Gift.

Christmas day is a day of joy because it so
plainly tells us of God’s love for sinners, such
as We are.
We on that day stand by the lowly ranres
bed where the Christ was laid when born a
helpless child on that first Christmas Day.
“Tet us now go even unto Bethlehem, and

see this thing which is come to pass, which the| Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of a lost world.
Lord hath made known unto us.” ‘‘He came unto His own and His own received

There we see Mary and Joseph wrapped in| Him not. But as many as received Him, to
wonder, gazing upon the child as He lay in the| them gave He power to become the sons of
rude manger-bed. Mystery of mysteries! That| God, even to them that believe on His name.”
child is ‘‘the Mighty God,” who was made| Cast aside your pride, your self-confidence,
Man that He might take man’s place, and die| your doubt and fear, and receive the Son of
in man’s stead. ‘‘God so loved the world, that} God, believing in Him as your Saviour and
He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever| Redeemer. Then you will give thanks to God
believeth in Him should not perish, but have| for His unspeakable gift and enjoy a happy
everlasting life.’’ Christmas.

As we gaze wonder-stricken upon the great
sight, our hearts ought to be full of praise,
and in thought clasping the Babe in our arms,
we might filly say, ‘‘ Thanks be unto God for His
unspeakable gift.’’

Reader, can you honestly say that?

Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem, is God’s un-
speakable gift to you and to me and to every
sinner. He is given to us as the Saviour from
all sins. This grandest, richest and most price-
less gift in the whole universe of God He offers
to you! Receiving Him you live; rejecting
Him you die. Will you take-the gift which
God offers?

However valuable a gift may be in itself,
it.is of no use to us until we take it. Ifa man
should give us a valuable watch and should
say to us, ‘‘That is yours, you may have it for
your own,” if we did not believe he was sin-
cere, and did not take the gift as really our
own, it would be of no value to us. It might
be ours, but our unbelief would render it use-
less, and deprive us of all the benefits which
its possession might confer. So with God’s
gift—His unspeakable gift to man. He has
given His only-begotten Son, and many will
not receive the gift. They do not believe the
love of God toward them.

In the Babe of Bethlehem God gives eternal
life, they do not receive it.

In the Babe-of Bethlehem God gives the
bread from heaven, they pine and perish with
hunger because they do not accept what He
bestows.

In the Babe of Bethlehem God gives the
water of life, crying, ‘‘If any man thirst, let
him come unto Me, and drink;’’ and they
perish with thirst, and turn their eyes away
from the living fountain. God gave His Son

a om oe

Christmas Joy.

A poor little street girl was taken sick one
Christmas, and carried to the hospital. ;

While there she heard the story of Jesus
coming into the world to save us. It was all
new to her, but very precious. She could
appreciate such a wonderful Saviour, and the
knowledge made her very happy as she lay
upon her little cot.

One day a nurse came around at the usual
hour, and ‘‘Little Broomstick”” (that was her
street nome) held her by the hand, and whis-
pered:

‘«T’'m having real good times here—ever such
good times. S'pose I shall have to go away
from here just as soon as I get well; but I'll
take the good time along—some of it, anyhow.
Did you know ’bout Jesus bein’ born?’

“Yes,” replied the nurse; “T know. Sh-sh-sh!
Don’t talk any more.”

“You did? I thought you looked as if you
didn’t, and I was going to tell you.”

“Why, how do I look?’’ asked the nurse,
forgetting her own orders in her curiosity.

“Q just like most ’o fulks—kind of glum.
I shouldn’t think you'd ever look glum, if you
know’d *bout Jesus bein born.”’ ;

Dear reader, do you know ‘‘’bout Jesus bein’
born?”—F. W. .

———- oo

‘omar de true‘grace, honey; ‘taint de sure
glory,”’ said Aunt Judy to one of her colored
sisters. ‘You hollers tuoloud. When you gets
de love in: your heart, and de Lamb in your
bosom, you'll feel as if you was in dat stable
at Beth’lem, and de blessed Virgin had lent
you de sleeping baby to hold.”