The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Sheet 181

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

&

A Christmas-Message. _3455

“God so loved the world that He gave His only-
begotten Son.” Christ has come to us as a gift of
love from the heavenly Father. It is a gift that is
meant not just for a day, but for every day, for all
time, for all eternity. God’s “unspeakable Gift”
(2 Cor. 9, 15) is the same yesterday, to-day, and for-
ever. And now that Christmas is near and our
thoughts are concerned with gifts which we expect
to give our loved ones, let us not at any time lose
sight of that great Gift which God has given us in
His Son.

And then there is another thought that comes
to our minds as we think of Christmas and its gifts.
Our friends will remember us with gifts, and we
shall not neglect to acknowledge these gifts of love.
We shall be writing notes to return thanks to our
friends for remembering us as they did. We should
think ourselves very remiss and discourteous if we
neglected this. Among the gifts we receive there
may be such as we shall have no use for; but still
we are grateful for the thought that sent them to us
and for the work and care bestowed on the prepara-
tion of them, — for the sacrifices that made them
possible. ;

From all eternity God planned to give us this
Gift, His dearly beloved Son. We can never, never
measure this Gift nor the care and the thought
given to it by God. It is impossible for mortal mind
to conceive of the great cost of that sacrifice. Let
none of us in the busy joy of Christmas forget the
great debt of gratitude we owe to God. It seems to
us that what the angels and the redeemed in heaven
are happiest in praising God for is His wonderful

love to the children of men as shown in the gift of

His Son.

Let us remember, too, that God’s love was for
the “world,” — not for just a part of it, not just for
that part of it that we happen to be livingin. And
Jet us show our gratitude in the way that will please
Him best, by sending the message of Christmas Day
to those who never have seen the brightness of the
guiding star nor heard the sweetness of the angels’

song.
We wish all our readers the fulness of Christ-
mas joy! F. J. L.

: AVA BVAVaT

Twenty-Sixth Report of the Board for
Colored Missions.
July, 1930, to June, 1932.
(Concluded.)

The Eastern Field.
By SupPerRINTENDENT WM. GEHRKE.

1. Atlanta, Ga. Founded 1913. Missionary:
John Alston. The congregation numbers 72 souls
(decrease of 1), 51 communicant and 11 voting
members. The day-school has an enrolment of 36;
the Sunday-school, 91. Property: Church with
basement school.

2. Spartanburg, S.C. Founded 1913. Mission-
ary: G. S. Roberts. The congregation numbers 72
souls (increase of 9), 31 communicant and 8 voting
members. The day-school has an enrolment of 82;
the Sunday-school, 103. Property: Church-school.

3. Charlotte, N. C. (St. Paul’s). Founded 1889.
Missionary: C. J. Malloy. The congregation num-
bers 20 souls (decrease of 1), 16 communicant and
7 voting members. The Sunday-school has an en-
rolment of 5 pupils. Property: Church and par-

sonage.
4. Charlotte, N.C. (Mount Zion). Founded
1896. Missionary: C. J. Malloy. The congrega-

tion numbers 37 souls (increase of 11), 26 commu-
nicant and 4 voting members. The Sunday-school
has an enrolment of 27 pupils. Property: Church.

5. Monroe, N.C. Founded 1900. Missionary:
C. J. Malloy. The congregation numbers 19 souls.
(increase of 1), 9 communicant members. The day-
school has an enrolment of 24; the Sunday-
school, 26. Property: Church.

6. Concord, N.C. Founded 1883. Missionary:
Melvin Holsten. The congregation numbers 278
souls (decrease of 2), 157 communicant and 31
voting members. The day-school has an enrolment
of 94; the Sunday-school, 104. Property: Church
and school.

7. Shankletown, N.C. Founded 1919. Mis-
sionary: Melvin Holsten. The congregation num-
bers 40 souls (increase of 6), 25 communicant and
4 voting members. The Sunday-school has an en-
rolment of 18 pupils. Property: Church.

8. Kannapolis, N.C. Founded 1902. Mission-
ary: F. J. Vorice, vacancy pastor. Rev. J. Thomp-
son from Alabama has accepted the call. The
congregation numbers 189 souls (increase of 14),
111 communicant and 28 voting members. The
day-school has an enrolment of 27; the Sunday-