Christmas Stories. Heartwarming Tales of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope. Max Lucado

Transcription

1 Chrstmas Stores Heartwarmng Tales of Angels, a Manger, and the Brth of Hope Max Lucado 00-01_chrstmas stores.ndd 3

2 The Chrstmas Chld 2003 by Max Lucado, prevously publshed as The Chrstmas Cross Jacob s Gft 1998 by Max Lucado The Chrstmas Candle 2006 by Max Lucado An Angel s Story 2002, 2004 by Max Lucado, prevously publshed as Cosmc Chrstmas All rghts reserved. No porton of ths book may be reproduced, stored n a retreval system, or transmtted n any form or by any means electronc, mechancal, photocopy, recordng, scannng, or other except for bref quotatons n crtcal revews or artcles, wthout the pror wrtten permsson of the publsher. Publshed n Nashvlle, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson s a regstered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Thomas Nelson, Inc., ttles may be purchased n bulk for educatonal, busness, fund-rasng, or sales promotonal use. For nformaton, please e-mal SpecalMarkets@ThomasNelson.com. An Angel s Story s based n part on a story by Davd Lambert enttled Earthward, Earthward, Messenger Brght, whch frst appeared n the December 1982 ssue of Moody Monthly. Earthward, Earthward, Messenger Brght 1982, 1990 by Davd Lambert. Scrpture quotatons marked nkjv are from New Kng James Verson. 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permsson. All rghts reserved. Scrpture quotatons marked kjv are from the Kng James Verson of the Holy Bble. Scrpture quotatons marked nv are from the Holy Bble: New Internatonal Verson. 1973, 1978, 1984 by Internatonal Bble Socety. Used by permsson of Zondervan Publshng House. All rghts reserved. Publsher s Note: Ths novel s a work of fcton. Names, characters, places, and ncdents are ether products of the author s magnaton or used fcttously. All characters are fctonal, and any smlarty to people lvng or dead s purely concdental. ISBN Prnted n the Unted States QG _chrstmas stores.ndd 4

3 For Dr. Jm Martn. Whle there s only one Great Physcan, you come as close as any doc I know. Thanks for brngng health and hope to thousands of famles especally mne _chrstmas stores.ndd 5

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5 Contents Preface x Part I: Chrst Is Celebrated The Chrstmas Candle 5 Maybe He Is the Messah 103 The Chrstmas Chld 111 The Answer Is Yes 139 The North Pole or the Manger? 153 Part II: Chrst Is Born Gabrel s Questons 167 The Nght n the Stable 175 No Room n the Inn 187 Jacob s Gft 193 An Angel's Story 205 Tny Mouth, Tny Feet 251 v 00-01_chrstmas stores.ndd 7

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7 Preface The world was dfferent ths week. It was temporarly transformed. The magcal dust of Chrstmas glttered on the cheeks of humanty ever so brefly, remndng us of what s worth havng and what we were ntended to be. We forgot our compulson wth wnnng, woong, and warrng. We put away our ladders and ledgers; we hung up our stopwatches and weapons. We stepped off our race tracks and roller coasters and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem. We remnded ourselves that Jesus came as a babe, born n a manger. I d lke to suggest that we remnd ourselves he stll comes. x 00-01_chrstmas stores.ndd 9

8 Max Lucado He comes to those as small as Mary s baby and as poor as a carpenter s boy. He comes to those as young as a Nazarene teenager and as forgotten as an unnotced kd n an obscure vllage. He comes to those as busy as the oldest son of a large famly, to those as stressed as the leader of restless dscples, to those as tred as one wth no pllow for hs head. He comes and gves us the gft of hmself. Sunsets steal our breath. Carbbean blue stlls our hearts. Newborn babes str our tears. Lfelong love bejewels our lves. But take all these away strp away the sunsets, oceans, coong babes, and tender hearts and leave us n the Sahara, and we stll have reason to dance n the sand. Why? Because God s wth us. He comes to all. He speaks to all. Let s let hm speak to us ths Chrstmas. Max Lucado x 00-01_chrstmas stores.ndd 10

9 Part I Chrst Is Celebrated 00-01_chrstmas stores.ndd 1

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11 When you gve a word of kndness to someone who needs t, that s an act of worshp. Max Lucado _chrstmas stores.ndd 3

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13 The Chrstmas Candle _chrstmas stores.ndd 5

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15 From the desk of Max Lucado Chrstmas celebrates a comng. An arrval. An advent. Chrstmas remembers God showng up. Not showng off wth angel-drven charots or Magc Kngdom freworks. But showng up on a donkey, wth a carpenter n the belly of a peasant grl. Chrstmas commemorates God s most uncommon decson: to come commonly. And Chrstmas wonders f he stll does. If he shows up amdst the regular folk n the sleepy moments of lfe. Ths story, The Chrstmas Candle, welcomes such wonderngs. If he came to Bethlehem, mght he not come to Gladstone, England? And, f he touched the world of a carpenter, wouldn t he touch the world of a candle maker? I thnk so. Even more, he would touch our world too _chrstmas stores.ndd 7

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17 Prologue December 1664 Lght exploded n the small house, makng mdnght seem as daylght. The bearded candle maker and hs wfe popped up n bed. Wh-wh-what s t? she asked, tremblng. Don t move! But the chldren? They re sleepng. Stay where you are! The wfe pulled the blanket up to her chn and took a quck look around the shadowless room: chldren asleep on the floor, the table and chars restng near the hearth, tools pled n the corner. The candle maker never shfted hs wde-eyed gaze _chrstmas stores.ndd 9

18 Max Lucado The fgure wore a sngular flame: a heatless tongue stretchng from celng to floor. Hs form moved wthn the blaze: a torso, head, and two arms. He reached out of the radance and extended a fnger toward a rack of hangng candles. When he dd, the couple squeezed together and sld farther back n the bed. The husband mustered a queston: Are you gong to hurt us? The vstor gave no reply. He wated, as f to ensure the couple was watchng, touched one of the candles, and then vanshed. The room darkened, and the just-touched candle glowed. The man nstnctvely reached for t, steppng quckly out of bed and across the room, grabbng the candle just as the lght dmnshed. He looked at hs wfe. She gulped. What just happened? she asked. I don t know. He moved to the table and sat. She hurred to do the same. An angel? she wondered aloud. Must be. He placed the candle on the table, and both stared at t. Nether knew what to say or to thnk _chrstmas stores.ndd 10

19 The Chrstmas Candle The next mornng found them stll sttng. Stll starng. Ther chldren awoke, so they ate breakfast, dressed warmly, and walked the half mle up Brstol Lane to St. Mark s Church for the celebraton of the fnal Sunday of Advent. The candle maker gave the rector extra candles for the Advent servce but kept the angel-touched candle n hs coat pocket. He started to menton the vstaton to the reverend but stopped short. He won t beleve me. The couple tred to concentrate on the sermon but couldn t. Ther mnds kept relvng the lght, the angel, and the glowng candle. They shared a pew wth a young mother and her two chldren, all three dsheveled and drty. The couple knew her, knew how her husband, a servant to a baron, had ded a month before n a hunt. After the servce, the wdow descrbed her plght to them. We have lttle food left. Enough for a few days. The chandler s wfe reached nto her husband s coat pocket for a con. When she dd, she felt the candle. She handed both to the young mother, nvtng, Lght ths and pray. As the young mother turned to leave, the wfe _chrstmas stores.ndd 11

20 Max Lucado looked at her husband and shrugged as f to say, What harm? He nodded. They spoke some about the candle over the next few days but not much. Both were wllng to dsmss t as a dream, perhaps a vson. The Chrstmas Eve servce changed that. It began wth a tme of blessng-sharng. Anyone n the congregaton who wanted to gve publc thanks to God could do so. When the rector asked for volunteers, the young mother stood up. The same woman who, days earler, had appeared unkempt and hungry. Ths nght she beamed. She told the congregaton how a wealthy uncle n a nearby county had gven her a farm as a gft. The farm was a godsend. She could lve n the house and lease the land and support her famly. She looked straght at the candle maker and hs wfe as she sad, I prayed. I lt the candle and prayed. The couple looked at each other. They suspected a connecton between the candle and the answered prayer, but who knew for sure? _chrstmas stores.ndd 12