MERRY CHRISTMAS! Signs and symbols were very much the theme of today’s Christmas-themed Sunday services, with our quorum’s own Brother Kevin Martell delivered an enlightening talk on the signs of Christ’s first coming as found in the Old Testament. Brother Martell’s observation that the river Jordan is the lowest fresh-water source in the world, and how well this serves as an analogy to the humility of Christ’s birth into this world, as well as his subsequent life on earth — the highest living as and among the lowest — was unforgettable. Likewise, Brother Martell’s inspired formulation that Christ had “dual citizenship” in the mortal and spiritual worlds will surely long remain in the thoughts of all who heard his talk. In Sunday School, Brother Mike Bateman taught an important and effective lesson on the subject of Christ’s second coming, specifically covering how several of Christ’s parables, from that of the fig tree to that of the ten virgins, anticipate that long-awaited event. For Elders’ Quorum, the present author delivered a truncated version of his Christmas lesson (as given to the 14–17 Sunday-School class last week). Just as Brother Martell’s talk reached back into the Old Testament to identify prefigurements of Christ’s first coming, so yours truly noted how every detail of the Nativity story foreshadows his subsequent earthly ministry. Kudos to Brother Daryl Hillman for likening the holly wreath to the Crown of Thorns, to Brother Dave Gravis for identifying the meaning of Bethlemen as “House of Bread,” and to Brother David Joseph Davies for explaining how fitting it is that it was the angel Gabriel, specifically, who delivered the Annunciation to Mary, and for identifying the symbolism of the Christmas tree, with its red appendages depending from its boughs, as recalling the fruit-laden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Many thanks to the quorum as a whole for their attentiveness and participation in this lesson, and to brother Tim Johnson for sending us off with a celebratory rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High. By popular request, here is the Christmas video that the present author screened for the quorum, which presents Gimli — i.e., actor John Rhys-Davies — telling the Nativity story as only he can. https://youtube/watch?v=YZ6xdNXphQM
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 20:04:45 +0000
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