When the preacher took charge of the church early in October 1948, he and his wife immediately went to work painting, repairing and attempting to restore it.  Their goal was to have the old edifice looking its best for Christmas Eve services.

The story of this lovely song really had its beginning in a hotel room in the city of Chicago, Illinois. I will let the late Dr. P.W. Philpot, well known pastor and evangelist, tell the story as he told it to me.

I had heard similar comments during my eighteen years of teaching Sunday School, but usually the child turned out to be normal in every respect, so I began teaching with calm assurance that I could handle whatever came.

Was I in for a surprise! Before Mary was promoted to my class, she and her mother dropped by to “get acquainted.” Golden blonde hair fixed to perfection cascaded down the little girl’s back. Large beautiful blue eyes gazed into mine. Between the outbursts from Mary, which frequently interrupted the conversation between her mother and me, I learned that Mary needed medication for both hyperactivity and asthma.

Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom".

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." I Thessalonians 5:2, 4.

We see this all around us during the Christmas season, there is so much activity, so much busyness, there is a crowded schedule, festivities and feasts, but the guest of honor has not been invited. And he is not there. At the very center of all the energy is a tragic emptiness, a vacancy where the guest of honor should have been.

The mission of the church is to see that our people invite the guest of honor into their Christmas festivities so that Jesus Christ gives meaning to the season in our church, community, in our homes and in our hearts, otherwise we are simply going through a routine for no reason.

On Sunday, December 25th we will be celebrating the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where will you be? Will you be in God's house or will you celebrate without the guest of honor this year? Let's all remember the "reson for the season!"

We began our meeting on Sunday, October 16th. Dr. Hummel spoke in Sunday School, Morning and Evening Services and presented his burden for the ministry as well as challenged everyone to become involved.

On Monday evening we met, young and old alike, to begin our project. People kept coming to join in, even those who had not signed up previously, and in all we had over 60 in attendance to assemble God’s Word. It was a great time of fellowship as well as accomplishing a work for the Lord.

     In the Book of Nehemiah 4:6 we read how the people who were helping Nehemiah build the wall in Jerusalem “had a mind to work.” It was exciting to see the people of Harvest Baptist Church with a definite purpose in mind, ready and willing to join together for a common cause.

The scriptures were collated, the covers were folded, and the two put together. They then were stapled, sent through a machine to trim the edges, and boxed for shipment. The entire process was done on site and we saw the scriptures materialize in booklet form before our eyes!

Dr. Hummel told us that when a booklet is given out, it is passed on to approximately seven others to read. How exciting to think that the scriptures we assembled have the potential to reach nearly 80,000 Spanish speaking people!

Our “fingerprints” have touched the scriptures, our prayers have accompanied the boxes, God will accomplish the work in

the hearts and lives of those they reach.

 On Wednesday evening we had a dedication service, all placing our hands on the boxed scriptures and praying together for great results in the lives of those who receive them. We will be assembling scriptures once again next summer and hope you will have mind to help.

Can you imagine being a part of the early church with all the excitement of seeing people getting saved and the church growing? At Pentecost 3,000 souls came to know the Lord as Savior.