What it is All About

Merry Christmas! 

Here this morning, before any other festivity begins, let's remember why we have this day and what it means to us.

Here is the Christmas narrative put together from scripture. The passage source book are indicated by color:

GENESIS   MATTHEW    MARK    LUKE     JOHN

Black text are interjections by me. The New International Version was used to construct this. 

May the Holy Spirit be among you as you read and may you be brought ever closer to our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE FIRST CHRISMAS

 

The Eternal Christ

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not extinguished [or overcome or understood] it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Historical Genealogy of Jesus From Abraham Through Mary

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.^[b]

 

The Legal Genealogy of Joseph

He (Jesus) was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, 
the son[-in-law] of Heli, the son of Matthat, 
the son of Levi, the son of Melki, 
the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 
the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, 
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, 
the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, 
the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 
the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, 
the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, 
the son of Neri, the son of Melki, 
the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, 
the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 
the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, 
the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, 
the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, 
the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 
the son of Melea, the son of Menna, 
the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, 
the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, 
the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 
the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, 
the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, 
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, 
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 
the son of Serug, the son of Reu, 
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, 
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, 
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, 
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, 
the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, 
the son of Seth, the son of Adam, 
the son of God.

 

 

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

[The Temple in Jerusalem B.C. 6]

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

 Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, (he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

 

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

(Nazareth in Galilee Late B.C. 6 or early B.C 5)

 In the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy], God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

(Judea Early B.C. 5)

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea [a distance of 90 to 120 miles], where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Mary's Song

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

(Spring B.C. 5)

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."

They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

 

Zechariah's Song

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

 

Joseph’s Visitation

9Nazareth B.C. 5)

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus [Hebrew, Joshua, which means God is salvation], because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [Isaiah 7:14] "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.

 

The Birth of Jesus

(Bethlehem Autumn of B.C. 5)

In those days Caesar Augustus [63 B.C – 14 A.D.] issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius  [Circa 51 B.C. – 21 A.D.] was {governor} of Syria.) [The word translated in Scripture as “governor” was  “hegemon”, which means “ruling officer or procurator”. Quirinius did not become actual governor {legatus – different word} until later, but there is no reason to dispute Luke calling him a ruling officer at this time. There were many censuses taken during this period of time, any number of which could have been this one.]. And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. [Given the status of women at the time, questions have been raised as to why Mary would have went with him. I think it is silly speculation to think she wouldn’t, but here are possible reasons. God’s direction to them that she should go seems a reasonable explanation. Also, given the nature of Mary’s pregnancy and the suspicions this probably aroused, Joseph could have taken her for her own protection. Saying she couldn’t have gone or made the trip while being pregnant are just spurious arguments of disbelieving critics.] While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

(Near Bethlehem)

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

(Jerusalem, eight days after the birth; distance from Bethlehem to Jerusalem is only 6 miles)

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived and he gave him the name Jesus.

(Jerusalem, 40 days after birth according to Jewish Law)

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord" [Exodus 13:2]), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, 
you now dismiss your servant in peace. 
For my eyes have seen your salvation, 
which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 
a light for revelation to the Gentiles 
and for glory to your people Israel."

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem, when Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord,

The Visit of the Magi

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod [73 B.C. – 4 B.C.], Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 
 " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 
for out of you will come a ruler 
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. [Micah 5:2]'"

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east^[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." [Hosea 11:1 (Greek: egontos, eks aiguptou ekalesa ton huion mou meaning “Out of Egypt have I called the son of Me”.  Matthew was saying the statement was made perfect in Christ.]

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah [Jeremiah 31:15] was fulfilled: 
 "A voice is heard in Ramah, 
weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children 
and refusing to be comforted, 
because they are no more."

The Return to Nazareth

(4 B.C. – Year Herod the Great died)

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, they returned to Galilee and he went and lived in their own town, a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene." [Note this states “the prophets”, not “a specific prophet”. What is being said is the various prophets predicted Jesus would be despised or considered common. Nazarene was a person looked down on, a prejudice of the time. Look to Nathanael’s question in John 1:46: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” But don’t look for the quote in any particular prophet.]

And the child [John] grew and became strong in spirit; And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace

Home at the Holidays: Christmas Decor

So Woman on a Mission posted some lovely pictures of her home decorated up for Christmas on her "Coffee, God and Me" Blog.  (Clicking on the title of this post will take you to her Blog.) She asked readers to do the same. I am posting some photos of my place in return. 

 

The photo to the left isn't one of them. It is of my kids taken on Christmas 14 years ago. (Hard to believe.) Their ages then were 16, 14 and 12. 

Stepped out side in the rain this evening at twilight and turned on the lights on our hedges.

The stocking of animal faces are hung on the rail.

Looking up to the living room level from the entryway.

The tree. It was in the other corner of the room until it fell over. Now it is here.
I put on the lights. My wife does the trimming.  That is "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire playing on the TV.
The fireplace from the entry way.

The mantle. My wife collects nutcrackers. The picture is an Andrew Wyeth. We have a yellow lab like in the painting.  
More nutcrackers and my wife's ceramic village in the secretary desk cabinet.
Still some more nutcrackers in the hallway.
Top of the entertainment center, another Andrew Wyeth painting.
Hutch across from the dining room table.
The dining room.
The full dining room. The tower sticking up in the lower left corner is a cat scratching post.
The Santa in a hot air balloon hanging from the rafter. My kids high school graduation portraits are on the wall behind. 

Somebody else's turn.

A Few Views with trees for Farrah

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it;  let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. 
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; Psalm 69:11-12

Since Farrah shared some views of Washington State where she and Greg live on her Blog, "Light In the Sphere", I would post some scenes about my home here in Delaware.  I just picked a few at random that have some connection to me personally.

The first, on the left, is a sunset view taken from my front door. We live among a lot of trees. 

This is our abode about two years ago just before we had new replacement windows and entryway installed. We had to take the tall oak just behind the house down this past summer.

I did a post about that in my "Navigating North Carolina" Blog.

This is the church I attend, Bible Baptist. If I hadn't taken this photo this past january, you wouldn't be able to see the church for the trees.

I usually walk to services, the church is only a mile from my home.

The entrance to the Delaware Humane Association Animal shelter where my middle daughter works as a VetTech. Both my older daughter and my wife used to work here.

I was a sometimes volunteer.

This is in Wilmington in a not so great area, believe it or not, although they are improving the area into part of the waterfront area.

Fall comes to my street. Looking down from above my house, which is on the left but hidden by the trees.

Looking up my street in winter from the middle of the street in front of my home.

My wife and I love the changing of the seasons, all the different beauty it brings out.

last building I worked in before my employer of 21 years decided I was too old and forced me into retirement.  This is downtown Wilmington. The Zanzibar Blue Restaurant has since closed at this location. The building the restaurant is in on the right is part of the DuPont Complex.

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; 
     the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  Isaiah 55: 12

Of course, I didn't mean I was led out with joy and clapped my hands when I was forced to retire. The two verses used here actually both refer to the future when the Lord returns, which we all look forward to. Let the trees always remind us of God's Grace and grandeur.

If you click on the title of this post, it should take you to Farrah's Blog.

Nitewrit the Carney: Having a Fun Day

This past Saturday the church I attend had a Community Day BBQ. Besides a lot of good food, there were games and small rides.

It wasn't a fund raiser. The churches I have attended do not practice fund raising. Those who worship here supply the funds as the Lord leads them.  No, everything in our little carnival was free, no one paid a cent, not to get in, not to eat, not to play a game or take a ride. We offered our neighbors a fun day, food and free Bibles if they wanted one. 

We opened up at 10:00 and ran the fair until 3:00. Most of these pictures were taken early. In got more crowded as the day progressed into the afternoon.

This lady and her daughters were there to man the Moon Bounce.

We had live music playing by different talented musicians all day and in the afternoon the Zoo brought some animals out for demonstrations and petting.

Most of the booths were blowups. That's the Moon Bounce, or possibly by the shape, was called the Castle Bounce here. 

It was wall to wall kids inside by noontime. By the way, the heavy-set man on the left is my Pastor.

The tall fellow on the right wearing the motorcycle hat is my Sunday School teacher.

Here is where I became a Carney, the Moon Shot.

You can't see the balls floating on jets of air toward the back, but the object was for the players to knock those balls over with pitched balls.

Had a little problem. The original targets were about the size of a soccer ball, but none came with the booth. When a man came supposedly with balls for this, they turned out to be balloons. I placed a balloon over the air jets and it shot right out the roof of the booth and disappeared.

I ended up using two of the four pitching balls as the floaters.  Smaller targets, but at least they stayed atop the air jet and didn't disappear into the wind.

Next door to me was a batting cage game. It was run by Modesty, a young woman in our congregation. Ah, she had it easier. A ball would be batted off an air jet tee toward holes to the rear of the booth. But the ball after hitting the back would roll into a groove in the center of the floor, roll down the groove to where the air jet was then drop into a bag along side.

I had to retrieve all the balls thrown in my booth. Back and forth I went all morning. It wore me out and if the ball stuck toward the far back of the target area, when I reached back to get it, the air jets would blow my hat off. Oh, the sacrifices we make!

The device you see between my Moon Shot and Modesty's Batting Game is a strength tester. You know, you strike a board with a big hammer and it sends a stick up the chimney to strike a bell...if you have the strength. Wasn't too hard, several small children were ringing the bell, although the person running it sometimes helped. 

A teenage couple came by and the boy went over to hit the bell. Bang, and the stick rose a few inches. he tried several times and couldn't ring that bell. His girl friend was laughing, but he took it well. 

Of course, as I said, there was no fee to play, no ticket to ride, and everyone got to choose a prise out of a basket win or lose. Just a fun day.

This was another game, skee ball.

Ah, but here is what drew a lot of attention. Hard to believe we church folks can be so sadistic, isn't it?

The dunk tank.  Somebody sits up on a board and people throw balls at a small target. If they hit the target, the sitter gets dunked in the tank. This is our Youth pastor climbing out of a dunking.

Oops, their he goes again into the tank.

When I walked over to the church from my house (about a mile), it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff wind blowing. It probably felt as bad climbing up on the board after the dunking with that wind as it did hitting the water, which was just cold tap water. No heated tank.

I tell some more about this later

I had a lot of youngsters and little kids at my booth. Popular with the adults was the Sumo Wrestling. 

See, you climbed into these puffy suits and became Sumo stars. Problem here is you had to lay down to wiggle into the suits.

Once contestants were suited, they became more turtle than wrestler and couldn't get up. People had to lift them to their feet.

You had to help them up anytime they fell over too.

Twice I was almost wiped out by flying Sumo Wrestlers while snapping these photos. (Again that is my Sunday School teacher and my pastor with backs to you.)

As my Sunday School Teacher prepares to take some pictures of his own, the wrestlers get ready to strike a proper pose.

Actually, my Pastor and the fellow in the yellow pants next to him could play Sumo without putting on the suits.

We have a very good Pastor and he has a great sense of humor.

He'd probably make the same remark himself.

Even pets were welcome.

Here on the midway we had the popcorn and cotton candy concession.

I love fresh popcorn, so i made sure I got a bag.

Our Youth Pastor as barker, walking around in a crazy balloon hat with a bullhorn calling people to the events.

Ah, yes back to the Dunk Tank.  That's our Pastor on the board now. Last Sunday they had a ballot in church to elect the five people we'd most like to see in the Dunk Tank and they actually did it. 

All but the number one selection, one of the leaders in our church and something of a character and ex-Marine. They had a sign up, that he said he had to work, then the note, "what kind of an excuse is that for a Marine". My daughter, who was in the Army, but served under a Marine Command on one tour of duty got a kick out of that.

Note the Youth Pastor around the corner of the tank about to take aim at the target.

"Yeeeessss, got 'em!" he yells as the Pastor disappears under water.

I had told the pastor I hoped he'd be able to talk on Sunday to give his sermon.

He was. He spoke on "What God told us About how to Handle a Financial Crisis". 

Here is the Moon Shot again. That is not me inside. That was the fellow they drafted to relieve me.  

I was very grateful. As I said, after over two and half hours, I was worn down.

Now I could go get something to eat.

Just following these folks heading for the barbecue.

I had a good meal here, barbecued chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, a shrimp-pasta salad, baked beans and a cupcake.

Tasted pretty good after that workout in the cold air running the Moon Shot. 

I even ate the shrimp, which is something I don't like.  Nope, not a seafood lover.

And so my day kind of ended, but the party and the train chugged along for a couple more hours after I left.

We had some new faces in church this morning, people who came to our Community Day and decided to visit our service. All but one of our free Bibles was given away and it looked to me as if everyone who came had a great time.