Relief Society Christmas Program



Relief Society Christmas Program

Speaker 1: Welcome, Sisters. Today we are going to have a special Christmas program based on the words of the First Presidency from several recent Christmas Devotional messages. These will be interspersed with musical numbers from some of our sisters. I will be reading these quotes along with Speaker 2 and Speaker 3.

In the most recent Christmas devotional, President Monson said: “The Christmas season, with its special meaning and beauty, often prompts a tear, inspires a renewed commitment to God, and provides ‘rest to the weary and peace to the soul.’

“However, it is easy to get caught up in the pressure of the season and perhaps lose the very spirit in our lives that we’re trying to gain. Overdoing it is especially common this time of year for many of us. The causes for this might include too many Christmas activities to attend, too much to eat, too much money spent, too many expectations, and too much tension. Often our efforts at Christmastime result in our feeling stressed out, wrung out, and worn out during a time we should feel the simple joys of commemorating the birth of our Savior.” (Monson, “Christmas is Love,” December 2013)

It is my prayer that this program will help redirect our minds and hearts to our Savior, and set a tone of peace and gratitude for our Christmas season.

We’ll begin by singing together an opening song: Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains, Hymn number 212, verses 1 and 3. I would encourage you to keep your hymnbooks out during the program, and read along with the words to the hymns. Speaker 2 will introduce this hymn for us.

Speaker 2: President Henry B. Eyring said, “[We] offer priceless gifts of love and testimony at Christmastime through music as well as words. As a young boy, I would gather with my family around our Winkler piano, now more than a hundred years old. … My parents had known poverty and so were frugal. The Christmas gifts we received were modest. But my mother had a rich soprano voice. She played her piano at Christmas as she led us in singing familiar carols and sacred hymns.

“I don’t know if she thought of herself as inviting us to share in a lasting gift, but even as a young boy, I felt inexpressible joy in singing those songs. The music filled our small home with a spirit of peace. I could feel not only the love of my mother and father and two brothers, but of my Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ.

“As we sing in choirs, families and classes, the carols of Christmas remind us of our shouts of joy when we learned that we could come to this world and be given a Savior to redeem us. Someday we will sing those songs with the hosts of heaven.” (President Eyring, “The Perfect Gift,” December 2012).

This hymn was written in 1869 by John Macfarlane, a choir leader in St. George. Although it began as an LDS hymn, it has since spread to be a Christmas carol loved by many both inside and outside the Church. The words give us the opportunity to join our voices with the angels in proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest; Peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

Song: 212, “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains”, vs. 1 and 3, Congregation

Speaker 3: President Uchtdorf invited us to see Christmas with new eyes, instead of being blind to the message of Christ. He said, “Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we become so preoccupied with responsibilities, commitments, and the stress of our many tasks that we fail to see with our hearts that which is essential and most sacred.

“Even many who lived during the time of the Savior’s mortal ministry could not see Him, though He walked among them in plain sight.

“Sometimes when we read about people who could not see the Savior for who He was, we marvel at their blindness. But do we also let distractions obstruct our view of the Savior—during the Christmas season and throughout the year? Some are external distractions—the gifts we worry about, the decorations, or the clamorous advertising—but often it is what is inside us that blinds us from seeing the Christ.

“I promise that if we unclutter our lives a little bit and in sincerity and humility seek the pure and gentle Christ with our hearts, we will see Him, we will find Him—on Christmas and throughout the year.” (President Uchtdorf, “Can We See Christ in Christmas?” December 2009).

The hymn, “Once in Royal David’s City” contains lyrics that remind us to see Him with new eyes this season. Verse three says, “And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love; For that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above.”

Song: 205, “Once in Royal David’s City,” vs. 2 and 3

Speaker 1: When we remember our Savior Jesus Christ as a helpless and innocent baby, our love for Him grows. President Eyring said, “This little child, born in a stable and cradled in a manger, was a gift from our loving Heavenly Father. He was the promised Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, the Son of the living God. He was with His Father before He came to earth in mortality, the Creator of the earth upon which we stand.” (President Eyring, “The Gift of a Savior, December 2010).

The song, “Away in a Manger,” reminds us that the Lord of all, began life in the most humble of circumstances.

Song: 206, “Away in a Manger,” piano solo

Speaker 2: Angels announced the birth of the Savior to shepherds. In Luke we read,

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:8-14).

President Eyring said, “The story of Christmas given to us by Luke creates feelings of peace and goodwill, just as the angel choir promised. Every inspired account of the birth of Jesus has that power. … The words of Luke seem almost to bring to our minds and hearts the memory of the sound of angelic music.” (President Eyring, “Christmas Stories,” December 2009).

Song: 203, “Angels We Have Heard on High” vs. 1 and 3

Speaker 3: If we want the peace in our lives promised by the angels, we need to look to ourselves. President Monson made this statement, “Brothers and sisters, this joyful season brings to all of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree to which we have turned our minds, feelings, and actions to the Savior, whose birth we celebrate.

“Let [this season] be a time of prayers for peace, for the preservation of free principles, and for the protections of those who are far from us. Let it be a time of forgetting self and finding time for others. Let it be a time for discarding the meaningless and for stressing the true values. Let it be a time of peace because we have found peace in His teachings.” (President Monson, “A Bright Shining Star,” December 2010).

With its gentle and peaceful melody, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” reminds us of this promised peace. “It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold. Peace on the earth, good will to men from Heaven’s all-gracious King. The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.”

Song: 207, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,”

Speaker 2: The symbol of light is prevalent at Christmas, from twinkling lights outside our houses, to a shining star topping our Christmas trees. President Eyring reminds us that Christ came to be the Light of the world.

In John 1:4-5 we read, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

President Eyring said, “One of the most beautiful symbols of the birth of Jesus Christ into the world is light. The appearance of the long-promised Messiah brought light to a darkened world.” (President Eyring, “The Gifts of Christmas,” December 2011).

In “The First Noel,” we hear of shepherds who looked up and saw a star that gave great light to the earth. The light continued both night and day, just as Christ is our constant source of light and love.

Song: 213, “The First Noel,” vs. 1 and 2

Speaker 1: President Monson tells us that the decorations and distractions of Christmas aren’t the real Christmas. Instead, it is the quiet, even silent witness of the Savior that comes to our hearts as we reach out to others in love. President Monson entreats us, “Let us make Christmas real. It isn’t just tinsel and ribbons, unless we have made it so in our lives. Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is peace because we have found peace in the savior’s teachings. It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others.”

President Monson shares a poignant story that illustrates this truth. At Christmastime many years ago, President Monson decided to visit his former Primary president, Melissa, who was in her 90s and living in a nursing facility in Salt Lake. He says,

“I found Melissa in the lunchroom. She was staring at her plate of food, teasing it with the fork she held in her aged hand. Not a bite did she eat. As I spoke to her, my words were met by a benign by blank stare. I took the fork in hand and began to feed Melissa, talking all the time I did so about her service to boys and girls as a Primary worker. There wasn’t so much as a glimmer of recognition, far less a spoken word. Two other residents of the nursing home gazed at me with puzzled expressions. At last one of them spoke, saying, ‘Don’t talk to her. She doesn’t know anyone—even her own family. She hasn’t said a word in all the time she’s been here.’

“Luncheon ended. My one-sided conversation wound down. I stood to leave. I held her frail hand in mine, gazed into her wrinkled but beautiful countenance and said, ‘God bless you, Melissa. Merry Christmas.’ Without warning, she spoke the words, ‘I know you. You’re Tommy Monson, my Primary boy. How I love you.’ She pressed my hand to her lips and bestowed on it a sweet kiss filled with love. Tears coursed down her cheeks and bathed our clasped hands. Those hands that day were hallowed by heaven and graced by God. From Bethlehem there seemed to echo the words:

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

“President David O. McKay said, ‘True happiness comes only by making others happy. … The spirit of Christmas makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (President Monson, “Christmas is Love,” December 2012).

Song: 208, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” all verses

Speaker 3: President Uchtdorf said, “We celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the Creator, our Messiah. We rejoice that the King of Kings came to earth, was born in a manger, and lived a perfect life. When Jesus was born, the joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds, ‘good tidings of great joy….praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’

“Wise Men ‘rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when … they saw the young child with Mary his mother, [they] fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts.’

“It is only fitting that we—like the Wise Men, shepherds, and angels—take time to rejoice and celebrate that glorious first Christmas Day.” (President Uchtdorf, “Seeing Christmas through New Eyes,” December 2010).

The hymn, “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful,” invites us thirteen times in three verses to come worship and adore our Savior, Christ the Lord. May we take this invitation into our hearts, and have a happy and joyful Christmas season as we turn our thoughts and desires toward Christ, and reach out to others in love.

Song: 202, “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful,” all verses, congregation joins in on third verse.

Concluding Remarks

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