Upon Judea's Plains

I stood upon Judean plains
And heard celestial sounds and strains;
I heard an angel, free from sin,
Announce the birth of David's kin.

On shepherds watching sheep by night
There came a shining, glorious light,
As holy choirs from heaven's dome
Saw God's own son make clay his home.

And voices sweet sang this reprise:
“To God on high, let praise arise;
And peace, God will to men on earth;
This is the day of Jesus' birth.”

To me there came this witness sure:
He is God's son, supreme and pure,
To earth he came, my soul to save,
From sin and death and from the grave.

~Bruce R. McConkie


Help us rightly to member the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the Wise Men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift, and good desire with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessings that Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts; forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus's sake. Amen.

~Robert Louis Stevenson, “A Christmas Prayer”


Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe to the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellowmen are just as real as you are; and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness – are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open – are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world – stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death – and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.

And if you keep it for a day, why not always?

But you can never keep it alone.

~Henry Van Dyke

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; ... And the angel said ... 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 Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

~Luke 2:7. 10, 11

With all my soul, I love Him, I humbly testify that he is the same loving, compassionate Lord today as when He walked the dusty roads of Palestine. He is close to His servants on this earth. He cares about and loves each of us today. Of that you can be assured. He lives today as out Lord, our Master, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our God. God bless us all to believe in Him, to accept Him, to worship Him, and to fully trust in Him, and to follow Him.

~Ezra Taft Benson

Once, two thousand year ago,
On a clear and starlit night,
Shepherds who kept their sheep in the hills
Saw a vision of unearthly light.

The birth of a Baby Boy was foretold
Who would save His people from sin;
But when His parents came to a Judean town,
They found there no room at the inn.

So Jesus was born in a stable that eve.
A treasure was He of great worth,
Yet He was born there among the animals.
A majesty of majesties on earth.

Jesus came to live among men,
a lovely stranger from celestial parts.
I pray we might all find room for Him
This night at the inn of our hearts.

~Katherine Markowitz

“What think ye of Christ?”

However the world ignores or responds to it, this is the reverberating and the great question! Can we answer with both our lives and our tongues, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God?” Until we can, whatever else we say and do will, in the end, make little difference.

~Neal A. Maxwell

May the peace and love of Jesus Christ
Go with you on your way,
And bless your home and loved ones
In spirit Christmas Day.

May the joy of God's bright promise –
the advent of His Son –
Live evermore within each heart
and comfort everyone.

May the faith of old-time prophets
Be with you where you are,
And may the truth of god's own Word
Remain your Christmas Star.

~Helen Schick

That is the Man we worship – not a man of high degree, world-wise; not a man of power, and yet he said on one occasion: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give more than twelve legions for angels”, never invoking his divine powers merely for his own selfish good, always for the benefit of others, for all humanity, always sacrificing, always trying to obey the will of the Father, telling us over and over again that he did nothing that he had not seen his Father do, that he taught nothing that he had not heard his father teach.

~J. Reuben Clark

Often we can learn as much from what Christ did not do as we can from what he did. What he did not do was return to the Sanhedrin, where the great debate had raged over his testimony and works. He did not return to Caiaphas, to Pilate, to Herod, to the scribes, the Sadducees, or the Pharisees, to manifest himself and prove them wrong. Conversion and faith do not grow out of such experiences, and the God of heaven has not chosen to so indulge the wicked. What he did was to return to those who believed, fulfilling the promise that signs would follow their good works.

~Joseph Fielding McConkie

If we desire to learn the ideal life to lead among our fellowmen, we can find a perfect example in the life of Jesus. Whatsoever our noble desires, our lofty aspirations, our ideals in any phase of life, we can look to Christ and find perfection. So, in seeking a standard for moral manhood, we need only to go to the Man of Nazareth and in him find embodied all virtues that go to make the perfect man.

~David O. McKay

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ~ Isaiah 7:14

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty god, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ~ Isaiah 9:6

I think when I read that sweet story of old,
when Jesus was here among men,
How he called little children like lambs to his fold;
I should like to have been with him then.

I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,
That his arms had been thrown around me,
That I might have seen his kind look when he said,
Let the little ones come unto me.

Yet still to my footstool in prayer I may go,
And ask for a share in his love;
And if I thus earnestly seek him below,
I shall see him and hear Him above.

~Jemima Luke

Meanwhile, let us remember what manner of persons we ought to be: “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.” Attributively, we are to become even as Jesus, with His virtues being increasingly replicated in our lives. Even in the midst of our obvious imperfections, a sacred process is to be underway – if slowly, nevertheless resolutely. Whatever one's unfolding agendum, he can be overcoming if he is becoming more like Christ!

~Neal A. Maxwell

And so it is with the greatest life ever lived. It was what is was because the spirit housed in the body provided by Mary was the greatest of all the primeval hosts. Before Bethlehem, before the Holy Land, before the earth itself, before the universe and the whole sidereal heavens, before all things, was Christ our Lord. He who was to breathe his first breath of mortal life in a little-known Judean village was the Eternal One whose goings forth had been from of old, from everlasting. Bethlehem was not the beginning. It was simply a way station along an eternal course. And he who found rest in a stable because there was no room in the inns was simply abiding with the animals for a moment as he rested from those creative enterprises by which he made the worlds and all things that in them are.

~Bruce R. McConkie

Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the Kingdom of God. During His earthly ministry, He taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick. He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life. To us He has said, “come, follow me.”

~Thomas S. Monson

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

~ 2 Nephi 25:26

Kindred Souls

From those who were shepherds
To wisest of mortals,
Strangers came streaming
From near and afar –

The peasants so lowly.
The royal so mighty:
Determinedly following
Light from the star.

In awed adoration,
They knelt by the manger;
Strangers, but bound
In devotion as one –

The peasants so lowly,
The royal so mighty;
Each equal in God's sight.
Each heart held His Son.

~Dorothy I. Neel

Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He can deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal peace.

~Ezra Taft Benson

A Christmas Message to the Children of the Church from the First Presidency:

Christmas will soon be here once again—Christmas, that joyous time of year when everyone thinks about giving and receiving gifts.

As your eyes sparkle with the excitement of this happy season and as you sing the lovely Christmas carols, may you remember the beautiful story of the Baby Jesus, who was born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem while shepherds watched their flocks by night on the plains of Judea. This was God’s gift to the world.

When the angel Gabriel first visited young Mary in Nazareth, he told her she had been chosen to become the mother of the Son of God and that she should call his name Jesus, a special name meaning Savior.

Down through the ages, Jesus has been known by many other names that tell of His greatness and of His work. Among these names are Christ, Holy One, Redeemer, Immanuel, Son of God, Teacher, Messiah, Almighty, and, of course, Savior.

The first letters of these sacred titles spell the name of this season when we celebrate the wondrous birth of Baby Jesus. As you think about gifts this Christmas, we hope you will think of the meaning of these names given to Jesus by those who knew and loved Him. Then you will be reminded of the blessings of this special holiday.

~Harold B. Lee, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney

We celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ at this season of the year. How grateful we are that the baby Jesus was born. His birth and life and death were the greatest of all. He died a propitiation for our sins to open the way for our resurrection, to point the way to our perfection of life, to show the way to exaltation. He died purposefully, voluntarily. His birth was humble, His life was perfect, His example was compelling; His death opened doors, and man was offered every good gift and blessing.

~Spencer W. Kimball

That man is truly great who is most Christlike. What you sincerely think in your heart of Jesus Christ will determine what you are and will largely determine what your acts will be. By choosing Jesus Christ as our ideal, we create within ourselves a desire to be like Him and to have fellowship with Him. If you think about Him long enough, you'll begin to act like Him. And if you act like Him long enough, you will truly become like Him.

~David O. McKay

Such a small King, isn't he, such a small King
How can he bring deliverance to me?
Can he be the one who'll set us free?
Such a small King, such a small boy.

I can bring him a candle and lamp to light his way
I can bring him a lamb's warm wool to place on the hay
Bring him a song of love for the shepherds to play
'Tis the Savior that's born today.

Such a small King, isn't he, such a small king.
Yet he will bring deliverance to me.
Such a small King, such a small boy.


~Causey

In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even He could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last sruggles, so He bowed His head, and hid in some part of His universe. His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did no fail us, for He had not only the love of His son in mind, but He had love for us, and I rejoice that He did not interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the sufferings of His Son and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of His Son unto men.

~ Melvin J. Ballard, 1919

There is no miracle comparable to the miracle of Christ himself .... Here is something more than a babe in a manger; here is the Creator of all that is good and beautiful. I have looked at majestic mountains rising high against the blue sky and thought of Jesus, the Creator of heaven and earth. I have stood on the sand of an island in the Pacific and watched the dawn rise like thunder, a ball of gold surrounded by clouds of pink and white and purple, and thought of Jesus, the Word by whom all things were made and without whom was not anything made that was made. I have seen a beautiful child, bright-eyed, innocent, loving and trusting and marveled at the majesty and miracle of creation.

~Gordon B. Hinckley

A Child's Faith

“He slept in manger;
He had no bed.”
“I would have given
Him mine,” she said.

“He walked alone
On the shores of Galilee.”
“I wish He were here;
He would walk with me.”

Such is a child's heart,
Full of love and peace;
Small wonder He said
“Become such as these”

--Christie L. Coles

As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as our constant companion always. We shall learn to forget ourselves. We shall turn our thoughts to others. There is no shortage of opportunities to forget self and think of others. Such opportunities, however limitless they may be, are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved.

~Thomas S. Monson