Sherwood’s Story BY RON BEARD


Sherwood had been listening to the news on the television. He heard grown-ups talking with each other when they did not know he was listening.


He told his Mother that he had been listening to all the grown-ups talking about how scary things were. They worried about the upcoming elections and the ads they saw. They talked about masks and social distance. They talked about protests and riots. They talked about prices going up. It scared him to hear about all that stuff. And he worried about tomorrow and didn’t know what to do.


His mother was wise. She really listened to him and did not say, “Just forget about it, you don’t need to worry.” She was honest with Sherwood and told him that everybody gets afraid from time to time. She hugged him and told him he was not alone. Even grown-ups can be afraid.


That night he thought about that after he went to bed, and the next morning at breakfast he asked her, “What can I


Sherwood was afraid of what he was hearing.


do? What do grown-ups do when they are afraid?”


His mother told him that you can’t let things you are afraid of take over your life. You cannot stop enjoying all the things God has blessed us with like life and your family. You have to look at the good things and not let the bad make you forget the good.


“Most of all you can never forget that God loves you and that no matter what may happen He will help you with it.”


Then she told him something he would remember all his life. She said “I don’t spend much time worrying about tomorrow, because when I get there, God will already be there waiting for me.” Sherwood remembered Jesus’ words in Matthew:


“When birds are sold, two small birds cost only a penny. But not even one of the little birds can die without your Father’s knowing it. God even knows how many hairs are on your head. So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many birds.”


It’s the holiday season! 2020 has been a tough year for everybody, so I pray that you and your families are blessed with an especially happy Thanksgiving and an extra Merry Christmas.


Two thousand years ago, on the very first Christmas, things were quite different than they are today. We celebrate Christmas because of a baby who was born long ago (way before anyone had ever thought of decorating an evergreen tree with gold and silver balls!). This baby was born in a stable because His parents had no other place to stay. Yet, despite the fact that his parents were poor, this baby wasn’t just any baby. As a matter of fact, he was a King, but in a different way than you might think. This baby’s name was Jesus, and he was God’s own Son, sent from Heaven to live a perfect life on earth.


Jesus is the most important, powerful King of all, yet he is a humble King. Sometimes, Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, because He gently guides and cares for his people, who are a lot like sheep. Although sheep don’t always behave themselves, the shepherd continues to love them. Jesus is a king who came to serve his people. We are His people if we trust Him to save us from our sins. We celebrate Christmas to remember the night He came to earth thousands of years ago. On that night, only a few people realized how special the baby Jesus was. Some of those people were lowly shepherds, and they came to visit the newborn King. Here’s a little bit about what it would have been like to celebrate the very first Christmas with the shepherds:


Read Luke 2


If you had been a shepherd on that night long ago, you would have been rather poor, and nobody would have thought much of you. You would have slept out in the fields even on the coldest nights because that was a part of your job. Shepherds took care of sheep.


At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the night when Jesus was born. You and your shepherd companions would have rested silently in the grass under a starry sky while sheep wandered nearby. Everything would have been so peaceful that you might have been tempted to doze off. It is no wonder that the shepherds were frightened when the angel appeared to them! The Bible tells us that the glory of the Lord shone around them. It truly must have been a magnificent and terrifying sight!


The angel was God’s messenger and he had come with good news of great joy. The Lord was spreading the word that Jesus had come, and it was time to celebrate. The shepherds certainly had nothing to fear. Christmas was here at last.


16 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


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