The little town of Helston was bustling this chilly December evening.
The marketplace, full of excited patrons preparing for the coming Christmas celebrations, was
a joyous scene to behold.
Merchant shouts filled the air as they wooed customers to buy their wares as gifts for
loved ones.
The smell of fresh-baked pies, gingerbread, and sweet cinnamon pecans only crescendoed
the feelings of warmth around this wonderful time of year.
Little Jack Green ran a trinket stand in the square, and this evening was no different.
Born to a poor family, Jack didn't have much, but one thing was always certain, you'd find
Jack with a song in his heart and a smile on his face.
Both of the Green children had to pitch in and help their parents to make ends meet.
Jack's little sister Holly was home with Mother, helping wash laundry to bring in some
extra funds.
Jack's father spent the day scouring the town for things he could resell.
Despite the unfortunate circumstance of losing the family farm to a terrible storm and not
having the means to rebuild, one thing that could never be taken from the Green family
was an inexplicable joy in their hearts.
Oliver Camden, on the other hand, led a life in stark contrast to Jack.
His mother was heiress of the largest railroad company in the country, and his father was
the head doctor at the most renowned hospital of its day.
Growing up in arguably the most affluent family in Helston, Oliver never understood what it
was like to lack a thing, except maybe something deep down inside that always left him wondering
if there was more to this life than fancy parties, beautiful clothing, or even lavish
gifts.
Could life consist of more than things and pleasures?
The Camden's stroll through the marketplace on this brisk night led Oliver to an answer
he didn't quite expect.
Okay, Oliver, here's your allowance for this evening.
Feel free to buy whatever you like, but do be careful of the riff raff around here.
They tend to steal money bags, especially at this time of year.
That velvet bag was given to me by your grandfather, rest his soul, so do be careful not to lose
it.
Now, keep your woolen coat button up and your scarf snug, you wouldn't want to catch
a cold.
Yes, father.
Yes, mother.
As you wish.
I will see you back soon.
Such beautiful things, but I've already got 'em all.
Oh, look at that!
Look at that!
I've already got 'em all.
Oh, look, it's Molly, Clara, and Agnes.
Oh, hello.
Oh, hello, Oliver.
Good to meet you, dear.
There are so many wonderful things.
I have my eye on so many things I want for Christmas.
Agnes and Clara were just telling me that your family is hosting this year's first
youth Christmas party.
We cannot wait to be a part of it.
Of course.
It is only for those with social status, right?
It's not for all of the youth in town.
I wouldn't want to be spotted, but Clara, be kind.
It's Christmas after all.
Well, I...
Look, it's Christmas, Carolus.
Let's go over and watch.
Did you know?
I've given this set before.
To right now, but I...
What are you doing here for this junk stand unless you hang around the riff-raff right
away?
Sure he was, my dear, but people of our status don't make it a habit to hang around those
of a lesser class.
Excuse me, excuse me.
You seem to have left your money bag.
Thank you.
Um, what was her name again?
It's Jack, Jack Green.
Nice to meet you, Jack.
Come along, Oliver.
Jack's act of honesty and the words about forgiveness would not leave Oliver's mind.
He also could not fathom the joy this poor junk seller had in his spirit.
How could someone so poor not keep the money for himself?
Most assuredly, Jack's family could have used it, especially at this time of year.
Why would a complete stranger go out of his way to explain to him the meaning of Christmas,
especially after Clara had been so rude?
All Oliver could think to do was to return the act of kindness in some way.
He decided to appeal to his parents, longing to be able to visit Jack again.
Wonderful stroll through the market this evening.
This new suit of clothes will serve me well as host for the coming youth Christmas party
we're putting on for Oliver and his friends.
Indeed, this new coat and new pearls I found will be wonderful for our ride on our Christmas
parade.
Oliver?
You seem rather quiet this evening.
Just thinking.
Whatever about, my dear?
About Jack Green, the boy in the market place.
Hmm.
It wasn't kind that he did.
I don't suppose I'll ever understand his true intentions behind giving you your money back.
But on the other hand, it was yours and that was the only right thing for him to do.
But his smile, his kindness, the Christmas forgiveness story he tried to tell me, it
will not leave my mind, Mother.
I feel like I must repay his act of kindness.
He has something that I want.
Is there something he has?
That we cannot provide for you?
By all means, tell me my boy and I'll buy it, no matter the cost.
The Camdons did not understand what Oliver was talking about when he said that Jack had
something he wanted.
But after much persuasion, Oliver convinced his parents to allow him to go back and bring
a gift of appreciation to Jack.
Little did Oliver know that a gift would be waiting for him too.
Jack, my son.
How was your day today?
How did it go at the marketplace?
Good.
Part were these two oranges and half pie I brought home.
A whole half pie?
We will eat like kings and queens tonight.
Sales were...
Okay.
I don't think people want to buy used gifts as presents anymore.
I've met a boy in the market who seemed rich but so eager to hear when I mentioned the
story of Christmas.
What happened?
Did you get to tell him the good news?
I didn't.
His parents hurried him away, but he said he would see me again.
All the money in the world couldn't buy eternal salvation.
The Bible specifically says a man's life consists if not in the abundance of the things which
he possesses.
Though we don't have this world's riches, you could give salvation to your newfound
friend.
Yes, that's the truth.
Jesus came down from his riches and splendor in heaven to give us the gift of eternal life.
He came down to the spiritually poor and broken world to save sinners like us.
In a dark December evening, the stars shone out its light, and angels sang in joyous praise
to the wonderborn that night.
He who prophets had foretold finally arrived, promised of Messiah, love brought to life,
and came down to us, to this world, a tiny baby, living Savior, enter far away, came
down to us, breaking through all time to reach us, and still he's reaching out for us today.
This little child was glorious king, we celebrate Christmas Eve.
He came down to us, down to us, in a stable darkness, that hope was formed in us, that
gift that God had offered, was a heart and soul and love, in his smile we saw heaven,
the face of God himself, a man of presence, who we've come to know, came down to us, to
this world, a tiny baby, a living savior and a major faraway, came down to us, breaking
through all time to reach us, till he's reaching out for us today, this little child was the
glorious king we celebrate, on Christmas Eve, he came down to us, to this world, a tiny
baby, a living savior and a major faraway, came down to us today, this little child was
the glorious king we celebrate, on Christmas Eve, he came down to us, decided to paint a
beautiful picture with his favorite scripture on it for Oliver, he would take it to the
market daily in hopes of meeting Oliver again, Oliver on the other hand felt the desire to
bring one of his own pocket watches to give to Jack, he set out one bright afternoon in
hopes that the poor trinket seller he'd met the week before would be at the market, pocket
watch in hand, Oliver hoped that the young green boy would share the story he started
that cold evening.
I don't know last week, I most certainly do Oliver, I've been thinking about you and praying
for you.
I brought you this gift as a way to say thank you for your kindness and honesty last week,
I was impressed with your character.
Oh Oliver, it's really nice but you really didn't have to, not much when it comes to
gifts but I made this for you.
Thank you.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
Sounds beautiful.
It is and it all started in a manger.
A thousand years ago, riches of heaven, Jesus came to this earth for sin, his death.
He was born humble manger, raising miracles for sin.
When he was 33, he sacrificed his life for us on a cross, went to hell for three days
and after all this, he arose victim in death to save those who simply put Jesus alone.
Oliver could hardly believe his ears.
What joy it brought his heart to hear that by grace are you saved through faith and that
not of yourselves.
It is the God of works that any man should boast.
It was like a Christmas gift that no one would ever take back, Jack told him.
It was a gift that he didn't need to work for, paid for by the giver, Jesus Christ.
Jack asked Oliver if he believed in these amazing truths from God's Word and asked Oliver if
he wanted to pray and tell the Lord what he believed in his heart, placing his faith only
in Jesus for salvation.
There in the marketplace, Oliver did just that, praying and placing his faith, belief,
trust, Christ alone.
And it was then that Oliver realized that his newfound friend Jack, poor Tinkerstand
boy, was truly the one who could be called the richest boy in town.
That was an amazing program, in my opinion.
That was great.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, that was perfected praise.
Great job, kiddos.
That was amazing.
I want to give a couple of thanks this evening to those who worked so hard to make this program
possible.
And I'm just going to go over a couple here.
This is in no particular order.
You have these in your program.
And if you could hold your applause to the very end, we'd appreciate that.
First and foremost, we have Connor Payne, who is the narrator.
You didn't see his face, but you heard his voice.
He's in that room right over there.
We want to thank him.
He did a great job narrating the program.
At the piano, we have Annie Barea, and she did a fantastic job playing all the way through,
and she played beautifully.
And so we're thankful for her as well for playing skillfully.
Louisa Kanzari, who's the choir director here.
She did a fantastic job just leading the kids in the singing, and it's not an easy job trying
to get them to start right on the note and everything.
So she did a fantastic job, put her heart into it, we're really thankful for her.
Kelly Franceschini, who's the acting director, and she also assisted with a lot of the acting
but just the lights on, lights off, and so she played a major role in this.
The line director Corny, or line director and line assistant, Corny Rodriguez and Penelope,
we're so thankful for them.
They helped us in the kids, the single file line, bringing the kids up, bringing the kids
down.
It's a lot of work just to do that.
And so really thankful for their efforts and their job.
Want to thank Giovanni Franceschini for the lights, or else we wouldn't be able to see
the program.
Amen.
And so great job there, Brother Gio.
For the props, we have Christian Grossman.
We also have John Michael Herrera Ojeda.
And then we have Adrian Romanello, and then also Caleb Carr.
And so thank you guys for bringing up the props, bringing them down, and just doing
your job.
You guys did a fantastic job there.
And then at the PA booth, we have Brother Mark Barfield as well, making sure that the
cameras are running great, so we can upload this to Rumble.
And then also for the audio, he did a great job there.
And then I do want to say thank you once again to Louisa Kanzari for the set design.
These sets were really nice.
And she's the one who designed them.
Brother Ulysses Hernandez actually kind of constructed them, but she's actually the one
who designed them, so she did a fantastic job with that.
And then lastly, I do want to thank Brother Maury Lemons.
Brother Maury Lemons is the director for the program, and he's there to make sure that
everything runs as smoothly as possible.
And he's done just a fantastic job with this, organizing the whole thing, making sure that
everyone's at their practices, making sure that the parents are practicing, and just
making sure that everything runs smoothly.
So if we can give all these people a round of applause, great job.
And one more round of applause to all the kids who did a fantastic job.
You kiddos sing great.
I love the singing.
And I was telling Brother Maury back there, this would not be a program if we didn't have
at least one hiccup in the program.
And so they jumped into that joy to the world and I was with them.
I'm all for it.
And so I thought that sounded great.
Thank you guys, everyone for participating and helping out with that.
What a great story.
I love the story of the richest boy in town.
And so with that in mind, I want to kind of give you just a little bit of a message here
tonight.
Of course, we're celebrating Christmas and this Christmas program is to commend the grace
of God, the gift of God that comes through Jesus Christ.
As we saw in the story, Jack Green, though poor and beggarly, was at the end, the richest
kid in town.
And it's not because of his, any monetary wealth or possessions that he had, but rather
because he possessed the greatest gift that any person could receive.
And that is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You know, wealth, although able to purchase much, is incapable of purchasing eternal life.
It doesn't matter how much money you have.
It doesn't matter how much, how many works you do.
No amount of works, no amount of deeds, no amount of money can ever purchase salvation,
righteousness.
The Bible says in Psalm 49 in verse number six, "They that trust in their wealth and
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem
his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their soul is precious
and it ceaseth forever."
Mark chapter eight, verse 36, as Jack's father quoted, it says, "For what shall it profit
a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
At the end of the day, riches cannot purchase salvation, and of course, we know that nothing
else other than the blood of Jesus Christ can.
The Bible says in Romans 623, "For the wages of sin is death," but I want you to notice
this, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
According to the Bible, we're all sinners who have broken God's commandments, and it's
for that reason that the Bible tells us that we deserve the just penalty of a place called
hell, meaning that if you were to die at this moment, according to the Bible, your soul
would descend into a place called hell for all of eternity to pay for your sins.
And it's a scary thought, but it is a reality, according to the Bible.
But luckily, 2000 years ago, God, the father sent his son, Jesus Christ to this earth.
The Bible tells us he was born of a virgin, that he lived a perfect life, sinless life,
though he was 100% God, he was also 100% man.
And he lived a life just like you and I do without sin.
He was tempted in all points, yet without sin, the Bible says.
And the Bible tells us that at the age of 30, he began his ministry, performing many
miracles to confirm his deity.
And at the end of those 33 years, he was crucified on a cross, put nails in his hands and his
feet, crown of thorns upon his head.
The Bible tells us that he himself bore our own sins on his own body on the tree, meaning
that every single sin that you've ever done in the past, every single sin that you will
do in the future, Jesus Christ paid for all those sins on the cross, the small sins as
well as the big sins.
There's no sin in this world that he has not paid for.
The Bible tells us when he died, he was buried, his soul went to hell for three days and three
nights and on that day he resurrected from the grave because he is God.
And he did all that to save you and to save me.
And the Bible tells us that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and
"Believe in thine heart that God hath raised them from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For what the
hard man believeth unto righteousness, but what the profession is made unto salvation." Verse 13 of
Romans chapter 10 tells us, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Meaning that if you decide this evening to place your faith exclusively, only upon Jesus Christ,
not upon your works, not upon where you go to, not upon your baptism, not upon your deeds,
your ability to stop sinning, or any other thing. The Bible tells us that if you place your faith
only upon Jesus Christ, you can have the same gift that Oliver received tonight, and that is the gift
of eternal life. And the wonderful thing about this gift is that once you receive it, it's never
taken back. God gives it to you because He paid for it, and He doesn't expect anything in return
for that gift. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves."
It is the gift of God. Listen to this, "Not of works, lest any man should boast." The Bible goes
on to say in 1 Corinthians 9.15, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." I hope this evening
that the story touched your hearts. I hope you take it into consideration. I hope you take the
message into consideration, recognizing fully, like most of us here, that we're all sinners,
deserving of hell, but that Jesus Christ paid for those sins on the cross and He resurrected,
and if you place your faith only upon Him for salvation, you can have that tonight.
I'm going to pray at this moment what we would typically call the sinner's prayer. If you believe
these things in your heart, what I just explained in these brief moments, you can pray this unto
the Lord. You can ask Jesus Christ to save you, and He will give you eternal life this evening.
Please bow your heads and close your eyes with me and repeat after me if you would like to receive
salvation. Dear Jesus, I believe I'm a sinner and I believe I deserve hell, but I trust that Jesus
Christ paid for my sins on the cross and resurrected on the third day. I place my faith on Jesus Christ
alone to give me eternal life. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for the gift. In Jesus name
I pray, amen. Thank you so much for being here tonight. I do want to remind everyone that we do
have cookies and milk in the foyer. And so stick around, get some cookies, and take some
with the kids. And thank you so much again for being here tonight. God bless you all. Merry Christmas.