I have been re-reading Taylor Caldwell's novel, Tender Victory, which I first discovered in the public library when I was in high school. It is my all time favorite novel! Not only is it an interesting story, but it is more inspirational than most any book I've ever read. I highly recommend it.
Here is an excerpt from the book (p. 266.) It's the Christmas sermon preached by Johnny Fletcher, the main character. In his sermon he told the gospel story again using the verse in Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." I loved the way the author made it personal to every hurting person. Christ came for each one of us, and has the answer to our every need. All we need do is 'Follow Him.'
"Unto you, all you tired and heavy-laden, unto you who are hopeless and sad and dwell in the darkness of sorrow, unto you who are caught in the web of your sins and your crimes and your agonies and your hells, unto you who weep and find no joy in your lives and no faith, unto you who are victims of injustice and despair, unto you who have been injured and who injure, unto you whose lives are as stone and steel and you who are tormented with pain and the fear of death and whose children have abandoned you, and who weep in the night and find no peace therein, unto you who labor and find no sustenance in labor, and no meaning, unto you who may die tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and who cry in the darkness without an answering voice from man, unto you, the friendless and the homeless and the lost, unto you who hate in your grief and you who hate without reason but only through blind and ignorant envy, unto you without love and who have never been loved--
"Unto you, this night, a King has been born. A King of love and mercy and salvation and understanding, a King who will bind up your wounds and touch your blind eyes and take away your hatred and your sorrows and comfort you, and who asks only of you, in accents of eternal love and compassion: Follow Me.
"Unto you, the Word has been made Flesh, out of love for you, out of mercy. Rejoice, therefore, that God has been born in your flesh, and waits for you in His Manger.
"Unto you, unto all men, God has come, to fulfill His promise of the ages. Follow Me. Sound you bells, to the night! A Kings has been born, saying: 'I am among you, even to the end of the world. Follow Me.'"
Here is an excerpt from the book (p. 266.) It's the Christmas sermon preached by Johnny Fletcher, the main character. In his sermon he told the gospel story again using the verse in Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." I loved the way the author made it personal to every hurting person. Christ came for each one of us, and has the answer to our every need. All we need do is 'Follow Him.'
"Unto you, all you tired and heavy-laden, unto you who are hopeless and sad and dwell in the darkness of sorrow, unto you who are caught in the web of your sins and your crimes and your agonies and your hells, unto you who weep and find no joy in your lives and no faith, unto you who are victims of injustice and despair, unto you who have been injured and who injure, unto you whose lives are as stone and steel and you who are tormented with pain and the fear of death and whose children have abandoned you, and who weep in the night and find no peace therein, unto you who labor and find no sustenance in labor, and no meaning, unto you who may die tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and who cry in the darkness without an answering voice from man, unto you, the friendless and the homeless and the lost, unto you who hate in your grief and you who hate without reason but only through blind and ignorant envy, unto you without love and who have never been loved--
"Unto you, this night, a King has been born. A King of love and mercy and salvation and understanding, a King who will bind up your wounds and touch your blind eyes and take away your hatred and your sorrows and comfort you, and who asks only of you, in accents of eternal love and compassion: Follow Me.
"Unto you, the Word has been made Flesh, out of love for you, out of mercy. Rejoice, therefore, that God has been born in your flesh, and waits for you in His Manger.
"Unto you, unto all men, God has come, to fulfill His promise of the ages. Follow Me. Sound you bells, to the night! A Kings has been born, saying: 'I am among you, even to the end of the world. Follow Me.'"
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