Characters at the Cradle: The Birth of Jesus, Glory to God in the Highest
Release Date: 12/31/2025
Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: How I Ended Up on a Submarine, Part 1
A Moment of Hope
by Harper Brame as told to Marilynn Chadwick “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV So how on earth did I end up working on a submarine? Well, it was definitely not my original plan. The war was wrapping up after Japan was bombed, but the military draft continued because there were still many dangers all over the world, especially in the Pacific. My father was with the Army Corps of Engineers, so our family moved around a lot. I was nearing the end of my senior year. I had attended...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Hot Running Torpedo
A Moment of Hope
by Harper Brame as told to Marilynn Chadwick I was barely 18 when I entered the Navy. But I have a lifetime of memories from my tour of duty as a submarine sailor. It’s been such a long time since I’ve thought about that blue whale. It’s funny how things can suddenly come to mind out of nowhere. It’s sort of like the time we had a hot running torpedo on the sub. The captain quickly sent us to the front of the sub where we went below if we didn’t have required duties to bring it under control. There was a very real danger of explosion, and we had 24 loaded torpedoes. If that thing had...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Great Blue Whale, Part 2
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick “The earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.” Psalm 104:24b,25 NIV …Continued from Friday… My Dad paused before continuing the story and got real quiet. He was thinking back to the astounding size of the creature he had seen. “I was up in the shears of the conning tower. Back then, if you were on lookout duty, you had to always scan the horizon for threats like enemy ships or aircraft. You would also keep watch for any navigational hazards. We were an extra...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Great Blue Whale, Part 1
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick "Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps” Psalm 148:7 It was Christmas Day and the entire family had gathered at our home. Our grandchildren gazed at their great grandfather with wonder as he unwrapped his special Christmas gift. We had just finished Christmas dinner and the children crowded around “Great Grandaddy” as he opened his present. What could it be? The mysterious gift was packaged in an unusual antique box that had to be at least as old as Harper Brame, their ninety-eight-year-old great grandfather, and my father. Great...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: Share Your Family Stories
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong." 1 Corinthians 16:3 NIV Daddy is one of the few remaining World War II era submarine veterans, and the last man still alive from his submarine, the USS Besugo. “Guess I’ll have to turn out the lights,” he smiles. He and my mom vividly remembered the war—they didn’t take our freedoms for granted. So, growing up, neither did we. One of the ways they helped us appreciate our heritage was to tell lots of stories—especially about our family. I grew up hearing about Daddy’s submarine adventures...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Roots of My Raising Run Deep
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1 Daddy was always proud of his family. Not only his parents and siblings, but also his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. He often shared stories from his growing up years and said the way he felt about his family reminded him of the old country music song by Merle Haggard, “The Roots of My Raising Run Deep.” Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to know my dad’s parents, my grandparents, along with a wonderful collection of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Daddy often talked about his...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: Keep Calm and Carry On
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him’.” Genesis 2:18 During our growing up years, Mom was more than just Dad’s companion. She was what the Bible refers to in Genesis 2:18 as his “helper.” The original word in Hebrew is ezer, which means a strong, often heroic, source of support. Mom was both strong and kind and she was Daddy’s rock. Mom stopped teaching school when the kids came—family was everything to her. She especially loved Dad’s parents and his three sisters and their...
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Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: Honor Your Wedding Vows
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick “Let marriage be held in honor among all…” Hebrews 13:4a When people meet my 98-year-old dad, they often ask me, “What’s his secret?” “How does he look so young and stay so sharp?” Daddy would be the first to tell you that part of his secret is that he had a great wife. When my mom went home to be with the Lord three years ago, she and my dad had been married just shy of 70 years. My mother was bedridden for the last ten of those years. A ruptured appendix and complications from subsequent surgeries robbed the once robust grandmother of her ability to...
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Characters at the Cradle: The Wise Men, Guided to God’s Perfect Light
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Matthew 2:19-23 is how we will wrap up our study of the Wise Men. Today also completes our eight-week series where we have looked at the many characters who found themselves connected to the cradle of Jesus. Herod finally died in 4 A.D. While in Egypt, an angel of the Lord appeared once again to Joseph in a dream. He told Joseph that it was now safe to return to Israel. Joseph rose and went back to Nazareth in Israel. As I have heard my daughter say to her children, obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings discipline. Thankfully, once again, Joseph obeyed....
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Characters at the Cradle: The Wise Men, Herod’s Demonic Wrath
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Herod came to the realization that he had been tricked by the Wise Men. He found out that they had departed and gone home instead of coming back to tell him where the new baby king was located. Now, Herod did not know fully who this baby was, but he knew enough to make him afraid. His paranoia heightened as he knew his throne was threatened. Fear makes people do crazy things! The most devastating part of this biblical account is that Herod, in his fury, sent out an edict to kill all male children in Bethlehem who were two years old or under. Herod’s genocide fulfilled the...
info_outlineby David Chadwick
Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to be registered for taxes. While there, Jesus was born in a smelly manger instead of a nice inn. The God of all creation chose to enter the world in the most humble of states. Jesus is the main character at the cradle. His birth was the catalyst to draw every other character to the cradle.
So what happens next in the story? Let’s look at Luke 2:8-14 to see who were the first characters at the cradle following Jesus’s birth.
Verse 8 says that the shepherds were “out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Suddenly, an angel appeared to them. Like we see in many biblical accounts, when an angel would show up, the shepherds were filled with great fear as God’s glory shone around them. Do you remember how Zechariah and Mary responded? They were afraid. But this fear is different from sinful fears. Think more of an awe and reverence as sinful humans stand before holy angels.
The angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The angel’s message, one of enormous joy, would both change their lives forever and touch all of humanity for all of time.
The angel went on to tell the shepherds where they would find this baby, “wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” This is all the detail Luke included. Somehow, some way, the simplicity of that statement would take the shepherds straight to the Christ child. Could it be that God chose the most radically humble of locations to be the very way that people would find the King of kings?
Following the angel’s message, astoundingly, a mass heavenly angelic choir appeared, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
While the Bible clearly says that the angels were “saying” this, I can’t help but hear it put to music every time I read these words! Whenever I hear Christmas songs that say, “Glory to God,” I immediately think of this verse. I picture a multitude of angels singing, almost like a military choir singing in perfect harmony because, after all, angels are God’s armies!
The shepherds heard the news! God had finally come! Immanuel. The 400 years of silence had been deafeningly broken. Per the angel’s instructions, it was time for some to begin to visit him! Can you believe it? The first human guests to come visit God in human flesh were the shepherds. Not the rich and powerful, but lowly shepherds. Another theme of humility invading the Christmas story. God made a statement by inviting the lowly, seemingly insignificant ones to be the first to come to his birth party.
How great is our God!