Steve Webb: It's day 23 of the 2022 encore of the 2009 season
of the Lifespring White Christmas show hosted by James
Cooper, creator of whychristmas.com and me the OG
Godcaster Steve Webb of Lifespringmedia.com. I've got
over 3000 podcast episodes over there. Take a look. Christmas
Eve is tomorrow already. You will need to get your entry in
for the drawing to win the autographed copy of Bryan
Duncan's A NehoSoul Christmas CD by tomorrow at 6pm pacific time
when I'll be recording the Christmas Day show. For details
on how to enter go to Lifespringmedia.com slash day
nine to see how to do that. That's Lifespringmedia.com slash
d a y numeral nine no spaces. You could be the winner. Have
you smiled or learned something this month while listening to
the Lifespring Why Christmas show? Isn't that worth
something? If you're feeling generous gifts for your
Christmas podcast hosts are welcome at Lifespringmedia.com
slash support.
Welcome to the light spring Why Christmas show number 23. Which
means Christmas is only two days away. I can hardly wait. Time
Steve Webb, your host. As children, we anticipate the
arrival of Christmas morning with giddy anticipation of what
presents might be under the tree? Will it be a new bicycle,
a new doll, a baseball glove or a ps3? How many presents will
there be? What will Santa bring? As parents the tables are
turned? Now our anticipation is focused on what our children's
reaction will be when they open their gifts. We so want to hear
those five words. It's just what I wanted. And of course, we want
to see what Santa brought us to. So how did the custom of giving
and receiving presents on Christmas begin and how do other
cultures do it? Well, of course God gave the very first
Christmas gift when he gave us Jesus. John 316 says God loved
the world so much that He gave His one and only Son that
whosoever believes in Him may not be lost but have eternal
life. I think that the anticipation I have leading up
to Christmas morning as the father of three sons is nothing
compared to the anticipation God the Father had leading up to
that first Christmas morning when Jesus was born into the
family of Mary and Joseph and into the human family. He had
just what we want it. And of course the wise men brought
gifts frankincense, gold and myrrh. Frankincense was a
perfume used in Jewish worship and as a gift it showed that
people would worship Jesus. Gold was associated with kings and
Christians believe that Jesus is the King of kings. Myrrh was a
perfume that was put on dead bodies to make them smell better
and as a gift it showed that Jesus would suffer and die. And
then today all over the world, families and friends give
presents to each other. Most children around the world
believe that St Nicholas Santa Claus or Father Christmas brings
them presents but in Germany they believe that it is the
Christian or Christ child. In Spain they believe it is the
wise men and in Italy they believe it's an old lady called
Befana. These presents are also left in different places. He in
most of Europe, the presents are left in shoes or boots put out
by the children. And in Italy, the UK and the US presidents are
left in stockings often left hanging by a fireplace. And of
course in many countries presents for friends and family
may be left under the Christmas tree in the UK and here in the
US they're often opened up on Christmas Day morning with all
the family together. presents are opened on different days
around the world as well. The earliest presents are opened is
on St Nicholas II on December 5 When children in Holland
received their presents. And then in Belgium, Germany, the
Czech Republic and some other European countries st Nicholas's
days on December 6, and that's when they opened their presents.
Children in the UK, the US and many other countries such as
Japan open their presents on Christmas Day, December 25. The
latest that presents are opened is on January 6, and that's on
the day known as epiphany, and it's mainly celebrated in
Catholic countries such as Spain and Mexico. Tomorrow James has a
very, very special show planned and on Christmas Day, of course,
we'll both be back for one last time for this 2009 series of
Lifespring White Christmas shows. We'll have some fun and
we'll draw the winning name from satis app to see who gets the
autographed Bryan Duncan Christmas CD of a Neil soul
Christmas. We'll see you then.