A Message to Earth

Email ^ | 12-25-03 | Anonymous

[Salvation]

December 25, 2003, Christmas Day

A Message to Earth

Apollo 8 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968. It was the first mission to the moon with a crew aboard, and its purpose was to orbit the moon in preparation for a future landing on the moon.

On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit and the crew began to relay back to Earth live television pictures of the moon and the Earth. They ended their broadcast by saying: “For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep…”

The three man crew, taking turns, continued reading the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis, which ended….

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters he called the Seas. And God saw that it was good.”

Commander Frank Borman then added: “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”

[Salvation]

Merry Christmas to all on earth of good will.

And may God bless all of you!

[Salvation]

Please post your Christmas messages here!

All are welcome!

[Salvation]

Christmas Greetings to all!

May you be blessed abundantly by the Lord God during this Christmas season and throughout the New Year.

[kezekiel]

A disturbing breach of the separation of church and state... we at the ACLU will be filing suit post haste to zero-fund NASA due to this blatant commingling of government funds with a radical Christian agenda.

[Brett66]

[Salvation]

Amazing isn't it?

I found this little gem and could not help but post it!

Merry Christmas!

[tiki]

Merry Christmas to you and all FReepers. May the Peace of Christ abide in you always and may you always rejoice in the gift that we have received through Christ, our Lord and our King.

[Salvation]

Wonderful graphic!

Thanks so much. And have a blessed Christmas with your family.

[Salvation]

Wonder-Counselor
God-Hero
Father-Forever
Prince of Peace

[pbear8]

Hodie Christus Natus Est!!!

[Tennessee_Bob]

My favorite part of the Christmas story:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


A great company of the heavenly host - imagine what it must have been like to have been one of those shepherds.

[mtbopfuyn]

we at the ACLU will be filing suit post haste

Beat me to it. Call out the revisionists! We can't have this in the history books.

To all Freepers around the world, a very Merry Christmas one and all!

[Salvation]

**A great company of the heavenly host - imagine what it must have been like to have been one of those shepherds.**

This was exactly the message of the priest at the vigil Mass I attended with my daughter here in Arizona.

He cited Charlie Brown and the Christmas Story and how Shermy always had to be a shepherd.

But then he challenged us to think about it.

The shepherds were really quite lowly in that society......just like blue collar workers today. What a privilege to receive the news about the birth of Jesus Christ FIRST!

And then another challenge: Do we continue to shout forth the message of Jesus Christ? That He came to save all? That we are all the shepherds of 'today's' society?

A genuine calling, no?

[tiki]

Emmanuel

[Salvation]

**Call out the revisionists! We can't have this in the history books.**

But it's there already! And I will be glad to post this little morsel each and every year to remind them!

God bless you and yours during this Christmas Season.

[GeronL]

Of course, your realize we are offending people, right? =o)

Merry FReepin' CHRISTmas everybody!

[Salvation]

"God with us!"

[Salvation]

**Merry FReepin' CHRISTmas everybody!**

You are so right! Keep the CHRIST is Christmmas!

[Skooz]

I remember having a postage stamp with a picture of the earth taken from the moon. The caption read: "In the beginning, God..."

[Bobby777]

A disturbing breach of the separation of church and state

LOL ... let me apologize to the ACLU and wish them a Merry CHRISTmas ... oops, sorry about that ...

[kimmie7]

That has always given me chills.

My Christmas wish for you all --
homes full of loved ones,
tummies full of delicious nourishing food,
minds full of happy thoughts,
lips full of praise for the wondrous gift of God's son;
and hearts full of God's love.

[billbears]

May you have a Merry and blessed Christmas.

[jwh_Denver]

God made Earth a real gem in the Universe. Then he sent His Son to save us. How great is His Love for us!

[ALOHA RONNIE]

December 24, 1969 =

The World was way down sick with the Hong Kong Flu
and yet we still got to tune in with glee to Apollo 8's Live Trip round the Moon.

T'was UNFORGETTABLE.

.

[Bobby777]

Merry Christmas ping ...

Merry Christmas to my Christian FReeper friends ... and Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish FReeper friends ...

[JustPiper]

Thank you Salvation and the best to you also ;)

[Mr. Mojo]

Merry Christmas to my Christian FReeper friends ... and Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish FReeper friends ...

This Jew will accept both ......'cause I celebrate both :)

And a Merry Christmas to you too, Bobby.

[singsong]

Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.

[Bobby777]

thank you sir! ... may you be safe and joyous this holiday season! ...

[viaveritasvita]

I dug this one out of my archives....

Astronaut William Anders when he returned after circling the Moon in Apollo 8: "We looked back from 240,000 miles to see a very small, round, beautiful, fragile-looking little ball floating in an immense black void of space. It was the only color in the universe -- very fragile, very delicate indeed...It reminded me of a Christmas tree ornament -- colorful and fragile...."

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Wishing you God's love, peace, joy, grace, mercy and hope overflowing.

Luke 2:10-11

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[Soaring Feather]

[Soaring Feather]

Lovely Thread ping!

[pollywog]

Merry Christmas All. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me! My love to you all here at Free Republic.
God Bless you each one .
Polly

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Feather.

[pollywog]

What comfort that passage of scripture is Tennessee_Bob! Thanks for taking the time to type it all out. In spite of all the terrorism, frustration and sin in our world.....JESUS CAME.....Glory to God in the Highest !!!!!!

[Cindy]

CHRISTmas blessings to you all... December 25, 2003: CHRISTmas (Cindy says, "Celebrate CHRIST everyday! Amen.")

[easonc52]

I feel very blessed that I found this site in March this year.

I was beginning to worry that I was the only one having a problem with the individuals (being kind) that think Christmas should be turned into something unidentifiable or eliminated altogether.

Rather than rant, I'll just wish all of us a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

[solitas]

@ to Earth:

We hear that you taste like chicken - we're on our way to find out.
[sig]
Lrrr, Invincible Leader, Omicron Persei 8

---

(sorry - it was the first thing that came to mind)
Happy Christmas All! :D

[DeepDish]

Lrrr, Thank you for the food shipment. While your storm troopers shocked the meat cutter at first, he soon got used to it. You'll be happy to know that they dressed out at 73% salable carcass and we know that they taste like prime beef.

Looking forward to your continued shipments

George W. Bush

[stylin19a]

Talk about unforgettable...I was in boot camp in July 69 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. (At the rifle range, Drill Instructer woke us all up about 2 in the a.m., we hit the grinder in our skivvies and we had to wave to Neil Atrmstong on the moon). Apollo 8 must have been earlier.

[dixiechick2000]

What a wonderful thread, Salvation. I have a beautiful picture I want to share that was designed by matrix2225.

A very Merry Christmas to you both!

God bless us all!

[blam]

Merry Christmas to all.

[Cate]

Merry Christmas and hope your holiday is wonderful. We are blessed to be in your company on FR :) . Cate

[radu]

Thank you for the ping, ms. feather.
A wonderful Christmas post, Salvation. A great find and thank you for posting it.

To all FReepers,

[Salvation]

**I remember having a postage stamp with a picture of the earth taken from the moon. The caption read: "In the beginning, God..."**

I had totally forgotten about this! What a collector's item!

[Salvation]

**Astronaut William Anders when he returned after circling the Moon in Apollo 8: "We looked back from 240,000 miles to see a very small, round, beautiful, fragile-looking little ball floating in an immense black void of space. It was the only color in the universe -- very fragile, very delicate indeed...It reminded me of a Christmas tree ornament -- colorful and fragile...."**

Thanks for these memories! Merry Christmas and peace on earth to men of good will.

[Salvation]

Have a blessed day!

[Salvation]

Loving the humor! We all need a smile on Christmas, don't we?