December 24, 2025 (Christmas Eve) Sermonette

This is the sermonette Skip gave at the Christmas Eve service. It is in the book entitled "The Real Jesus and Other Sermons". The author's name is the Rev. James Allan Frances although it is frequently cited as "unknown". It was published in 1926 by Judson Press in Philadelphia (pages 123-124 "Arise Sir Knight!"). We hope you enjoy it.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village,

the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another obscure village,

where he worked in a carpenter shop

until he was 30.

Then, for three years,

he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family or owned a home.

He didn't go to college.

He never lived in a big city.

He never traveled 200 miles

from the place where he was born.

He did none of the things

that usually accompany greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33

when the tide of public opinion

turned against him.

His friends ran away.

One of them denied him.

He was turned over to his enemies

and went through the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed to a cross

between two thieves.

While he was dying,

his executioners gambled for his garments,

the only property he had on earth.

When he was dead,

he was laid in a borrowed grave,

through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone

and today he is the central figure

of the human race.

I am well within the mark when I say that

all the armies that ever marched,

all the navies that ever sailed,

all the parliaments that ever sat,

all the kings that ever reigned

—put together—

have not affected the life

of man on this earth

as much as that one, solitary life.