Santa's Workshop News

The Escape to Egypt Ho ho ho! Now, the wise men had slipped safely away by a different road, and that was good news indeed. But there was still the matter of King Herod, sitting in his palace with that jealous heart of his. And once Herod realized the wise men weren't coming back to report to him, well — he was not a happy king. Not one bit. So once again, heaven stepped in to protect that precious little family. And once again, it happened in the quiet of the night. You'll remember that Joseph — good, steady, dependable Joseph — was a man who paid attention to his dreams. And one night, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream with an urgent message. "Get up," the angel said. "Take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to harm Him." Now, this was not an easy thing to ask of a man. Egypt was far away. It was a foreign land, with foreign customs and a foreign langua...

Santa: A Dream and a Different Road Ho ho ho! Now do you remember sneaky old King Herod, and that sly little smile of his? He'd asked the wise men to come back and report exactly where the child was, pretending he wanted to worship Him too. But of course, Herod had no such kindness in his heart. He had other, darker plans entirely. Well, my friends, here is where the story takes a wonderful turn. Because you simply cannot outwit heaven. After the wise men had visited the child and presented their gifts, they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. Just like that — a quiet message in the night, slipping past all of Herod's scheming. So instead of returning to the king's palace as they'd been asked, the wise men packed up their camels and went home to their own country by another route entirely. A different road. They simply slipped away, and Herod never got his report. Now I find this part absolutely delightful, and I'll tell you why. Herod thought he...

Santa Speaks about Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh Ho ho ho! Now, Santa knows a thing or two about gifts. It's rather my whole line of work, after all! So you can imagine how interested I am in the famous presents the wise men brought to the little King. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Three gifts. Three travelers. And not a single toy among them! Let's start with the gold. Now, gold I understand completely. Gold is a gift fit for a king. It's precious, it's valuable, it gleams and it shines. When you give someone gold, you are saying, "You are royalty. You are worthy of the very finest." And that's exactly what the wise men were saying. This child was a King — the King of Kings — and gold honored that. So far, so sensible. But then we come to the second gift. Frankincense. Now, I'll be honest with you, if you handed a child a box of frankincense today, you might get a rather puzzled look. Frankincense isn't a toy or a treat. It's a special ...

The Wise Men Find the Child - Santa Tells the Story Ho ho ho! So the wise men left King Herod's palace, with his sly little smile still hanging in the air behind them, and they set off once more to finish their long journey. And the moment they stepped outside — there it was again. That glorious star, shining ahead of them in the sky. And the Good Book tells us something rather sweet here. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. After all those weary miles, after that uneasy meeting with a nervous king, that faithful star was still there, still leading the way. Wouldn't you be overjoyed too? The star went ahead of them until it stopped — right over the place where the child was. Imagine that! After traveling across deserts and hills, after weeks and weeks of following a light in the sky, the journey finally came to its end. The star settled over one humble house in one little town, as if to say, "Here. This is the place. You've made it." The wise men ...

Santa Explains About King Herod and His Worried Throne Ho ho ho! Now, every good story has a moment of suspense, doesn't it? A bit of tension. And the Christmas story is no different. So let me tell you about a fellow named King Herod — and I'll warn you now, he is not one of the heroes of our tale. You see, as the wise men traveled, following that bright star, they made a perfectly sensible stop. They arrived in the great city of Jerusalem and started asking around. "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the East, and we have come to worship Him." Now, that's a fair question to ask in a big city. But it was exactly the wrong question to ask in front of the wrong king. Because the king on the throne in those parts was Herod — and Herod did not like the sound of a new king one little bit. When word reached Herod that strangers were wandering about asking after a newborn King, he was deeply troubled. And the Good Book tells ...

Santa and The Star of Bethlehem Ho ho ho! Now let's lift our eyes up from the stable for a moment and look way, way up — up into that vast night sky. Because hanging there, brighter than anything around it, was something truly extraordinary. A star. Not just any star, mind you. This was the Star of Bethlehem. And it shone with such brilliance, such unusual splendor, that wise and learned men far, far away in the East couldn't help but notice it. Now Santa knows a thing or two about navigating by the night sky. When you're guiding a sleigh across the whole world in one evening, you learn to read the stars pretty well. But I've never once seen a star like this one. This star wasn't just for decoration. This star had a job to do. It was a signpost in the heavens, a great glowing arrow pointing toward the most important place on earth. You see, in those days, there were scholars — wise men, sometimes called Magi — who studied the stars very carefully. They watch...

Santa: The Shepherds Visit the Manger Ho ho ho! So there stood our shepherds, hearts pounding, jaws hanging open, the echo of that heavenly choir still ringing in their ears. The sky had gone dark and quiet again. The angels had returned to heaven. And the field was just a field once more, with the sheep blinking up at them as if to say, "Well? What was all that about?" Now here's the moment that tells you what the shepherds were truly made of. Because there are two kinds of people in this world, my friends. The first kind would have sat right back down. They'd have rubbed their eyes, scratched their heads, and said, "Did that really just happen? Let's not be hasty. Let's sleep on it. We'll think it over in the morning when we've had a good rest, and maybe we'll wander into town next week to check, if we get round to it." But the shepherds were the second kind. The better kind! The moment the angels were gone, they turned to one...