Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. I visited the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, nicknamed “The Fighting Lady,” this week. The Yorktown was named for the city where the final major battle of the Revolutionary War occurred assuring American victory and independence. While the Yorktown served valiantly during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, I am highlighting her service to the Apollo 8 mission. When Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, the Yorktown was there to retrieve them. The astronauts aboard Apollo 8 were the first to orbit the moon, see the dark side of the moon, and witness “Earth rise.” Apollo 8 was orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968, and they decided to send an important message to earth. No, it wasn’t technical jargon or even a Santa Claus sighting: it was the Creation account from Genesis 1:1-10 These were federal government employees using federal government equipment to transmit Scripture to the entire world! Now that’s our tax dollars at work with which I heartily agree! Here is an excerpt of the actual message from Apollo 8:
William Anders:
“For all the people back 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. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
Jim Lovell:
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Frank Borman:
“And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 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.”
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