I really enjoyed speaking today on "O Come All Ye Faithful". Hopefully I didn't upset or weird out too many people with my discussion of what it meant for Jesus not to "abhor the virgin's womb"! My favourite thought from the day was that darkness is not the presence of anything, but simply the absence of light, and that if we want to deal with darkness in our lives then the answer is to bring the light of Christ into that darkness.
I thought I'd briefly let you know what is happening over the next few weeks.
On Christmas Eve we're meeting at 3pm and 5pm for family meetings looking at how Christmas is celebrated around the world. It will be lots of fun, but there will also be a very clear gospel message. Please be thinking about who you can invite to come along to either of these one hour meetings.
On Christmas Day we'll be meeting at 10am for an hour to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is always a great time together as family, please get there if you can. Our offering on Christmas Day will be for Yeldall Manor, a Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre outside Reading which we are increasingly involved with - please be thinking and praying about what to give.
There are no meetings on Sunday 1st January - please take the time to enjoy New Year's Day with family and friends.
On the 8th January we're starting a new series called "Texts for Life". This series is going to run all the way through to Easter. In it we're going to be learning 12 different Bible verses together - there's more on this in the latest LinK magazine.
Finally to mention the finance prayer meeting. We'll be meeting at 6am this Thursday (22nd December), after which I've invited everyone who comes for breakfast down in town! On 29th December there is no prayer meeting so we can all have a lie in, then we'll kick off again on the 5th January.
I hope you have a great week in the run up to Christmas.
Simon.
2 comments:
I don't think anyone was upset, Simon. Indeed the most graphic of analagies can only shed a small amount of light on the lowliness which God entered this world in the form of the Christ-child.
To come from origins which would, for most people, be something to have huge shame about was something which didn't deter God from becoming a presence in flesh on Earth, indeed for Him to be born on Earth in this meagre way only paves the journey for Him to be of the people, among the people and with the people.
You put it brilliantly.
Best wishes to you, Catrina and the family this Christmas.
Lynda
Simon, I thought it was great on Sunday at the 11am.
I saw this on the BBC website and thought you might be interested -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-16236129
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