christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

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A Prayer for Christmas and Epiphany

Blessed are you, Lord our God,
our eternal Father and David’s king:
You have made our gladness greater and increased our joy
by sending to dwell among us
the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace.
Born of Mary,
proclaimed to the shepherds,
and acknowledged to the ends of the earth,
Your unconquered Sun of righteousness
destroys our darkness and establishes us in freedom.
All glory in the highest be to you:
through Christ, the Son of your favour,
in the anointing love of his Spirit,
now and for ever and ever.
Amen

From the Prayer Book for Australia (p.436)

Immanuel

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This post is the last post before Christmas so I can only say have a blessed Christmas when it comes.

Remember you have 12 days to celebrate which  is good news! If Christmas day does not meet your expectations you have 11 more days to enjoy it. Are you aware of anyone in church who may be glad of some company over this time consider including them in a meal or outing. The only quote of Jesus outside the Gospels is this ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive ‘ Acts 20:35 recorded by St Paul.

Karen and I made a decision earlier in the year that we wanted to sustain our children’s ministry over the main festivals of the church to allow the good fruit of Godly play to continue at these key times.  Consequently Godly Play leaders and helpers will be having a break in January beginning again in the second week of February.  When I am back I will be running a 10 am service without communion on the 14th Jan.  I would like to thank Karen, Shirley and Verity and our volunteers for all they have given to the children and our families through Godly Play this year. It has made a real difference to our life in community.

Christmas is the culmination of carefully laid plans set forth over hundreds of years. As we noted last Sunday evening the’ presents’ given is actually the’ presence’ of God, Immanuel. God with us. The incarnation begins a new creation, a new humanity. Jesus was the first truly human person since Adam and Eve and He invites us to discover afresh the gift of life found in Him. As with Mary, this is made possible through the Holy Spirit and the word planted within us. Will we with Mary say ‘I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have spoken.’ Luke 1:38 Will we receive the Lord into our lives? Is there  room?

Shalom

Jamie

Carols & Cappuccino 2017

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Immanuel

This Sunday is our Carols and Cappuccino service where we celebrate the birth of Jesus because of who He is, what He has done and what He is still doing to this very day. Jesus invites us into a relationship with Himself and through Him a relationship with God the Father. IF this seems a meaningless statement perhaps you will consider joining us next year on an Alpha course to explore that?

In the bible there are many names given to describe Jesus .  As Matthew writes in summary of what happened in Bethlehem ‘All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet

( Isaiah 7:14) ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us.’ Matthew’s Gospel chapter 1v22-23

Our service this evening is more reflective than last year, an invitation to encounter Immanuel . To experience God with you in the trials and challenges of life, the joys and sorrows, the upsets and uncertainties, the times of confusion, despair as well as in celebration is what Jesus made possible. He came to us. Christ-mas…literally the anointed one sent. He continues to come to us through the Holy Spirit and we have prayed that if you have not experienced this before you will this evening.

May you be blessed. May you know that you are loved by God. May you discover the wonderful truth that the baby in Bethlehem went on to reveal the nature of God, to be the crucified Christ, the risen Christ, and He did that for each one of us so that we could know Immanuel.  God with us.

Shalom

Jamie

Emmanuel – God is with us!

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Sunday the 18th was a day of gathering and celebration.  81 of us met together in a joint service in the morning and over 150 of us gathered for our Carols and Cappuccino service in the evening.  This was a time of encountering Jesus, not only the first encounters by Mary, Joseph, Shepherds and Wise Men but also hearing from people encountering Jesus today.  The light of Gabriel blinded us (Paul with a builder’s lamp) as we remember that Emmanuel is what all Christians share and why we are celebrating Christmas. – God is with us!  Enjoy the 12 days of celebration.

You can download the newsletter from our Carols service below.

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