How Silently

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in.

In our carol service tonight we will be singing ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’. Bethlehem must be one of the most divided towns at the moment, with Jews, Christians and Muslims staking claim to certain areas – its importance in the world cannot be denied. But quiet…? With all those people coming in for the census, there must have been much noise and movement.

It wouldn’t have been quiet in the stable either. Labour can be quite noisy, and doubtless the animals would have added to Mary’s cries. I suppose it was Joseph who encouraged her with ‘one more push!’ There were no fanfares, and the shepherds’ arrival hardly compares with the media rush and camera flashes that would herald a birth nowadays.

Doubtless you have been rushing around trying to get everything done before the ‘Christmas deadline’. Take time to be quiet and consider the impact this baby’s birth has had. Listen for the voice speaking softly to you, and open your heart and mind so that Christ may come in.

Liz Dunthorne

Eyes to See

When I was a child, I loved to hang red and white striped candy canes on our Christmas tree. I loved eating them as well, and the sweet, peppermint taste always reminds me of my lovely, childhood Christmases. I always thought they were pretty but I was delighted when I found this story.

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White, to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and firmness of the promises of God. The candy maker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our saviour. It also represents the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used the three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life, if only we put our faith and trust in Him.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear".

I hope you like this story as much as I do, and that it has given you something to think about when you see a candy cane. (or eat one !)

God Bless

Diane

Epiphany

Today is Epiphany Sunday – epiphany means an appearance (from the Greek epiphaneia - an apparition) a moment of great revelation, and traditionally in the western Christian church is the day we celebrate the visit of the wise men bringing gifts to worship the Christ child – the revelation to the world of Jesus as Lord and King. In the Eastern church Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist – this year in the Anglican Church calendar, the two events coincide.

It is a long journey from Advent to Epiphany, which marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas. But the whole of this journey and the message of the Christmas season is meant for us – we are the “whosoever” of John 3:16 – God gave himself for us. A whole year is ahead of us as the Christmas celebrations draw to a close. If you have not done so yet, please think about giving God the best Christmas present you ever could – yourself. You are important – so important that Jesus came and gave himself on your behalf. All God has ever wanted is to give us the opportunity to be free in Him, to be His. To know him as a personal God, Friend and companion.

May God bless you all

Keith Brown

Toys

Apparently the first recorded toy in 4000BC was a Babylonian game similar to draughts. Since then children have played with a variety of toys through the ages, from simple dolls and spinning tops to the character based and electronic toys of today. The types of toys which we played with and our children and grandchildren play with may have changed but the constant is the joy and delight which toys give to all children.

It is interesting to discover the most popular toys of recent years, Transformers in 1985, Teletubbies in 1997 and last year it was Go Go hamsters. What will it be this year? As I look back on my childhood I recall my favourite toys being at different times; a teddy which I carried everywhere, a desk and chair and a scooter. What was your favourite toy?

We give gifts of toys, both inexpensive and expensive, to children today. The Magi bought expensive gifts to the baby Jesus, gold a gift for a king, incense a gift for a deity and myrrh a gift for a person who was going to die.

Today it is our Toy Service when we give gifts which are passed onto the Children’s Society for distribution to children in need. Let us hope and pray that the children who receive these toys today look back on them as adults with affection and happy memories.

The Light Has Come

A few weeks ago I went to see “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” at the cinema and thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the third film to be made from the C.S. Lewis Narnia stories. Although these books are primarily aimed at children, they contain profound truths about faith for readers of all ages. With the brilliance of modern 3D technology, the film expertly contrasted the differences between good and evil, light and darkness and the choices we are free to make. I found the monsters, the temptations and the all pervading air of evil very frightening, whereas the children I’ve spoken to about it seemed to cope very well! In one scene Lucy is tempted to look into a mirror and desire to see a more beautiful vision of herself. The implication is that she has no intrinsic value. It reminded me strongly of Simon’s talk where he invited us to look at our reflections and realise God loves us just as we are with all our blemishes and faults.

The Bible notes which I was using at the time of my cinema visit were focused on Revelations, particularly chapters 15, 16 and 17. They are full of profoundly disturbing imagery and made me feel very threatened. But my huge comfort can be summed up in the prayer of Hank and Cathy Potts (authors the study notes): “Our Father, thank you for the bowl of wrath you poured out on Jesus at Calvary, allowing us to go free. Amen.” The price has been paid. We are safe in God’s loving arms where no evil can hurt or harm us.

As we begin this New Year we should hug ourselves with joy: the waiting is over; the baby has been born; the light has come to dispel the darkness. Emanuel is here.

God bless, Jackie.

Hymns of Praise

Just before Christmas Christine and I spent a few days in London. While we were there we took the opportunity to go to see Les Misérables. We’ve seen the show before but a long time ago so it was like seeing it for the first time. In his notes, Sir Cameron Macintosh says that the first night reviews, in 1985, were very negative, none of the major critics liked the show. However, the public took no notice of the critics and flocked to see it – something which continues to this day. Surprisingly the story is quite dark with the outcasts being persecuted and downtrodden but the songs and music are quite uplifting and the ending gives hope for the future.

In many respects the story of Christ is also a dark story – his persecution by the Jewish establishment and his death at the hands of the Romans. Yet this story ends in Christ rising from the dead and giving us hope for the future. This story is also accompanied by some most wonderful music – the hymns.

I love music and often wish I was a musician able to make beautiful music, I’ve sung in choirs but I’m not as good a singer as I would wish to be. However, I do like hymns and I like singing them in Church (and sometimes in other places!).

Do you ever think about the words when you sing hymns in Church, or are they just to be sung along to the tune? I know that I have a reputation when it comes to certain hymns by my favourite composers, Newton, Watts and Wesley. I hope that I’m not becoming a bore but I really like the language and poetry of the old hymns.

To me hymns have always been ways of expressing my faith in words which are far superior to my own and they are more like prayers than devotional songs.. I was really pleased when Penny chose to end one of her recent sermons by getting us all to read the words from a hymn. The words were a most fitting ending to a talk on God’s grace.

I don’t have one particular hymn as favourite but you may like to look at the words of some of the ones in my long list of special hymns –MP 37, 755, 756 and the modern version of psalm 23. Perhaps you’d like to think about your favourites and what they mean to you.

God bless, John