Manger Scene

Children are always delightful at Carol Services and those who came to ours from the Toddler Group were no different. They had the ability to really enter into the story of Christmas and believe themselves part of it, rocking the baby Jesus to sleep whilst the inevitable "Away in a manger" was being sung.

During the meeting we had given out battery operated tea lights which we invited the congregation to switch on during the singing of Silent Night, when they sang what they felt was a signficant line in the carol. This was obviously a bit above the heads of 3 year olds but they found their own way to respond. Spontaneously as the carol progressed and more lights came on, one by one the Toddlers brought their lights forward and placed them in front of the manger.

It was one of those "Ah" moments but in another a case of "and a little child shall lead them" Having received light from Christ, what better thing to do with it than to give it back to him, so that others might see him? What better thing to do with the new life we are given in Christ than to give it back to him for him to use for his glory and his kingdom.

Not without can I remain,
Nor my heart's deep urge restrain,
Trembling 'neath my love and pain,
I come, dear Son of God.
Now I bow me at thy stall,
Giftless, yet I give thee all;
Thou art Lord, and I am thrall
To thee, O Son of God!

(Arch Wiggins)

God bless

Carol

What the judge says

For the last few months TV viewing on Saturday evenings for many has either been the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing. When we have been in on a Saturday night, I have to say that I cannot bear the X Factor but my husband quite likes Strictly.

For weeks the former MP Ann Widdicombe was a contestant and a truly awful dancer. However the public kept voting for her, because in their view she was so entertaining. Fortunately by the time the contest was hotting up and all the other dancers in the competition were seriously good, Ann was voted off. The judges had always been pretty scathing about her abilities as a dancer even though they may have thought she was a good sport and liked her as a person. But in their eyes what matters in a dancing competition is the quality of the dancing and they as expert ballroom dancers themselves know what the standard is.

Many people have lots to say about Jesus Christ. In his earthly life he was accused of being a blasphemer, a traitor, a drunk and more than a bit barmy. That was public opinion and eventually the public voted him off and chose Barabbas. But the person that is perfectly qualified to judge who Jesus is, the validity of his claims and the quality of his life is God himself.

The writer to the Hebrews writes about God's judgement on Jesus.

"For which of the angels did God every say, "You are my Son; today I have become your father." Or again, "I will be his Fatehr and he will be my Son"? And again, when God brings his fristborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire." But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever and righteousness will be the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; there God, your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." (Hebrews 1:5-9)

God has declared Jesus the winner, the one to be acclaimed as Lord of above all and invites us to worship him.

God bless

Carol

Appearances

We have been carolling today in our local service station. One of the people who had to appear through the door was the actress and comedienne Dawn French and yes she did put something in the box! My husband's claim to fame will now be that he has met Dawn French, albeit that the only words shared were, "Thank you very much, Happy Christmas.

Actually Dawn did not make an appearance, she was probably just answering the call of nature and trying to avoid too much attention. However she will be officially appearing I am sure on TV over Christmas, even if it is just in re-runs of Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials.

When Jesus made his appearance on earth, it wasn't in a grand debut on a West End Stage but in a backwater town, which could barely find room for him. Not many people recognised him as a celebrity or someone worth taking any notice of.

Yet this was a deliberate appearance. Titus 2:11 says "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."

In the world of showbusiness the plea is always for something new, something different. In the world of faith, when Jesus appeared, something unique and amazing was displayed to the world.

When asked what made Christianity unique and different to all other world religions, CS Lewis, replied, "That's easy. It's grace."

He left his father's throne above
So free, so infinite his grace
Emptied himself of all but love
And bled for Adam's helpless race
Tis mercy all immense and free
For O my God, it found out me.

God bless

Carol

Upstairs Downstairs

One of my Christmas presents last year was the DVD set of the original series of Upstairs Downstairs. This year the series is to be revised, this time set in the 1930's.

The drama contrasts the lives of the rich and priviledged family who live upstairs and their servants who work in relative poverty downstairs. The lines of demarkation between the classes were clearly defined. Some characters accepted this divide, whilst others like Thomas the chauffer longed to escape his humble lot and had ambition to rise in wealth and status. Rarely was there any idea that those upstairs might choose to go "downstairs" There was an episode where one of the upstairs characters got involved in helping at a soup kitchen and became instrumental in rescuing a former maid from starvation but there was no suggestion that this character exchange places with the unfortunate maid or that the family would volutarily give up their wealth and position in order for others to become rich. It was unthinkable.

And in many ways who could blame them. My mother was born in 1920 and grew up in a family where times were extremely hard. I learned from her, that there is nothing romantic about being poor. I remember her telling me that it was not so much going without things that was so tough, but the humiliation of having to go to the shop and beg for charity, of being ridiculed by teachers at school for her clothes and the assumption that because she was poor she would be a servant or a factory worker until she was married. As it happened she became a Salvation Army officer, which didn't improve her bank balance but widened her horizons beyond all expectations.

At Christmas we celebrate the unthinkable. We acknowledge the sacrifice of our Lord, who for our sakes made the journey from Upstairs to Downstairs. Paul says,"For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." What Christ did was not a romantic gesture. Jesus gave up more than the comfort of heaven when he came to earth, he knew the humiliation of poverty and the understanding of a persons true potential that poverty often cloaks.

Warren Wiersbe writes, "He united himself to mankind and took on himself a human body, left a throne to become a servant and laid aside all possessions. His ultimate experience of poverty was when he was made sin for us on the cross. Hell is eternal poverty and on the cross Jesus Christ became the poorest of the poor."

God bless

Carol

Dirty work?

A few years ago whilst I was still involved in a Prison Chaplaincy team, one of the lads in our discussion group asked, “Why did God send an angel to tell Joseph to marry Mary? Why didn’t he do his own dirty work?”

It immediately occurred to us that rather than seeing the responsibility of telling Joseph the good news that it was OK to marry Mary and that Jesus was the Saviour as “dirty work” they would possibly have been as eager as children wanting to be chosen for a special part in the nativity play.

God does not always reveal the truth of the gospel directly to people. In fact he mainly relinquishes the task of telling the good news to us. He could retain the pleasure for himself but instead allows us the joy of passing on the news.

God bless

Carol

Brengle: The Angels Song of Peace

"The first note of their song was “Glory to God in the highest. They put heavenly things first. God was foremost in their thought, then his glory; afterwards they sang, “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men……. The Christmas song of the angels, sung over the sleepy little town of Bethlehem, becomes a guide to us in these days. Our chief business is to give glory to God, to put him first in our lives, to have a divine jealousy for his honour. This spirit of seeking God’s glory first will make us fight sin. We will hate sin because it robs God of his own, of his right and his glory in man…….
This spirit will lead us out to warfare for God. He who possesses it cannot sit still while the Devil has his own way and while God is robbed and wronged. It leads him to go out and plead with men, exhort men, command men, compel men to turn from their evil ways to give up sin, to yield their hearts to God and to love and serve him.
This spirit makes sacrifice a joy and service a delight. Everything that man with this spirit has is at God’s disposal; he gives his whole life for the glory of his Lord. He only wishes he had a thousand lives and could live a thousand years to fight God’s battles.
O blessed is the man that is so filled with this spirit of heaven that he puts heavenly things first and sings on earth while the angels sing in heaven; Glory to God in the highest.” Samuel Logan Brengle (Love Slaves Ch5 pg 43-44)

God bless

Carol

Learning from angels

Hebrews 1:6 says “And when God brings his firstborn into the world he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

The angels therefore worshipped Jesus when he came, as the God-man into the world. They worship him though they do not know the joy of redemption. They know nothing of the shed blood of the cross being applied to them. How much more ought we to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we, who were lost, hell-bound and hell-deserving, but who have been rescued because Jesus took upon himself the punishment that we deserve, and died on a cross? How much more should we fall on our faces and adore him?”
(RT Kendall Worshipping God pg 123-124)

The angels sing a glorious song
But not a song like mine
For I am washed in Jesus’ blood
And singing all the time

Singing glory, glory, glory
Glory be to God on high

(Edward Payson Hammond SASB 326)


God bless

Carol