Advent is a time for enjoying the celebrations. Most of us have things we like to do at this time of year, whether that is exploring a Christmas market, visiting favourite places, making cakes or cookies, decorating a tree or some other tradition that has become part of your way of anticipating Christmas. This afternoon there will be a community Christmas event at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment (2.00-3.30 p.m.) when we’ll be singing carols, decorating baubles and enjoying hot drinks; such events provide great enjoyment and sense of community spirit, which is often said to be one of the chief reasons people enjoy Christmas. “People seem friendlier and happier at this time of year,” I’m often told.

Enjoying doing things is good for us. It increases our sense of wellbeing and gives us a sense of shared experience with others. Do come along this afternoon to enjoy this Christmas celebration.

Karl Barth, the famous theologian, once said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”

It is too easy to let the media – not just newspapers these days, as we are also bombarded by online news channels on TV which run 24/7 and news from a plethora of sites on social media – shape our thinking and our moods. In these circumstances, the world’s narrative shapes our worldview (or ‘Weltanschauung’, as the Germans put it!) We are influenced by what others tell us is happening and by their interpretation of it. We very rarely question if this is correct or not because ‘mass media’ overwhelms us.

Karl Barth was not against knowing what the newspapers report. Jesus himself said that his followers remain in the world (John 17:11) and did not pray for us to be taken out of the world. (John 17:15) Instead, he acknowledged that we are not of the world (John 17:16). It is therefore imperative that Christians learn to balance the torrent from the media with God’s word and ultimately allow God’s word to shape their understanding, to ‘interpret newspapers from your Bible.’

God’s narrative, His take on human history and His personal involvement in that history, will rarely be reported in newspapers. Their worldview is godless; their narrative is dictated by politicians and powerful rich people. The kingdom of God does not work like this.

In recent times, I have felt it prudent to turn off the news to some extent becuase its narrative is so unrelentlessly negative and actively promotes fear and desperation. Christians should not be dependent on Government pronouncements or regulations to feel secure. Our security, hope and confidence must be in God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’ (Rev 1:8) Anything else will ultimately fail us.

Yesterday we hosted two on-screen performances of 4FrontTheatre‘s Christmas show ‘The Satellite Before Christmas.’ The show, which looks at topical issues such as space waste, ever-changing regulations and the disappointment of ruined plans (all of which surely resonate with us!) also had much to teach us on patience, hope, awe and wonder as well as rejoicing in all circumstances. We heard the Christmas story once again through Bible readings, carols and prayers, skilfully woven into a space story that had a nod to many other films! It was a great way to prepare for Christmas! Our thanks, as always, to the talented cast who made this a truly memorable experience, attended by 79 people, and to the Salvation Army for providing iced lollipops to make this feel like a real cinema experience!

Most people enjoy Christmas and rightly see it as a celebration. The ‘E’ of ‘Advent’ stands for enjoyment. The Westminster Catechism tells us that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever’, but somehow, Christianity seems to have become divorced from joy and pleasure, with people associating the faith with doom and gloom, restrictions and prohibition. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Pleasure and enjoyment are God’s idea. Paul tells Timothy to teach others to ‘put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.’ (1 Tim 6:17) James tells us ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.’ (James 1:17) Blessing, abundance and joy are gifts from God, a God who is good and who does what is good. (Ps 119:68)

Christmas stirs our God-given capacity for joy, and although there will be always be those among us who hate the festivities for a variety of reasons, most of us look forward to pleasure with hope and expectation. It’s only fitting that in this time of preparation, enjoyment plays a key role.

We have a busy weekend ahead, starting with the Parent & Toddler Christmas party this morning. We’re grateful to Bev for her buns, to all who have contributed in donating raffle prizes and buying raffle tickets and to the church for their support of this group. Come along between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Tomorrow (Saturday 11th December), we have our community shows from 4FrontTheatre, “The Satellite Before Christmas.” There will be showings at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. for those who have pre-booked seats. We’re looking forward to this fun pantivity which we know will have a clear Christian message – and to the ice-creams that Alison Sykes is providing for us all!

On Sunday (12th December), in addition to our usual services at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m., we will also be joining with the Dearne Area Team and Dearne Churches Together in a community Christmas event at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment between 2.00 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. We will be joining in decorating Christmas baubles and singing carols as well as in a Nativity trail on site. Please remember this is an outdoor event and wrap up warmly!

Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ (Matt 6:21) He warned us about placing value on possessions, saying, ‘Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’ (Luke 12:15) In our Western society, it’s definitely easy to equate value with possessions or ‘things’, to view life from a materialistic point of view, and Christmas can easily become a time of celebrating and valuing possessions. If we do this, we will fail to see the treasure of the kingdom of heaven and fail to understand the real meaning of Christmas.

Life can’t simply be defined by material things. We are made in God’s image and therefore are spiritual beings as well as physical ones. We were made for relationships – relationship with God and relationship with other people. Any value in life has to take this into account for it to be meaningful and true. Jesus repeatedly taught his followers to look beyond the material to see the spiritual. Will we let this Advent-time re-focus our eyes on what really matters?