December has always been a busy month in my family for birthdays. My uncle’s birthday was 19^th December; my mother’s 23^rd December and my father’s 24^th December. When my son and daughter-in-law announced their pregnancy with a due date in December, I felt as though this was quite fitting as a family tradition!

The due date was 21^st December and my daughter-in-law, with the confidence of youth, was sure the baby would come before Christmas and she would be home to celebrate Christmas as usual. I was less confident, knowing that due dates are not definite predictors (I’d listened to the ‘More or Less’ programme about this, which confirmed that only 4% of births are actually on the due date, you see!) Sure enough, as time went on, it became clear that the baby would not be here on 21^st December and Stacey was booked in on 23^rd December in the afternoon to be induced.

So now we were left with a whole host of ‘significant’ family dates on which my granddaughter could be born, with many friends hoping for a Christmas Day birth! As it turned out, Esther waited until the evening that Christmas Eve to arrive, quite the longest 24-hour period I’ve known in a long while! We celebrated my Dad’s birthday in the usual way, but no one’s mind was really on his birthday that year as we waited for news of the newest Turner arrival.

Eccl 3:1 reminds us that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun. Gal 4:4-5 tells us ‘But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.’ There are times and seasons for birth and for death; Ps 31:15 confidently asserts ‘my times are in Your hands’. We may not know what lies ahead this Christmas and throughout 2018, but we can rest in the fact that God does know and will be with us throughout. All life cycles are in His hands.

It might seem odd to be talking about life after death as we draw closer to Christmas, the time when we celebrate new life and birth, but the truth remains for humans that death is the one certain thing about life. We may not know when death will come, but we cannot avoid our mortality, pretending we will never die.

The good news of the gospel is that death does not have to have the last word. Jesus Christ died for our sins, but was raised to life for our justification (Rom 4:25) and the fact that He died as a sacrifice for our sins means all who put their trust in Him can experience everlasting life (John 3:16). We have a hope that goes beyond life on this earth, a hope of life beyond death (see 1 Cor 15:16-20, 35-58).

Christmas is not just about birth. In order to truly appreciate Christmas, we have to look into the purpose of Christ’s advent and see beyond the helpless baby to the Saviour who would die for the sins of the world and be raised to life again on the third day as confirmation of God’s acceptance of this sinless sacrifice. As we look from the cradle to Calvary, we see that there is more to life than birth and more to life than death, though birth and death are inextricably connected to life. For many people, Christmas is a painful reminder of loss and can be extremely difficult to bear, but the Christian gospel offers hope of life after death, life that cannot be extinguished by the mortality of the body. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Heb 6:19), sustaining us through the pain of bereavement and all insecurity about the future.

It seems incredible that it is 8 months since we were in India visiting Fredrick and Reeba, but it has been wonderful to receive news from the Tailoring Programme this week. Reeba testifies to the impact of this programme in rescuing women from despair. Lakshmi, a 23 year old widow from a Hindu family, had two children and was rejected by her own family, relatives and neighbours when her husband died due to a heart disease. She felt that suicide was the only option available to her, but through the tailoring programme found hope and joy. SHe now lives with her in-laws and although she is still struggling to pay off debts from her husband’s medical and funeral expenses, she is now looking forward to graduating in January 2018 and building a new life.

90% of the women who complete this programme find jobs in a garment factory with the rest starting tailoring businesses in their homes.The goal of the programme is to see the community totally transformed and self-sufficient, with poverty eradicated and dignity restored. One such example is Mrs Sathya who now makes 8000 rupees a month in a garment factory, three times more than she had previously been able to earn.

Reeba asks for prayer for the women in the tailoring classes. 60 additional sewing machines are needed by the third week in January and an interlock machine is also needed for further training.The needs are great, but she is confident God will supply all their needs.

The ladies who graduated in July 2017:

Life after birth is what most of us mean by ‘life’. We can’t remember being in our mother’s womb; we count our birthdays from the time we made our visible arrival in the world. Our parents tell us about this time and about our early childhood; almost as soon as we arrive, we are being urged on to grow and develop.

The Gospels tell us very little about Jesus’s childhood and spend most of their time describing the three and a half years of His adult ministry, focussing even more specifically on His death and resurrection. Luke summarises Jesus’s childhood in one sentence: ‘the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.’ (Luke 2:40) We may long to know more details (and some spurious gospel writers made these up quite happily!), but the truth is we know very little about what happened after the birth of Jesus until He began His ministry.

None of us knows what our lifespan will be, but we have been given the precious gift of life and God’s aim for each one of us is to grow into His likeness, learning to love Him and others and serve Him and others. Life after birth should be lived for the glory of God, enjoying Him forever. Birthdays are celebrations of this life and need to be treasured. As we celebrate Christmas on Monday, let’s celebrate the life of Jesus and the life His life brings to us.

Tonight’s Bible study looked at some of our favourite psalms, including:

1. Psalm 23. One of the most beloved of psalms, this talks of our relationship to God (our Shepherd), His supply, rest, refreshment, healing, guidance, purpose, testing, protection, faithfulness, discipline, hope, abundance and blessing as well as the consecration and anointing He gives us. One of the most popular psalms to be put to music, this psalm is a favourite to be read or sung at funerals (since it talks of the ‘valley of the shadow of death’), but it sustains many in life as well!
2. Psalm 8. Written by David, this psalm contrasts God’s majesty and our lowliness and we can well imagine David as a shepherd, lying out in the fields at night, gazing at the majesty of God’s creation and marvelling at such a mighty God caring for him.
3. Psalm 139. This psalm reminds us of God’s omniscience and the fact that we are securely known by Him – including our thoughts, words and actions. The psalm marvels at our creation (we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’) and reminds us of the sanctity of life, but also reminds us how loved we are and how God has plans and purposes for our lives.
4. Psalm 27. This psalm exudes confidence in God and also expresses David’s heart for God and for worship. No matter what comes against us, we can be confident because God is with us to help us and use us. Fear has no place in our lives.
5. Psalm 19. This psalm extols God’s power in creaiton and in His word, but we particularly focussed on Ps 19:14 which prays for the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts to be pleasing in God’s sight. We need God’s help to be pure in both thought and word.
6. Psalm 124. This psalms reminds us of the help God gives us, both seen and unseen. Where would we be without God? God’s help is real and very present throughout all the trials of life.
7. Psalm 130. Ranging from the depths of despair (‘out of the depths I cry to You‘) to the confidence of help from a God who does not keep a record of sins but in whom is full forgiveness, unfailing love and full redemption (not to mention mercy!), this psalm also urges us to wait for the Lord, something we rarely find easy to do. We can have confidence to wait and hope, however, because of who God is.

Just to clarify what is happening at church in the run-up to Christmas:

1. Tonight is the Bible study, the last midweek meeting of the year, starting at 7:30 p.m. All who attend are asked to bring their favourite Psalm and we will be looking at how these sustain, guide, comfort and inspire us. In the New Year, we will continue our Bible studies on the Psalms from 11th January.
2. The coffee morning is on as usual on Saturday (23rd December) from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. Come in for a cuppa and a chat and a breather from the last-minute Christmas shopping!
3. We have a morning service (with Communion) on Christmas Eve at 10:30 a.m., but there will be no evening meeting that night.
4. On Christmas Day we will celebrate Christ’s birth with a short morning service, starting at 10:30 a.m.

In the period between Christmas and the New Year, we won’t have any midweek meetings, but there will be an ‘Open House’ at Garry and Julie’s for fun, fellowship and games from 4-8 p.m., with supper provided.

There will be a coffee morning as usual on Saturday 30th December (10 a.m. -12 noon) and a morning service on New Year’s Eve (10:30 a.m.), but no evening service that night.

On New Year’s Day, we will have our usual party at 4 p.m. All are welcome to celebrate the start of the year with us; please bring food or drink to this event!

Have a wonderful Christmas and we pray God’s richest blessings on you all for 2018.