The Christmas party season arrived at church yesterday with the Mums & Toddlers having their annual party. The comment made to me was ‘it was all great fun.’ Hopefully the new soundproofing of the community hall helped with the sound levels!

These people are obviously prepared for the Christmas jumper competition at the carol service!

Our thanks to Diane, Dave and Joan for their ongoing work with this group and to all who helped with the party. Don’t forget all the other Christmas dates in the diary, including the Carol service on 22nd December at 6 p.m., the testimony meeting on 29th December at 6 p.m. and the New Year’s Day party on 1st January at 4 p.m.

Tonight we concluded our studies in 1 John 1, looking in particular at the three ‘if we claim’ statements in verses 6, 8 and 10. What we say or claim about our lives in God and about God is incredibly important, and if there is dissonance between what we claim and the truth, our lives will run into problems.

Fellowship with God implies communion, active participation, interaction, communication and sharing like thoughts. Having fellowship with God brings us into unity with Him and with each other (see John 17:20-21 TNIV). If we claim to have this relationship with God and continue to walk in darkness, however, we lie and do not live out the truth. Truth is defined as integrity, veracity, having no falsehood or deceit. Jesus said ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ (John 14:6 TNIV), so in a sense, He cannot be living in us if we are living a lie.

If we claim to be without sin, we are not only deceiving ourselves, but making God out to be a liar, which is even worse. Rom 3:23 TNIV categorically states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so we cannot claim to be without sin. Confession is the antidote to sin. Only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7 TNIV), so we need to confess our sins to Him in order to find forgiveness, be made right with Him and to be cleansed. James 5:16 TNIV urges us to confess our sins to one another, however: not for forgiveness, but so that we can receive prayer and support from other believers.

Ps 51:1-7 TNIV shows us the peace and cleansing that comes from forgiveness. Sometimes we still have to bear the consequences of a just God when we have sinned (David’s son born from adultery died), but we can know the joy of restored relationships and cleansed lives and know truth.

As you know, our community carol service is on Sunday 22nd December, starting at 6 p.m. As well as singing traditional carols, we will also be having some not-so-traditional games and competitions, for we believe that coming together as church is fun and we want to welcome people into an atmosphere of family fun. One of the silly things we will be doing on that evening is having a ‘Christmas jumper competition’ where we all come dressed in a Christmas jumper. Yours might look like these ones:

You don’t have to buy a special jumper if you don’t have a Christmas jumper; you can always adapt any jumper you already own and customise it (adding tinsel or a bauble would turn it into a Christmas jumper; having a tree or a star somewhere in the design would also qualify!)

Normally, the thought of any kind of catwalk would fill me with dread, but the thought of us all looking silly in Christmas jumpers is one I actually find quite heartening. Usually, we all enjoy spending time with friends and family at Christmas and the carol service underlines this, as well as teaching us more about the importance of the birth of Jesus. There will be gifts and prizes to win, so do come along in your Christmas jumpers and plan to have a great evening!

When pupils study languages, there are four ‘assessment objectives’ that are tested, largely because there are four main ways in which we absorb and use language: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Jesus is called ‘the Word’ (John 1:1 TNIV) and we often associate that with speaking and reading in particular. But just lately I discovered that the Hebrew word for Bible is Miqra, a noun formed from the verb ‘to call’, qara. Eugene Peterson writes, “The Bible is not a book to carry around and read for information on God, but a voice to listen to… It is a word to be listened to and obeyed, a word that gets us going.” (‘Practise Resurrection, P 33-34)

God speaks to us and we need to listen! He spoke to Moses at the burning bush and revealed Himself by a new name: Yahweh (Exodus 3:4-14 TNIV). He spoke to Samuel as a child, even though Samuel did not initially recognise His voice. (1 Sam 3:1-21 TNIV) He spoke to Jeremiah and appointed him as a prophet. (Jer 1:4-10 TNIV) In the New Testament, Jesus called four disciples by name and kept calling followers. (John 1:35-51 TNIV). Later on, His voice stopped Saul walking on the road to Damascus in his tracks and set him off on a new path with a new name, Paul. (Acts 9:4-19 TNIV)

Our whole lives are changed when we hear God’s voice calling to us and leading us. We need to respond; we need to follow where He leads. But the first step in all of this is to hear the voice of the Shepherd speaking to us. As John wrote in the book of Revelation, ‘Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ (Rev 2:7 TNIV)

One of the key prophecies we remember at Christmas-time is found in Isaiah 7:14 TNIV: ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’ This is quoted in the birth narratives in Matthew 1:23 TNIV where the meaning of ‘Immanuel’ is given: ‘God with us’. One of the most exciting facts about Christmas is the fact that God came in the form of Jesus to be with us and that He remains with us by His Spirit at all times.

“A sign shall be given,
A virgin will conceive,
A human baby bearing
Undiminished deity.
The glory of the nations,
A light for all to see,
And hope for all who will embrace
His warm reality.

So what will be your answer?
Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son
But gave him for us all.
On earth there is no power
There is no depth or height
That could ever separate us
From the love of God in Christ. (‘Immanuel’, Michael Card)
Michael Card, ‘Immanuel’

It never fails to irritate me that so many Christmas songs have banal lyrics and very little to do with the real meaning of Christmas. (I know, I know, bah humbug and all that, but actually, it’s because I love Christmas so much that I get so irritated by the secularisation of the season.) As we prepare for Christmas, here’s a new version of an old favourite, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ for you to enjoy:
Paul Baloche, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing/ King of Heaven’