Spurred on by Dave’s reminder last week of the different Advent themes for each Sunday in Advent, Garry spoke this morning on joy, taking as his text Luke 2:8-14 TNIV. Joy comes largely from our perspective and perspective comes from both knowledge and faith. Hebrews 10:32-35 TNIV talks about the early Christians’ remarkable reaction to suffering which included loss of goods (‘confiscate’ does not quite get over the force of this word – think about the Viking raids and ‘pillaging’ for a better idea of the force used) and even loss of life. They retained joy in these difficult circumstances of opposition and persecution because they knew they had something even better (eternal salvation), which could not be taken from them. We can know joy even in the worst of circumstances because we know that what we have on earth is not all we possess; we are storing for ourselves treasures in heaven.

God is everything He says He is and does not make empty promises. He is therefore able to infuse us with joy and fill us to overflowing.

We can rejoice in:
1) God’s reign
1 Chron 16:31 TNIV reminds us that God reigns over all. Christmas is the time when we see God’s ruling clearly, for He planned the setting, arranged the circumstances and chose the right time for His Son’s birth on earth. He fulfilled the promises made right back in the Garden of Eden that He would send a Saviour.

2) God’s goodness
2 Chron 6:41 TNIV shows us that God’s people rejoice in His goodness. We rest on the fact that God is good; goodness marks out what God does. Ps 73:1 TNIV reminds us that God is good to His people, but Matt 5:45 TNIV reminds us that He is good to all people (the righteous and unrighteous alike.) Ps 103:1-5, 10 TNIV outline many of the ways in which we can experience God’s goodness, for He forgives all our sins, heals all our diseases, crowns us with compassion and does not treat us as our sins deserve.

3) God’s salvation
God’s plan of salvation was initiated in time with the birth of Christ. The events at Bethlehem ultimately started the ball rolling: the birth of Christ led inexorably to His death and resurrection and therefore to our deliverance from sin. 1 Sam 2:1 TNIV talks about the deliverance or salvation which God brings and 1 Sam 10:19 TNIV reminds us that God delivers us ‘out of all your disasters and calamities.’ God is able to save us from our enemies, from sin and from death. Even the name chosen for God’s Son reflects this, for Jesus means ‘he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matt 1:22 TNIV) God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves and He saves us!

4) God’s provision
Deut 26:11 TNIV and Luke 6:38 TNIV remind us of God’s abundant provision and generosity. Every good and perfect gift comes from God who is able to meet all our needs. (Phil 4:19 TNIV) Our God gives good gifts which overflow.

5) the fact that God gives joy
Neh 12:43 TNIV reminds us that God gives us great joy. Rom 15:13 TNIV is a prayer for the God of hope to fill us with all joy and peace so that we overflow with hope. God Himself at Christmas-time stepped from eternity into time so that He could change our destiny.

Cromford in Derbyshire used to be a mining village where the lead had to be transported down the Pennines into the valleys. Following a severe accident when the carriage ran out of control, a ‘crash pit’ was built. If a carriage was descending too quickly, it would run into the crash pit, rather than running on into the railway station and causing harm. If the carriage was descending at the correct speed, the points could be changed so that it could arrive safely at its proper destination. We were destined for hell because of our sin, but Jesus shows us that God has done something about this and made a way for us to have a new destiny which includes spending eternity with Him. No wonder we have joy!

There are some things we do over and over again: wake up, get up, brush our teeth, get washed and so on. It can be difficult to estimate how many times we do these things in the course of our lives, though many try, calculating how many hours we spend in the bathroom or asleep, for example! But some things happen much less frequently and some things are literally ‘once and for all’ events.

As we approach Christmas, that is one such event. We may celebrate it annually, but Christ’s birth at Bethlehem was a once and for all event. Similarly, His death happened just the once: ‘He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.’ (Hebrews 7:27 TNIV) There is no need for a repeated sacrifice, as happened in the Old Testament: ‘Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.’ (Hebrews 9:28 TNIV)

There is another ‘once only’ event which that verse alludes to, though this one has not yet happened. The verse goes on to say ‘He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.’ (Hebrews 9:28 TNIV) As we celebrate Christmas, as we take Communion regularly and celebrate His once-for-all sacrifice for our sins, so we wait in eager expectation and anticipation of that ‘blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.’ (Titus 2:13-14 TNIV)

‘Once and For All’, Chris Tomlin

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)