During the community carol service, Chris Lee from the Salvation Army led a children’s choir:

Children were also involved in tableaux as the Christmas story was narrated and carols were sung:

We are grateful for the links that many churches have to local schools and for the work that they do with Sunday schools and children’s clubs throughout the year. Please pray for these ministries. The Evangelical Alliance has recently published the result of a nationwide survey (entitled ‘Confidently Sharing the Gospel?’, which can be read here), which reminds us of the startling fact that 72% of all evangelical Christians in the UK made a commitment to follow Christ before the age of 20. Even more startling, 32% of girls had made that commitment before the age of 11, with 24% of boys making that commitment before the age of 11. These statistics remind us of the vital importance of children’s and youth ministries in our churches and should be a great incentive (if we need one!) to pray.

Defeated somewhat by the weather (but thankfully still here to tell you all about it!), the community carol service was held in the parish church in Goldthorpe yesterday, rather than outdoors, as originally planned.

Setting up inside took a little time, moving the musical equipment from our church to the parish church:

We rigged a makeshift overhead projector in an unusual place:

Doing sound checks:

Everyone was given glow sticks to acts as lights:

Fr Carl Schaefer introduced the service:

Singing lustily (but not always wanting to be photographed!):

We had a variety of carols, along with participation from a children’s choir from local schools and the Goldthorpe Gospel Choir, ably led by Chris Lee from the Salvation Army. Children also acted in tableaux as the Nativity narratives were read.

Afterwards, there were refreshments in the Parish hall:

All in all, it was an excellent evening of fellowship and witness, and we are grateful to all the church leaders for working together so smoothly to make this a wonderful community Christmas celebration.

Don’t forget the joint churches’ carol service tonight (Friday 21st December) at 7 p.m. at the parish church on Lockwood Road in Goldthorpe. Children from the Sacred Heart RC School and members of local churches will be participating in a range of readings, carols and tableaux to celebrate Christmas. Refreshments will be served afterwards. Entry is free, but there will be an offering to support the work of the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal and the Maris School in Gambia.

Our own carol service is on Sunday 23rd December, starting at 6 p.m. The theme is ‘Christmas Unwrapped’, so come along to find more about the meaning of Christmas and maybe to claim your own early Christmas present! Refreshments will also be served here after the service.

If I had to sum up 2012 with the thought that has been most predominant for me, it would probably be with the word ‘surrender’.

I blogged about this (with the same title) back in January (‘Surrender’, January 2012), having just listened to Chris Tomlin’s song ‘White Flag’ at the Passion Conference in Atlanta. That conference certainly took that theme, with the Passion album released in March bearing that title and containing another song (‘Lay Me Down’) on a very similar theme. You can listen to the songs by clicking on the links below:
Chris Tomlin, ‘White Flag’
Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman, ‘Lay Me Down’

I returned to the topic in April (quoting ‘Lay Me Down’ in that blog post as well!) in a post entitled ‘Whose Am I?’, April 2012 By that time, I was already struck by another song I had recently heard called ‘All Yours’ by Kutless. If our lives belong to God already by virtue of the fact that He has paid the price for us, what right do we have to hold on to our life and try to live it our own way?

There is nothing new about this subject, of course. In the Bible studies we did on Romans, we looked at this topic for a long time, especially as we studied Romans 6-8. Part of the process of growing in the Christian life is learning to surrender to God, putting His will above our own: “It will be my joy to say ‘Your will, Your way, always.'” (‘Lay Me Down’) Lately, in our studies on James, we have been coming back to the same theme. We started in James 1 by reflecting on the fact that the trials and temptations we face in this life are to be welcomed as gifts because they shape in us Christ’s character. We have learned that taking the long view, having a heavenly perspective, is necessary if we are going to be able to wait on the Lord and hope in His unfailing love. Last night, as we looked at the verse ‘submit yourselves to God’ in detail, we realised afresh that surrender is absolutely key to our Christian walk.

Surrender is not an easy process. I have wrestled with the illness and death of a former colleague’s husband this year, struck down by cancer at the age of 47. Prayers for his healing were fervent and yet he died in October. I know of many other heartbreaking cases (families whose children struggle with life-threatening illnesses, a family where the mother is dying of cystic fibrosis unless she can receive a second lung transplant.) I do not have answers to many of the questions people ask me about God’s will, but this year I have learned to cherish above all the truth ‘Sometimes all we have to hold on to/ Is what we know is true of who You are’ (a line from ‘Even If’ by Kutless) more than ever. Surrendering to God means that we say ‘yes’ to Him, even when the heartache hits like a hurricane, even when we do not understand His ways or His will.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus showed us what that ‘Yes’ to God looks like, and the events that followed that show us the results of that submission. We owe our salvation and our very lives to the fact that Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will. As Paul wrote, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.” (2 Cor 1:20) The rest of that verse goes on to highlight our part in this process, however: “And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Cor 1:20)

‘Amen’ – so be it – may it be so. No wonder we end our prayers with this short, but desperately meaningful, word! May we learn continually to submit ourselves to God and to surrender all that we have and are to Him.

Last night we looked at James 4:6-10, verses that remind us of the grace available to us from God and how this is effective in those who are humble. Those who are proud find themselves on the wrong side of God, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, quoting Proverbs 3:34)

The proud (the word combines two ideas, that of a torch or flame and the idea of this being waved high to attract attention to it) are secure in their own righteousness (see Luke 18:9-14). That, however, is mere bluff, for their own righteousness will never be enough to save them. The humble are those who are lowly, like the tax collector who is unable even to look up to heaven. The Pharisee in this parable does not ask God for anything (he sees no need!), but the tax collector knows his need for mercy. We too are aware that we need mercy and grace.

Pride may be called the original sin, the one that saw Lucifer expelled from Eden (see Ezekiel 28 & Isaiah 14). When we are proud, we think we have no need of God; we seek to put ourselves in His place. We become number one. That is anathema to God, for He is the only One who should have that place. We can be proud in our actions, but also proud inwardly (see Luke 1:51). All pride is abhorrent to God and He actively opposes it.

James reminds us that the key to success in this topsy-turvy kingdom where the exalted will be brought low and the lowly exalted is surrender. We are to submit ourselves to God (James 4:7). That involves laying down all our rights, waving the white flag of surrender, acknowledging that God is God and we are not! Only then do we have the resources to resist the devil. We have to have a proper attitude towards our sin, not glossing over it or pretending that it doesn’t matter (James 4:8). God is the One who has promised to lift us up (James 4:10). Again, it all comes down to grace, which is undeserved favour. When we choose His ways over our ways, we are humbling ourselves and He will then lift us up.

These are simple truths to say and write. They are, however, issues that God will bring us back to time and time again, for our hearts are desperately deceitful and pride comes in many shapes and forms. Let’s not be afraid of surrender, for when we lose our lives, it’s then that we find them.

According to popular views on the Mayan calendar, today (21st December) will be the last day. Today will see the ‘end of the world’.

I don’t believe any human knows when the end of the world will come (Matt 24:36). But I do believe things will not always continue in their present form. I do believe in the coming of the Lord. I believe in a great and glorious day when Jesus will return (see Titus 2:13).

But it’s hard to believe in that without seeming as crazy as all the many others who have predicted the end of the world to a specific timescale. There are plenty of people who think life will just go on as normal, ad infinitum. Peter wrote about scoffers who say “Where is this coming He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Pet 3:4). He tells us, though, “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Pet 3:7)

In this period of Advent, we look back to the first coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. Despite the expectation of ‘Messiah’, His arrival was largely unnoticed by people then. We may look back in amazement, seeing the fulfilment of so many prophecies and marvelling at God’s faithfulness, but at the time, would we have been so alert? Apart from immediate family, a handful of shepherds, some wise men, Anna and Simon, who really knew much of the tremendous events of Christmas and those early years?

As we look ahead to Christ’s second coming, our expectancy levels may not be particularly high. We have had to wait more than 2000 years. We understand the scoffers who don’t listen to prophecies about the end of the world because they’ve heard it all before. But the fact remains “the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear like a roar and everything int it will be laid bare.” (2 Pet 3:10) This world is not going to last for ever and we are naive if we think it is.

Peter, ever practical, connects these truths to our daily lives with devastating simplicity. “Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival.” (2 Pet 3:11, The Message). “Do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace.” (2 Pet 3:14, The Message).

The end of the world might well not be today. But I do well to treat every day like the end of the world, for today is all I have. There is never any guarantee of tomorrow (James 4:14). And if I anticipate Christmas with the benefit of hindsight, I also look forward with hope. God is faithful. Jesus is coming again. I may not know when. But I know “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thess 4:16-18)