In a traditional nativity scene, there are usually a range of features, including Mary and Joseph, shepherds and animals, angels and the star and, of course, the baby Jesus, pictured in a manger, which seems a most unusual place for any baby to be placed, let alone one who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Luke 2:7 tells us that he was born in this place because there was no room for him at the inn, and Matthew’s account of the visit of the Magi shows us a more expected destination, with the Magi calling at the palace in Jerusalem because they knew they were looking for a king… and where else would you find one?! (see Matt 2:1-8)

Ps 118:22 is a prophetic psalm which reminds us that the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone (see also Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11), and the very fact that Jesus was placed in a manger shows there was no room for Him in the world; the manger shows man’s initial rejection of Him at His birth. A manger was a feeding trough for animals, a smelly place as far removed from a salubrious palace as possible, definitely not the place we would have expected God to appear in human form.

Throughout His life, Jesus had no place to lay His head (Matt 8:20); the rejection initially seen at His birth continued throughout His life and in many ways continues today as He is dismissed as irrelevant and unnecessary by so many. For those who believe, however, the fact that He was laid in a manger reminds us that He is the bread of life (see Jn 6:57) and the one who feeds on Him will never be hungry. For us, the manger reminds us of humility and lowliness, how Jesus showed us how to live through His example of servanthood and becomes a place of spiritual nourishment.

Don’t forget the carol service tonight at 6 p.m. on the theme ‘God Has Come To Earth’.

We’ll be singing carols old and new, joining in activities, hearing from the Word of God and munching refreshments after the service! Do come and invite friends and family to join you at this event!

Read Psalm 119:153-160.

When we want to preserve something, we need ingredients that will act against decay: we pickle onions and cabbages in vinegar to keep them for long periods of time or we add sugar to fruit to make jams. Preservation, in cooking terms, requires additional ingredients to enhance the original item, which would not last long otherwise.

The psalmist prays twice in this stanza to be preserved, an ongoing theme and prayer within the psalm as a whole. He recognises that preservation, in a spiritual realm, requires the additional ‘ingredients’ only God can provide. ‘Preserve my life according to Your promise.’ (Ps 119:154) ‘Preserve my life, O Lord, according to Your love.’ (Ps 119:159)

God’s promises, Paul tells us, are always ‘YES’ in Christ (2 Cor 1:20). The psalmist has many other requests of God (‘look upon my suffering and deliver me… defend my cause and redeem me… see how I love Your precepts’ Ps 119:153, 154, 159), but each request is based upon the conviction of God’s goodness, compassion and faithfulness, ingredients which enable us to persevere through hostility, opposition and trials.

The psalmist is not impervious to the opposition he faces (‘I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey Your word’ Ps 119:158). The steadfastness he displays despite persecution requires integrity and determination (Ps 119:157). But at the end of the day, the preservation is more dependent on God than it is on our own persistence or ability. ‘All Your words are true, all Your righteous laws are eternal’ (Ps 119:160), he concludes. Truth lasts. Jesus reminded the disciples just before He died that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the One who keeps us from falling and is able to present us before God’s glorious presence without fault and with great joy. (Jude 1:24)

Read Psalm 119:145-152.

In the heat of the moment, it’s very easy to be impulsive. Advertisers are skilled at manipulating mood and creating urgency within us: that ‘must have’ item which will be gone if we don’t purchase it right now! When I was a child, I used to want something ‘immediately, if not sooner!’ Apart from clearly failing to understand the meaning of the word ‘immediately’ (or maybe feeling it didn’t have the urgency I desired!), that attitude never allows for the patience of God.

The psalmist learned long ago ‘from Your statutes that You established them to last forever.’ (Ps 119:152) There is a permanence to God which will not be hurried: ‘from everlasting to everlasting You are God.’ (Ps 90:2) The psalmist knows all about longing and desperation, rising before dawn and staying up through the night in prayer. (Ps 119:147-148). He cries out to God for help and protection. (Ps 119:145-146) The psalmist needs the assurance of God’s presence with him. (Ps 119:151)

One of the names proclaimed by the angels as they announced the coming of Jesus is ‘Immanuel – God with us.’ (Matt 1:23) God’s presence with us makes all the difference. If we are accompanied daily the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:9), we need not be in such a hurry. We can afford to ‘wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ (Ps 27:14)

Read Psalm 119:137-144.

Testing takes time. It’s a process that can’t be rushed. Manufacturers who test their products have to ensure that the products undergo situations which simulate real life so that they can be confident their products will last.

We are often impatient with waiting, perceiving it as a waste of time. But James reminds us that the testing of our faith develops perseverance, a quality underrated but essential to life (Js 1:3). He goes on to stay that perseverance is necessary for us to be mature and complete, not lacking anything (Js 1:4). Paul makes a similar point to the Romans, telling them that ‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.’ (Rom 5:3-4) This suffering and testing can’t be hurried or rushed if we are to become the people God wants us to be: Peter reminds us that the trials come so that ‘the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.’ (1 Pet 1:7) God is interested in the long haul!

Testing times ultimately help not only to develop our faith, but to prove God’s word to us: ‘Your promises have been thoroughly tested.’ (Ps 119:140) Generation after generation have thrown their weight on God’s promises found in His Word and have found them to be trustworthy and reliable. ‘Righteous are You, O Lord, and Your ways are right.’ (Ps 119:138)

God’s character is our bedrock. His actions are always in line with His character, which is why we can endure the testing and the waiting. He teaches us according to both His character and His actions (Ps 119:139). ‘The way You tell me to live is always right’, the psalmist concludes (Ps 119:144), asking God to give understanding ‘so I can live life to the fullest.’’ That’s a good prayer to pray in times of testing!

At last night’s prayer meeting, Mark challenged us to pray that 2016 will be a ‘yield year’ for the church, a time when we reap the harvest we have sown and see the fruit of our labours. Looking at Is 43:18-21, we recognise that we cannot dwell on the past, even though we are grateful for all God’s faithfulness and provision and all He has already done. Instead, we long for Him to make streams in the desert and to bring many people to know Him. 2015 was significant in seeing the first baptism in our Market Street building, but we long to see many more people coming to faith and being baptised as we fulfil Jesus’s Great Commission and go and make disciples of all nations.

‘Yield‘, of course, has two separate meanings. One is ‘to produce or provide (a natural, agricultural, or industrial product)’, and it is this sense of producing fruit that we were mainly considering. But the second meaning (‘to surrender, to give way’) is also important, for it is only as we yield ourselves to God and humble ourselves before Him that we will be ready to receive all He wants to do in our lives. Surrender is the pathway to productiveness in God.

Let’s pray for our friends, families, acquaintances, work colleagues, neighbours and total strangers to be saved and for 2016 to be a fruitful yield year!