Yesterday, leaders from some of the local churches met together to prepare for the Christmas Market on Friday and to collect booklets which will be distributed to all primary school children.

Please pray for the ministers as they take these Christmas booklets (provided by the charity Lifewords) into local primary schools (Gooseacre and the Hill schools in Thurnscoe, Highgate Primary School, Goldthorpe Primary School, Sacred Heart School in Goldthorpe, Barnburgh Primary School and Lacewood in Bolton–on-Dearne) and for all who will receive the ‘Hope for Life’ bags at the Christmas Market (which will contain details of local church services over Christmas, booklets about Christmas and sweets). Pray that many people will come to the Christmas Market on Friday (between 4-8 p.m.) and will enjoy taking part in craft activities and buying different decorations and that we will be able to help the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal through everything we do that day. Don’t forget also to pray for the ‘Churches Together’ carol service which will be outdoors in the church car park at 6 p.m. Prayer is the foundation for all we do and we long for God to draw many people to Himself at this Christmas period and into the New Year.

Read Psalm 119:75-80.

Prayer involves speaking forth the truths we know about God and petitioning Him for the things we need. The Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-15) begins with worship, acknowledging our relationship with God (‘our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name’) before moving on to pray ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’)

Ps 119 touches us so powerfully because of the truths it proclaims: ‘Your hands made me and formed me’ (Ps 119:73); ‘I know, O Lord, that Your laws are righteous’ (Ps 119:75). It speaks of God’s faithfulness (Ps 119:75) and unfailing love (Ps 119:76), essential attributes of God’s nature. But it also touches us because it lays out petitions for us to pray:

• ‘Give me understanding to learn Your commands’ (Ps 119:73)
• ‘May Your unfailing love be my comfort’ (Ps 119:76)
• ‘Let Your compassion come to me, that I may live’ (Ps 119:77)
• ‘May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause’ (Ps 119:78)
• ‘May my heart be blameless toward Your decrees, that I may not be put to shame’ (Ps 119:80)

This combination of truth and petition provides a framework for our prayer life. The Psalms are our guide through prayer which is rooted in God. Prayer will always be highly personal and personally specific; it is not vague, rambling or selfish, for it is rooted in God’s Word and anchored in His character, shaped and formed by His Word. When we read the great prayers of Advent (Luke 1:46-55. Luke 1:67-80), we see the same themes of worship, proclamation and petition guiding us in our own prayers.

Read Psalm 119:65-74.

In the days before satellite navigation, travellers used the stars as fixed points to direct them on long journeys. The Christmas story remind us of this in the star that shone from Jacob (Num 24:17) guiding learned men to Jesus (Matt 2:1-12).

We need fixed points to navigate the journey of life. The fixed points that help us through the bumps and twists of life all relate to God’s nature, for God is unchanging (Mal 3:6).

One of the fixed points about God is His goodness: ‘You are good and what You do is good.’ (Ps 119:68) Our experiences have to be measured against this yardstick, for even when the ‘heartache hits like a hurricane/ That could never change who You are.’ (‘Even If’, Kutless) The psalmist prays with confidence because of God’s goodness: ‘Do good to Your servant according to Your word, O Lord.’ (Ps 119:65) We ask for knowledge and good judgment (Ps 119:66) wrapped in God’s goodness.

Goodness does not equate with happiness or ease of circumstances. The psalmist has enemies (Ps 119:69-70) and troubles. Some of them are caused by his own waywardness (Ps 119:67), some by life’s vicissitudes. The psalmist recognises that God can use even these things to shape and mould his life: ‘it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.’ (Ps 119:71)

Scripture teaches us that God is able to work for the good of those who love Him in every single circumstance of life (Rom 8:28) and that even what others plan to ruin us will be used by Him to prosper us (Gen 50:20). God’s goodness may wear the mask of trials, but even trials can be welcomed as friends when we are directed by God’s goodness (James 1:1-3). Holding on to the goodness of God’s character is an essential lesson learned on the journey, ‘more precious… than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.’ (Ps 119:74)

Read Psalm 119:57-64

Mick Jagger used to sing ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ and the double negative of that statement was presumably for emphasis rather than to imply everything was going well for him! God is the source of all satisfaction; the psalmist says ‘You are my portion, O Lord’ (Ps 119:57), which the Message paraphrases as ‘because You have satisfied me, God, I promise to do everything You say.’

Literature like ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ depicts life as a quest. We are straining after something, yearning for more. Augustine called this a restlessness which only finds completeness in God.

God is able to satisfy all our longings and fill the empty places of our hearts. (Listen to Aaron Shust’s ‘Satisfy’ to meditate further on this thought.) ‘The earth is filled with Your love, O Lord.’ (Ps 119:64) As we meditate on God’s ways and align our steps with His (Ps 119:59-60), we find freedom even when we feel hemmed in (Ps 119:61) and can be an example to others (Ps 119:69). Paul reminded Timothy that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain.’ (1 Tim 6:6) Learning contentment and satisfaction in God is a crucial part of life’s journey, something which the waiting of Advent is meant to cultivate in our hearts.

Read Ps 119:49-56.

The world is divided, we are told, into two camps: the haves and the have-nots. Whilst there is truth in this statement (and our support of the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal seeks to give to those in need), the world is also divided spiritually: those who believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and those who don’t (see John 3:16-21, 1 John 2:22-23). The psalmist struggles with issues concerning good and evil: ‘indignation grips me because of the wicked who have forsaken Your law.’ (Ps 119:53) We, too, wrestle with questions of evil and suffering, but are preserved by God’s Word (Ps 119:50).

God’s Word gives us comfort and hope (Ps 119:49-50), enabling us to cope with mocking and endless baiting from the arrogant who think they know it all (Ps 119:51). Remembering God’s laws helps to focus us on right paths (‘treasuring Your revelation’, Ps 119:55, The Message) and thus we can ‘walk through a rain of derision because [we] live by Your Word and counsel.’ (Ps 119:56, The Message).

Our response to God’s word spoken in Jesus will determine how we live on earth and our eternal destiny. (John 3:36) We need to hold on to the revelation God has given and keep walking in His ways.

We also had a December birthday to celebrate:

Activities included colouring Christmas pictures for children and puzzles involving words: how many words of three letters or more can you find from the word ‘CHRISTMAS’? (Have a go… our total was 75!) How many unusual Christmas-related words can you think of beginning with each of the letters of the word ‘Christmas’? Some answers to this last question included ‘celebration’, ‘Clark Griswald’, ‘cherub’, ‘herald’, ‘realm’, ‘reign’, ‘incarnation’, ‘ivy’, ‘sausage rolls’, ‘sherry’,  ‘trifle’ (sensing a theme here…!), ‘tinsel’, ‘trimmings’, ‘thanksgiving’ (without the capital T!),  ‘mass’, ‘Mary’, ‘mistletoe’, ‘mincemeat’,  ‘angels’, ‘announcement’, ‘shepherds’ and ‘stable.’

There are many hugely enjoyable aspects of Christmas listed above, but what is crucial is for us to keep Christ central to all our celebrations. Without Christ, there is no reason for Christmas, but with Him, we have so many reasons to celebrate, to rejoice and to have fun.