Christmas seems inevitably associated in our minds with small children, usually influenced as we are in the UK by pupils of primary school age ‘doing the Nativity’ in school plays. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and it is indeed wonderful to see the Christmas story re-enacted in this way, even if there is something faintly incongruous about the make-do costumes created from curtains and haloes made from tinsel. The buzz of excitement as children learn lines and sing songs; the many frustrations of teachers (captured in the film ‘Nativity’!) as they try to direct a production that has a role for everyone; the tear-jerking moments as the simplicity of the Christmas message is conveyed with innocence and faith are all wonderful to behold. I was fortunate to witness such a production yesterday: entitled ‘The Midwife Crisis‘, the play looked at the story from the perspective of a busy midwife trying to help at the birth of a king but being misguided enough to think that that would be at Bethlehem Palace, only to discover that there was no such place and the baby Jesus was born in a stable. As the midwife held the baby at the end, the play closed with the lines ‘I thought this baby needed me, but now I realise I need Him’ which conveyed the whole point of Christmas – our desperate need for a Saviour – so clearly.

Yet tucked away at the end of the Bible in Revelation 12, we see Christmas from a more cosmic perspective. Here, the main characters are a dragon, a woman and a child. I’ve never seen a Christmas production yet which featured the dragon!

Commentators generally believe the dragon represents Satan and this chapter shows the angelic battle to prevent the arrival of the Saviour on earth. Revelation is famous for its allegory and symbolic nature, but certainly, Christmas is a story played out on two levels: the natural and the supernatural; the visible and the invisible. Angels appear frequently in this story, appearing with dazzling brightness and ultimately bringing life-changing messages to people, be they Mary or Joseph, wise men or shepherds. The obscurity and the insignificance of the stable at Bethlehem are one obviously unexpected twist in the story, but Revelation 12 gives us a glimpse into the cosmic scale that is also involved. This plan of salvation would ruin the devil’s plans; the prophecy in Genesis 3 would be fulfilled; the serpent’s head would be crushed.

Our challenge is to integrate these two aspects of the story, to understand that our lives are not simply the random, insignificant event that we often see from the natural perspective but are part of God’s eternal plans. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world and are destined to be with Him for ever (see Eph 1.) May we grasp both the humility and grandeur of this Christmas story as we reflect on the birth of our wonderful Saviour!

Dave spoke this evening on Joseph, looking at the angel’s words to him in Matt 1:18-25 TNIV. Matthew’s Gospel shows us the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies, but we also see in this account a very personal story. It is important for us to understand that the events we read about in the Bible happened to real people who experienced the same emotions as we do, and therefore we can learn much from their situations.

The angel told Joseph not to be afraid. He was in an impossible situation. His fiancee was pregnant and not by him! He must have felt so confused and bewildered, wanting to trust Mary but finding her story frankly unbelievable. He was a righteous man who did not want to publicly humiliate Mary, but at the same time he knew that he could not ignore the problem. He could have been justified in exposing her to others, but he also knew compassion and kindness.

The dilemma he was facing was not resolved by his mulling it over again and again. When we face impossible situations, we often dwell on them and try to find solutions, but the only thing we can do is commit the situation to God in prayer and think about all that is good. (Phil 4:6-8 TNIV) Into this situation, the angel’s words showed him that he had no need to fear, but still he had to come to terms with a truth that had never before happened in history! We may think we would be reassured if an angel appeared to us, but often we are in exactly the same position, having heard God’s word but finding it difficult to believe. Our challenge is to allow God’s word to us (‘Do not be afraid’) to take hold in our hearts, for ‘nothing is impossible with God.’ (Luke 1:37 TNIV)

Joseph accepted the truth of the angel’s words and married Mary. He must have been awed at his role in bringing up the Son of God, but he accepted the challenge. We too will be amazed at what God can do in our lives if we accept and believe His word.
‘Joseph’s Song’, Michael Card

In the course of his sermon, Garry mentioned that today is known traditionally as ‘Gaudete Sunday’ (pronounced Gow-day-tay, since he asked). ‘Gaudete’ is simply the Latin for ‘Rejoice!’ In past times, when the services were conducted entirely in Latin, the service on the 3rd Sunday in Advent would begin by quoting from Phil 4:4-6 TNIV (‘rejoice in the Lord always’ which in Latin is ‘gaudete in Domino semper.’)

I am old enough to remember the group Steeleye Span who performed a song named ‘Gaudete’ entirely in Latin. The chorus says ‘gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus ex Maria virgine, gaudete’ which means ‘rejoice, rejoice, Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, rejoice.’ I have to say this made sense of all the Latin I studied at school and fitted with this Advent theme, so you can listen to this below.
‘Gaudete’, Steeleye Span

My other favourite song which uses the Latin for ‘rejoice’ is ‘Gaudeamus igitur’ (‘Therefore let us rejoice’). The video here has English sub-titles as well as the Latin lyrics, so you can be truly educated as you listen to this one!

It really doesn’t matter what language we rejoice in. What matters is that we do indeed rejoice in the Lord always and remember the many reasons we have to rejoice!

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.