Just to let you know what will be happening over the next few days…

There will be just the morning service on Boxing Day, Sunday 26th December, at the usual time of 10:30 a.m. There will be no evening service that day.

There will be no midweek meetings next week, but the usual New Year’s Day party will be held on 1st January 2011 at 4:30 p.m. Please bring food and drink to that party!

Mark started his sermon at the carol service with a series of ‘Knock, knock’ jokes before going on to talk about the knock on the doors of the inns in Bethlehem which ultimately led to one innkeeper offering Mary and Joseph the shelter of a smelly stable. If the innkeepers had known who was going to be born that night, they might have responded differently to the knocks on their door, but Jesus was born into obscurity, born in a stable, placed in a feeding trough – an unexpected place for the Light of the World to make His entry into our world.

Jesus continues to knock on doors today, but these are the doors of our hearts. Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” As the Holman Hunt painting ‘Light of the World’ clearly illustrates, there is no door handle on the outside. It’s up to us to respond to Jesus knocking; only we can open the door to allow Him access into our lives.

Jesus wants us to let Him in on a regular basis. He’s not just for Christmas. He is our best friend who will never leave us or forsake us, but our response is needed to His knocking.

In case you think we don’t do anything serious in our carol services, we had traditional readings:



We also had a mixture of traditional carols and more modern songs. This one is called ‘C for the Christ Child’:


This one is definitely not serious, however! It’s a satirical look at the frenzy of Christmas shopping, set to the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’ and we had a competition as to which side could sing and act it out the best!

The second carol service was held on Sunday 19th December and was a fun-packed service.

To cater for those with savoury tastes, we had a Pringles competition. Round 1 was for those who like salt and vinegar flavoured Pringles:

won by Gary…

Round 2 was for those who like cheese and onion flavoured Pringles:

won by Debbie, who was so quick off the mark, I failed to get a photo of the empty bowl!

The final was also won by Debbie:

We also had the traditional birthday songs, although someone clearly doesn’t like the birthday hat!

We played ‘Pass the Parcel’ with a difference… each layer revealed a charade to be acted out!

On Sunday morning, we looked at Psalm 40, verse by verse.

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” (Ps 40:1)
Waiting patiently is not something that impatient people find easy, but the Bible teaches us that we need to wait for God with expectancy, hope and faith (Ps 33:20, Ps 27:14, Ps 5:3). The attitude with which we wait is important and the lessons we learn in these times vital, especially if we use the time to build our knowledge of God (Lam 3:21-27). Our part is waiting patiently; God’s part is to turn and hear us.

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Ps 40:2)
The recent bad weather with snow and ice has made walking very difficult! It’s hard also to walk through mud. God is the one who lifts us out of those difficult walking conditions and places us on the rock that is Christ Jesus. He is the one who enables us to stand firm (Eph 6:13), never letting us face more than we can bear (1 Cor 10:13)

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.” (Ps 40:3)
Singing and praising are vital to our daily walk. 2 Chronicles 20 reminds us that victory can be won through singing and praising. The Psalms are full of exhortations to sing (Ps 33:1-3, Ps 47:6, Ps 59:17, Ps 63:7, to name a few examples) and we need to sing at all times, not just when we feel like it or when things are going well. In face, we don’t sing because we feel like it, because we are musical, because we like the sound of our voices or any other reason that we can think of. We sing because God is worthy of our praise and because we are commanded to do so by the One who knows best.

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods” (Ps 40:4)
Walking by faith and not by sight in effect means walking blind. That means learning dependence on God – which in turns means accepting that we are never supposed to ‘grow up’ if that means being so independent that we think we have no further need of God. We have to reject the world’s ‘sure thing’ and learn to trust in God always, beyond the outward, visible appearance of things. Jesus modelled for us the kind of trust we need to have.

“Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” (Ps 40:5)
The Message version says “The world’s a huge stockpile of GOD-wonders and God-thoughts.” As we reach the end of another year, it’s good to meditate on all that God has done throughout the year and reflect on the wonders He has done. This time last year, we were not in St Mark’s… God truly has done amazing things in the church this year!

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened/pierced — burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” (Ps 40: 6-8)
As we read Hebrews 10, we see how these verses are applied to Jesus and we understand that God requires more than outward obedience. He’s searching much deeper within, as Matt Redman says. Desiring to do God’s will is the first step, but then we need to move on to actually do the commands of God. Whilst we may not understand all there is to know about God’s will, we know enough to be getting on with! – that He requires us to love people, to forgive them freely, to accept them as they are and that we need to build people up through our speech and actions. As we obey God in the things we can do, He will reveal more of His will to us.

“I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, LORD, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.” (Ps 40: 9-10)
Testimony is vital and we need to be unafraid and unashamed to speak of all God has done.

“Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased to save me, LORD; come quickly, LORD, to help me. May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame.”(Ps 40: 11-15)
Even when we are still troubled by our own sins and our own problems, we are reassured by the fact that God does not treat us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10) and that His love and faithfulness protect us.

“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!” But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.” (Ps 40: 16-17)
As we continue to wait during Advent for Christmas, as we continue to wait patiently for the return of our Lord, those people who seek God can rejoice and know ‘joy, unspeakable joy, an overflowing well’ (Chris Tomlin) because we have a Saviour and a Deliverer.

At family services, we usually have a quiz or game. In true Christmas-party style, Mark Burgin organised a dancing game where, when the music stopped, we had to become either a Christmas tree or Santa carrying a sack of presents or a reindeer. It was a game of elimination, since you were ‘out’ if you were caught in the pose Mark shouted out.


As people were eliminated, the remaining competitors came to the front to dance…

and to pose…

and to win…

As always, there were prizes to win:


As you can see, this carol service was a relaxed affair and we had lots of fun:

But along with the sermon, there were serious moments too. A dialogue read out by Dave and Julie reminded us of the incredible plan of salvation God imagined for us. Entitled, “He’s going to do what?”, this looked at how two angels received the news of God’s plan of salvation.


If you’d like to join in more entertaining games and quizzes and sing carols proclaiming the wonders of Christ’s birth, then please feel free to join us on Market Street at 6 p.m. tonight, Sunday 19th December, for the second of our carol services with a smile!