The time of preparation for a saviours birth is here once more. Time to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Time to remember why he was sent to earth. Time to consider perhaps his eventual return and whether indeed we are ready. Will it be today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or next century or….. Well only God knows the answer to that, but whenever that time is I want to be able to say I was waiting patiently and trying as hard as I can to live as Jesus would wish me to.
If you want to follow the story of Christ’s birth in a slightly different way try the Natwivity on Twitter. The story with a contemporary twist.
In a way, Jesus is here already of course within us through the holy spirit. My regular prayer is that all of our friends, family and colleagues around us, young and old alike, will also come to know and experience this and not just to hear the story of his birth and beyond but will come to a realisation that he wasn’t a mythical irelevant person but a real live very relevant historical character who still lives and loves them even now.
Christmas today is mostly about families and the children in our lives but also so often about the desire of the things that we have not got but yearn for. Do we really need to replace all our gadgets with the latest model if the old one still works well? Should we not be more satisfied with our lot rather than let our lives become enslaved to jealousy and a little bit of greediness? Perhaps a bit more satisfaction in what we have, more giving selflessly and a greater ambition for others to achieve would help this nation.
I think now of the Care for the Family appeal regarding children in care and how a child is taken into care every 22 minutes. As Rob Parsons says these children need foster homes to provide a loving environment for them and if the many churches in this land were able to identify one family each then the eventual outcomes of those children could be so much better than otherewise would be the case. Kids need love. May I pray that their campaign is successful!
Perhaps someone reading this who is actually in a position to help unlike myself would consider taking a child from care and giving them a second chance.
God bless you.
Meopham Churches Together 