Services

On Sunday 22nd December at 6.30pm, make a bee line for church for a traditional service of lessons and carols.

There is no better way to be reminded of the importance of the Nativity than through this familiar selection of readings and music.

This morning, on the last Sunday of Advent, both Joseph and Ahaz receive a sign from God.  Signs give us strength and hope, they show us that we are on the right path.  The sign given to king Ahaz in Isaiah 7:10-26 is the same as the sign given to Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25, a newborn child.  King Ahaz rejects the sign.  He is going into battle he wants a sign of power and might.  He wants to know that God will strengthen his army and grant him victory, he wants a sign of power and might.  The child is a sign of vulnerability and need. 

The sign God gives points towards a choice: we can, like Ahaz, focus on securing our position in the world, we can seek to negotiate with power, to ally ourselves with the rich and the mighty.  Or, like Jospeh, we can choose to ally ourselves with the most vulnerable.

We too want a sign, a sign that everything will turn out alright, for ourselves and our families, for our community and our nation, for the world. The sign God sends us to follow is still the same: a child, a vulnerable infant. This is the path God points us towards: to stand with the poor, protect the weak, support and uphold those in need.  This is the path that leads us to a future all can share.  

What could be more festive than carols by candlelight?

Bring the whole family down to church on Sunday 14th December at 4pm and prepare yourselves for the celebrations ahead.

No previous carol singing experience required!

Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”  In Matthew 11:2-11, John the Baptist is awaiting execution.  In this dark place he wonders whether Jesus is the one who will bring God’s light to the world, the one whom Isaiah 35:1-10 promised when his people were also imprisoned.  They both long for a time of freedom and flourishing.

There are times in all our lives when we too question what difference Christ makes to the world when suffering and injustice are still to be seen in every land.  Yet Jesus tells us: the blind receive their sight, the lame can walk, the dead are raised to life.  We are the blind and lame and dying that Christ heals: he opens our eyes and strengthens our hands in order that we can continue God’s work of healing and liberation.

This Advent the question that John asks, Jesus also asks of us: are we the ones who are to come, or should the world for others?