
December Message

Revd. Chris
DEC. 1, 2022
An ordinary Christmas ?
An Ordinary Christmas?
It’s always a delight to write the Christmas article knowing the December
Telescope has a unique, colourful artistic cover that brings joy when the magazine
lands on the doorstep.
Finally, it looks like we will be able to celebrate Christmas with some sense of
normality this year, although rising prices mean our feasts may need to be
somewhat smaller as the cost of living continues to increase. The presence of
Covid these last years has muted the celebration of Christmas and has threatened
to make it ordinary. Yet Christmas is never, ever ordinary. The decision of God to
come and live among God’s people is simply extraordinary.
Baby Jesus takes God from a grumpy old man sat in the clouds above us and
literally brings God down to earth for each and every one of us. O Come O Come
Emmanuel, the words so familiar to us, are our seasonal reminder that God
comes to be with us. Jesus’ birth, the one-off spectacular event which we
celebrate at Christmas, is followed by a life that shows us how to be human, a
death which proves how much God loves us, and a resurrection that conquers
death and gives us hope that carries us through the bad times and connects us as
we celebrate all the good in our lives.
This year in the run-up to Christmas we have the football World Cup. Regardless
of the eventual winner, the event has put the spotlight on a country’s civil rights
abuses, and we hope and pray that positive change will result. Whether the
event should have been held there in the first place is a discussion for another
time and place.
Wherever, whenever and with whomever you celebrate this Christmas, God’s
love is with you, those who you love, and with all the special people who are no
longer with us who we remember with special fondness at Christmas.
Have a wonderful time.
God bless you.
Revd Chris