26 Nov Vicars’ Blog – December 2017 – Journey to the Manger
Vicars’ Blog – December 2017 – Journey to the Manger
I don’t think Festive would be the way Joseph
and Mary would have described their journey
to Bethlehem for a census, just as Mary’s due
date approached. The familiar words from the
story of Jesus’ birth “No room at the Inn” ring
out in nativity plays. But have we ever stopped
to think about how that must have felt to
Joseph and Mary, who had both individually had calls from God to
carry and care for God’s son and done their best to be
accommodating? Now they had a distinct lack of
accommodation and probably felt stranded, outcast and lonely. It
is bad enough for us turning up at a hotel for the night and finding
they have no record of our booking. To discover this when a baby
is about to be born would be desperate! But God surprised them
with his perfect plan of bringing his son, Jesus, into the world, far
away from home comforts, always to identify with the
disadvantaged and overlooked, to be the saviour of all people.
We may want to help the disadvantaged and outcast at
Christmas. Some of us have filled and sent off
Christmas boxes to children in other parts of
the world so that they might know that there
is a God who loves them. At church, we will
give 10% of all our collections to the poor
and needy through Christian charities. God
still surprises us today with his love for all of us,
whether we are near to or far away from him.
We’d like to give an update on our current projects:
Get Involved – 72 responses have been received.
The Under 5s and Families Outreach Minister – seven expressions of
interest have been received for the job with a deadline of Monday
11th December. In terms of the Appeal, we still have a long way to
go to reach one year’s employment costs of £27,500 by 3rd
December: the total stands at £7,554 before Gift Day. Thank you to
all who have given by lump sum or new standing order.
Please continue to pray for the Vision Steering Group as they
collate all our thoughts into one clear Vision for our church which
will be launched in January. Thank you for your participation.
We look forward to all our rich and varied offerings of worship this
Christmas time and encourage you to bring friends along as we
celebrate the birth of the Baby who changed the world.