Writing from the Rectory: December 2024

In the beginning God gathers the dust of the earth and forms people to inhabit and care for His creation. He breathes life into flesh and bones, and to this day we don’t know what kick-starts life itself; life is a mystery and a gift to be enjoyed, and to be shared with others for their enjoyment too.

Notice how often we gather to celebrate occasions; we join with one another to form a unit. God’s plan for the world is that we unite around common purposes – we bind ourselves to an activity or a belief that we have in common – it is a form of worship, which as humans we do instinctively. Believe it or not, there is no word for church in the bible! Instead, the word means 'gathered ones'. And so we gather as the place of worship draws together the many to the one when we sing carols, say prayers, share mince pies, remember loved ones and think of Christmases past. We are wired to look to something or someone in which to find inspiration, even if we conclude that there is no meaning to life.

At Christmas the celebrations remind us that God has not left us alone to work this out but shares our humanity. Emmanuel means God With Us, and He loves His creation and wants us to enjoy it with Him. To live in the presence of the father of eternity helps us relinquish our confusions and anxieties and lay them in the straw of the stable by the manger, before the very gift giver of life Himself; a baby and yet a king. He gave the gift of Himself, in the form of a human known as Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one; not to condemn the world but that we should be restored to that original pattern for life - without death and without suffering.

Why not drop into a Christmas service this year and re-connect with the joyful news of the birth of the Christ child, or discover it for the first time this year? We have services running throughout December – see our advert in this magazine for more details.

May you know the peace of Jesus this Christmas and throughout 2025.

Reverend Andrew