Merry Christmas & a Joy-Filled New Year

This is a 2 week edition of our News Sheet, so you might be reading this waiting for the cork to pop on the imminent Christmas celebrations, or the festive frenzy has passed and you’re picking yourself up for the arrival of 2019.

 Either way, I hope there is opportunity to breathe deeply and take a moment to reflect and give thanks. 2018 might not have taken shape as you hoped, but the Christmas narrative reminds us that amidst real pain and insecurity, God continues to sprinkle reminders of his presence and promises to us. As we pull together the aspects of our Advent series, I hope you experience the faith, hope, joy, and peace that are found in Christ with us. God Bless.

A Prayer for Advent

Lord Jesus, 
I give you my hands to do your work. 
I give you my feet to go your way. 
I give you my eyes to see as you do. 

I give you my tongue to speak your words. 
I give you my mind that you may think in me. 
I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. 

Above all, 
I give you my heart that you may love in me your Father and all people. 
I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.

Lord Jesus, I give you my spirit that you may pray in me.

I give you my heart, Lord that you may love in me.

Advent Encouragement

We are often invited during the season of advent to step away from the bustle of the season and run from the maw of the monster mammon – all with a view to connecting more deeply with God. It’s good advice, and supposed to offer encouragement. But I suspect many of us struggle to follow the guidance. Instead, the advent invitation can leave us with feelings of guilt and frustration. Control of our diary at this time of year seems laughable, and we’re often running to stand still…

 If that strikes a chord with you and your spiritual pulse feels like it beating a little faintly, then draw some advent solace from these words from C S Lewis:

“What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God's eyes, our best. Those which are least supported by devotional feeling…these may come from a deeper level than feeling. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when he catches us, as it were, off our guard.”

The Pain of Waiting ...

I wonder how the Advent season has been for you?

If you’re like me, you might be a little disappointed that it hasn’t been all that different to normal, save for a spike in things to do. Whilst some of us might have used the period to reflect more deeply on Jesus’ arrival, my hunch is fewer of us will have dwelt on the other focal point of Advent – the ‘end times’. I am acutely aware that plenty of you have been living in the tension of those two perspectives – often referred to as the ‘now and not-yet’ of God’s rule. God’s kingdom has broken out, but not completely. We have a vision of the world as God yearns it to be, but not the ability to bring it about in full. We see glimmers of God’s glory in the world but have to wait for the time when that glory will suffuse the whole of creation.

That reality for some of you has meant living with the pain, fragility, and yes, disappointment of life, whilst trying to hold on to Christ’s promises.

That’s not easy, and my prayer for you all is that God’s Spirit allows you to see the ‘end’, in a way which brings real hope and peace for your ‘now’. God Bless.

Christmas Collections

This Christmas we will be taking collections across different services for the following organisations:

(i) The Children’s Society (Christingle Services)

A national charity that runs local projects, helping children and young people when they are at their most vulnerable, and have nowhere left to turn.

(ii) Bromley Night Shelter (Carol Service / Christmas Day)

This is a project run by the ‘Churches Together in Central Bromley’ to help homeless people with a connection to Bromley Borough.

(iii) Missionary Aviation Fellowship (Carol Service / Christmas Day)

Working in partnership with hundreds of other relief organisations MAF reaches some of the most remote people on our planet who struggle with malnutrition and the effects of displacement, bringing practical help, physical healing, and spiritual hope.

You can find out more about their respective work by visiting their websites.