Christmas
This is a Christmas programme, drawn up from Christmas 2005. The programme each year will not be exactly the same but will be similar.
Sunday, 4th |
Second Advent Evening 6.00pm |
Alison |
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Sunday 11th |
Christmas Communion Service Third Advent Evening |
Alison Alison |
| Thursday 15th | Carol Singing outside Tesco 7.30 pm |
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| Sunday 18th | Family Carol Service 10:45 Fourth Advent Evening 6:00 |
Alison Alison |
| Saturday 24th | Christmas Eve Carol Service 11pm | Alison |
| Sunday 25th | Christmas Day Service 10:45 | Alison
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At 6.00 pm on the three remaining Sunday evenings during Advent there will be opportunity to meet together in the Chapel, where Alison is leading us through an Advent Course entitled Candles in the Dark by David Adam.
In the busyness of Christmas the last thing you need is anther service, surely! True – but if you need space, time to reflect, time to be quiet and focus on the God who is always with us, maybe Sunday evenings at 6.00 pm during Advent is just for you. Please remember, this is not a “Must Attend” event! It is for you to come and relax with friends and a good book. No pressure, just a warm invitation.
Adam writes: "Here is a chance to look at some of our ancestors in the faith that shine out like candles in the dark. Each receives their light from him who is the Light. Let us join with them and become candles in your dark. Learn to let the Light of Christ shine in your life, that you may draw others to that light."
Those of you who are familiar the writings of David Adam will know that this will be based on Celtic spirituality which provides for us times of deep reflection and which will prepare us well for the coming another Christmas together.
You’re still (just about!) in time to choose your favourite carols for us all to sing during the Advent and Christmas season. Alison has produced a leaflet for everyone to choose their top five carols – including the one that you say “It isn’t Christ mas until we have sung this one!” Leaflets are on the Concourse table.
And don’t forget to support the Leytonstone Group of Churches’ Carol Singing (with the Salvation Army Band) outside Tesco’s supermarket on Thursday evening, 15 th December, from 7.30 to 8.15 pm . Make a diary note now, put on a warm coat and shoes then, and help to show the neighbourhood that Christmas is Christmas and that church people believe it should be special!
We Can Make a Difference
It’s Christmas Card time again. At LUFC, we have long adopted the practice of sending just one card each to the church, addressed to all our friends there, instead of writing lots and lots of cards to everyone we can think of. That way, newcomers who mightn’t otherwise receive many cards are not made to feel “left out”, but as well as this the card and postage money we save can be put into our special Christmas offertories – which go to support all sorts of charities: for the homeless, for children, for overseas aid, and so on (Bob Park can give you details).
Now I’d like to suggest we take this idea further. We all probably send Christmas cards to distant friends and relatives that we do not see over the festive period. This is a boom time for card companies and the Royal
Mail as people engage in frantic card-writing activity that seems to start earlier every year (have you posted your New Zealand mail yet?). How many cards do we send to people we see on a regular basis? And how many of us are guilty of purchasing boxes of cheaper cards as spares just in case we have left someone out?
Wherever we work, whatever clubs and societies we belong to, we could redirect all the money we spend in this way by suggesting to managers and bosses that everybody in the department/office/establishment should sign just one big card, and a donation box should be passed around to raise money for victims of the Asian earthquake or some other good cause. That way, we wouldn’t end up with writers’ cramp, we wouldn’t overlook anybody, and people in need would benefit. Go on, give it a go! You never know, your colleagues and friends may be eternally grateful!
. . . And Even More Difference!
What sort of presents do you give at Christmastime, not only for those going by post but also those going to folk near you? Here are some fresh ideas. If you have stacks in the bank, what about a Sesame Oil Press at a mere £8,000? This you could get from Christian Aid, and it will give a whole community food to eat, better health, and money to send their children to school. At the other end of the scale, what about a can of worms at just £15 to help
farmers grow fruit and vegetables, or £5 to immunise ten children in Jamaica against polio and measles – again available from Christian Aid. Or what about four fishing nets for £5 or the tools and materials to dig a pond for £20, both from Send-a-Cow? Oxfam offers a school desk and chair for £15, school dinners for100 children for £6, a teacher’s wages for £30, or again at £30, materials to build a toilet.
With each gift a card is available to send to the recipient. There’s a display board in the Foyer, and leaflets showing all the gifts available and order forms for each charity are available in the office – just take one (or more). Perhaps you are one of those well-organised people who’ve already bought all your pressies? Well, maybe you could buy one for yourself!
Advent Gifts - a Thank-You Thanks to everyone who generously contributed on the first Sunday in Advent by providing gifts for the children and young people at Mill Grove, tools for TWAM, materials for the Night Shelter, and so on. TWAM (Tools-With-a-Mission) publishes a newsletter from time to time, and the latest of these
- Volume 9, Issue 3 – contain some heartening stories of what happens to donated tools as well as appeals for special items. This makes good reading and underlines what can be done. It’s available in the literature stand in the foyer. You’re still in time to provide gifts for Mill Grove: see Jacqueline or Gwen.