Since my last entry, I have managed to successfully rewrite one of the exegeses required for section B (the second of 4 sections A,B,C,D which make up the entirety of Faith and Worship). I am now almost ready to submit Section C at the end of this month. Today I gave an assessed service at my home Church, Gillingham Methodist Church, which was received very positively. The comments afterwards were very encouraging, and I am grateful for both assessors for their constructive critique afterwards. The worship group again sparkled, the sermon was clear and succinct. The prayers were relevant. It seemed clear to me that the Holy Spirit was present, especially with the contribution of the congregation and their mood after the service. One person came to me after, and said he had come to Church this morning fearful for the state of the world, and was leaving re-assured. Praise God.
The Christmas story.
When you think of Jesus at Christmas, what image come to mind? The truth is that we are surrounded by images at this time of year. Card shops, retail outlets of all sorts, social media posts bombard us with images of a stable, a star, 3 Kings etc that the image of the baby in the manger (somehow spotlessly clean!) alongside a surprisingly alert Mary and a deferential Joseph hovering in the background, that some of this has somehow become embedded in what we think of as a traditional Christmas. We have seen this morning a lovely presentation of that story by members of the Junior Church, thank you to all involved. Of course, there is still discussion about whether the stable really was a stable, and whether there was an innkeeper at all. It seems that Luke may have actually meant the upper room in a house, so no room in the inn, becomes no room upstairs so the baby was put on the ledge between upstairs and downstairs (where the animals were kept). The animals exuded heat which help
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