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Church Magazine Christmas 2009 |
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CHRISTmas Starts with Christ |
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Minister’s
Letter Macduff Manse Christmas 2009 Dear Friends This
brings best wishes to one and all for a very happy celebration of Christmas and
for God’s best for 2010. It doesn’t
seem long, does it, since the world was all hyped up about the beginning of
the new millennium, yet here we are almost a decade into it already! They say ‘the older you get, the faster
time goes’! The
background against which we wish one another Happy Christmas is not an altogether happy one. Many people will sympathise with the
comment in a recent Issue of SU’s Encounter
with God which says, “For decades, things were going so well for us. In the mid-twentieth century the world
emerged from global conflict and began to move towards peace and
plenty”. It’s true, of course, that
many faced very great suffering and need – one only needs to think of words
like Vietnam, Dunblane, Biafra, Korea, the Falklands to be reminded of
that. “But”, that article goes on,
“for most people in the developed West, life got steadily better, with great
advances in science, medicine and the economy”. Now,
however, things are rather different.
We have seen the atrocity known as 9/11; a hundred British soldiers have been killed
in Afghanistan, we are threatened by global warming and we are in a so-called
credit crunch. On top of all that, we
face difficult times in the Church’s mission these days, and our own Church
of Scotland is in a crisis to which there seems to be no solution. And all of that is without reference to
the many trials and problems that people face at the personal level. And
here comes Christmas! Is it simply a
lull in the turmoil of the world’s problems, or can it make any
difference? We all know there are
those who would like to push “religion” out of Christmas – and yet it is
surely the message of the One Who was born at Bethlehem that is so
desperately needed. It
may surprise you to know that I have recently been reading a book called The Atheist’s Guide To Christmas ! It has chapters such as, “It’s Beginning
to Feel a Lot Like Christmas”, “Losing My Faith”, “How to Have a Peaceful
Pagan Christmas” and “How to Stop Worrying and Enjoy Christmas” - not to mention advice about decorating the
outside of your house with so many lights that it can be seen from space. Much
of the book is pretty tedious and predictable; one has the impression that many of the
contributors were writing not because they had something to say but because
they had to say something! Actually,
I'm not sure what I expected. What
could one expect in an atheist’s guide to Christmas -
although it is true that one has a sneaking sympathy for them; it must be very galling to find so much
“religion” invading their irreligious lives at this time. One
contributor writes about the stages through which human beings go. As a child, you need people to look after
you and then you learn to become independent.
He actually goes on, “Maybe humanity needed a parent and that was the
part religion played. Maybe we’re at a stage now where we are growing up and
ready to achieve a greater degree of independence”. Such an astonishing statement evokes the outburst
of a once-famous sporting figure who used to say, “You can’t be
serious”! Is he really suggesting
we’ve reached an advanced stage where we don't need God? Or is it not true that, as you look
around, the need for God’s help is cryingly obvious? One
paragraph, however, struck me quite forcibly.
The illusionist, Derren Brown, writes about the trivialising of
Christmas. “There hangs in the air
something anaemically dissatisfying when people talk about Christmas being ‘a
time for giving’, or ‘a time to remember those less fortunate than
ourselves’, or any other of the bloodless blandnesses that are vapidly
trotted out around that time of year by priests and politicians being careful
to remain inoffensive to all. Does
that not sap the true meaning out of Christmas? Are we not missing out on its magnificence
. . . “ Well, indeed! Obviously there’s nothing wrong – and
everything right – with generosity, but we easily miss out the magnificence
of Christmas, even if not in the way that the writer of these words meant. It is a magnificent message. It is about the great God of all creation
stepping into his own creation. It is
about the author coming to be one of the characters in his own drama. “God was pleased to have all his fulness
dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed
on the cross” (Colossians 1,19-20).
How sad that such a magnificent message should be trivialised. Let us rather ponder anew the great message
of His incarnation – this Lord who became one of us, came to seek and to save
the lost, came to deal with our sin and lost-ness, came to enable people to
enter into life in all its fulness, came to bring a message of eternal life –
for, what does it say in that best-known verse of all: “God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting
life” (John 3,16). May you know the magnificence
and glory of this message at Christmas, and find His guidance, peace and
blessing in 2010. Yours sincerely David J Randall O
what a mystery I see, What
marvellous design, That
God should come as
one of us, A
Son in David’s line. Flesh
of our flesh, of
woman born, Our
humanness He owns And
for a world of wickedness His
guiltless blood atones. (G.Kendrick; MP 535) |
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Ekwendeni Link Only
blankets in good condition, baby clothes and knitted teddies are received at the
church hall for Ekwendeni. Black bags
of adult clothes etc. should not be left in the hall, but can be taken to the
Blythswood lorry at the harbour normally on the third Friday of the month
from 9 – 10.30 am. Such items are
gratefully received, along with any donations to help with transport costs. We have had a wealth of missionary
visitation over the last month or so, with visits from ·
Michael Cook of Mission Africa ·
Matt and Margaret Paton, with Douglas Craig of
WEC; Matt and Margaret have served as
WEC missionaries in France for 45 years ·
and Paul & Hilary Gunning with their family, on a
short home visit from Namibia. News of these and other missionaries is
contained in the Missionary News
digest sheet, prepared by Elizabeth Law, and all missionaries value the
interest, support and prayer of folk at home. We
continue to pray also for the work of the CCAP mission station at Ekwendeni,
including the Good Hope now sailing
on Lake Malawi. There will an
opportunity to learn more about it at the Guild meeting on 11th
February Coming Soon Grace Sufficient is a biography of
Elizabeth Mantell, to be published soon by Kachere Press
The
foreword by Professor Ken Ross, General Secretary of the Church of Scotland’s
World Mission Council, says: “A woman
of profound humility, Elizabeth would instinctively shun the limelight. This is one good reason why her story has
to be told. The pages of this book are
alive with the love which Elizabeth had for Malawian friends and colleagues
and the love which they had for her.
To have the opportunity to get inside her thinking and motivation is
the prospect offered by this enticing biography”. |
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Junior Church News |
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It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas, it’s Christmas once again The birthday of Jesus born in Bethlehem. |
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Just now, it doesn’t matter whether you walk
along the street, watch TV or are listening to the radio – Christmas is very
much in evidence. We are constantly
reminded that there are only so many shopping days until Christmas. Shop windows have brightly coloured
displays portraying all the things that we so often associate with Christmas
and the true meaning of Christmas is so often overlooked. It can be summed up in the words above – Christmas
is the birthday of Jesus.
In Junior Church, we are learning what Christmas is really all about
and are looking forward to sharing that as part of the Family Service on the
21st December. That doesn’t
mean that we can’t enjoy all the other things that Christmas brings to
mind. We’ll be having a party, going
to the panto in Peterhead and enjoying getting together but we need to
remember that Christmas is about Christ – no Christ - no CHRISTmas! Can I take this opportunity to say thank
you to all who do so much within all the departments of Junior Church and to
wish all of you a very happy Christmas. Anna Sivewright ....and now a word from ALL STARS Parent and Toddler Group Come along to the Church Hall on a Tuesday
afternoon and you will find about 12-15 children ranging from very young
babies to pre-school children. There
may be a lot of noise at times, but there is a really good atmosphere. At present, we have about 30 families who
come along, some more regularly than others.
Recently, we have introduced a team of helpers for kitchen duties and
this has enabled us to work a lot more with the children. Thank you to those who do this – your help
means so much! Our party will be held on the 9th December from
1-2.30 pm at the Hall when we expect a very special visitor! Each of the families will be given “No Tree
for Christmas” - the shepherds story of Christmas suitable for pre-schoolers
and an invitation to join us at church for the Family Service. Kay
Cronin and Edna French |
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Dates for the diary Fri. 18th
December 10 am Macduff Primary School Christmas Service Sun. 20th
December 11 am Christmas Gift Service, with Junior Church (gifts
distributed by Aberdeenshire Social Work) 6
pm Evening Worship (Jim & Moira singing) Thu. 24th
December 8 pm Parish Carol Singing (see intimations) 11.30 pm Watchnight
Service (carols before service) Fri.
25th December 11 am Christmas Day Family Worship Sun.
27th December 11 am Morning Worship 6
pm Annual Memorial Service The OFFERING on Christmas Eve will be for Ekwendeni
Hospital, Malawi; also retiring
offering on Christmas Day |
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