WORD FOR THE WEEK
I SO enjoyed the lantern procession this year again, a tradition for Ashbourne.
I know there are many people who come in from the villages and even other towns to join in and spend time in our town.
The lanterns brought extra light in, adding to the shop fronts, the open cafés and pubs, reminding us of the Light of the World – another name for Jesus.
I spoke in the market place, and you may not have heard me over the fun fair and excited chattering of families, so I wonder if it might be a good idea to repeat part of my short talk.
I think it is amazing, when you think about it, that God came to earth to live as a human, and came as a baby at that!
Christians believe that Jesus is our saviour – and he came as a new born baby – not a fully-grown person.
It’s easy to look at a baby and feel lots of love and wonder. We love him as king, and as God, because God loved us enough to send his son!
We adore him because, when he grew up, partly human and partly still divine, he taught us about his father God, and God’s love, and then he made the greatest sacrifice a person can make for a friend, for a family – he died.
The story as you know didn’t end there, he came alive again, but that is the story of Easter so I’m getting ahead a bit!
So we were gathered, faithful Christians, perhaps people exploring the meaning of life, and of course people looking for a bargain and a sausage in a bun with some mulled wine – but here we all were, gathered, singing our hearts out! Praising the amazing birth of Jesus, saviour of the world.
We had a good sing, but that might not be enough for you!
There are many church carol services, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services where those carols are sung again, and the words of the carols tell the great story so well.
Come and sing again in your church!