22 Dec Blessed & Merry Christmas!
Blessed & Merry Christmas!
We’re truly in the home stretch now…the shops were a cyclone of activity this morning. Most folks still had their “Christmas Cheerful Face” on…although some were looking a bit stressed…I invited everyone I could think of to worship with us over the Christmas Celebrations…Most probably won’t, but at least they got an invite. I saw evidence of a new baby due in April. I invited the Mum & Dad to join us…I also suggested they get married too. I’m not sure they’ll take me up on either of those offers, but I offered nonetheless. I also had a few conversations that made me a bit sad…like we noted Sunday, sometimes life is just hard. Outside of trusting Jesus, it stays that way.
So…what do the next few weeks look like for us?
1. Christmas Worship @ Living Water
- Christmas Eve – Wednesday 24th December @ 7:00 p.m.
- Christmas Day – Thursday 25th December @ 9:00 a.m.
2. Sunday 28th December – Regular worship schedule resumes @ 10:00 a.m. Christmas is…Every Day
- Also 28th December @ 2:30 p.m. @ St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church – FREE Organ Carol Recital with Enoch Fandrich – If you can make this event, by all means do!
3. Sunday 4th January 2026 – New Year’s Morning Tea! AND a worship series just right for the New Year: Where is Jesus… We’ll learn together how to see what Jesus is doing in our world right before our eyes, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY to join him! Don’t miss a Sunday!
Quick Reminder! This is an incredibly busy season with lots of people coming & going…So if you’re on the roster for serving in worship please make sure you are where you’re supposed to be OR you’ve found someone to take your place for that Sunday serving opportunity. Liz is about to send out another roster request for the first part of 2026 which will include the Lent-Easter cycle. Please put your hand up as often as you can to make Liz’s work come together more easily for all of us!
In our house Sunday night, we observed the nationwide minute’s silence for the Bondi terrorism attack victims. We prayed for God’s peace & healing as well. I can only pray that our various levels of government respond more effectively in the coming months; what I’ve seen so far is woeful. I’m reminded that the prophets who pleaded with God’s people to give up their rebellion & disobedience & idolatry all made a similar point: “the fish stinks from the head down.” From the palace, to the courts, to the marketplace & everywhere in between, those charged with leading God’s people in faith failed & were corrupt to the core:
Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice & twist all that is right. You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder & corruption. You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord. – Mic 3:8-11
But Micah is also filled with the promise that God will sweep away the corrupt & the tyrants among his people & usher in a day of salvation. Ultimately the Father promises to send the Saviour whose birth we celebrate on Wednesday night & whose reign lasts forever. And the faithful followers make this declaration:
As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, & my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. – Mic 7:7-8
In the daily tumult of a world running away from the Father…hold fast to that promise of God as light, Saviour, & the One who hears & answers every prayer. AND invite someone to worship with you…they just might say “Sure.”
Blessed Christmas to you all!
John
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