According to plan

 

December 2020

Dear Friends,

2020 has been the year when we’ve all had to tear up the script and start again, more than once.  As I write this, we’ve made plans for Christmas and New Year church events but we’ve no idea whether they will all happen as planned.  Do check the ‘Coming Up’ diary on our church website which will always have the most up-to-date information about the next few services or events.  We will also aim to provide information on notice boards and village Facebook pages.  Feel free to ring me too.  We plan to return to Sunday morning services in our church building from the beginning of December if lockdown lifts then.  In this newsletter you will find details of Sunday services, a Christmas Day family service and our family events – Christingle at Home and our Advent Trail.  Keep an eye out for information on a Carol Service just before Christmas.

For most of us, plans for 2020 went in the bin in March, but God’s plan for the birth of his Son suffered no such fate.  The Bible says that the plan was hatched even before the world was created.  And right through the time of the Old Testament, God was mapping out in history the blueprint for His Son’s life.  There were kings over God’s people before the coming of The King of Kings, and prophets who were God’s mouthpieces before the coming of The Word.  The priests who made sacrifices for sin foreshadowed The Priest who would give his own life as The Sacrifice for our sin.  Every story in the Old Testament, from beginning to end, whispers the name of Jesus.  Every word teaches us about Jesus, shows us our need of Jesus or prepares us to receive Jesus.  So, if 2020 has been for you a story of increasing worries, sadness and frustration, then I encourage you to join us as we take comfort again from the account of a daring rescue that went to plan and that continues to give joy and solid hope to so many.

 “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23)

Happy Christmas!

Graham Burrows