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Weekly Greeting: Sunday 4 December
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2011-12-01 12:28
Dear Friends
Welcome to this space and place where we really try to live up to the vision of:
• everyone being welcome
• acknowledging that nobody is perfect -God isn’t finished with us yet
• being open to every God given possibility that is in our midst
We trust you may have a sense of some of these realities as we gather for worship today on this second Sunday of Advent. The focus today falls on the value of the Old Testament. We also use this time to formally and publicly take leave of Rev Mike Brown upon his retirement after ministering in our presence over the past five years. For his unreserved and sacrificial offering in ministry, we give thanks!! Please see in the notices how you can be involved in our outpouring of thanks and gratitude for Mike.
One of Mike Brown’s tasks as minister, has been to lead the staff of Northfield in Bible study on Mondays and prayers on Thursdays. This week, he gave some input from a book by Donald Shelby called the The Unsettling Season. It likened our living to a number of characters around at the birth of Jesus, saying we are at times:
• as perplexed and bewildered as Joseph and Mary
• as busy as the innkeeper
• as lonely as the shepherds
• as frightened as Herod
• as unsettled and transient as the Magi
Perplexed, bewildered, busy, lonely, frightened, unsettled, transient … which of these words capture your current living as you move closer to Christmas? Whatever the current condition of your life, you are not disqualified from hearing this amazing Christmas message: There is a place where in quietness and in obscurity, you can turn to and be exposed to God’s truth, promise, love and salvation - all wrapped in a little baby born in an outhouse! Let us not miss God’s greatest gift coming to us this Christmas.
Please take note of our Christmas season programme. Just to highlight the Carol Service next Sunday evening at 18h00 as well as one correction: last week we mentioned in one place that the Crib Service is on the 18th December, but it is in fact on Saturday 24th December at 18h00.
Shalom
The Ministry Team
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