www.benwoodcraft.com

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

However difficult circumstances are, and this year they are very difficult, we have reason to celebrate with joy: God has visited us! There’s no greater gift anyone could give than themselves.

Luke records this good news in these words of the angel Gabriel spoken to his mother Mary in Luke 1:35.  ‘The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you are to conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.”’

Gabriel goes on to say to Mary that this conception is to be entirely God’s work. The Virgin birth has perplexed many of us, but if God has created the laws of nature, he is able to set them aside when He chooses.

CS Lewis calls the incarnation ‘the grand miracle’ – without it, God’s rescue couldn’t happen. For Jesus to take our place on the cross, he had to be one of us; for his sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice, He had to be without sin himself, so he had to God Himself.

In his book ‘Miracles,’ CS Lewis writes: ‘in the Christian story, God descends to reascend; he comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down to the very roots and seabed of the nature he has created. But he goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.’

The ‘strong man’ is Jesus, who has come to raise us to share with Him the glory of heaven.

So, with joy we look forward to the celebrations at:
6.30 pm on December 11th for Carols by Candlelight
10:45 am on 18th December for our children’s nativity as part of our usual all age service
4.30 pm on 24th December, Christmas Eve, for the children’s carol service
10 am on 25th December to celebrate Christmas day around His table.

Everyone is invited; please bring friends along too.

Every blessing in Christ,

Ian

Please join one of the two Wednesday night CONNECT groups at the Vicarage or at the home of either the Ocholi’s / Woodcraft’s.
Choose the one which is nearest to where you live.
Over the weeks ahead, we’re going to be praying for the building of the church.

…the people
…the brick buildings
…the people who aren’t yet part of the church
 Have a chat to Ian, Attah or Adam about coming along to one of the Connect groups if you’re unsure about which one to go to. 

Alongside our fortnightly prayer below, here’s a prayer for us to consider praying each week asking for the Holy Spirit to help us grow spiritually and numerically as more people come to know Jesus as their Saviour. Almighty God, who alone gives life,and who alone can bring growth to your Church,
please send your Holy Spirit
to give vision to our planning,
wisdom to our actions,
and power to our witness.
Please grant that our church may grow in numbers
in spiritual commitment to you,
and in service to our local community.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.