Christmas Eve’s morning worship at St. Johns was led by the Rev. Adrian Davies and the music group. Mollie, Jim and Mel played for the hymns. Readings were from Isaiah 40, verses 1-9, and Luke 2, verses 1-14.

Adrian spoke of the amazement of the shepherds to be woken by the brightest of lights and heard the Angels tell of the incredible news that God is no longer a distant God, but that in this baby God, your God is now with us and will take on our lifestyle, feel our pain and our joys and hopes, and that this means all of us, everyone. Immanuel ‘God with us’.

I am ‘your’ God. This is the fantastic message of Christmas.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the Christingle service was led by Mrs. Carol Thomas.

Her message was ‘Are you ready?’, a question so many of us are asked in the build up to Christmas. We all know most people are referring to the preparations of food and home and buying of gifts, but Carol was referring to readiness in our hearts to receive from God the ultimate gift, who is Jesus Christ as our own personal Saviour, Lord, and Friend.

Reading the Christmas story and talking of the meaning of the gifts from the wise men, three wise women then came forward with a blanket to keep the baby warm, a casserole to feed the family and a bag of nappies, all gifts we can be aware of giving today to the babies and families in the war torn and disaster areas of the world today and also the needy of our own towns and villages, let us be aware of what we can do, what gifts we can bring.

Then the children unwrapped some words, all meaning ‘Love’, such as respect, care, giving, listening, understanding, and reading from Corinthians, some more words meaning Love.

Then the children all had a Christingle, which is the orange representing the world, the red ribbon the blood of Christ because he died for our sins, the four fruits representing the seasons and the fruits of the earth, and in the centre, the candle which is shining out the light of the world, Jesus Christ. In the candlelight, Away in a Manger was sung.

On Christmas Day, the worship was led by the Rev. Nanette Lewis Head and the central candle in the Advent ring was lit.

Wishing us all a joyful Christmas, Nanette asked the children to show their gifts. This involvement always gets the congregation curious as to what children like these days. Many new faces and visitors were welcomed, as well as the Kumar family with their six-week-old baby Rachel.

The readings from Isaiah 9, 2-7, and Luke 2, 8-20. and Psalm 98, ‘Sing to the Lord a new song’, God has loved and cared for us in the past and does today and will continue to do so into the future.

Because with the birth of Jesus who is the son of God and at his death and resurrection into heaven, the mystery and the good news is the fact that the human and the divine merged and became one.

All shared in the communion service and in the prayers we were made aware again of the plight of all suffering in this world today, and how we each can make a difference, even in the smallest of ways, a life is made better, someone is helped, a child can find a smile.

Everyone at St. Johns thanks everyone who has taken part in and come to the Christmas services and to see the Tree Festival.

In 2018, St. Johns will be celebrating 150 years of worship and witness, with numerous events, and all are always very welcome.

This Sunday, Rev. Nanette Lewis Head will take the service.