Home Current Issue

Back Issues

FROM THE URC MINISTER

Good news!  Outsiders welcomed in to Jesus!  This seems to be the message of the popular Christmas carol that starts “The first nowell”.  Noël means Christmas, and nowel or nowell may be alternative spellings.  But some say nowell means news, and that would seem to make sense here. 

The first nowell the angels did say,
was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay;
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep …

Shepherds lay across the entrance to their sheep fold to keep strangers and wild animals out.  The shepherds were probably unwelcome in the town, and may not have figured in the Roman census records: they were non-persons, but to God they mattered.  They were the first to hear the angels’ news that Jesus had been born. 

Verse 2 has the shepherds looking up to see a star shining in the east with a great light.  That seems to be a mixture of two Bible stories.  Shepherds in Luke’s Gospel see the glory of the angel shining over them, and a huge number of angels praising God.  The star in Matthew’s Gospel, alerts the wealthy men who studied stars and prophecies, to realise this was the announcement of a new king’s birth.

Maybe this mixing of stories is why the carol is not in some church hymn books.  Or maybe the people who compiled the hymn books were not keen on having to welcome outsiders.  But this is what God was doing: welcoming shepherds as the first unexpected visitors to the birth of his son, and welcoming foreigners with strange customs and gifts. 

Then the carol suddenly turns to us, the listeners and singers:
Then let us all with one accord
sing praises to our heavenly Lord …

We are welcomed in to Jesus, with those earliest unexpected visitors.  The carol makes extravagant claims to explain why: that our heavenly Lord has made heaven and earth from nothing, and has bought mankind with his blood.

So it is not just a welcome into the stable where Jesus was born.  It is a welcome in to the universe that God created through Jesus.  We have a place in God’s cosmic purposes through the relationship established at the expense of Jesus’ bloodshed on the cross.  Praise God indeed!

Some say this carol was composed in the 17th or 18th century, but it may come from the 13th century, perhaps as old as St. Giles’ Church.  Sung for centuries, yet the invitation comes afresh every time it is heard. 

Welcome to the Christmas celebrations, in both our churches!  Welcome to Jesus!  And Happy Christmas!

Bernie

FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY

I have to admit that I’ve never been very fond of shortening Christmas to Xmas.  It seems to leave the star of the show out of the title.  However, it didn’t start that way. 
‘Christ’ in New Testament Greek is ‘Kristos’ beginning with the letter ‘chi’ which is represented by a Greek letter identical to our ‘X’.   So for early Christians, most of whom would have been Greek speaking, there was no doubt that Xmas meant Christ’s mass.  And the letter ‘X’ had the added benefit of signifying the cross of Christ, celebrating the hope offered to humankind by Jesus coming to earth. 

So Xmas was originally a way of linking Christmas and Easter.  However, in today’s society, Xmas often signifies leaving Christ out of Christmas altogether as it is turned into just another commercial venture. 

Nowadays Xmas could be used to indicate the indescribable quality of Christmas just as X-Factor signifies the indescribable star quality of would be music artists.  St John wrote at the beginning of his account of the life of Christ about what makes Christianity truly amazing – ‘He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1.11-12).

Jesus, the Son of God, became human, but fellow humans didn’t recognise His divine nature.  He lived like you and me, died to remove the barrier between humanity and God, and rose from the dead to offer new life as God’s children to all who believe.  Jesus’ birth brought us the truly essential eXtra of Christmas – the possibility of a relationship with God.  Now that’s worth celebrating!

I am looking forward to welcoming you to our Christmas celebrations - Nine Lessons and Carols Service (6.30pm on 16th December) and our Carols for the Family services at 3pm and 4.30pm on Christmas Eve.  See these, and details of other service times on page 1.  Christian worship helps us put Christ back into Christmas.

Happy Christmas, Adrian

FROM THE CHURCHES’ REGISTERS

Weddings at St Giles’
Oct 20th         Daniel Sellers and Alexandra Cannell-Smith
Nov 24th        Amy Farnish and Ricky Lockyer

Cremations at Breakspear Crematorium
Oct 23rd        Peter Bick, aged 79
Nov 1st          Kenneth Browning, aged 93 (after service at St Giles’)
Nov 1st          Alan Brooks, aged 71
Nov 15th        Emma Cripps, aged 90

Burial at Northwood Cemetery
Nov 16th        Barbara Chatelier, aged 86 (after service at St Giles’)

ST GILES’ CHURCH STREET PRAYER LIST

Each Sunday at St Giles’ Church we pray for all the people who live or work in a particular road in the Parish.  During December and January we will pray for the following roads: 

Dec 2nd             Pynchester Close
Dec 9th              Rectory Way
Dec 16th            Roker Park Avenue
Dec 23rd            Shoreditch Close
Dec 30th            Silverbirch Close

Jan 6th              St George’s Drive
Jan 13th            St Giles’ Avenue
Jan 20th            Stedman Close
Jan 27th            Storey Close

If you live in one of these roads why not join us at our 8am or 9.45am services?  You will be most welcome.