|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
| Back Issues Index | Jubilee Edition |
|
Remembrance Sunday at the URC was a thought-provoking occasion, well attended by our brownies, scouts and guides, who played prominent roles in the service led by Peter Williams. We joined in the two minute silence from the Cenotaph, thinking of those killed, injured or living with the consequences of wars throughout the years. Inspired by the bible’s advice to ‘bring your troubles to the cross’, Richard Boyes had created a display from postcards of war memorials, attaching them to the cross at the front of the church. Members of the congregation had been encouraged to bring along other mementos of wartime, and these, with information material supplied by the Royal British Legion were used in window displays around the church. This allowed a time of quiet fellowship after the service, as people wandered round viewing the displays and sharing memories. And on Monday - Armistice Day - Lay Minister Brian Reid, assisted by Verger Jenny Askey, conducted the Act of Remembrance in St Giles’ churchyard. Despite the wet weather, a good crowd came to pay their respects. As well as remembering the past, we prayed for the future peace of the world, for our statesmen and rulers to have the wisdom to know what is right, and the courage to do it.
DONATIONS This month, receipt is acknowledged, with grateful thanks, for donations from: Remember there is no January issue of ICN. Items for the next issue - the February one – should be with the team by 12 noon on 13th January. Meanwhile, the ICN team wishes you a joyous Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
FROM THE URC ELDERS
Do you ever feel as if that is all there is to Christmas? That what it is actually all about has been replaced with lots of chocolate, adverts about perfect Christmas celebrations and lots of people asking for what they want and getting it? And with all this exciting stuff, there is no room at all for the real message of what Christmas is all about. No room? All those years ago, the Christmas story was pushed out into the street probably because the world couldn’t quite cope with the unsettling nature of what was really happening. And isn’t it the same today? The real message, the real Christmas, has been pushed out. There is no room for it because we are all too busy trying to work out how to record whatever blockbuster it is that is on TV, or buying presents no one will use, or filling the cupboards with more food than we can eat. So let’s think about the characters, about what actually happened and what was going on. The cast list consists of a baby, a teenage mum, a confused dad, some angels, a few smelly shepherds, some men from the east, a king called Herod. Props include a manger and the setting is Bethlehem, during a Roman census... There is more to this story than just ‘Dreaming of a white Christmas’! The Christmas message is both startlingly simple and earth-shatteringly powerful. It is about God getting his hands dirty, getting involved. About God turning up on our doorstep all those years ago with a mission – to show us what life was really about and to teach us to love each other as we love ourselves. And it’s about us learning from that, working out what it means for us individually and as families, and then doing something with what we have learned, what we have been given. What we need to do as Christmas approaches is walk with God and talk everything through with him, no matter what it is, big or small, important or not; about how we feel as we put up the Christmas tree, or come home from work and have to go out again to do some Christmas shopping. It’s about taking the little bits of our lives we generally keep to ourselves and giving them to God, and recognising that God still turns up on our doorstep wanting to be part of our lives because of his love for us. Have a happy and blessed Christmas. MAVIS BOYES
TREE OF REMEMBRANCE
Following the death of a loved one, Christmas can bring intense feelings of loss and loneliness. If you want to remember someone dear to you, visit the Tree of Remembrance in St Giles’ Church on 6th, 7th or 8th December at the times above. There you can write the person’s name and / or a message on a star to be hung on the tree. The stars will be taken down from the tree at 11.30am on 8th December and placed on the altar in St John’s Chapel where they will stay until after Christmas. During this time we will give thanks to God for those named on the stars and pray for those who are missing them.
|
ickenhamchurchnews.co.uk
Home | This Month | Back Issues | Links | More
It’s December, Advent, the time to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Get the decorations out of the loft, order the turkey, shop, wrap presents, mark off the days on the Advent calendar...
In St Giles’ Church