“Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”
I thank God that making crafts is worship too and can draw us near to the Creator. Thanks to all those who made this afternoon possible.
Tomorrow we meet at 11am for our All Age nativity. Come dressed as your favourite nativity character. We have costume so if you would like to dress up as something and be part of it then come along at 10.30 into the meeting area. You don’t need to say anything just take part when we mention you in the story. There are a couple of speaking parts and we’ll contact those who are OK with speaking. Or if you know you would like to say something and haven’t told me already then do message me.
Tomorrow, we raise the question ‘what if?’…what if Mary hadn’t said yes to the angel? What if the kings had rejoiced at the star and then stayed there rather than continuing on a perilous journey?
Coming up…
- Rock solid for youth at 7-8pm tomorrow in church
- Christmas Beacon on Monday 10-12 in church – warm space, breakfast pastries and festive snacks
- Christmas dinner for all those who go to lunch club is on Wednesday
- Christmas craft group and warm space is on 2-4pm on Thursday.
- For individual housegroups do get in touch with your house group leader or one of the deacons.
- Next Sunday is Christmas Eve when we’ll be meeting at the later time of 4.30pm for an all age carols and Christingle service. This tends to bring a lot of people from our community, so do come along and be part of it. This service will last for 45 minutes.
- On Christmas Day we meet at the earlier time of 10.30 for an “All-age Christmas Day with carols” service. This service will last about 45 minutes. There will be no Beacon café on this day.
- There will be no organised groups between Christmas Day and New Year. You may want to catch up with someone over this time.
- On New Years Eve we meet at the usual time of 11am for our service, a chance to pause and worship together before the start of the new year.
- There will be no Beacon café on New Years Day but there will be a café on Wednesday 3rd January 10-12midday (no lunch club).
A big thank you to all those who supported Sam Joyce last week with his handmade chocolate truffles! Sam will take part in a Christian Youth Leadership Training Programme for 16–19-year-olds, over the next three years. The first part of the training is a weekend training camp in February 2024 in Wales. Sam raised £224.50 for his handmade chocolate truffles on Sunday after the church service. Jane and Phil wanted to say thank you to everyone who made this possible for him.
As I look back over the week I am reminded that we have had numerous housegroups, lunch club, toddler Christmas party, youth, Beacon, Christmas crafts, Lords pantry, hamper making, Wednesday worship, wreath making, social media, website updates, building management as well as all the preparation that goes into Sunday services and all the prayer, chats and pastoral support seen and unseen. We are all part of the family, it’s not about what we do or don’t do or who knows about it, but I want to recognise all those who have made this week happen.
May the peace of God be with you this day and always.
In Christ
Shelley
Shelley Dring
Minister
