Christmas Crib Service

SINGING AND MOVING TO 'WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS'

Fantastic congregation at our Blessing of the Crib Service at St Mary's this evening. It was great to see all ages together, getting involved in lively, fun  (and sometimes chaotic) worship with a serious message. This is a service which is growing in popularity year on year and, for many, marks the beginning of proper Christmas. We'll see how the other services go but my guess is this will be the best attended.

ALL QUIET (ALMOST) FOR THE BLESSING OF THE CRIB

AWE AND WONDER

Tree and Trolley

St Mary and St James both support the work 'Aberdeen Cyrenians' do with the homeless. They were very generous today. We collect all sorts of items and temporarily store them in an old supermarket trolley. Christmas is a time to celebrate God's generosity in practical ways. A young member of St Mary's congregation, Kirsten Morrissey, was so taken up with this that she used the idea for a charity project at her School in Balmedie. She brought a poster along which they used at school. 

The Gift of Ourselves

I

Always a good occasion, yesterday morning's  end of term Meiklemill school Christmas Service was the best of all. As well as the last time I would see the children it was the final day for the retiring head teacher, Mrs Marlene Johnstone. The children contributed a couple of short performances and it was nice to see the nativity story (shepherds) remembered. The singing was enthusiastic (and in tune!) I gave a short talk, with the help of some of the children entitled 'The Gift of Ourselves'

Here is a version of the talk which I gave to the academy students who came to church in the afternoon.

Here is a story of a family who fell upon hard times. Dad lost his job and hadn't yet found another one. They hoped it would not be a cold winter as they could just about afford food but had no money left for heating. 

The family managed to scrape their way through, but as Christmas approached they realized that they would not be able to buy any presents. 

 A week before Christmas they explained to their six year old son Harry that there would be no store-bought presents this Christmas. 

“But I’ll tell you what we can do” said Harry’s dad, “We have an Argos Catalogue and we can cut out pictures of the presents we’d like to give to each other.”

So they set to work. Christmas Day arrived and the family rose to find their skimpy little tree made magnificent by the picture presents they had adorned it with. Box of chocolates, TV, iPad, bracelet, bike, guitar, jumper, bag. 

Harry had not put his present up.

He had done one though. And he hadn’t got the picture from the argos catalogue. He brought it down on Christmas morning and hung it on the tree. It was a picture of a man, a woman and a child with their arms around each other, And he had written on it ‘US’

His parents felt tears in their eyes. They were reminded that that the greatest gift we can ever offer is ourselves, our PRESENCE (NOT PRESENTS). 

At the top of the tree there was,a star with a picture of a baby in a manger, lying with open arms.

For Christmas is about the love Jesus brought into the world. Jesus, who opened his arms to embrace the world with God’s love.

In three months time we have Easter, when we remember what we did to those open arms. We did not allow those arms to embrace us. Instead we nailed them to a cross.

Let us not be like that but this Christmas let is celebrate the love of God and the love others have of us. Because that is the secret of Christmas, not an argos catalogue. Remember it is presence not presents that matter. At Christmas you can be generous in a way that SHOWS love and affection rather than trying to BUY it. 

The reason for the season

Stuck in traffic in Peterhead this morning, looked up and saw this. Makes a change from the usual 'festive' nod to religion which is often no more than Father Christmas looking for a photo shoot with the baby Jesus!

Additional Needs - Special Gifts

This afternoon we had one of my favourite services, the Ellon 'Resource Centre' carol service. These adults do have additional needs but to me it seems they also have special gifts. The enthusiasm of the singing and participation was contagious . I think the reason it is special is that everyone is so open and genuine, not a trace of cynicism. The carers who bring them along are brilliantly . After the service we all went over into the hall for tea provided by the Mothers Union. I shall miss these services when I move They gladly gave their consent for me to take the pictures as a souvenir. 

A Gift of Cragganmore

Good turnout for Ellon's men's breakfast this morning. Twenty guys turned up,  I think to make sure I was really leaving. Still, they said some kind things and gave me a bottle of Cragganmore 12 year old whisky which is one of my Speyside favourites. And a set of six Royal Scot crystal glasses and a flower vase/decanter. They knew it was my favourite because, on a journey to Aviemore - to work on the Speyside Railway- with David we passed the sign to the distillery and I made some comment or other. So thank you David Crosley. We celebrated informal communion. I'll miss our monthly Saturday mornings, although I won't miss getting up so early! Great laughs, shared sadness, mutual support and prayer. 

How many beards can you spot?

The boxes have arrived

The boxes for our move were delivered today. They stand there waiting to be assembled and filled. The move becomes more real even though it's still 7 weeks away. From now on life will be somewhat chaotic and unsettled, until the day when some kind of order is restored and we wake up under a different roof, under a different sky.

Do I feel a sermon coming? Perhaps not! 

Shelling Peas

I love this story:
A child who came to a Harvest Festival in a rural church was intrigued by some green things in a basket. They were pea pods, and the person who brought them into church showed her how to shell the peas. The child was amazed and asked, 'How did you know they were there?' The gardener then told the child that there were many hidden treasures provided by God in nature: potatoes and carrots live underground, peas and nuts are contained in pods and shells. The gardener pointed out that animals know where to find God's hidden treasures, and thought it sad that many people don't know the same things.
The child thought about it and said that people could recognise the beauty inside other people as God does, and was also sad if that got missed or overlooked. (Out of the mouths ......)

(From Re-shaping rural ministry: a theological and practical handbook)

Advent Carols at St Andrews Aberdeen

What a superb experience! This is what Aberdeen Cathedral does best of all. Such a shame there were not more people there to be drawn so movingly into this Advent season. The Taverner setting of the Magnificat was awesome. We all had candles to hold and the main lights were extinguished, so very atmospheric. An antidote to 'Black Friday'!

Prayer and Listening Morning at St Mary's

Very pleased with today's 'Prayer Morning' for the future of St Mary's. Thirty members of the congregation turned up. We discussed, in table groups, some of the different aspects of the Church's life, spent time listening to each other and to God in prayer, and wrote down some ideas. Which I now have to collate and feedback!

Here I am, looking quite pleased with it all! (Thank you David Crosley for the picture)