The Longest Summer Holiday Ever 5: Return to Church

 I am currently avoiding being in buildings (except home, of course) as much as possible. I have been to the office a few times, but only twice when I knew others were there. This morning I was on the rota to preach, both online and in church,  so a visit inside a building with lots of others is essential.

Lots of work has been done to make it COVID secure. There's sign-in for track and trace, a one way system, guidance to seats - fill up from the front first, screens around the singers, the bible reader and the service leader. The seats are in pairs and widely separated. Plenty of hand sanitiser. Everybody wearing face masks or shields. I can't think of anything more that could be done. The service went well, and so did the sermon, judging by the feedback.

Even with all of this, perhaps because of all of this, I still didn't feel safe. Part of that was down to people walking passed while we sat in our seats. Part of it was down to wondering what was left in the air, and not circulating around because the air was still.

As we move into Autumn, the heating will have to be used, then it will be even worse. 

I will remain a reluctant attendee for a while yet. 

The one that fell on the path

After yesterday, I just couldn't resist the small stalk of oats that was growing just on the path.  Read  Matthew 13:1-9, so that you are familiar with the story. 

How it had managed to escape the regimental lines of oat stalks I will never know.  It is less than half the height of those in the row in the field, where the soil has been ploughed and prepared.  Under these conditions its yield is poor, just 7 new seeds from the 1 sown.  The others have twenty or more, nowhere near Jesus' hundred, sixty, or even thirty, but twenty is a much better yield than oats would have had in the first century.  Margaret reminded us of the meaning of the parable - it is further on in the Matthew chapter, but added some new ideas too.  We must be patient when looking for growth, because we are so used to fast everything, but harvest does not happen the day after sowing.  The thing that struck me most about yesterday was the question "Are we even in the right field?"
Perhaps that's how this oat came to be growing on the edge of the path - perhaps it was meant for the other field, at least it had avoided the birds, but it fell prey to the dog walker.

Tower Complete

I hesitate to call it a tower really, it's not that high, but I cannot think of another word.  Anyway, for the last few weeks from the beginning of the month the sanctuary has been full of scaffolding and part of the car park has been closed while the tower was covered in more scaffolding.  The roof of the tower has been refurbished and the damage that was occurring to the walls repaired.  All this has been done during the month of September because there is a possibility that bats may have been using it as a roost (or bat cave).
A result of this work is that the awful red curtain has been removed from the back of the sanctuary and the walls re-plastered and painted white.
The following shots show how the sanctuary has changed over time:

The original view, at least it was like this when I started at Christ Church in 1980.

The wall behind the slats has been painted red and the chairs turned for the Christmas family service.  I cannot accurately date this picture.

The slats have been removed and the red wall, which was in a very poor state of repair, has been covered with a red curtain.

The final shot was taken after today's service and shows the new clean look with the wall replastered and the sun shining through the side windows giving the impression of the light from heaven entering the church.  The couple in the centre is Maxwell and Paulinge Mombassa from Ciamanda.  Maxwell gave us an excellent sermon on the importance of listening to God,  a timely reminder for a church that has been thinking about prayer for the past few weeks.

Fasting Friday Failure Followed-up

Last Thursday week I failed to remember that on Friday we were going to a quiz night. The quiz night was to raise funds for new floodlights for our ailing local football club, to see old friends and enjoy ourselves.  Had I remembered, on the Thursday I would have fasted, but I was certainly NOT going to fast on Friday and drink in the evening - that's a sure fire way to get drunk on almost no alcohol at all, and I hate being drunk.  So come Friday I had failed.
Thinking about how I would fit two days fasting into a very short week left me puzzled and unwilling to even try.  I needn't have worried.
 
Andy, Jess and Leo have suffered a bug that was almost certainly Norovirus.  By Sunday, I was starting to think I had caught it.  So much so I was close to not preaching!  Some prayer later and I managed it (it was an eventful one, including some technology failures), but by Sunday evening I was struggling again - beginning to feel very cold.  I stayed at home Monday and tried to get warm with little success, it was a miserable day until about 4pm when the fever broke and I recovered.  On Tuesday I went to work as usual, the late Tuesday evening the 'second half' of the illness hit me.  By Wednesday mid-morning my insides were empty, along with my energy reserves, I didn't eat again until Thursday lunchtime, but I didn't do anything except sleep, read and watch TV, nothing close to activity at all.
On Thursday I missed an important (to me) funeral that I had a day's holiday to attend, and in the evening the Agape feast at Christ Church.  Today I have managed to exercise the dog and take part in the walk of witness, but that was it - the limit of my abilities, so I missed the service following the walk, and I am missing our innovative service for Good Friday - Eastingle - as I write.  My daughter, jokingly, said God would smite me if I missed any more important festivals, I replied, less jokingly, that I thought He already had.
So I have managed two days without food (very nearly) this week, even if I haven't managed anything else.

If you're wondering how we did at the quiz night - we cane 7th of 10.  On one round, we scored as full 10/10, but didn't play our joker.  The round was words that sound the same and are spelt differently, the clue was 'provoke' and 'understanding'.

The answer: incite and insight - my only unique contribution to the round.

And yes, I did provide unique input to other rounds, but we didn't get a perfect score on any of them.

Growing in Faith: Shane Claiborne

I don't get to many of these because I'm helping with a Christian Studies  Course in Basildon on Wednesdays.  The other one I attended was thought provoking and challenging, so was this one, but in very different ways. Here is my reflection after the 'event'.

Tonight we watched a talk by Shane Claiborne. He decided that his Christianity should be more authentic, so he went to work with Mother Theresa in Calcutta. The talk was obviously more detailed than that, and covered many other things, including his work with the homeless in Philadelphia, where he was arrested for breaking bad (so the judge said) laws.
At the end we were asked three questions, I have noted the answers that we came up with.

What does God want His Church to be known for?

• Our love for people, which shows His love for people. Everything we do should be about showing people that God loves them. This is easy to say, but hard to do.
• We should be a moral compass
• We should spread joy and laughter

What did tonight's talk teach us about Jesus?

• He was homeless
• Loves everyone
• Miracle is that he touches lepers
• Encountering Jesus means you are invited to join Him in his work.
• We see things from a human perspective, he does not, so the question is not 'What do you need?'' but 'What have you got?' For example in the feeding of the 5000.
• He makes people a priority over His beliefs, but still doesn't compromise His beliefs.
• He used Children in miracles.

How can we apply what we've heard, learnt, and already know?

• There was some discussion about how beggars should be treated
• We should take more risks
• We should be upfront about being Christian

Predictably there were fewer answers for the last question, which is, to me, the most interesting one. What do we have to do to respond properly to the love that Jesus has shown for us? The passage in Matthew 25:31-46 was mentioned in the talk. At the final judgement the sheep and goats are finally sorted. The sheep are those who have taken care of the poor, the goats are those who have not.

It is difficult in the light of this passage and the way Shane has apparently lived to place myself among the sheep. To be there surely I must be out there actively doing good for the needy, instead of stuck in the church trying to make disciples, or even only better disciples. If I'm not teaching them how to be among the sheep, then I am failing them as well as me.

I've followed this thought path before, quite a few times. It ends with the question 'What are you going to do?', followed by an embraced silence, because truly, I have no idea. Nothing stands out, l don't see any one thing that grabs me as a problem I can help with.

So, I stay where I am, and continue to do what I do, with a sense that time is running out.

The Road to Maturity

This is my first attempt at putting together a piece for the Christ Church video notices.  The web cam does not work that well when loaded to youtube.  It's fine on my PC.  The next version will be produced with a camera, and I'll see what I can do with that.  Then I'll have to get into editing - that was all one take (take 5 to be exact!).  Because of problems with the webcam I missed the deadline for last week, still here's the slide that goes with the video:

If you're around Billericay and would like to join us, then let me know.  I'll happily take members of other churches as well as my own.

I'm looking forward to this course, I'm hoping that it will help us to build on the results of the weekend away. That weekend God assured of of His love for us.  I'm hoping that's because He wants to move us on.  If that's true, this course could be the vehicle.

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011

The Christmas break for me ran from 21 December to 3 January. It's been a good relaxing time for the most part, but there has been some work involved and an unpleasant visit to the dentist. The only downside has been a robbery that meant that some of the family did not receive the Christmas presents they would have. Well, that and the dentist.  The dentist is always an experience I hate.  I have been 3 times in the last few weeks and have to have an extraction on 3 Jan.  It could be worse of course, I could be in pain with no access to a dentist!

This year I was not involved in leading or preaching at Christmas, which meant that I could choose the services I attended.  My only duty was to lead intercessions at the mid-night service. So I was at the last Christingle service on Christmas eve, the midnight communion service and the Christmas Day service.  Christingle was still well supported even though Christmas eve fell on a Saturday.  I had expected the numbers to be down but that was not the case.  Indeed the attendances have been good through the whole period.

Karen and Robert were waiting for us in the church car park on Christmas Day and we spent the rest of the day with them.  Present opening was super fast this year as Andy took change and 'speed delivered' the presents from the tree to the recipient.  I'll let you imagine what speed delivered means.  The there was a family dog walk in the increasing gloom in the later afternoon.

On Boxing Day (St Stephens Day) we went to visit my nephew for the evening meal.  His wife had cooked for all of us and his family.  Once my children and my sisters children get together you can be sure of a loud evening with plenty of banter and probably quite a bit of "Sing Star" - competitive karaoke.  We were not disappointed.

The next three days operated on the more classic 'Pete Time', getting up late and going to bed late.  The routine became sleep, eat, walk the dog, repeat.  Except for building the new computers at church.  These must be usable by 3 Jan when the office opens for business.  For the first time ever we have purchased new equipment - two identical machines and a more sophisticated storage and backup system.  The basics are ready but there is much more to do before our vision is complete.

Today I led a spoken only service which I was expecting would not be well attended - I was wrong again.  While not at the levels of a normal Sunday there was a respectable number in the congregation.  There were also some old friends, who we increasingly only see once a year.  refreshments were no available but I invited the congregation to stay and chat.  The 45 minute service was followed by about 45 minutes of chat.  Really good to see that we don't need refreshments for this to happen.

P.S. How do I get my google+ photo's on my blog?  With picasa it's easy, a link is provided, but with google+ I haven't a clue!

Carol Service and other Christmas preparations

On Tuesday 13th December I led and preached at the Carol Service, but that was NOT the high light of the service.  That honour falls to the Wickford Salvation Army Band.  They were our guests and did a superb job of leading the music - and following the words that appeared on the screen.  The subject was "Christmas starts with Christ", to pick up the theme of the National Advertising campaign. Here's my sermon. Following the service an old memory returned - the song "Banner Man", which as I r4membered it was about a Salvation Army marching band.  Who was it by? There was much discussion but it took a long time to come to me.  While I was walking the dog it came to me "Blue Mink".  So Christmas has started, and the preparations are now at an advanced stage.   My shopping is done - most of it anyway and work is finished.  It is odd being ready for Christmas before 6pm on Christmas Eve - I must have forgotten something - lots of things.

This will be the last Christmas we have together as a family, if everyone's plans work out, so it's more important than usual to enjoy it.

Public Worship with Communion by Extension

It's been a long time since I've led communion by extension.  Since the last time the service has been revised and the Readers, including me, trained.  So it was out with the robes (a pleasant surprise for some) and the new service sheet to see how things would work out.
I had spent a considerable amount of time during the week working on getting the liturgy onto the PC only to discover that the PowerPoint approach does not work on the church Laptop - slightly annoying, but we had the service sheets, so it wasn't a disaster.  PWCE is supposed to NOT look and feel like a Holy Communion service.  Some of the changes that have been made to achieve that made the transition into the communion liturgy seem clunky, and I will have to take another long, careful look at what we do and how we do it, if I have the opportunity to lead this service again.  I explained at the start that it was a new service, so hopefully I didn't put people off too much.
The service was 1 hour and 45 minutes.  This is long by our standards, we are normally finished in 1.5 hours.
Most of the feedback I received at the end related to the robes, and some to the length of the service.  What I really wanted to hear about was the service - what worked well, what didn't, what people found difficult.  So if you were at Christ Church this morning, please comment.

Pentecost

It's always that much harder to talk about a service that I've lead.  The inputs are so different from the front.  If you were there and don't recognise this description, then you will see a little of what I saw.  Last Sunday was Pentecost, the day that the Christian Church was born.  The day that the Holy Spirit was given to all who are willing to accept Him.  We know, from our own experience and because the Bible tells us that God will not force himself on anyone.  For those who are willing it is a different story.  I was expecting a mood of celebration but I saw a church at peace, resting perhaps.  Warner used his umbrella to show us that we should allow ourselves to be soaked in the spirit - "It's pouring - put your umbrella down!" (4 times during the sermon), the weather duly obliged and allowed us to get soaked in water.  Lots of poor jokes after the service about getting wet in the rain (some from me).  He talked about the fruits and the indwelling, but he was upstaged by a demonstration.  A lady, who I had not met before, had recently come to a much closer relationship with God and spoke for a minute or two about what had happened to her.  She communicated more than a hundred sermons in that small interlude at the end of the sermon.  The Spirit poured out, overflowed - whatever you would like to call it - but it was plain for all to see.  God communicated His love for His children - us. In that one place I saw the excitement I had been looking forward to.

The Gospel in Every Sermon?

Warner asked for our comments on this video, so here goes.  Before you read on, watch it, then next time you hear me preach come and tell me if I succeeded.


My first reaction was to the Title.  Why the question mark?  Shouldn't that always be the case. Quite early on one of the guys says something like "Put the gospel clearly enough in every sermon so that if anyone hears it for the first time it's enough for them to be saved".  Yes, now I see what he's trying to say.  Normally in my preaching there are the truths from the Gospel but not always the core message about the death of Jesus and His resurrection.  But I am preaching to the converted.  Or am I?  How often do we hear of people in church for years who have just made their first commitment to Christ?  Maybe they've heard the news that Jesus can save them from sin and death lots of times, but today was the first time they really listened.  He also said "Tell them how to make the decision".  That's something I rarely do, and rarely hear.  That seems to be left to those who are ready to pray with people after the service.  I wonder if they're ready to pray with someone who wants to give their life to Jesus?
One of the guys received feedback from someone:- "I could have heard that message in a mosque".  I don't think I've ever heard a sermon that I could say that about, but I can think of at least one that came close - very close -and it wasn't based on an Old Testament passage either.
Now to the culture that these guys live in. They get letters about what they SHOULD preach about because someone's bringing a friend or relative to hear the gospel.  That's how committed their congregations are.  It is a different world.  I struggle to get useful feedback of any kind, they have requests!
The other thing I noticed about the culture, apart from is Americanness, was the view that "Evangelism should be a joy instead of a duty."  That might be quite a hard sell in our church, but we do "let people tell their stories" and it's true for us as much as anyone that "everyone loves a changed life".  Here they are talking about people being baptised as adults, which as also a rare occurrence for us.
I think we have a long way to go before we get to the environment I was hearing about in the video.  We need to be more open and engaged in conversations about our life with Jesus with other members of the congregation before we will be able to enjoy speaking of Christ with non-believers.

Strange thoughts during the morning

Geoff of Father's Robe was at Christ Church this morning.  He preached on the prodigal son and explained the passage from the Father's point of view.  He also explained something of the work Father's Robe does. 
When the prodigal son returns, the father does not impose conditions and make him work for his re-instatement.  It happens immediately.  The symbolism of the re-instatement he mentioned was interesting.  The Robe represents righteousness, the ring authority, and the sandals son-ship (slaves do not have sandals).  He also pointed out that the party was spontaneous, not planned for a future, perhaps more convenient time.
He asked us about our relationship with the Father, with the question "Are you in the house, but don't know the love of the Father?"
Geoff then told us about the work that he does.  He spoke to us of the poverty of the people and their riches - they have nothing but a tin roof separating them from the Father.  We of course have all sorts of things separating us from the Father - TV's, Computers, Blogging, and all the trappings of our 'developed' society. Geoff also mentioned the work he has been involved with in Pollsmoor prison, where 1500–2000 inmates gave their lives to Christ.  Then came my first thought.  "What has happened to all those prisoners?"  "Have they grown as disciples?"  "What effect have they had on life in the prison?" 
Later in the prayers, a recent TV program was mentioned, which contrasted the care provided to a UK woman having triplets and an African woman giving birth for the first time.  In the UK, there were three teams of specialists ready to receive the babies.  In Africa, there was a long walk for the woman whose labour had started before she would get any attention from someone with medical training.  The prayer was for her situation to improve.  Then came the second thought.  If the African woman and all those who live on that continent have a standard of living similar to ours, they will have all the same distractions to put between them and the Father.  They will put the same distractions in the way because studies show that the more 'developed' a nation is, the less likely its people are to have a faith in God.
Of course, we should pray and act to help those who are less well-off than us, whether they be in Africa or Billericay, but we should also pray that all those who are reached by those we are supporting grow in their faith and become effective disciples of Christ.  Then we start to see more of the effect of Christianity in the world.

Lighthouse Furniture Project

Brian & Kim visited Christ Church this morning.  They came to talk about the Lighthouse Furniture Project.  Some years ago they set up the company as a not-for-profit social enterprise.  Its aim is provide furniture and electrical items to those in need.  They work with many different types of organisations supporting people who are moving into unfurnished accommodation for emergency housing, providing for the basic needs.  They also open their warehouse to the public - where sales are made to generate income to support and expand the work they are doing.  Their furniture is distributed from East London across Essex as far as Southend-on-Sea and Chelmsford.  Two members of our congregation are volunteers at Lighthouse Furniture.  They are now moving into computers - which are fast becoming essential items in our society.
At the 8am Brian & Kim gave a straight forward presentation of their work and their history and told the story of how God called them to the work.  At the 10am all-age and parade service Kim had fun with the children trying to get them to name the essentials that would be needed.  Some obvious, but well thought out, wrong answers included 'a toilet' and 'a tap'.  The children have got their priorities right but do not understand the nature of council re-housing in our country - and why should they at primary school age?  We did eventually get to beds, table and chairs and sofa.  We thought that had it covered, but Brian pointed out that they are often short bed linen, so covers are one of the things which they often need.

I'll leave you with that poor attempt at a pun, but first I must say that it was a very good morning at Christ Church  this morning.

Narnia Day

A great idea for a wet May Day Bank Holiday - show the three Narnia films, with breaks for games and food.  To improve the entertainment even further invite a live band for the afternoon intermission.  The only problem we had was the weather - it was a glorious weekend.  Nevertheless, the setting for Narnia day was brilliant.

We arrived in the Morning for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".  The foyer had a wardrobe in front of the doors into the worship space.  Passing through the 'coats' you landed on snow! (OK, fake snow - but it looked real enough).  There was a 'gas' lamp as well.

 I neglected to take my camera, so I've had to wait a while for the picture to arrive, and, of course, it is not the shot I would have liked.  It does give a good impression of the decoration in the church.
I've seen all the films before, so had decided that Prince Caspian could be given a miss, it is not even close to the other two in the presentation of the story.  Anyway there needed to be a break for me to come home and walk Brody our Labrador.   We got back in time for the ice cream van and the live band.  Warner was asked to do a solo.  As usual, he was very good and has a gift for singing.  I'm waiting for the YouTube video of that! I have reviewed The Voyager of the Dawn Treader here. It is a very good telling of the story. 

My thanks to all who were involved in setting this up, I hope all those who attended had as good a day as I did.  Mostly, I hope the films communicated more than just a story.  Warner did a 'my favourite part of the film was ...' at the end of each, where he picked out the key Christian message from the films.  For The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, it was the scene where Aslan returns from the dead.  For The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it was the scene where Aslan tells Lucy and Eustace that in their world He is known by another name, and they need to get to know him by that name.

That idea sums up the reason for Narnia day.

I have joined the Deanery Synod

I was asked to consider standing for the Deanery Synod.  I decided to give it a try and was duly elected on Sunday being one of three candidates for three posts.  When there's an election (rarely) we use a simple first past the post system, rather than alternative votes, that's because we're almost always voting for more that 1 person and rarely have more than one candidate to eliminate.  In a single post many candidate situation AV is better. 
Back to Synod.  Last time I was on Deanery Synod it was a simple talking shop.  Nothing it did mattered.  I cannot remember anything from Synod affecting the PCC in any way.  I really hope that it is much more effective now. 
We had probably the shortest sermon Christ Church has ever heard because the service was to be followed by the Annual Meeting.  It followed the video 'The Big Red Tractor'.  I don't know if it will be put on the web site but if it is watch the video first.

On Friday and Saturday I was in Woking at a Through faith Missions training day, follow the link to read about the event.

Do you want to get well?

With the boys back from their holiday, but still a little jet-lagged, and Liz back from retreat the house is slowly returning to its normal bustle and volume.  Preparing this sermon yesterday was difficult. It had nothing to do with the volume or bustle, but relates to my previous encounters with healers and the extreme scepticism I suffer from in their presence.  Do I really believe God will heal me?  Is that something he just does for others? - I have known people who have received healing  Perhaps it is the scepticism that needs healing rather than my partially healed and ageing body.  So I finished late and was still reading and tinkering with the text into the evening.  I'm not sure why I do that either - I don't speak it most of the time - except some stories that are read to ensure the key phrases come through.
Still it went down well, with some positive comments - mostly about my poor impression of Michael Palin.  All feedback is good.  I prefer it to be specific and positive (not necessarily praising me, rather helping me to do better), but all feedback is good.
That was the 8am service.  My day started about 5:30 this morning, I say that now so you will understand a little more of what happens later.
Breakfast was abbreviated as I took a look at the office e-mail system.  Whatever problems they are having do not occur on Sunday mornings.  While I was finishing the last one we found that one of the SMB visitors had a window in her car broken and her handbag stolen.  She was understandably upset but graciously said she hoped they would read her Bible.
The 10:00 service was a parade, with fewer cubs and brownies than usual.  That's a shame because the SMB folk did a really good job of telling the story. An inflatable paddling pool and sheep hanging from a 'gate' would give you a very slight idea of the flavour of what they were doing.
We arrived home before 12:00 and I promptly fell asleep listening to Just a Minute, and struggled to wake up for lunch!

Weekend Away Advert / Testimony

Yesterday, the guy who will lead the Christ Church Weekend Away in the Autumn preached at Christ Church. Phil Wason spoke on our series in Ephesians, from Chapter 2:1-10.  He comes from Milton Keynes, but originates from Liverpool.  He is an excellent speaker and spoke for quite a long time, so I'm going to have to listen to the sermon again when it is published on our website.  I'd never heard of him, so I decided to see what Google has to say.  This is what I found:
his books at WHSmiths.
a contribution to the churches in Milton Keynes
a sermon 
his testimony
some talks

that'll do for now.

In the afternoon, I attended the "Just Looking" course. (4pm @ Christ Church every other week until Easter) I was to give my testimony about the time I was unemployed and how God worked in my life during that time. (There are only two posts labelled 'redundancy'. So I must remember to write a fuller account of the events before I forget them.)

Talking about what God has done in your life is one of the most important things you can do.  Well, it is for me.  When I seem to be loosing track of God and Jesus seems just like a character in a piece of fiction, it brings me back to reality.  Now looking back I can see the track I have been following.  I can see God's plan being revealed.  I can see how my relationship with Jesus works from day to day and through the years.

In a sermon recently, I said that I have no idea where Jesus is leading me next.  That is still true.  What I learn from looking back is that He has a better plan for me than even I could imagine.  So I await the next step with 'bated breath.

A Quick Exit

Sunday saw us make a quick exit from church as Jo was in pain from a nasty tummy bug.  I don't remember much about the morning before that.  The rest of the day was very busy.  I managed to cook lunch and clear up.  Then almost immediately prepare for our visitors - my sister, my nephew and his girl friend coming to tea to mark Andy's birthday.

Monday, I made emergency arrangements to work from home.  Jo was still unwell. With the loft now cleared - well tidy anyway, it was time for the insulation to be installed.
Here you can see the before and after images part of the front of the house above our bedroom.   The before image is really a 'half-way' image.  The before image would have shown the area packed with old cardboard boxes.

 This is how it happens.  When you buy something you are told you must keep the box, if you need to return it.  The box goes in the loft.  You buy something else.  The new box goes in front of the old.  Repeat the process every few months for 23 years or so.  It makes good insulation.  Lets hope the new stuff is as good.  It bedroom was certainly cold after the boxes had gone!

There are lots of new series on TV at the moment.  CSI, CSI New York, and Hustle are the ones I watch.  I have seen the first episode of each.  The CSI stories are good, but Hustle was streets ahead as a story, for its characterisations and for raising your spirits.

Inappropriate Explosions

The Christingles at Christ Church went very well.  Both the total number at the three services was up as was the collection for the Children's Society. I lead the last service and didn't manage to set anything alight, except the candle - which I was supposed to do.  At the 'midnight' I was serving at communion.  It is always a surprise to see people at that service that I have never seen before. Then there are the family traditions that still survive, even though the children are all in their twenties.  One present is opened after midnight communion and before bed.
When the children were young, it stopped them getting up too early.  This morning none of them were up early, except perhaps me, but not that early. 
The morning started well, and went down hill from there.  I took Brody for a quick walk.  He didn't really want to come home, but didn't cause me a problem.  Then we left for church.  Arriving about ten minutes before the start, I was instantly reminded that I hadn't bought the laptop - with the songs on.  A quick drive back home to grab the PC and back to church.  Only the first two songs were missed, and they were both in the books.
Worse was to come.
The Christmas day service is billed as "Jesus' birthday Party".  There are balloons in the church just for this service.  There are party poppers for the end of the great celebration.  I raced into church, found my family, and sat in the middle of a row.  That is never a good idea.  We have heaters on the walls like electric fire, and my head soon overheats.  In plenty of time for the novelty sermon - a re-telling of the Christmas story called "A Sweet Christmas" mentioning every sweet you can think of, and a few biscuits as well. On the floor next to my chair was a party popper in pieces.  I picked it up and fiddled with it.  I was still fiddling as we started the Eucharistic prayer.  Then BANG!  I hadn't realised it was loaded.  Some people blamed the children nearby.  Jo pretended she wasn't with me. Karen whispered, "was that YOU?" A few adults around stifled a laugh.

The service went on. 

I had tried to disrupt it (unintentionally) and failed.

Back home for lunch. That's when the traditions started to break dome.  Our Christmas lunch is usually on Boxing Day, as we are off somewhere else on Christmas Day.  The lunch was prepared by Karen and Liz, mainly.  They did a very good job.

Then we opened presents.  Another break with tradition, but this time so that Liz can visit her boyfriend tomorrow. 

Here's Brody enjoying his first Christmas with us.  Dog presents are a tradition from my childhood that we have added to our traditions this year. 

Joseph and the Nativity

This morning we left the house at 06:58 for the 30ish minute walk to church.  The snow on the ground would have made driving my automatic too dangerous.  I was preaching at the 8:00.  We arrived about twenty-five to eight, in plenty of time.  The church was just beginning to warm up, well it had left icy cold but only just.  I was really pleased not to be first.

My sermon was on Matthew 1:18-25 - Joseph's dream.  It's here if you would like to read it, and I assume will be on the Christ Church website so that you can listen some time soon.  The congregation was tiny, less than half the normal for the eight o'clock.

After the 08:00 service, we had breakfast in the hall as usual.  The weather had not stopped breakfast, I'm very please to say.

The weather did affect the Nativity, I think. The congregation there was rather low there too.  The children did well this year, especially the four young girls who had a long script to read as narrators and the boy who played Herod.  We were also treated to:

It was good to see Kermit again.

The Christmas season starts here - I can start my shopping!