This Sunday we're expecting a big crowd to join us for our Carols Service. A great deal of time and effort has been expended to make sure we present the great news of Jesus as clearly, compellingly and winsomely as possible. Along side the we hope to show our guests something in of the love of Jesus in how we warmly and generously welcome them.
The band has been rehearsing, the bouncy castle has been booked (and risk assessments completed), dinner has been organised, prayers have been prayed, decorations sources, videos made, and many family, friends and neighbours have been invited. Paul has been thinking and working on his sermon for a number of weeks...
But how are you preparing for Sunday?
Church isn't just about what happens up the front on a Sunday morning or night. It involves all of us as we sing, we listen, we pray, we speak to and we welcome one another.
As Paul writes to the Corinthians who wanted to elevate some gifts (and people) over others, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many." (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
This Sunday presents us with a special opportunity to work together as the body of Christ in the task of sharing the good news of Jesus as we warmly welcome guests into our church community. So come prepared to greet new people and to reach out to anyone who looks a bit lost. Spend time praying for God to work by his Spirit to bring people to faith. Come excited about what God is doing in and through our church as we seek to share Jesus, the light of the world, to a world that desperately needs him!
Grace & peace,
Andrew
eNews - 8th December 2023