One for the children – and young at heart – our Crib and Christingle service on the 24th December started our final Christmas countdown. Rachel explains how the story of Jesus birth can be explained through crisps …much to the entertainment of all!
Our service for the fouth Sunday of Advent, as we focus on Mary – mother of Christ and the promise we have in a new life at Christmas. What would you wish for a new child: what would you want to protect them from experiencing? Our thanks also for the gift to the church from Phillip and Frances – a twinned toilet – and for eighteen years service, preparing the altar for communion services, Freida who passes the torch to another.
Notices for Sunday 22nd December, with details of our upcoming services and events.
Many of us will receive Christmas cards, and we don’t always know what to do with them after Christmas. How about using the christmas cards as a reminder to pray for the people that sent them to you. Each time you look at the card, say a prayer for the people and situations represented by the card.
With Christmas Day only a week away, St Mark’s tests the lighting with a fun carol and readings evening, culminating in the somewhat frenetic Twelve Days of Christmas.
Our minds are looking towards the big day – when we celebrate Christ’s arrival, at his birth in Bethlehem. What a celebration; so why, when reading our old testament reading this evening, I wonder who decided to be the buzz kill with Isiah and his description of Woes and Judgements as we’re gearing up to the excitement of the season? But at a time of reflection – it’s more important than ever we focus on if we’re ready to receive Jesus.
Today we remember John the Baptist. The cousin of Jesus, he was convinced Jesus was the true messiah – to the extent that he went to the wilderness and proclaimed the redemption of sin through the baptism of water, and a promise that one more powerful would come, to baptise with the Holy Spirit. In Advent, we prepare to welcome the Christ child, but it’s a time of repentance, and preparation for Jesus second coming. As we take this journey, will we ask Jesus through his spirit, to strengthen us?
A how to guide for churches with open trussed roof beams, who want to hang Christmas lighting creatively above the congregation. All you need is a drone, fishing line, pink twine and good company…
Notices for Sunday 15th December, with details of our upcoming services at St Mark’s. Read on for further details of our Christmas services and events!
Don’t get so focused on having a powerful Christmas morning moment that you miss that quiet, unglamorous moment when Jesus shows up in day-to-day life, when his presence makes itself known in some new, convicting, or comforting way.