abbotsford.org.uk

Wee Survey

74% of employers have banned Christmas Decorations. The media syays it is because of fear they may offend folk of different faiths. The employers say it is unprofessional.

Have any of your employers banned Christmas Decorations?

Hint for Sunday

By the way, just to say there is a Creative Communion on Sunday Night: Damned Incarnation. 6.30

The passage on Sunday is Zechariah and his finding voice after being silenced. This reflects on the things that silence us and wonders about what can be found in the silence.

One:
I have been silenced by my disbelief.
I thought, “Where is God?
God is silent.
God has turned the divine back on us,
and we are left in the silence.”
(Blow out candle)

But in amongst this silence,
a son is being born,
a promise is being fulfilled,
a prophecy is being foretold.
In the impossibility of my disbelief,
God is doing a new thing.
We have not been forgotten.

And my silence is broken with song.
(light candle during singing and take away)

Christ be our light Verse 1 solo
Chorus everyone

Two:
I have been silenced by the horror of conflict.
I thought, “There is no God here.
Pain and suffering, yes,
but not God.
Only the silence of God, left by the terror of war.
(Blow out candle)

But in amongst this pain,
a promise is being fulfilled,
a prophecy is being foretold.
In the impossibility of war,
God is speaking of a new thing.
We have not been forgotten.

And my silence will break with peace.
(light candle during singing and take away)

Christ be our light Verse 2 solo
Chorus everyone

Three:
I have been silenced by the iniquity
between those who have food on their table,
and those who have to grow it but never taste it.
Of a prejudice of power
against the hungry nations,
and I am speechless at it’s audacity,
and of the God who remains silent amid it all.
(Blow out candle)

But in amongst this hungering and thirsting for righteousness,
a promise is being fulfilled,
a prophecy being foretold.
In the impossibility of sharing,
God is speaking of a new thing.
We have not been forgotten.

And my silence will break with the banquet call.
(light candle during singing and take away)

Christ be our light Verse 3 solo
Chorus everyone

Four:
I have been silenced by injustice,
and think, “Where is God found
among the displacees and orphaned
because of conflict, asylum and HIV/AIDS.
God has moved out, and left us silenced.”
(Blow out candle)

But in among this a son is being born,
a promise is being fulfilled,
a prophecy is being foretold.
In the impossibility of injustice,
God is doing a new thing.
We have not been forgotten.

And my silence will be broken by justice.
(light candle during singing and take away)

Christ be our light Verse 4 solo
Chorus everyone

Five:
I have been silenced by incarnation.
(Blow out candle)

But this God has broken silence,
not with empty words,
but by the living word:
in the body of Christ whose voice calls in protest,
in the journey of God’s People that is made towards peace ,
in the choice taken by followers for trade that is fair,
in the life of the church that is lived in justice,
in the question of every disciple that is asks for the widow & orphan.

In my silence God speaks,
a prophecy being foretold,
a child is being born,
for in the impossibility of incarnation,
God is doing a new thing.
We have not been forgotten.

And my silence is broken by promise.
(light candle during singing and take away)

Christ be our light Verse 5 solo
Chorus everyone

Books for Christmas

I'm reading a good book at the moment called "The Long Walk". It's (meant to be) a true story of a Polish guy and his escape from A work camp in Siberia. It's not Harry Potter, Agatha Christie or Dan Brown. Who needs a romp like those when you can have true stories that speak about humanity, human nature and strength of spirit.

Anyway, wondered what books I could ask Santa for. Any ideas from your own repetoir?

Green Christmas

We've had white Christmases (Please God, not this year), blue Christmases (this year's service is on Tues 19th, 7.30). Now we're going for Green Christmas.

EcoChristmas?

The festive season will soon be upon us, and it wouldn’t be the same without the presents, fairly lights and special meals. However, can we be eco-friendly and still have a good Christmas? Hopefully, the answer is ‘yes’! So…does anyone have any good ideas for how we can ‘green’ Christmas? If you do, please add them to this thread.

Here are a few to start you off…

Buy goats etc. from the Oxfam and Christian Aid catalogues (available in the hall) as Christmas presents.

Buy LED (that’s ‘light-emitting diode’ for the uninitiated!) Christmas lights rather than conventional incandescent bulbs. These are more expensive but last much longer and use only a fraction of the electricity.

The most eco-friendly trees are the live ones in pots that you put out in the garden after Christmas and use again next year. However, properly cultivated ones are expensive, and some (unscrupulous) sellers will just uproot a plantation-grown tree and stick it in a pot the week before it goes on sale. The chances of such a tree surviving are small! A ‘real’ tree from a local, sustainably-managed forest is a good second choice, especially if you cut it up and put it in your brown bin afterwards.

Try to minimise your use of wrapping paper – and remember to put it in the recycling bin on Christmas morning.

Use local produce as much as you can. Think Scotch lamb roasted with root veg, thyme and heather honey…and a wee nip of whisky is of course acceptable too!

As a special inducement, some of the best ideas received by Tuesday 12th Dec will appear in December’s EcoNotices.

Chocolate Teapots (Dec 10th)

If you had lost your voice for about nine months,and suddenly you got it back, what would you say? Would it be anything like Luke 1:68-79? Imagine not being able to talk all the way through a pregnancy, all the expectations, worries, anxieties, hopes etc. So you've a lot to say when at last you can talk, piling out all the dreams and visions and longings that have been desperately waiting mto be spoken.

Zechariah, John the Baptist's dad has been struck dumb for the length of Elizabeth's pregnancy because of an angel. Now we hear the prophecy, like some ancient release of mystery.

It's cool. I like it. I like all the "songs" people sing when a birth is announced, Hannah, Mary, Zechariah. Real good world changing stuff.

Go preach it, as they say. But what exactly shall we speak, or sing?

Chocolate Teapots (Dec 10th)

If you had lost your voice for about nine months,and suddenly you got it back, what would you say? Would it be anything like Luke 1:68-79? Imagine not being able to talk all the way through a pregnancy, all the expectations, worries, anxieties, hopes etc. So you've a lot to say when at last you can talk, piling out all the dreams and visions and longings that have been desperately waiting mto be spoken.

Zechariah, John the Baptist's dad has been struck dumb for the length of Elizabeth's pregnancy because of an angel. Now we hear the prophecy, like some ancient release of mystery.

It's cool. I like it. I like all the "songs" people sing when a birth is announced, Hannah, Mary, Zechariah. Real good world changing stuff.

Go preach it, as they say. But what exactly shall we speak, or sing?

And Today...?

Here's a space for thoughts, comments, insights and blessings.

What happened this morning for folk in the advent candle lighting thing?

When we gathered round the table?

When we blessed each other with peace?

When we discovered the banners and the colours?

When we tasted bread?

What we sang?

When we listened to the prophecy?

Or just when we got home and warmed up?

A foretaste...

Two wee bits for tomorrow as we perch on the edge of Advent.

A Gathering...

Crouched against the promise
the oppressor hesitates
and asks
Who is the one?

Breathless by a table
those who hunger for freedom, endure
and ask
Who is the one?

Ravished by the Word
those who long for incarnation, hear
and ask
Who is the one?

Bent over by burdens
those who cannot look up, straighten
and ask
Who is the one?

Waiting in the Advent
those who cannot see, wonder
and ask
Who is the one?

Caught by the promise
the prophet whispers
and claims
This is the one.
Come, O Come Emmanuel

---------------------------------------

A Welcome to the table...

My friends
this is where we belong…
where bread is broken and wine is poured
and the table waits for the people of God

this is where we belong…
where the Realm of Heaven with impatience pushes through
and the promise for the world is again made new

this is where we belong…
where God calls each one to a place that is set
in a banquet now readied where heaven’s saints are met

this is where we belong…
where Jesus is waiting and longing to meet
and shares with us body and blood in this feast

this is where we belong…
where our Saviour’s story is retold once more
and love is revealed as it was before

this is where we belong…
where the power of death is broken in bread
and justice foretold in his wine filled breath

My friends
welcome to the advent of God