St. John's carol service

This afternoon St. John's church celebrated Advent with a Christmas carol service. A number of children from school were involved in the singing, reading and dramatic interpretation of carols and it was a great opportunity to remind ourselves of what Christmas really means.

 The service helped us to focus on the good news of Christmas, seeing through the trappings of the commercialisation that is so dominant today and focusing on the original good news that the shepherds heard on the hillside. 

It is hard at times to grasp the significance of the happenings of that night many years ago. The message that the shepherds heard certainly shook them up. In some ways they were over awed by the fact that the angel came to them, but the important thing is that they listened and responded to the good news of the birth of the Christ child. They left their flocks and went to seek the fulfilment of a promise made so many years ago. 

In all the trappings of Christmas, may we too find the good news that was contained in the birth of Christ and may we find the joy that the Angels proclaimed and the sense of awe and wonder that the shepherds must have felt as they approached the resting place of the child who was 'God with us'.