My Christmas letter to Santa always has much more hope than expectation.  I start at a Aston Martin DB9 and work down.  Always have, always will.  In reality I’m much happier giving than getting.  I have all I need and I love to see the boys and Avril opening their gifts.  That’s much more fun.

Imagine my surprise when on Christmas morning I found one of these under the tree…

Nano

Thanks to my fabulous wife and all our boys for the fantastic gift!

I’m also looking forward to reading Barak Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope, listening to the Killers’ cd Day and Age and the Radio 1 Live Lounge 3, wearing my new tie and cuff links and eating lots of chocolate!

The song of the angels to raise your sights,
The smell of the shepherds to keep you well earthed,
The journeying of the Magi to keep you on your pilgrim way,
And fresh-born Christ-life to amaze you always.

(URC Christmas Card 2008)

Merry Christmas to you all.  Remember, give your presence this Christmas.

Sometimes it’s hard to focus on Christmas.

It’s almost Christmas.  For many churches that means nativity plays and carol services.  For Dunfermline URC those will come later so this morning presented a bit of a challenge.  How to preach on Christmas… before it’s Christmas.

This is what I came up with.  Your thoughts and comments are very welcome.

Sermon Text (for those who like to read)

When the world was dark
And the city was quiet,
You came.

Christmas is coming.  The end of the exile is near.

Rob Bell says that:

Exile is when you forget your story.

Exile isn’t just about location; exile is about the state of your soul.

Exile is when you fail to convert your blessings into blessings for others.

Exile is when you find yourself a stranger to the purposes of God.

Tomorrow, the 4th Sunday in Advent, I’m going to talk about exile and how God found a most unexpected way to end our separation from him.

no angels
no stars
no shepherds
no wise men

Just God, here, with us
Always

The Something Beautiful Podcast crew have produced a pretty cool crowd-sourced advent episode.  Listeners and regular contributers were invited to read one of the 9 Christmas Bible passages and send in Christmas wishes.  It’s turned out pretty good!  Avril and I read one and all the family read another.  I think our three boys do a particularly good job of shepherds and angels!  Have a listen at something beautiful.

This Sunday is the 4th in Advent.  We’re almost there.  The waiting is almost over…

And yet the lectionary has us at Gabriel telling Mary she’s going to have a child.  It’s as though they don’t want us to get to the birth.

Perhaps all this waiting is important.

Perhaps we’re meant to hang around for a while longer…

wondering…

wishing…

watching…

It’ll be here.  Soon enough.

Or maybe too soon for some.

This week’s sermon almost didn’t happen.  I was really busy and thinking about simply rehashing last week’s offering.  But as I started to rework it I deleted it and started again.  And I’m glad I did.  As usual your comments, reactions and thoughts are most welcome.

This sermon was preached on 14 December, the 3rd Sunday in Advent, at Hamilton United Reformed Church.

A sneaky peek at Sunday’s sermon…

Because of the way we arrange the Christmas story we sometimes forget that John and Jesus are the same age.  Remember John is Jesus’ cousin.  His mother is Elizabeth who was pregnant around the same time as Mary.  When John talks about scanning the crowds he’s looking for a fully-grown Jesus.  He’s not talking about a baby in a stable.  He’s talking about the Messiah, coming, now.

John’s father was Zachariah, the priest.  That means that John would be destined for the priesthood and yet we find him in a very different priestly role.  The holy man not in the synagogue or the temple but out in the wild.

This is our first clue about this Messiah John is raving about.  Jesus isn’t going to be religious in the conventional sense.

But then conventional is never astonishing is it?  Conventional means tried and tested.  Conventional means agreed on, decided, settled.  And that doesn’t seem to describe Jesus to me.  At all.

It’s getting closer.  This Christmas thing.

Stuck for ideas for gifts?  Want to buy your loved one an iPod but feeling a little bit guilty?  Want to help make the world a better place?

could be the answer.  There are a growing list of great (RED) products available.  You buy the (RED) product and money goes to AIDS work in Africa.  Sounds simple.  It is.  So what can you buy?

Dell laptops, Apple iPods, GAP t-shirts, Converse shoes, Armani fragrances, Windows Vista, Hallmark Cards… Everything you could ever want for Christmas.

Go shop for (RED) stuff this Christmas.