Curate Conundrums

  How are your preparations for Christmas going? Perhaps some of you are inwardly or outwardly rolling your eyes at the mention of it, but are you prepared? Have you got the Christmas tree? Have you ordered the figgy pudding? If you’re getting presents have you got them yet? In life we prepare for things all the time, meetings, seeing people, travelling places, what we’re going to eat, when are we going to do the laundry, or the gardening if we have one. We’re very fortunate to have Rob here at St Augustine’s who does so much planning for us, he gets the fruit, makes the coffee and even mows our lawns. We’re very fortunate to have our musicians, who think about what we’re going to sing, practice and enhance our worship. We’re very fortunate to have Carrie and Judy, who help in the setting up of this service, and we’re very fortunate to have all the rest of you here, who most likely planned to be here and are all wonderful! But here’s another question, are you prepared for the...

Hark the glad sound! The Saviour comes, The Saviour promised long; Let every heart prepare a throne, And every voice a song. Happy Christmas! So now what? We’re now headed into what I call ‘the slump time’. That weird period between Christmas and New Year, when many people are off work, we’re all full of rich food, or a bit hungover, and nobody has any idea what day of the week it is. Although to be honest, for some people, perhaps we should call 2020 the year of the slump. Though of course our hardworking Key Workers have been doing anything but slumping. This year has been very tough emotionally, physically and financially for many. For Christians the joy of Christmas continues as we celebrate Christmas Season, which carries on until at least the 3 rd of January when we celebrate the feast of ‘The Epiphany’, otherwise known as when the Wise Men visited Jesus. Or for some Christmas continues until the 10 th of January when the baptism of Christ is celebrated. For us this should b...

  Why are we here? Today in this church? We’re here because we believe in hope. Throughout human history there have been times that are dark. Jesus was born into dirt and mud. Into the poor, into the lives of ordinary people, just like us. In fact just like those who now rely on foodbanks. The poor. The unwashed, the unloved. Jesus was born into a people that were oppressed and downtrodden by an Imperial Superpower. Into a world where very few had much, if anything, and lived hand to mouth. But Jesus’ people, they hoped. They awaited their messiah. They longed for Him to come, and to save them. God promised She would. God chose ordinary people, Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, to be part of the story. The light is born into the world of darkness. And the darkness did not overcome it. Through war, famine and plague, the Gospel has always endured. In times of plenty, and times of little, the hope that the Christ child brings has always been there. The light of it cannot be e...

  Now don’t tell anyone, because I have a reputation to keep. But I love Christmas. This is my third Christmas as an ordained person. Before I was ordained I worried that I would be unable to celebrate Christmas. I would end up being bitter, and busy. The way I celebrate Christmas is different. Christmas time is certainly much less relaxing than it was. I don’t get time off like many others; I do have to go to lots of things I don’t want to go to, like church. The core of Christmas hasn’t changed for me. That sense of love. The incarnation of Jesus still happens, and I still get to eat Christmas Dinner! Back of the net! But now I have an excellent excuse to have it cooked for me. Oh, I’m working, I couldn’t possibly come to you. So in some ways Christmas is better. I’ve discovered Christmas in a very different way, and deepened my knowledge and sense of what it means. That’s been a gift and a surprise. This time of year is all about gifts and surprises . It’s certainly been...

I love Christmas. Hands up who loves Christmas? Hands up who thinks Christmas is a little bit meh? Hands up who really doesn’t like Christmas? Hopefully I can persuade you why Christmas is a good thing. What if I told you that Christmas isn’t about presents, or commercialism, or stuff. I mean I’m a minister, so you’d probably expect me to say that. In fact most of us already know that, Christmas isn’t about presents. What is Christmas about then? It’s about love. What if I told you that Christmas is about God’s love for you, each and every one of you. The reason I love Christmas is because it’s a time of year when love between people is so obvious, people out buying gifts, thinking of others, spending time with families and loved ones, in the same way God’s love for us is so clear too. The baby Jesus being born is not just a distant event from a long time ago, but affects us today.  You might remember the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem ‘But in thy dark streets shi...