Scripture: 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 1:2-3)Reflection:Wouldn’t you like to live a life that is peaceful; where you felt at peace with your lot in life? Rather than a world that feels full of confusion, pressure and busyness all the time; a life that feels constantly noisy and just full of “stuff”, all the time? You might think that is impossible. And because it seems impossible, you give up trying to find true peace.But true peace of heart and mind is possible. It is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. And the wonderful news is…it is not going to cost you anything! Grace is God’s free gift (His gift of salvation) to you. Recognising, receiving and accepting that free gift of grace in your life brings peace….even amongst all the busyness and confusion of your life.Hear those last words by the Apostle Paul, and claim them for yourself today: Grace to you. And peace. From God our Father, and from Jesus Christ. Revd David
Scripture: ‘Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the days of Herod the King, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem asking ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him’.’ (Matthew 2,1-2)Reflection:In his famous poem ‘Journey of the Magi’ TS.Eliot describes the hard, exhausting journey of the wise men, the Magi, to find the newborn ‘King of the Jews’. They find the baby, but not where they had expected, in a palace in Jerusalem, surrounded by wealth and pomp, but in a very ordinary home in the small town of Bethlehem. They return home knowing life can never be the same for them. All their assumptions and expectations have been overturned.In a much less known poem, ‘Epiphany’, James Harpur describes only the return journey of the travellers and their relief at being back in their comfort zone. Back with their own sort. Forget about the baby. Nothing to do with them.To catch a glimpse of the reality of God’s presence among us, is just the beginning. We are free to ignore it, dismiss it, forget about it. Or we can allow ourselves to be changed by it. We have a choice. Revd Rosemary
Scripture: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2 15-19)Reflection:Imagine being those shepherds, out in the fields tending their sheep, minding their own business - when all of a sudden an angel appears to them from the heavens!! How would you have reacted? I don’t know about you, but I would have been totally awestruck and quite frightened of what I had just experienced.We get so used to hearing the Christmas story that we tend to forget that everything that happened was absolutely incredible!! The birth of the Christ child, the angels appearing, the Magi following the star are not things that happen on a daily basis!!And because we have heard the story so many times, we become anaesthetised to the true wonder and the pure gift of Jesus in our lives - perhaps we need to be more like Mary and ponder all these things in our hearts.Lyn Hayes
