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DECEMBER 2001

Dear Friends

Is that the time already? How often have we heard or asked that question, and yes, it is that time already – again – Christmas time.

What is ‘time’? It is absolutely constant, an hour or a day is just as long or short as it ever was, and yet, occasionally time drags, or time flies – time never stands still – well it only did once!

The Bible says that to everything there is a season and a time; sowing, harvesting, waking, sleeping – even living and dying. All life seems to be governed by time; dinner time, tea time, overtime, double time, summer time, half time, full time, bed time; transport companies, for whatever reason, publish time tales (obviously not available to their drivers!)

The Bible tells us that in the ‘fullness of time’ God sent His Son – now that was the first Christmas. Why did He do that? Simply because time and time again, man had tried to put himself right with God, but had failed at each attempt, so God himself stepped in, ‘God loved the world and the people so much that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life’. That is the message of Christmas, God loves me. What is my response to that love?

One day time will cease; now that doesn’t seem possible, does it? But one day, for everyone in the world, time as we know it will come to an end (Rev. 10v6) and we shall be ushered into the presence of God. The way we react and respond to His offer of forgiveness and love in Jesus – not just at Christmas but all the time – will determine our eternal destiny.

Jesus came, at Christmas time, in order that we all might have real joy and peace. As we wish you a very happy Christmas, we trust that you will experience the joy and peace that only Jesus can give.

Sincerely,

Peter and Ruth

FROM THE CHURCH REGISTER

Baptisms: 28^th October David Reece Greig

Samuel Nicholas Dynes

Emily Victoria Natalie Randall

NOVEMBER SERMON TAPES

All tapes of the sermons preached on Sunday mornings and evenings in November are available on request from Elizabeth and Nigel Hadley (Tel: 831067) as usual.

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS

Decorating the Church for Christmas this year will take place on Friday 14^th December from 9.30am.

As ever, your help would be very much appreciated, particularly in the dressing of the tree, flower arranging, supplying flowers or foliage and helping on the day. Thank you.

DMD

SATURDAY SHOP

The Saturday Shop in November continued its great fund raising tradition by raising £254 for Church funds. First thanks to God for the success of this regular event and to Anne and her team for all the hard work put in throughout the year.

PARENT & TODDLERS

Please note that the last meeting in December will be on Thursday 13^th (Christmas Party). The group will re-start on 10^th January 2002.

Jesus said: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew your. Away from me, you evildoers!" Matthew 7:21-23

Abbreviated Minutes of the Meeting of the 2001/02 PCC of St James’ Church, Westgate and Garlinge held in the Church Centre on Tuesday 18^th September 2001

NOTE - AVAILABLE IN PRINTED MAGAZINE ONLY

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

Hopefully, it is not too late to bring this to your attention once again. Posters are available at the back of the Church, so please take them and display them to maximum advantage. Perhaps you may know a friendly shop or store which may also be encouraged to put one in their window or other suitable site.

Also at the back of the Church are Christmas Bazaar quiz forms. For £1 an entry you can test your skills of "Plain English". As always at times such as this, we rely heavily on the generosity of Church members to help fill the tables. If you can help in this way, particularly with regard to gifts and toiletries, bric-a-brac, cakes, crafts, food stall and jewellery etc., then please let me know.

The Bazaar, which will be held in St James’ Church Hall (Old School Hall) will commence at 10am on Saturday 8^th December.

Admission is free and Father Christmas will once again be in residence in his famous grotto. So gather up all your children, grandchildren and your friends and neighbours and give them the chance for only £1.50 to enjoy the magic of seeing Santa. Who needs ‘Harry Potter’!

WAM

THE LORD BE WITH YOU

The above words are very familiar to us and we celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world at Christmas. As Christians, we look forward to Christ’s Second Coming and we pray for His presence to be real in our daily lives.

However, the following poem makes us think what the effect of Jesus in our daily lives may really mean. I am grateful to be allowed to reproduce it here.

IF JESUS CAME TO YOUR HOUSE

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two –

If he came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.

Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honoured guest,

And all the food you’d serve Him would be the very best.

And would you keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there –

That serving Him in your home is joy beyond compare.

But – when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door

With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly visitor?

Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in,

Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?

Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard,

And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide all your worldly music and put some hymn books out?

Could you let Jesus walk right in or would you rush about?

And I wonder – if the Saviour spent a day or two with you,

Would you go right on doing the things you always do?

Would you keep on saying the things you always say?

Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep its usual pace,

And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always sing and read the books you read,

And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go,

Or would you, maybe change your plans just for a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends,

Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on,

Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last has gone?

It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,

If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.

****** ******* *******

MUSTARD SEED RELIEF MISSIONS

"LOVE IN A BOX" 2001

Dear Friends

The shoebox gifts from the East Kent Area are being sorted, packed ready for dispatch to our Eastbourne warehouse for loading onto our 38 tonne trucks, and this year we are hoping to exceed our area total of 3,100 and our total at Eastbourne warehouse of 40,000 as we have a large commitment to have loaded ready to cross the channel on Monday 4^th December.

As our volunteer drivers make their way, through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovinia and into Croatia and Bosnia, we ask for your prayers for travelling mercies and a safe and problem free journey both from road conditions and border crossings.

My wife and I will be following with the distribution team on Friday 7^th December to join the convey in Zagreb and proceed to Bosnia and Croatia to record the excitement that your shoebox gifts will bring.

We ask for your prayers as we introduce them to this practical demonstration of Love. Please pray that we meet the 50,000 target, for lives to be touched and healed, for our families while we are away, for good travelling conditions and the team’s safety. For the refugee children at each distribution point on the following days:

Friday 7^th GRACANICA (Bosnia)

Saturday 8^th GRACANICA and TUZLA

Sunday 9^th LUKAVAC – DOBOJ

Monday 10^th GRACANICA

Tuesday 11^th ORASJA – LADIMIREVCI

Wednesday 12^th (Croatia) DARDA – OSIJEK

Thursday 13^th SLATINA – CERALIJE – VOCIN

Friday 14^th PAKRAC – LIPIK – OKACANI

Saturday 15^th ZAJEZDA – BREZNICKIHUM

Sunday 16^th ZAGREB Children’s Hospital

Monday 17^th PIOKUPSO – DUMACE (refugee camp)

Tuesday 18^th ZAGREB

Wednesday 19^th Flight home.

Colin and Celia Spicer

LOVE IN A BOX

Many thanks to all of you in making ready 70 shoeboxes, 17 knitted jumpers and donations of monies which was collected by Colin Spicer on 15^th November and has helped to make his target of 50,000. Please pray for their safe arrival.

Marion Myers

DAILY BIBLE READINGS BY BISHOP J C RYLE

Matthew 1vv18-25 (suggested further reading: John 1:1-5, 14-18);

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" – which means, "God with us". When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

The name Immanuel (v23) is given to our Lord from His nature as God manifest in the flesh. Let us take care that we have clear views of our Lord’s nature and person. We should settle it firmly in our minds that our Saviour is perfect man as well as perfect God, and perfect God as well as perfect man. If we once lose sight of this great foundation of truth we may run into fearful heresies. The name Immanuel takes in a whole mystery. Jesus is ‘God with us’. He had a nature like our own in all things, sin only excepted. But though Jesus was ‘with us’ in human flesh and blood, He was at the same time very God.

We shall often find, as we read in the Gospels, that our Saviour could be weary, hungry and thirsty, could weep, groan and feel pain, like one of ourselves. In all this we see the man Christ Jesus. We see the nature He took on Him when he was born of the Virgin Mary.

But we shall also find in the same Gospels that our Saviour knew men’s hearts and thoughts, that He had power over devils, that He could work the mightiest miracles with a word, that He was ministered to by angels, that He allowed a disciple to call Him ‘my God’, and that He said ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 10:30) and ‘Before Abraham was, I am’ (john 8:58). In all this we see the eternal God. We see Him ‘who is over all God blessed for ever’ (Rom 9:5).

Would you have a strong foundation for your faith and hope? Then keep in constant view your Saviour’s divinity. He in whose blood you are taught to trust is the almighty God. All power is His in heaven and on earth. None can pluck you out of His hand. If you are a true believer in Jesus let not your heart be troubled or afraid.

Would you have sweet comfort in suffering and trial? Then keep in constant view your Saviour’s humanity. He knows the heart of a man. He can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities, temptations, hunger, tears and pain. Trust Him at all times with your sorrows. He will not despise you. He can sympathise with His people.

For meditation: Christ is between God and men, as God and man.

Printed by kind permission of Evangelical Press.

Merry Christmas

I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book;

And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look;

And that is when I realise that these names are a part

Not of the book they’re written, but of my very heart.

For each name stands for Someone who has crossed my path sometime,

And in that meeting they’ve become the rhythm in each rhyme.

And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim.

I really feel that I’m composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any "special link",

Just meeting you has changed my life a lot more than you think.

For once I’ve met somebody, the years cannot erase

The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine

Of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between;

For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you

It’s because you’re on the list of folk whom I’m indebted to.

For I am but the total of the many folk I’ve met,

And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.

And whether I have known you for many years or few,

In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do.

And every year when Christmas comes, I realise anew,

The best gift life can offer, is meeting folks like you!

THREE WISE WOMEN???

Do you know what would have happened if they had been three wise women instead of three wise men?

They would not have got lost! They would have arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts and there would have been peace on earth.

Church News Service

THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who has made a contribution or contributions to our magazine throughout 2001. Without your help and support the magazine would be wafer thin. Please continue your good work next year and if you have not submitted anything before, then be assured all items are gratefully received. Fresh ideas are always welcome – do not wait to be asked.

Particular thanks to all our distributors and to Mrs Elaine Jaquiss for her expert typing (including interpreting all the varied scripts) and for arranging the copying and compilation of the magazine.

DECEMBER DIARY

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