From P. J.: Scripture helps us defend our faith. The apostle Peter instructs believers to be ready with an answer for our hope and faith in Jesus. Scripture also helps form our character. Paul makes it clear that the Word of God is alive, active, and pierces our souls. And since God’s Word is so powerful, we should commit some passages to heart so God can work in and through us.
December 22nd – 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
The Kingswood Foodbank is open on Tuesday, Donations of anything Christmassy would be welcome. Thank you all very much.
Fun Finders is on tomorrow (Monday 22nd) and the following Monday. All are welcome.
The BB have prepared KMC’s Christmas Card for everyone to sign and make a donation to Crisis, the Homeless Charity. This is the last Sunday it is available.
Christmas Facts. On average, people will drive 53 miles each way to see their friends and family this Christmas. Dining out on Christmas Day in London costs approximately £92 per person. The Royal Address viewers dropped in Charles’ first three years. Charity donations are estimated at £2.8 billion in November and December. 4.5 million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year.
The Victorians were very big fans of Christmas and we actu ally owe a lot of the carols that we sing today to them. They wanted to make Christmas a cosy, family time, and they also wanted carols to have a moral message about behaving well, like Jesus did. They composed hundreds of new carols and made some of the old carols more modern, so that today we can understand better what they mean. With a lot of carols, the words and music weren't written at the same time. For example, the tune for Ding Dong Merrily on High dates as far back as the mid-1500s, but the lyrics are from the 1800s. In the same way, the tune for Good King Wenceslas is a very old medieval dance tune from the 1200s, while the words were written in the 1800s. Just as the songs used to bring people together many hundreds of years ago, singing carols at Christmas is still a popular activity to bring families and friends together over Christmas time.
Award-winning actor and Action for Children ambassador Anna Maxwell Martin stars in Santaland, a powerful new, short Christmas film shining a light on the devastating reality facing 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK, the highest number since records began. (17) Santaland - Anna Maxwell Martin - Action for Children - YouTube
Lectionary 21st to 27th December. Isaiah 7.10-16; Psalm 80.1-7,17-19; Romans 1.1-7; Matthew 1.18-25. Come, Jesus, be with us. In a dream, an angel tells Joseph that Mary’s child is from the Holy Spirit. He is to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus. He will not only be Immanuel, God with us – as prophesied by Isaiah – but the one who saves his people from their sins. In the midst of the festive season, it is so easy to overlook the one at the heart of Christmas – Jesus. This week’s readings have Jesus very much at the centre and remind us of the good news of his coming, news that was even better than expected. Think about what Jesus’ presence with us means, and how we can help others to know the Jesus who comes to be with them.
The purpose of Kingswood Methodist Church is to respond to God's Love in Christ and to live out that love in God's world.