Today I posted “7 tips to help preach the Gospel to yourself.” They’re not exhaustive, they aren’t the result of hours of study. They are just a few ways I’ve found helpful in the past. You can read the post on the new church blog…here.

And here’s a funny picture:

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,700 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Why?

Because we are so slow to learn and so prone to forget.

I for one am fully aware of my need to be taught anew and reminded of the magnificent incarnation. God became man. God visited His enemy. Jesus came down.

Christmas may be slowly waning, but the significance and impact of The Word taking flesh isn’t.

Christmas 2012 can’t come fast enough for this forgetful blogger.

made for our candlelight service, Christmas eve

One story springs particularly to mind, the shepherds on the hill. Luke records how angels come and announce the birth of Jesus as they tend to their flocks (read it here). But what do we think of when we hear this story? Tea Towels and dressing gowns? Parody Carols? Surly these aren’t why master historian recorded this portion of the Nativity tale? If we look again with fresh eyes maybe we’ll see what he was really trying to do.

1) Teach us about a person.

We all know the nativity is about Jesus, but who often we forget who Jesus is! As Luke records the angels words that Saviour had come, the Christ, the Lord, he’s teaching us a central truth of Christianity. Jesus was God, come to rescue. How often is Christmas about a helpless babe rather than the almighty?

Yet, as soon as we’ve heard these words the angel continues and points us to that very baby in a manger. Why? Because Jesus was unique. Both fully God and fully man.  Is it any wonder that a story celebrated 2000years later be at least a little bit spectacular?

Christmas is about Jesus and Jesus was God, plus flesh, come to the rescue.

2) Show us a reaction.

As the focus of the story shifts from the subject of the angels song to the reaction of the shepherds we see a marked difference in us and them. They investigate, they go and see. When they heard about the Christ come…they were expecting it, they wanted it to be true, they went to find out in the hope that it was so.

But when we hear about the Christ come we are often unaware of our need. The shepherds were eager because they knew they needed the Christ (at least to free them from Roman occupation) but we tend to think we’re fine and that our greatest need is our next meal. How wrong can we be!

Part of God coming as Saviour, Christ, is that we all have something that we need rescuing from. Oh if only we recognised that our greatest need was for that baby to be born perhaps the Nativity story would move us to further and deeper investigation.

3) Provide a template for change.

The shepherds hear, they investigate, they find…and then what? Do they, like us, put the Christmas message on the shelf for 12months and return to ‘life as normal’? no, they are forever changed. No longer mere shepherds but people who praise and glorify God.

Likewise we should not approach Christmas and leave unchanged. At it’s heart is a person with a purpose, a man with a mission. If we truly see and recognise that then we’ll be forever changed.

However a college friend of mine, Andy Cole, has doen some serious thinking about the message(s) behind big JL’s latest offering:

The new John Lewis Christmas advert cost over £5 million to make and has been viewed on YouTube over 3 million times. Radio and newspaper reports have described it as the best Christmas advert of all time. If the reports are to be believed, the nation has been weeping in front of their TV screens at this 90 second tale of Christmas waiting.

The advert shows a cute seven year old boy desperately counting down the days and hours to Christmas morning. In the background a melancholy song is playing with the chorus “Please, please, please let me get what I want/Lord knows it would be the first time”.

What we are meant to think is that the little boy is simply waiting to see if he’s going to get what he really wants for Christmas. Before long we see him excitedly jump up on Christmas morning only to rush past the presents at the end of his bed.  Instead he turns up in Mum and Dad’s bedroom with a gift-wrapped present for them! The message? It’s better to give than receive. 

But is that really what the advert is saying and is it true? If you look beyond the warm fuzzy feelings what the advertisers are really saying is that spending money (at John Lewis stores!) will make Christmas special.

The reason they paid £5million quid for the advert is because they want us to believe that buying gifts from their shops will somehow give us what we’re all waiting and longing for. But will it?

Deep down we know that’s not true. Spending money at Christmas may give us a nice feeling for a little while but it won’t last. After counting down the days to Christmas many who cried sentimental tears at that TV advert will still be longing for something better to come.

The good news this Christmas is that something better has already come. The waiting is overbecause Jesus has come into the world. He’s what we need. Around 2000 years ago a godly old man named Simeon, who had been waiting all his life finally found what he was looking for (Luke 2:27-32):

²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus…²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
³² a light, for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon held Jesus in his arms and for the first time in his life he was completely at peace. He was able to joyfully contemplate his own death not because he was too old or sick to enjoy life anymore but because he’d seen Jesus.

The John Lewis advert is only half true. There is a sense in which it is better to give than receive. When you are in a position to generously help others that is a good thing to do (Acts 20:35 – work hard to help the weak).

But the Bible says true blessing begins not with giving but with receiving. If we want to know the contentment and peace that Simeon knew, then like him we need to receive the greatest gift of all from God – his precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

For your online viewing pleasure, here are two (the same) photo’s of my square head.

On Sunday a photographer turned up in church to grab a snap for the article(s). I’m not sure my head is that square in real life…

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Warmth-lonely-day/story-14044815-detail/story.html

Yet the laughter of a child should teach us all something about life in general. The joys of this world are fleeting.

Within moments a baby’s joy can turn to absolute despair. If the baby thinks you’ve left the room…tears. If the baby thinks they want something else…screams. From utter uncontrollable joy one moment to total inconsolable upset the next.

It should remind us that much of what we go after in life is exactly like that. Fleeting fun. But one thing lasts. One thing never stops providing real joy. Our everlasting God.

If I can entertain the little man for 10 minutes I’m happy, yet really I should be praying that he finds true joy and contentment in his creator not just for a moment, but for eternity too.