Day Twenty Six - Happy, appreciative and gratified

Halleluiah! We start our Advent series on Sunday.

‘Hang on a minute,’ I hear you cry, ‘our churches are closed for worship, what do we have to be thankful for?’

But - and it is a big ‘but’ - the Church, our church and your church are more than just the building or even the sanctuary contained within that building. Church is the people, and we must never lose sight of that.

Advent provides us with an opportunity to focus our message to both our church family and others in the lead up to Christmas. As I write I hear that we might be allowed to enjoy a near-normal Christmas. Now, that really is something to be thankful for.

Perhaps, we can embrace this into our Advent preparations and encourage both our regulars and others to share Christmas with us. Also, do not forget that many folk will feel quite down after the euphoria of sharing time with family and friends so, look out for them into the New Year too. Not only can January be a tough time, but even worse than that, there is a particular day which is called ‘Blue Monday.’ This this is the third Monday of January (18th January in 2021) and many people feel particularly low on that day. So, do not let Advent and January slide by as we focus on Easter. Get close to people in the run-up to Christmas and remain close to folk in January and beyond. Give them a reason to be thankful. Halleluiah!

Some of you might be thinking that you too have little to be thankful for. As one lady told me, ‘It’s eight months since I went to church.’ Another said, ‘Nobody apart from me has been in my house since March.’ Yes, many of us are struggling. But, if you are reading this, you can be thankful that you can not only read but you probably have a degree of understanding or comprehension of what has been written here. If you are viewing this on an electronic device, you have one such device, or more, which gives you a ‘window on the World.’ If you have a hard copy, then someone has probably printed it for you, so you have someone who cares. The same applies if someone is reading these words to you. So, just by reading these words, or having them read to you, many of us have reasons to be thankful.

A church near me church closed in March and opened again in June for private prayer. They have remained open ever since for worship or private prayer, depending on the regulations in force. There were fewer attendees, for obvious reasons, but for the folk who attended the open church made a difference. They were thankful and they said so. Never say, “We only had this number”, or “In that church they had so many more than us”. Be joyous in what you have, who you have helped and give individuals (people) a reason to be thankful for what you do, whether this is by telephone, electronic media, opening your building or prayer.

Prayer

Father, guide us as we lead up to Christmas. Help us to reach out to those in need, the sick, the lonely and the unsure. Help us to celebrate the anniversary of your son’ birth and to keep reaching out afterwards. Amen

Finally, and this is a challenge, we traditionally share the grace at the end of our services, I want you to close your eyes and share the grace by visualising others as you speak.

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore. Amen.

Michael Rolton