Advent Week 4 and Christmas Day

Regional Minister the Revd Mary Taylor writes:-

ON the fourth Sunday in Advent and on Christmas Day we continue to think about different parts of the world; about their beauty and why it is that Jesus is the wonderful gift of God to the people who live there. Yorkshire Baptist churches connect with people across the globe through mission and migration. And Yorkshire towns and cities have become places where many nationalities, cultures and languages come to live and work together. In this coming together we see both harmony and discord - and an incredible opportunity for us to share the Gospel of Jesus. 

John’s vision of the coming reign of Jesus is that God will gather worshippers from all around the world:
 
"After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’"
(Revelation 7 v 1-10)
 
David and Glenda Schannen, themselves from South America, live in the beautiful city of Sheffield and the people alongside them come from all over the world. They know that God has called them to share their faith with their neighbours and that Jesus comes to us where we are, into our neighbourhood. David tells us of his heart to grow a community of faithful followers of Jesus right where he lives, making disciples who will themselves make disciples. Click here to play his video.
Jhonnar Lugo from Venezuela, who is a youth worker in Sheffield, tells us why Jesus is the best gift for Venezuela - click here.
 
Many hundreds of years ago, the people of the British Isles learned of Jesus from pioneers of the faith who did not hesitate to share the story of Jesus and invite people to follow him. The Irish monk Aidan came to live amongst the English who knew nothing of God’s gift. He is known as the Apostle to the English. Wherever he went Aidan would ask people if they knew about God. If they said 'no' he would work beside them and tell them about Jesus, if they said 'yes' he would encourage them to love God more.
 
Here is a beautiful meditation on Aidan’s heart for his neighbours:

Aidan’s statue, Holy Island

Aidan stands.
His head is
close to the
heart of the
cross.
 
His eyes,
far-seeing,
scan the
horizon,
the joyous
venturing
of little boats.
 
A torch burns
clearly in his
grasp, a
faithful challenge
in his generation,
meeting,
listening,
heart-connecting.
 
In his shadow
is a place I covet,
a challenge
in a present time
and confluence of cultures.
 
Aidan, let me lie down in your shadow.
While I live may I be the shadow of
a Rock in a weary land, a shelter
from the heat.
Andy Raine  
Taken from Morning Prayer from Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer published by Collins. Aidan's Statue

CHRISTMAS DAY

AS we celebrate Christmas Day,  YBA Discipleship Enabler Peter Dunn speaks of a special heart for Asia and especially the beautiful hospitality which he has received from people who have very little in the way of material riches yet will freely share what they have. The hospitality Peter loves also includes conversation and time given to others without hurry. Click here to play his video.
 
Yet the people of Asia, like us, still need to hear the message of how the God of the whole world is the God of love. And especially that Jesus came into our world to share with us, not fear, but peace. To do this he emptied himself and took on all the weakness of a human baby. And as disciples of Jesus we are to follow in his footsteps.
 
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.                       (Ephesians 2 v 5-7)
 
Peter talks about the importance of sharing time with people in order to listen to them and to share our own story of what a difference Jesus makes. Biglife encourages disciples to tell people about their life before Jesus, when they met Jesus and what difference Jesus has made since. We are often very busy! Maybe emptying ourselves includes giving our time to be with people so that conversations about Jesus can flourish?

PRAYERS
Let these be our prayers over Christmas:

• Praise God for everyone who is sharing the Good News of Jesus with the people from across the world who live in Yorkshire.
• Praise God for the peace which only Jesus can bring as he rescues us from fear and brings us into loving relationship with God our Father.
• Pray for Biglife in Asia, where so many are coming to faith in Jesus and following him as disciples making disciples.
• Pray for disciples of Jesus everywhere who are persecuted for bravely telling their story and sharing their faith.
• Pray that we will learn again how to give our time generously, to sit, to listen and to talk, to share our story of Jesus with others.

RESOURCE
We are challenged by scripture to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. This week our resource is a simple voucher (click here) to give your time as a Christmas present. Maybe it will start us down a road of emptying ourselves by sharing the precious gift of time. Let 2020 be a year of ‘meeting, listening, heart-connecting’ and sharing our faith in Jesus.