X Men

On the 1^st December we begin our first week of Advent. Advent is a time of expectant waiting for the coming of Christ. This includes celebrating his coming over 2000 years ago as a baby born in Bethlehem and also Christ’s coming again at the end of time.

In preparing our theme for advent we bounced around a whole lot of ideas including “Putting the ‘X’ back into Xmas” (X is the first letter of the Greek Xristos – meaning Christ - and has been used since the earliest days of Christianity as an abbreviation for Christ; and in fact the abbreviation Xmas was first introduced centuries ago by Christian scholars) or “The X-Factor”; but settled on “X Men - Days of Christmas Past”.

This is a take-off from a movie that will come out in 2014 called “X-Men Days of Future Past” based on the comic book version written in 1981. For those who don’t follow the X-Men series it is the story of people who have mutated genes that give them extraordinary powers. The people we will look at throughout Advent didn’t have extraordinary powers but they did play a significant role in preparing us for the coming of Christ – they were truly X (Christ) men. As we allow Isaiah, Zechariah, Joseph and Simeon to speak to us, I pray we will become more open to allowing the Holy Spirit use us in making Christ known to others.

During this Christmas season there are numerous opportunities for you to invite your pre-Christian friends to participate in fun, friendship and faith. Our Carols night on the 8^th Dec will be very family friendly; the Fishers of Men dinner is a great opportunity to invite your pre-Christian friends to be involved in serving others; and our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services will call us to the centre of all things – Christ our Lord.

Don’t come alone this Christmas – bring your friends and help them experience the gift of God’s love – Christ.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech