It was good tonight to be at the cathedral nine lessons and carols. They do this twice this week, reaching over a thousand people through all their Christmas worship. It was well done. The choir sang beautifully and the drama of how God came was well told.
I always wonder at the make up of a carol service. Most churches have more at them than normal Sundays. There was a mixture of Ripon and surrounding area people there tonight. I always say we’ve one chance to get a message across to people who might not encounter church or faith again until next Christmas. I worked with a girl in an office in the 1980’s who said she was a regular churchgoer. By that she meant Christmas Eve Mass!
How do we make this ancient story live in 2025? I think people need some hope and some peace and some joy and it’s all in the story. People need something to cling to in a climate of despair and uncertainty. People need always something to look forward to. Perhaps that’s why Christmas starts earlier every year and there are Easter eggs placed strategically round my local Spar on 23 December . I was nearly tempted to buy a crème egg tonight !
I have tonight written my sermons for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I want to be relevant. This message is for now. Even if people only do a few carols or come out tomorrow at midnight it has to touch them. But I won’t be going down the road these priests are as written in today’s Metro!
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