Category: Advent Reflections

– a poem by Tim Carter

It was Christmas Eve
And the world stood still
Just for a moment

Waiting
Wondering
Hoping

Might it be that this time
This time of all times
The promise would be fulfilled
And the wars would end
And the crying cease
And the people join hands in unity?

Waiting
Wondering
Hoping

Might it be this time
This time of all times?

The day is here when we reach the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. How have you managed in our Advent Bible reading challege?

Here is the Gospel of Luke in film form, if you have time today sit and watch the story unfold. You will know in full just who we celebrate at Christmas time.

A brief Christmas greeting and blessing from Bellshill Central Parish Church.

Praying God’s richest blessings upon you and those you love at this special time of the year.

Continuing in prayer for those who find this season a sad one and who face the prospect of time spent alone.

Praying that we would all experience a measure of Grace – the peace, hope, love, and joy that passes all understanding.

The invitation is extended to join with us in 2020 as we celebrate the gift that is Love.

– a reflection by Janice Clark

Sheltering God,
your protection for us
is made known
in images of rock and mountain,
wings and arms,
tent and fold.
A protection that makes us
feel safe, secure, and confident –
with knowledge and assurance that removes
our vulnerability, and our loneliness,
our fears and our doubts.
You have promised to be a constant presence,
light, warmth and comfort,
never failing, always near.

And yet, within your world
thousands of people lack shelter
and cannot really call where they live
a home.
Their lives are impoverished,
living in a space put together
from whatever scraps they can gather.
The rain leaks through,
the heat of the sun is brutal,
the dust irritates
and water and airborne diseases flourish.

Yet for many this is their home
where new life is conceived,
where love is shown,
where characters are formed,
where faith is passed on
and where an understanding of your protection
Is experienced.

God, fully human, yet fully divine,
you know what it is like
to be have no real home –
born into a stable,
no vacancies in the places of hospitality,
forced to flee as a refugee
with life threatening attempts on your life.

In the seasons of Advent and Christmas
your frailty is remembered,
your vulnerability acknowledged,
your purpose for the world revered.

Come again, to give protection
and shelter.
Come again to strengthen the weak
and to subdue the proud.
Come to our own vulnerability
and enable all to offer
hope to a world in need.