{"id":1536,"date":"2017-12-05T22:05:58","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T22:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2017-12-05T22:06:27","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T22:06:27","slug":"ministers-letter-dec-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-dec-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister’s Letter – Dec 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c<\/i>In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: <\/i>who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; <\/i>rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. <\/i>And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death \u2013 even death on a cross!\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/i>(Philippians 2:5b-8 NIVUK)<\/em><\/p>\n

As we enter the season of Advent, I\u2019ve been reflecting on the cost of Christmas.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t just mean the cost of Christmas in commercial terms: although, it has to be said that an obscene amount of money is spent on Christmas celebrations each year. For example, in 2016, UK Christmas spending reached \u00a377.56 billion. To put this in perspective, the estimated cost to ensuring everyone on earth has access to clean drinking water is somewhere between \u00a37.45 – \u00a311.31 billion.<\/p>\n

The cost I have in mind is the cost on people. I fear that we buy into a rather sanitised image of Christmas: it is a wonderful time of good cheer, a time for catching up with friends and meeting with family, for smiling and laughing and being merry. And for some, this is Christmas.<\/p>\n

But for others, Christmas is an intensely lonely and difficult time: it acts as a reminder of friends and family who, for whatever reason, are not present; of distant relations; of loss. While we may be inclined to celebrate, we should not forget those for whom Christmas is a very costly time.<\/p>\n

Yet, for one, Christmas was more costly than we will ever know. Paul alludes to it in the verses above, and the same sentiments are captured in the lyrics from the song, \u201cHow Many Kings\u201d by Downhere:<\/p>\n

How many Kings stepped down from their thrones?
\nHow many Lords have abandoned their homes?
\nHow many Greats have become the least for me?
\nAnd how many Gods have poured out their hearts,
\nTo romance a world that is torn all apart?
\nHow many Fathers gave up their Sons for me?
\nOnly One did that for me.<\/p>\n

At Christmas, we remember that God the Son left His rightful place in Heaven, and entered our world: not in power and authority, but as a vulnerable baby. The God of Creation stepped into our world, and took upon Himself the form of a human being: He became one of us.<\/p>\n

The cost of giving up His Heavenly glory to become one of us, we will never truly understand. How much more did it cost Him to take our death upon Himself: even death on a cross? It\u2019s a cliched, I know, but Jesus truly is \u201cthe reason for the season\u201d.<\/p>\n

May God bless you this Christmas,<\/p>\n

Stuart<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8z2vw-oM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":950,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-dec-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":0},"title":"Minister’s Letter – Dec 2016","author":"admin","date":"11 December 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear friends, As difficult as it is to believe, it has been over a month since I took up post as minister of Clincarthill Parish Church! I have to say that, from my perspective, the last month has flown by: it almost feels like I haven\u2019t had a moment to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":537,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/message-from-our-locum-joan-kilpatrick\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":1},"title":"Message from our Locum – Joan Kilpatrick – Dec 2014","author":"admin","date":"10 December 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends Advent has arrived!\u00a0 Christmas trees are already appearing in windows and thoughts are turning to who\u2019s coming and what there will be to eat and how everyone will be entertained over the festive period \u2013 so many things to think about and prepare for!\u00a0 How will we ever\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":703,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/message-from-our-locum-joan-kilpatrick-nov-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":2},"title":"Message from our Locum \u2013 Joan Kilpatrick \u2013 Nov 2015","author":"admin","date":"1 November 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends Some bright spark reminded me recently that we\u2019re heading rapidly towards Christmas!!\u00a0 The truth is Christmas cards have been in the shops for a couple of months at least, gifts are appearing, schools are working towards their Nativity Plays and we\u2019re beginning to plan for the Church Services,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":728,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/letter-from-our-session-clerk-dec-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":3},"title":"Letter from our Session Clerk \u2013 Dec 2015","author":"admin","date":"7 December 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends in Clincarthill, We are now in the season of Advent and preparing to remember and celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It is such a special time of year and we need to take time in the busyness to remember the meaning of Christmas. Our church\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/letter-from-our-session-clerk-jan-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":1536,"position":4},"title":"Letter from our Session Clerk \u2013 Jan 2016","author":"admin","date":"1 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends in Clincarthill, May I wish you a very Happy New Year and may God be with us all and Bless us in the 2016.\u00a0 May I thank everyone who contributed to the services and activities during the Advent and Christmas season. 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