Superintendent Ministers Letter - December 2019

Dear Friends

Angelic Encounters

On the night that Jesus is born ‘the angel of the Lord appeared and said: “Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy.” (Luke 2:10)

As we prepare for our Christmas celebrations we are surrounding ourselves with angels. The aim is to share God’s love and bless the community by giving the angels away to others. Although the same pattern has been used it is amazing to see the variety of colours and styles that have been created. A big thank you to all our knitters. Every single angel will be blessed at the special Advent service on 1st December. A label will be attached to each angel with Christmas greetings from Christchurch and after the service they will be taken to give to others or left in a place where they may be found by someone passing by and taken home.

Angels play a significant part in the Christmas stories; Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her about her baby and an angel appears to Joseph telling him to marry Mary; an angel speaks to Zechariah telling him of the baby his wife Elizabeth will conceive; the angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth and the angel is then joined by a great company of the heavenly host praising God; and an angel appears to Joseph warning him to take his family to Egypt to escape Herod’s death threats.

Angels also appear in the accounts of the resurrection: John names two angels, Mark talks of a young man dressed in white and Luke has two men wearing bright shining clothes. The common theme in all these appearances is the greeting: ‘Do not be afraid, do not be alarmed.’

Throughout the Bible, angels are instruments of God to comfort and challenge those to whom God speaks, but always with the reassurance of God’s protection. Angels are the way that God has spoken and the way that God still speaks today. Henry Burton in his advent hymn tells us, ‘But his angels here are human.’ So this Christmas as our knitted angels ‘wing their flight over all of Bexhill’ (and other places too) bringing the good news of the birth of the Saviour of humankind, may you also hear the voice of an angel bringing you peace and joy, and may you be an angel, a messenger of God, as you go about this Christmas season, sharing the good news with those you meet: ‘Do not be afraid but believe the good news, to YOU a Saviour has been born, who lived, died and rose again and lives with us always.’

May God bless you this Christmas with joy and peace.

Tricia

‘Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace.’