Wishes for a child
When Mary gazed into the eyes of the baby Jesus, I wonder what she wished for for him. I’m imagining she did, because Mary was an ordinary woman and isn’t that what every new...
Author: Helen Redfern
Recognising an encounter with Jesus for what it is…
Let’s move on. We’ve spent quite a bit of time with the shepherds, haven’t we? On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the...
Sometimes it’s good to ponder
Yesterday, we saw how the shepherds let loose in the Christmas story. They jumped up and left their flocks to go and find this extra special newborn baby. After they’d seen the baby,...
Meeting Jesus in the most unexpected places
The well known account of the shepherds in the Christmas story has a huge amount to reveal to us about meeting Jesus for the first time. Have another read of it from that perspective...
Dealing with glimpses of glory
I attended the Service of Thanksgiving yesterday to celebrate the life of my uncle. It was a beautiful occasion. Sad of course, but the whole day felt like one of those days where heaven...
It takes more than a tea towel to make a shepherd
The shepherds are a key part of the Christmas story. If you didn’t get a starring role in your school or church nativity play as a kid, chances are you ended up being a...
Announcing the birth
A birth is exciting news. A birth has to be announced, because everyone is waiting with anticipation for the birth of this child. My first son came into this world three weeks after his due...
There was no donkey…or inn…or stable…
Today we arrive at the account of the greatest moment in all of history: the birth of Jesus, God’s son, in human form. It’s a well-known passage, the story that all the nativity scenes...
Joseph accepts Jesus as his son
After spending time in the book of Luke looking at the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah and then to Mary and their subsequent songs of joy, we return to the book of Matthew to...
So where are our songs of joy?
When Mary found out that she was to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God, she erupted into a song of joy. When Zechariah, who had been...
