Always winter and never Christmas

The cast of the ‘Xact’ drama group of Holy Trinity Church, Tewkesbury take a bow after having performed ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. This timeless story of the mythical world of Narnia, written by C S Lewis, captures the hearts and inspires the imaginations of one generation after another.

Accessed through a wardrobe into a wintry landscape held under siege by the White Witch where it is “Always winter and never Christmas’, the journey of the children and their encounters are rich with symbolism for our experience of life today.

Christian themes of love, forgiveness, sacrifice and redemption triumph over the wintry oppression of desolation, temptation, betrayal and loss. It’s a tale that climaxes in victory over evil and the restoration of Narnia to all that it was created to be.

For us, it holds out a message of Hope in the midst of our current wintry landscape. Christmas has come (2,000 years ago) and we will indeed soon celebrate it again, come what may. Jesus is our gift of Hope, (as represented by Lewis in Narnia by the mighty Aslan). He is ever present to sustain us in all the challenges we face.

Baptist Church, Station Road

Sunday 4th 4:00pm Carols and Reading at the Old Baptist Chapel, Church Street

Thursday 8th 5:00pm “Jilly Rogers’ Christmas Adventure”—Forefront Theatre (Tickets available from church office)

Sunday 11th 10:30am Carol Service

Sunday 18th 10:30am Children ’s Church Christmas Service “Amazing Days”

Christmas Day 10:00am Christmas Day Service St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury Abbey

Tuesday 13th 6:30pm Scola Cantorum Carol Service

Sunday 18th 6:00pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve 4:00pm Christingle Christmas Eve 11:30pm Midnight Mass

Christmas Day 10:30am Eucharist Celebrate! (Abbey ’s Church on Priors Park)

Saturday 17th 3:00pm Nativity from Scratch plus buffet at Link Youth Centre (Call 07926 889549 for details or to let us know you’re coming) Feel free to come dressed as a Nativity character. Holy Trinity, Oldbury Road Sunday 18th 6:30pm Carols by Candlelight.

Christmas Eve 3:00pm Christingle Service with Puppets (especially for younger families)

Christmas Eve 4:30pm Christingle Service with Puppets.

Christmas Day 10:00am All Age Celebration

Priors Park Community Church , Queens Road

Sunday 4th 3:30pm Advent Special with Communion Sunday 11th 3:30pm Lighthouse Club Nativity Play “Stargazers” Sunday 18th 11:00am Christingle and Lunch

Christmas Eve 6:00pm Carols by Candlelight and Panto “Christmas Fluster” Christmas Day 1:00pm Communal Christmas Dinner (please call 07926 494365 to book your free place)

St Joseph, Chance Street Christmas Day 9:00am Roman Catholic Mass

Wednesday 28th 10:00am Mass Friday 30th 10:00am Mass

….Happiness is an inside job…? A quick glance on the internet shows dozens of books with this very title but is it true?

St Mary's Parish Church, Twyning:

Sunday 18th 11:00am Carol Service

Saturday 24th 5.00pm Christingle

Christmas Day 9.30am Service

St Nicholas Ashchurch

Sunday 18th 6:00pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve 4:00pm Christingle Service

St Nicholas Kemerton

Saturday 17th 6:00pm Carol Service

Christmas Day 10:30am Family Christmas Celebration with Holy Communion

Salvation Army, Station Road

Sunday 18th 11:00am Carol Service with Communion

Sycamore Chapel, Sycamore Road

Sunday 11th 3:00pm Family Fun Event

Sunday 18th 6:30pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve 5:00pm Christingle Service

Christmas Eve 11:30pm Midnight Service

Christmas Day 10:30am Christmas Day Service with Communion

Tewkesbury Methodist Church, The Cross

Wednesday 14th 6:30pm Town Carol Service

Sunday 18th 6:00pm Carols by Candlelight. Christmas Day 10:00am Family Service

Twyning Chapel, Hillview Lane

Sunday 18th 5:00pm Carols by candlelight with mulled wine and mince pies

Sunday 25th 10:30am Christmas Praise

Some years ago, I was living in Afghanistan and an Afghan friend became a Christian. He was arrested and detained in jail bec ause of his faith. The conditions were terrible. He was cold, hungry, and was repeatedly threatened. When he was eventually released, he said something that I’ll never forget. He said, “even though my very life was in danger in prison I knew that because I had Jesus in my heart, I was free”. That was amazing enough but then he went on, “as I thought about that it caused such joy to rise up in me that I just wanted to sing and rejoice all the time”. He was ‘inside’ but he was happy because of something inside him!

When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds in the field, He said “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people”. The “great joy” was the truth that God had come to us as a human. He was to be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us”. Those who saw Him saw God, not just a human being. He had come to rescue, to save, to heal, and to make humankind right with God cause for great joy!

Christians believe that when we turn to Jesus and open our hearts to Him, He lives in us through His Spirit. Christmas ‘presents’ might be on our minds, but when we turn our minds continually to the ‘presence’ of Christ in us, when we receive him in, no matter what is going on around us, we, like my Afghan friend, will experience happiness inside. It seems that it might well be in an inside job!

This Christmas let us, like my Afghan friend, try to practise continually turning our minds to His presence in us saying “Christ in me, the hope of glory”. My Afghan friend is now doing that in America! Happy Christmas. Rev Dan Browne. Pastor: Sycamore Chapel