Shoe boxes
Once again this year we were able to give shoe box presents to all the kids in our villages from 3-15 for Christmas.
Mustard Seed managed to get 13,000 boxes to us from donors in the UK despite the financial crisis which meant that not only we but around 30 other churches in the South were able to bring this great blessing to the kids of their villages.
Because of the flu epidemic we were not able to present the kids with the presents in the school which meant they had to come to the church to receive them. Here we see the 12-15 yr olds getting their presents while we were also able to share with them the true meaning of Christmas.
I saw a TV programme recently say that the true meaning of Christmas was peace and loving one another. I suppose they were correcting the commercialism of the season with this idea.
This is good but the real true meaning of Christmas is that around 2000 years ago God became a man and came to earth living among us for around 33 years as a man. God the Father gave God the Son as a gift to us sinners ( hence the exchange of gifts to remember what He did ). Jesus went on to die on a cross so that if we turn from our sins and trust in him we can be forgiven and receive a new life of joy and purpose which starts on this earth and continues into heaven.
There is plenty of historical evidence outside the Bible to prove that Jesus was here, did miracles that proved He is G
od and then died on a cross and was raised again. If we just took stock for a few moments of the true significance of what we are celebrating at Christmas i.e God who made us has been to our planet then it would immediately begin to change our perspective on the the whole purpose of what we live our lives for.
od and then died on a cross and was raised again. If we just took stock for a few moments of the true significance of what we are celebrating at Christmas i.e God who made us has been to our planet then it would immediately begin to change our perspective on the the whole purpose of what we live our lives for.If you're reading this blog and you don't have a personal relationship with God, knowing all your sins forgiven and the certainty of knowing you will be in heaven when you die ( as the New Testament promises to those who have repented and trusted in Christ ) then may I recommend that you find the nearest Christian church that runs an Alpha course o
r a Christianity Explored course and join up as soon as possible. These courses usually last around 10 weeks meeting together once per week. They give you opportunity not only to have a nice meal together and then hear about these truths through a message but also to ask questions in a smaller group format.
r a Christianity Explored course and join up as soon as possible. These courses usually last around 10 weeks meeting together once per week. They give you opportunity not only to have a nice meal together and then hear about these truths through a message but also to ask questions in a smaller group format.Once again our thanks to Lisa and Michael and the team at Mustard Seed who put in a lot of hard work to get these shoe boxes to us and also a special thanks to anyone who might be reading this blog who was a donor of one or more of these boxes.
May God bless you with a double portion of the joy that your gift brought to these kids this year
Yours and His
Pastor Mark
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