FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT AT GHBC

What a great service we had at Church this morning - sadly, Lynsey, who was leading worship lost her voice on Friday, so wasn’t able to sing, but she played her guitar and with Debs on the keyboard and Mark, who stepped in to sing too, we coped and really enjoyed the whole service and I’m sure the congregation enjoyed it too.

The Church has been beautifully decorated and we even had a countdown to switching on the lights on the Christmas tree,  but at the end of the day, it’s not about how we feel or what we do or don’t do at Christmas, but it’s all about Jesus, our Saviour, who came to this earth as a baby and then died on the cross for us but rose again on Easter Day.

This beautiful frieze, which is probably over 12 feet long, was made by several of those attending the ReCreate craft morning yesterday and it is amazing - I don't suppose you have ever seen so many fantastically coloured camels! 

In the service, we heard how, for our Christmas Project this year by our donations, we can help Ghusel, a remote village in Nepal’s mountains and listened as Brian outlined the hopes and dreams of the people in that small community.  By our giving we can partner with them as they seek to make life better for their whole village, and if we think that times are hard for us, then they are so much harder for those living in Ghusel.

We then listened to a great sermon and David excelled himself today - he said so much that resonated with me and many in our congregation this morning, so I have listened again so that I can quote some of his sermon - what a great start to this Advent season.  

He said:

“The fluctuating circumstances of life 
     DO NOT impact true worship;
they don’t affect it,
     they don’t stop it
          they don’t dampen it
they have nothing to do with 
     true adoration of Jesus.
True worship of Jesus,
     this Christmas spirit
          flows uninterrupted.”
David Mildenhall - Sermon 1st Sunday in Advent 2022