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A Message from our minister
As we pass the Solstice (earliest sunset and shortest day) and move towards Mid-Winter’s Day (latest sunrise and Christmas Eve) we enter the darkest time of the year. We wait for the light to overtake the darkness … and it starts on Christmas Day. Maybe only a few minutes at each end of the day, but, nevertheless, it starts on 25th December.
So why not make Christmas Day the day of your new start? Sure, the calendar says that the New Year starts on 1stJanuary, but the light begins to bring change from Christmas Day. Perhaps if we set ourselves Christmas resolutions they would work better!?
For over two thousand years people across the world have found a new start as they have found the light of Christ and let Him into their lives. Not just on Christmas Day, not just as a New Year resolution, but every single day around the world people find the new start they need with Jesus.
As we approach 2026, with all that’s going on in the world, we need to find the light to guide us, as the Magi did all those years ago. We need to find the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love we have celebrated in Advent to strengthen our hearts and lives for whatever comes next.
At risk of a cliché: Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas!
On Christmas morning give thanks for the victory of light over darkness and open your hearts to Jesus. Just as the innkeeper opened his shed – despite it not being perfect – not ashamed of what lay inside, just willing to welcome the new life brought by God through Jesus. Celebrate as the shepherds did – without holding back – sharing the Love and Light of Christ with those around us. Start a new journey in faith as the Magi did – heading into the unknown, trusting the guiding light and the testimony of the star – looking for something new.
Let this Christmas be your New Start as you step into the Light of Christ and receive the Love of God shown through the baby born to die. I hope that the Christmas celebrations and services will help you unwrap the greatest gift of all – Jesus and His Love for you. Hear the angels in the Carols. See the star in the bright displays. Find the Christ-child in the familiar story. Only you can open this gift for yourself, no-one else can do it for you.
Have a happy Christmas and may God Bless you in your New start!
God Bless,
REV Mark RS Smith
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DAILY BIBLE READING
CHURCH NOTICEBOARD
WEEKLY PRAYER
We praise You, Almighty God,
for walking with us through Advent.
We praise and thank You:
that You guide and show us the Way;
that You reveal Yourself in the expected and the unexpected;that You are a balm to our pain and a companion in our joy;
that we see prophecies fulfilled, promises upheld;
that we glimpse hope in desperate times;
that tears of sadness can be transformed to tears of joy.
We praise You for the greatness of Your transforming power
as we celebrate Christmas and walk into 2026 with You,
Emmanuel, God with us.
Prayer theme: Thank God that the Advent anticipation is met at Christmas and continues into whatever 2026 holds.
ECO SNIPPET
It’s Christmas time! To everyone in our congregation and friends of Dunscore everywhere .. “A very Happy Christmas and May Peace Prevail in 2026.”
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