The Parish Magazine December 2024

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16 The Parish Magazine — December 2024 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements SHIPLAKE COLLEGE Christmas Fair OVER 60 GIFT STALLS SANTA’S GROTTO FESTIVE FOOD AND DRINK SHIPLAKE COMMUNITY CHOIR Saturday 16 November 10.00am - 2.00pm ALL WELCOME FREE ENTRY AND PARKING www.shiplake.org.uk/christmasfair • Top brand name flooring at the lowest price • Samples to view in your home/office day/evening • Free Advice / FreeQuotes • Old flooring uplifted & furniture moved • Fast turn around on fitting if required • Carpet, design and wood flooring specialists We supply and install: Amtico Carpets - Laminate - Wood - Vinyl Non-slip and more... Tel: 0118 958 0445 10 Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ info@richfieldflooring.co.uk/www.richfieldflooring.eo.uk REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY LUNCH 10th November with a Duo from The D-Day Darlings. More details on our website Christmas at Sonning Golf Club Whether you are looking for Lunch or Dinner with friends, to join a Shared Party Night or host a Private Event, we've got everything you need to make this a Festive Season to remember. Restaurant Lunch and Dinner from £33.50 per person Three Course Festive Sunday Lunch @ £39.50 per person Party Nights with DJ @ £57.50 per person Inclusive of Tea/Coffee, Mince Pies & Table Novelties BOOKINGS NOW OPEN To make a reservation or for more information contact the office on 0118 969 3332 office@sonninggc.co.uk www.sonninggc.co.uk 135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 16 13/11/2024 10:15:09
feature — 1 Three Christmas questions . . . What do you do on Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve has its own customs, the most popular of which is going to Midnight Mass, or the Christ-Mas. This is the only Mass of the year that is allowed to start after sunset. In Catholic countries such as Spain, Italy and Poland, Midnight Mass is the most important church service of the entire Christmas season, and many people traditionally fast beforehand. In other countries, such as Belgium and Denmark, people dine during the evening, and then go on to the Midnight Service. The British are behind some countries when it comes to exchanging presents: in Germany, Sweden and Portugal the custom is to exchange on Christmas Eve. But the British are ahead of Serbia and Slovakia, where the Christmas tree is not even brought into the house and decorated until Christmas Eve. Yule logs are not so popular since the decline of the fireplace, but traditionally it was lit on Christmas Eve from a bit of the previous year’s log, and then would be burned non-stop until Twelfth Night (6th January). Tradition also decreed that any greenery such as holly, ivy or mistletoe must wait until Christmas Eve until being brought inside. OC Williams, Dreamstime.com The Christmas challenges . . . Christmas is a great time of year, but it’s not without its challenges! After one family had put up 250,000 Christmas lights outside, they didn’t dare boil a kettle for fear of blowing the system! The challenge of over-indulging Many of us remember the episode of the Vicar of Dibley, where she had to consume four Christmas dinners! Christmas is a time when we usually eat and drink far too much with the average person gaining six pounds in weight. But Christmas is not simply about gaining weight, but losing what weighs us down. ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7). Whatever your concerns or worries this Christmas, bring them to God. The challenge of overspending In the rush to buy Christmas cards, a woman bought a pack of 50 identical cards. Without reading the verse, she hastily signed and sent them off, but for one. A few days later she read the message: ‘This card is just to say a little gift is on the way.’ Christmas is not about getting into debt, but God getting us out of debt. He spent exactly what was needed on the first Christmas night: ‘You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:21). The challenge is over too quickly Christmas doesn’t last very long, yet the effect of the first Christmas is long-lasting. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16). Jesus has come to bring us life in all its fullness, both for now and all eternity. How do we face the challenges of Christmas? ‘Yet what I can I give? I give my heart’. The Parish Magazine — December 2024 17 Do you believe the Christmas story? The story is told of a farmer who didn’t believe in Jesus. One cold, snowy Christmas Eve his wife was taking the children to a service at their local church, but he refused to go with them. He said: ‘Why would God lower himself to come to Earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!’ So, they left him at home! During the evening the winds grew stronger, and the snow turned to a blizzard. He heard a series of loud thumps on the window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. They had been migrating south when they got caught in the snowstorm. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. The man wanted to help the geese and so he opened the doors of the barn, hoping they would go inside for shelter. But the geese didn’t do anything, despite the man’s efforts to move them. He made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn: ‘Why don’t they follow me?!’ Then he realised: ‘If only I were a goose and become one of them, then I could save them.’ Finally he understood the heart of the Christmas message. God has become one of us in Jesus. The eternal creator God has entered time and space as a baby, to show us who God is and how we can know him. This Christmas, let’s celebrate again this amazing truth that we have a God who knows and can meet our needs in Jesus. ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’’. Matthew 1:23. 135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 17 13/11/2024 10:15:13
Page 1 and 2: The Parish Magazine Magazine Parish
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Page 7 and 8: the parish noticeboard — 1 Advent
Page 9 and 10: Lights shining in the dark! Corinne
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Page 31 and 32: THE SCIENCES The Parish Magazine
Page 33 and 34: CHRISTMAS christmas quiz David Pick
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS — 1 Rev Michael Burgess
Page 37 and 38: THE ARTS — 2 Book Reviews — 2 D
Page 39 and 40: PUZZLE PAGE — 2 CROSSWORD 1 2 3 4
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
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