Christmas Services at Wolverley Church

Sunday 20th December at 6.30pm- Traditional Carols by Candlelight

Christmas Eve at 5.30pm - Crib Service (the wearing of funny hats is encouraged)
Christmas Eve at 11.30pm - Midnight Mass, quiet yet celebratory

Christmas Day at 10am - Carols and Communion - all ages welcome

No service on Sunday 27th December

Epiphany Sunday, 3rd January at 11am Communion for Epiphany

Waiting in Advent

Sometimes I preach from a full text. Sometimes I have notes like this - see below. Here's the bones of my sermon. I'll leave it with you to put the flesh on. Jan - Revd Jan Ashton

The value in Waiting

Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting for Christmas. Waiting for Jesus to come a second time so that God’s kingdom will come and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Waiting. Are you waiting for anything? Waiting for an appointment. Waiting for a interview. What are you waiting for?

We live in a time of action, in 2015 it is doing which is important. Now is important. Not waiting. Have it now. Do it now. Waiting is rubbish. We see no value at all in waiting.

Because the trouble with waiting is that it is often not in our control. We can’t make the hospital give us an appointment - we can’t make the interview come quicker. When we wait we have given up to some extent our control and we wait in someone else’s time. 

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane waited. He waited to be arrested and once arrested he then had no power of his own. He waited for the next thing to happen.

We only wait if it’s important. Otherwise we wouldn’t bother. We wouldn’t bother waiting when we go to the hospital. We’d walk out.

Waiting is a sign that it is important. And while we wait we often have to think about what’s happening. 

We are waiting for Jesus to come again. His kingdom is here now but it’s not finished. We are waiting for pain and suffering and evil to be got rid of. We wait and in waiting we are saying this is important.

During advent we are encouraged to practise waiting. In prayer to think of waiting for Jesus to come back and make everything right. To finish what he started. And we sit perhaps for 5 minutes and wait and perhaps say thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as in heaven slowly over and over again. Sit and wait.  

Waiting has value. It shows us what is important and worth waiting for and what’s not important and hence not worth waiting for. 

Wait for the Lord whose day is near. Wait for the Lord, keep watch take heart.