Home

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our website for the

Three Valleys Team Ministry

 

 

 

 

 It is not compulsory to have a party at Christmas

 

It is not compulsory to have a party at Christmas, it is not compulsory to buy each other expensive Christmas presents or even any present at all. Somewhere the message has been lost that the true message of Christmas is not to be found in the umpteen Christmas lunches and works parties or the decorations we may put up at home or the family lunch we have on Christmas Day. The true message of Christmas can in fact be enjoyed and understood without any trappings at all whether we live alone or are part of a large family group.  

We ought to tell our Children that nice though a visit from Santa is he is not the reason for Christmas and they need to know that without Jesus before him Santa would not exist at all. St Nicholas (Santa) was a Bishop who did charitable work because he was a Christian. Unfortunately, many nativity plays are quite likely to have a whole pantheon of Elves, Pixies Walt Disney characters, and Father Christmases’ helpers as well as Mary and Joseph and the others. Make the Nativity story too much like a poor fairy tale and Children will rightly reject the whole thing as just that.

Christians have much to offer I heard a radio program once in which a self-admitted atheist told how she always enjoyed being invited around to some particular friends of hers at Christmas because they were Christian and the way they celebrated Christmas seemed to put everything into perspective for her. She also said. `They knew how to celebrate Christmas properly'.   Strange thing for an atheist to say you might think but then many people are nearer to Christ than they or we realise. What we have the world is thirsting for sometimes literally dying for and yet sometimes I think we try and hide our light, the light that we are here to renew at this season because we are too timid to let it be seen or because we are afraid of what others might think of us. How many of us would deliberately seek out our non-practising friends and ask them to join us at midnight mass or to share family prayers at Christmas?  

It is rather like the man who prayed regularly to God that he might win the lottery so that he could do good with the money. Eventually God heard his prayer and sent the angel Gabriel to speak to him about it. Gabriel said `God has been very impressed by the tenacity of you petition and the length of time you have spent praying. Your motive is undoubtedly pure and you could do much good if you won but please won't you meet God halfway and at least buy a ticket.

 If we want people to see the true meaning of Christmas, we must do something about it and Advent is the season set aside for just that purpose.

 I know - we always hate to risk rejection or scorn but then I imagine Jesus felt the same way.

 

 

Tony Gilbert

 

Team Rector

 

 

 I hope that you will find plenty of useful

 and interesting information in here. 

    

 

 

The Reverend Tony Gilbert

and

Tony with his wife Nicola