Friends
We have an exciting series of events coming up between now and Christmas. On the 21st of October, celebrated Christian singer-songwriter Rob Halligan is coming to Windsor Methodist Church for a 7pm concert. On the 18th of November at 2:30 at Burnham, Vicci, Mark and a cast drawn from Windsor, Burnham, Cookham Rise and High Street are performing an Old Time Music Hall and on the 2nd of December at 2:30 at Windsor, Vicci and Paul Leddington-Wright are putting on a concert of mainly classical singing and organ music entitled “Through Advent to Christmas.” It is planned to repeat the Old Time Music Hall show at Cookham Rise on a Friday in November, but that date is still to be confirmed.
We have the round of Messy Churches, Live Nativities, Christingles, Carol Services, Christmas lunches and so on to fill December to the brim.
It is so easy to find entertainment today through our televisions and computers, but in the time of Jesus and until only about a hundred years ago there were only the events put on by the community to keep people amused.
The first public radio broadcast in the UK took place on the 15th of June 1920 – not long ago at all in the grand scheme of things. As we have developed increasingly cheap technology, it has become more than possible for each of us to enjoy the kind of entertainment we want, without leaving our houses and with no need to share it even with our nearest and dearest.
It is rare indeed now for the entire family to gather together around the radio or television. As we worry about the mental health and wellbeing of a fractured society, riven with loneliness, these simple concerts and events that run through the church calendar between now and Christmas become important times to gather together friends and relatives and spend time in each other’s company. As it says in Hebrews 10:25 we should be “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
As we move through these social events towards Christmas, we shall once more start to think about the future coming of our Lord. What does “the Day approaching” mean? What will it look like! Are we ready? Although Paul was speaking about gathering together for worship when he wrote these words, the opportunity to gather together at all, and to invite non-Church-going friends, is one worth taking.