{"id":3554,"date":"2019-12-22T12:27:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-22T12:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3554"},"modified":"2019-12-22T12:27:04","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T12:27:04","slug":"sermon-22nd-december-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-22nd-december-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 22nd December 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth Sunday of Advent \u2013 morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 22nd December 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Advent 4 and Baptism \u2013 morning
\nIsaiah 7. 10-16
\nMatthew 1. 18-25<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nToday we are marking this\nfourth Sunday of Advent with the baptism of Albie. And it is lovely\nto have a little baby boy to remind us all of the significance of\nthis time of year. Christmas has come to have so much \u2018stuff\u2019\nassociated with it, that sometimes we are in danger of forgetting\nthat at the heart of all our celebrations is the miracle of new life\nand the reality of two ordinary parents; Mary and Joseph. A couple\nfrom the back of beyond, humble artisan folk \u2013 forced to undertake\na long and arduous journey just to answer the whim of the government\nof their day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd they had already shown\nthemselves to be so brave, so singular, and so willing to listen to\nGod\u2019s messengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nToday we celebrate\nparticularly the place of Mary in the story. This young girl \u2013\nprobably only a teenager, who had to come to terms with the danger of\nbearing a child out of wedlock \u2013 which was a very risky and\nscandalous thing to do then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut also the bravery of\nJoseph, who put his pride and his concern for his reputation in his\ncommunity by standing by his pregnant fianc\u00e9e. He could so easily\nhave condemned her to be stoned \u2013 or even just set her aside and\nrefused to honour his promise to marry her. But he didn\u2019t. Instead\nhe was prepared to believe the instructions that came to him in a\ndream. He stood by Mary and her child \u2013 raising him as though he\nwere his real father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNo doubt the hardships they\nhad to go through on that first journey to Bethlehem together, and\nthe experience of being with Mary as she gave birth to her firstborn\nson, acted as powerful bonding for the two of them. And he agreed to\nthe name that Mary told him the child was to be called \u2013 Jesus or\nYeshua meaning God Saves. God had already saved Mary from total\ndisgrace. He was saving Joseph from missing out on the joy of being a\nhusband and father. He had saved the child and would go on saving\nthis small family from all the many dangers that surrounded them \u2013\nnatural and man-made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhenever a child comes into\nthe world I think the parents become suddenly and acutely aware of\nall the dangers that surround us in the first few weeks and years of\nlife. Today we are much more knowledgeable about germ theory and our\nhomes are polished and cleaned with all sorts of cleaners that would\nhave amazed Mary and Joseph. Their child may have been Emmanuel, God\nwith us, but I doubt she even had much in the way of boiled water in\nwhich to wash him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNot, I am sure, the sort of\nconditions that young Albie has enjoyed during the first few months\nof his life! So what is in a name? Well, since we like to think about\nthe meaning of Jesus and Emmanuel, I thought it appropriate to do a\nlittle investigating of the names of Albie (or Albert) and John. The\norigins of Albie seem to indicate that he is noble and bright \u2013\nshining out like the candle flame we will shortly be giving him \u2013\nlike the star that lights the way to the Crib for the Wise Men. And\nJohn is an ancient biblical name \u2013 Yochannan \u2013 meaning God is\ngracious. In the New Testament we think especially of John the\nBaptist and John the Evangelist who\u2019s wonderful words we shall be\nhearing this evening and at our Midnight Mass \u2013\u201c\nIn the beginning was the Word\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo Albie has some great\nfigures to guide and inspire him if he chooses to investigate his\nnames as he grows up. But he will also have the love and guidance and\nprayers of his godparents \u2013 Cody and Daniel as well as his parents\nHayley and James, not forgetting big brother Jonah of course!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWe talk a lot about the Good\nNews of Christmas \u2013 the news that God was finally fulfilling his\npromises \u2013 like those that the prophet Isaiah talks of, that God\nhad made to his chosen people through the centuries. That he would\nsend a Saviour to them. But a Saviour who would be not only for them\nbut for all people and through all times. Which means that this\nChristmas is just as much Good News for you and me and Albie and\nJonah and all our other children as it was that first Christmas, all\nthose years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nGod saves and is with us. God\nis gracious to us – and so may we all prove to be noble and bright\nin his honour now and for always. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday of Advent \u2013 morning Sunday 22nd December 2019 Advent 4 and Baptism \u2013 morning Isaiah 7. 10-16 Matthew 1. 18-25 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Today we are marking this fourth Sunday of Advent with the baptism of Albie. And it is lovely to have a little baby boy to remind us all of … <\/p>\n

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