Dear Friends,

But can Christmas actually come too early? In a very crucial sense the answer must be “No”. The Old Testament constantly invites us to anticipate the coming of the Messiah. So Christmas really came very early indeed in the thinking of those prophets and perceptive believers of that earlier era – by several thousand years in some cases!

The excitement of Christmas always engulfs our home by the time mid-December comes. That sense of anticipation of carols, nativity readings and school plays, and of course our own exciting programme here at Middle Wall, fills our conversations as well as our time. Personally, in the midst of added pressures, I try to carve out moments to reflect on the amazing truth of Christ’s birth and all that ensued for our salvation. Can I invite you to ponder the meaning of Christmas again during this hectic season? Do try to join me in setting aside some quiet moments for contemplation and prayer. It’s a challenge to achieve that, but hopefully we’ll manage it by God’s grace and we’ll be all the richer for doing so! Moreover, when Christmas day itself arrives, we’ll be in the right frame of mind to thoroughly enjoy it!

All of this festivity is, for us Christian believers, only leading up to an even greater date we await – though we can’t put it in our new diaries or mark it on the family calendars for next year! As this Christmas will inevitably draw to a close, like all the other Christmases that have come and gone already, and as we begin the countdown to its return in 2008, let us together proclaim, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” The first disciples never lost the sense that it could happen very soon and it could very well be the case that we might witness this momentous event in our lifetimes!

With every good wish for Christmas,