We had a fabulous Evening of Christmas Music at St James’ on Thursday 03 December 2015, with the Fellowship Hall filled to capacity.
The entertainment opened and closed with music (and poetry) from our young folk, The Prospects. You did a great job, Craig, Emily and Matthew, and we’re looking forward to hearing even more from you.
In between, we had communal carol singing, vocal duets and solos, flute and violin pieces and several songs by the Praise Group.
We were particularly pleased to sing 3 new Christmas songs by our friend, Roger Jones. Check them out at Christian Music Ministries’ website:
- Angels from the realms of glory (new melody);
- We sing the song of Christmas;
- When our God came to earth.
We would like to thank everyone who took part, whether by performing, making the tea or being part of the audience. The evening raised £617 for church funds.
We have to make special mention of our inspirational musical director, Katherine Robertson, whose contribution included a vocal duet newly-composed by her – “Mary – An Ordinary Girl”.
We’re now waiting for the publication of your first songbook, Kath.
Roger Jones, watch out!
Our Bible reading, by Neil, was from Matthew’s Gospel:
The Birth of Jesus
18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).
24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
Original image: Kate Zaidova via Unsplash
