Talks, Sermons and Reflections

A Crib service 2012 Welcome Light Advent candles Opening prayer O Little town of Bethlehem [Powerpoint of Christmas card] P: Christmas is all about penguins L: What makes you say that? P: Well it’s obvious, isn't it? Christmas is when it is cold, and penguins like cold; Christmas cards always have penguins on them - look there’s my uncle Pickup ... Pickup the penguin. And the best Christmas crackers have penguin jokes in them.  Like:  What do penguins have for lunch? Ice-bergers What do penguins sing on a birthday? Freeze a jolly good fellow What do you call a penguin in the desert? Lost Why don’t you see any penguins in Britain? Because they’re afraid of Wales L: ( interrupting ) Thank you! NO, Christmas is not all about penguins.  In fact, Christmas has NOTHING to do with penguins. The only reason they have penguin jokes is because penguins are ridiculous (penguin looks hurt); and I have no idea why there are peng...

Jesus' birthday party You are a King. You’ve had a baby. He or She is going to be the next ruler. You want to celebrate their birth. You are going to have a party.  Because you’re a big King and you want people to know how big you are, you throw a big party: big parade; a big palace, amazing fireworks, glamorous VIP’s, lavish gifts.  You’re a bigger King. You’ve had a baby. He or she is going to be the next ruler. You want to celebrate their birth. You are going to have a party. Because you’re a bigger King and you want people to know that you are bigger, you throw a bigger party: a bigger parade, a grander palace, more amazing fireworks, A-list glamorous VIP’s, astonishingly expensive gifts You see, in our world, the bigger the king, the bigger the party: you need to show people how big you are.  So what if the one born is the Greatest of kings .. the King of kings and the Ruler of rulers.  What a party!! And yet Jesus, the Son of God, the K...