Second Sunday in Advent

At last! I made it to Church, still somewhat wobbly on my pins. Fortunately the rain held off. Had to get to the disabled parking bay at 10am, and got the last space even at that. Intended waiting till 10.30, but noticed quite a few going in, so made my way slowly. It is good to hear the choir at rehearsal.

Today was one of the quarterly Communion Services, and additionally we had 5 people being admitted for their First Communion, which is always moving and reminds all of us of our vows. The 5 comprised one mature gentleman, one member of the Bible Class and one young Chorister as well as two others. We have a very large congregation on Communion Sunday.

With today being the Second Sunday in Advent, the service was looking forward to the birth of Christ. Having recently followed elder son’s visit to Israel, I could not help but compare the descriptions in The Gospels according to St Matthew and St Luke with the photographs from son of modern day Bethlehem.

The 3 shepherds are easily understood, but I had not thought much about the 3 wise men or magi. Our minister reckoned that they were probably learned astrologers from Persia.

This was also the first day with our new hymn book (CH4). With the time of the Church year, most of the hymns were well known, but one was new, so the choir sang the first verse and chorus and then all stood and sung the hymn from the beginning.