In my last blog I mentioned being Mary in a nativity play and my school friend Dorothy from Whitehaven was an angel. Here I am again and it’s nearly Christmas, so I’ve used our nativity photo for this blog. Can you find us both?
When I was that age, our family had a Christmas tradition. When we came downstairs on Christmas morning, we knew we were not allowed to go into the lounge. First we had to go through the kitchen into the dining room to have breakfast. Dad was allowed to go into the lounge briefly to put on a record (remember them?) of Christmas carols, but he had to promise to keep his eyes shut; he was not allowed to see if Santa had been.
The anticipation of Christmas had been building for weeks to this climax; once everyone had finished breakfast, we could all go into the lounge together to open the presents.
Anticipation is defined as excitement, waiting eagerly for something you know is going to happen. There are so many examples of anticipation in the Bible and particularly in Revelation. As Christians we anticipate Jesus’ return and being in Heaven to join the angels in worshiping our Heavenly Father.
The angels had anticipated Jesus’ birth to the point they were fit to explode. And they did: their worship burst through the heavens to be witnessed by the shepherds, who were given the privilege to be the first to visit the baby Jesus. But not only that, the angels anticipated Easter: they knew along with the wise men who had anticipated that this was no ordinary birth by giving the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The birth anticipated, too, the death of Jesus and the blood of the Lamb that would give us the victory over death, as mentioned in Rev12:11.
At GoChurch Manchester, we are anticipating the transition of our senior leadership in January 2024. Pastors Alan and Claire are stepping up to be the GoChurch UK Champions and heading up the church planting Big Vision and Pastors Mark and Simone are stepping into the Senior Pastor’s role in Manchester. What an exciting year we have to look forward to!
So, what are you anticipating for 2024? What goals are you setting for the coming year and beyond?
“How great is our God! There’s absolutely nothing his power cannot accomplish, and he has infinite understanding of everything.” Ps 147:5
Be bold, prayerfully setting some big stretch goals or even some little ones. Use the gifts you have already been given. Give them back to God. Invest further in them and let Our Heavenly Father use them for His glory.
Let’s anticipate great things for 2024 together!
