Preparing for Christmas and all that there will be

Across Sussex the Christmas preparations are now well underway; every song on the radio is festive, our farms, shops, and restaurants are busy, school children are focused on nativity play rehearsals, and office parties are in full swing. From our tiny hamlets in the South Downs to our big cities, there are fairy lights and decorations for all to enjoy.

While the county is absorbed in preparing for Christmas, members of churches are marking a season called ‘Advent’. This is an ancient custom of spending a month getting ourselves ready not just to remember the first coming of Jesus to a manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming too. Christians in Advent are preparing for the day when Jesus will return and all things will be made new. We are looking forward to Christmas Day of course, but we are also looking beyond that to the promise and hope of God’s eternity when all that is wrong with the world will be put right.

As a sign that we are expecting Jesus, Christians spend the month of December praying special prayers, looking at our own hearts and lives and saying sorry to God for the times we have not honoured him. It is the spiritual equivalent of the kind of cleaning I do in my house when I know an important visitor is about to arrive. There is always mess to sort out before the celebrations can begin - whether that’s in our homes or in our hearts.

If you pop into a church, you will be able to see at the front there are five candles in a special Advent Wreath, each one representing timeless virtues of faith, hope, love, peace, and justice. In the business of the festivities, it is helpful for us to take time to reflect and pray for ourselves and our neighbours to experience these virtues more deeply. Whether your Advent time is hushed, or hurried, or a mixture of both - may faith, hope, love, peace and justice be what we seek in our communities this Advent time.

Dates for your diary

Find out what services are offered this Christmas by your local church.

The website ‘A Church Near You’ (https://www.achurchnearyou.com/) enables you to easily see what Christmas services are being held by churches in your vicinity this year.

Carol services at Chichester Cathedral.

This year the Cathedral is holding carol services on the following days:

· Tuesday 19th December at 6.00pm

· Wednesday 20th December at 6.00pm

· Thursday 21st December at 6.00pm (also livestreamed)

· Friday 22nd December at 3.00pm

There is no need to book in advance. Entrance is free, so just turn up and enjoy the beautiful offering of worship as we prepare to celebrate the coming of God in the Christ Child.