On the second Sunday in Advent we held a service of Carols and Lessons at Ashley Methodist Church last week. It was delight to see so many children join us all of whom were welcomed by our steward Rosalind. Our service was led by our minister, the Rev’d Mark Lawrence. In lighting the second of our four red Advent candles, Rosalind said “Today we light a candle for Peace ” reminding us that in Advent we strive for Peace. Neil and Jill Barnett provided our music on organ, piano and xylophone.
After his call to worship, Mark led us as we sang “Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, followed by a prayer of praise and thanksgiving The Christmas story, from the prophesies in the Old Testament to the events recounted in the New, were read by Keith Harrison, Rod Smith, Margaret Maxwell, Gerry Maxwell, Jill Harrison, Peter Marson and Bunty Hodgkins who read from John, chapter one “In the beginning the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God”. We sang eight carols between readings and Mark said prayers of intercession for others this Christmas time, and we shared in saying The Lord’s Prayer together. In our audio visual system, Mark showed us a recent video on the giving of Christmas gifts in this season which reminded us that the greatest gift is that of our Lord Jesus.