For our last service in 2023 Ashley joined with Market Drayton Methodist Church. Mark Savill welcomed a lively congregation and our preacher, Rev. Graham Horsley from Oswestry. Katherine Williams and the music group led songs of worship.
Graham reminded us that amid all the festivities of the last few days we must not lose sight of Jesus, who he really is. Graham’s image of Christmas this year was not the usual stable but the babies in the rubble in Gaza. He prayed for peace in the Holy Land and elsewhere, for refugees, for the bereaved at this family time and for those with personal troubles.
Roy Aldcroft read to us from Matthew 2 – the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem and the subsequent flight of the holy family. Graham asked were the Magi really wise? They set off on a journey not knowing where they were going. Logically they looked for their king at the palace but that only provoked Herod to see this new king as a rival and seek to destroy him. While trying to do God’s will they invoked tragedy. Their wisdom lay in giving up everything to find Jesus and worship him. We can learn from them. We too get things wrong but our new year resolution should be to put Jesus first, to worship and then to serve him.