Our Nativity Service at Ashley Methodist Church is always special, and we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus told so beautifully by the children of our Junior Church. Last Sunday’s service was no exception, and the children enacted the visitation of the angels to the shepherd in their fields and the journey of the three wise men with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus, born into simple folk, Mary and Joseph, as there was no room for them in the inn. Our steward, Margaret Maxwell, welcomed many parents and friends, and the Rev’d Graham Horsley and his wife, helping to lead our worship for the first time. Margaret read some verses and lit the third advent candle.
Six carols were sung all introduced by the children and Henry Marson played us some tunes on his guitar. The first Christmas story unfolded as the children enacted the events as they were told in the four gospels of the New Testament. Graham gave a short address reminding us that at the birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable there were no religious people from the hierarchy of the church, no village people apart from the shepherds tending their sheep, but God was reaching out to every person because of his infinite love for the world. It is important that this story is for the world. Graham asked how many people in this area are reaching out for Jesus because God, through the birth of his Son, Jesus, is reaching out to them, and we also need to reach out to people in our area. We finished by singing the lively carol “See him lying on a bed of straw. Draughty stable with an open door, Mary cradling the babe she bore. The Prince of Glory is his name.” We then blessed each other with the Benediction.