Dear friends
Yesterday I received our cards for this year’s Christmas mission in the mail. I reckon they look pretty cool and I’ll have them on Sunday ready for you to check them out, and maybe grab a bunch if you’re starting to make gifts. If you haven’t seen the details for the Christmas mission this year, you can checkout the video Jane and I put together here, and also download a simple document with the different ways you can get involved here.
I thought though, I’d take this opportunity to let you know about what we’re trying to focus on a bit harder this year with our Christmas mission, and that’s providing opportunities for next steps and follow ups. For lots of the people we might give gifts too, our Christmas mission is nothing more than a small nice thing we do for people that doesn’t go any further. And that’s okay. But, we hope and pray that as we give gifts to people, some might be interested in finding out more.
One fairly easy option for those who want to investigate further is that we’re making available copies of Rico Tice’s book “A Very Different Christmas“. It’s a very short, very easy little read, and a great way of engaging with the Christmas message. It would be well worth grabbing a couple of copies from church and having them ready if an opportunity comes up as you’re giving gifts. Alternatively, if you’re giving a gift to someone you know is open to thinking about faith, maybe give them a gift as well as a copy of the book.
Through December we’re also be aiming for accessible services, singing Carols and I’ll be preaching on the “a very different Christmas” theme. It’s a good opportunity to invite someone to check out church. Going in to 2022 as well, we’re hoping to keep providing opportunities for follow up and for invitation. We’re planning sermons from Luke’s Gospel in term 1, planning to do more social afternoons like beach picnics, and have discussed running a bible study that’s especially designed for those who are new to thinking about faith. If you’ve got people you think would like to attend things like this, or you have other ideas for next steps that might work for people you know, do let me know.
For now though, I hope you’re getting excited about our Christmas mission, and thinking about whether there’s a way you can be involved. I do think there’s more people in our community who are interesting in engaging with the message of Jesus than we sometimes think, and I hope some of them will do just that through the coming months.
Hope you’re having a great week,
Matt Winter
Associate Pastor | Trinity Church Brighton
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