A Christmas Message from St John’s Methodist Church

My late Mum was a genius at cryptic crosswords and had an extraordinary gift for numbers. I too love word puzzles but alas did not inherit a head for maths, my sister Alison got rather more of those genes I think.

Acrostic poems and puzzles are an ancient literary device in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase. Acrostics were used in the Bible’s Old Testament particularly in the Psalms and remain today a useful way of remembering something important.

The most famous acrostic used in the church is ICHTHUS which in greek means ‘fish’, but also uses the initial letters to spell out ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour’.

Below is my own Christmas Acrostic:
Celebrating Christ’s birth
Hope for the world
Reconciliation and peace between peoples and nations
Immanuel, God with us
Sharing the Good News of God’s love for the world
Thankfulness for family and friends
Memories of Christmas past and those we have loved
Anticipation of what the future holds
Shining Christ’s light in the darkness

Why not have a go at your own acrostic, spelling out what Christmas means to you? Try to think of the positives rather than the negatives, just one word for each is sufficient or be more creative if you prefer.

We are looking forward to celebrating once again the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ at St John’s Methodist Church and invite you to join us for our Christmas events and services of worship, details of which you will find below.

Carol Service
10.45am, Sunday 11th December

Alternative Carols & Music
6.30pm, Saturday 17th December

Christmas Day Service
10.30am, Sunday 25th December

Christ’s peace and blessings to you all.

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