Changing endings

One of the things that marks the start of the Christmas season for me is the vast array of high quality and big production adverts that are released by large companies, all trying to compete for the biggest chunk of the 16 billion pounds people in the UK will spend on Christmas presents this year. The Coca Cola advert is probably the most famous, and this year the John Lewis advert has impacted lots of people with a great message of how giving is better than receiving.

I know there are many more adverts to come, but there is one that has struck such a chord with me and has reminded me why I do what I do, and why the work of Youth for Christ in the city of Nottingham and beyond is so important. It is an advert for Barnardos:

In youth work, you hear lots of stories. Some stories are funny, inspiring and happy and others are just heartbreaking. The young people that we work with are all on a journey and they all have a different story. Some of the beginnings to their stories have not been good ones. Some people in the lives of those young people think they know what the ending to their story will be. Some people in the lives of those young people have even told them what their ending will be. Some of those endings are not good.

For us at Nottingham Youth for Christ, we believe in a God who specializes in changing the endings to people’s stories. Jesus set people free, healed and restored, turned the world upside down and changed the lives of thousands even millions of people and he is still doing it today.

By listening, loving, caring, creating, laughing, hoping and praying with young people we are here to empower them to change the ending to the story they are living. Sometimes this takes years, sometimes we may never know the ending would have been different without our involvement and sometimes it doesn’t work and the ending is just as heartbreaking as the beginning. But we know we make a difference, we know God is at work in the lives of young people in our city and we are privileged to be a part of it.

Jo Dolby

How many people do you think know .....

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know Already

How about the Christmas story?
The real meaning of Christmas becoming buried under mountains of wrapping paper is no longer a big shock. And the TV specials being the focus of our attention rather than a dirty manger in a pile of straw is hardly breaking news either. But we know it’s there.
Even if we love God we can get a bit distracted in the Christmas hype, focusing on the mandatory Tesco shop instead of the nativity service. Finding the biggest turkey can make us forget the tins for the homeless dinner and the search for the new Nintendo can seem more urgent than re-reading Matthew 2. But what if you didn’t even know the Christmas story to forget it?
This week, chatting to some young people about Christmas, they were asked,
“So what happened at Christmas?”
“Erm, didn’t Jesus die?”
I honestly thought they were having a laugh. How could the BIRTH OF GOD pass them by? But it has. We could pass the blame book about, pointing the finger at politically correct school productions featuring reindeer instead of camels. We could turn to our churches and ask what’s gone wrong. And not forgetting the best scapegoat of all, we could blame the media for commercialising the whole affair. But the blame game never has a winner.
My Grandad was doing his Christmas shopping last year in the town centre. Even though he’s been married to my Grandma for forty odd years, buying her gifts remains a yearly struggle. Needing a rest, he stopped off at Marks and Spencer for a coffee and had to sit next to an old dear, there being no other seats available. They got chatting and he said,
“All this shopping and spending. People have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas.”
“And do you know the real meaning of Christmas dear?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
“Well praise the Lord!”
Turns out this lady knew the real meaning of Christmas. But what if she hadn’t? What if she’d had said, “What is the real meaning that everyone’s forgotten?” What would you say? Well it all started 2000 years ago in a place called Bethlehem?
This December the world will be worshipping a whole host of gods, but the humble, loving carpenter from Nazareth will remain a stranger to many.

Becci Raine

*note the picture used was the only picture of the Christmas story on the first 5 pages of google images. hmm

what gets you in the spirit?

So, now a week into December, I am letting myself getting into the Christmas mood. Maybe that was to do with the friends we saw on Saturday, and the first house that i have been to that has a Christmas tree up. Maybe it was watching my childrens nativity plays last week. Amy , playing Mary, not having a Joseph because he wouldn't come on stage (hopefully it will teach her that you can never trust a guy), and Joel, playing a shepherd, controlling his sheep with a hanky in one had and the thumb of his other stuck firmly in his mouth.
People, and particularly businesses, have been trying to get us into the Christmas spirit since September. With decorations being sold, christmas dinners being promoted and toys being advertised every other advert (in between dishwasher tablets)..we are, every year, brought towards the material side of Christmas quite quickly after the summer holidays. I wonder whether if we as Christians decided to bring the thought of Jesus birth forward that early, we wouldn't be too sorry, just imagine how many chocolates the advent calender would have to hold.
On a serious note, i love Christmas, i love the trimmings, i love the food, i love the tv shows (well, morecombe and wise and dr who obviously), but the fact that all that is a bi-product and that there is nothing more heart warming and special at Christmas than celebrating the birth of my friend and saviour, Jesus. Being a raving penty, you would be surprised to hear that i love going to a little church in my town every christmas eve, in the warm glow of soft lighting, and just remembering is beautiful. Come on guys let's make the main reason the main reason for the season.