Christmas 2015 NZFT War Cry

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FAITH IN ACTION | Christmas 2015 | Issue 6632 | $1.50

MIME A SCENE FROM THE XMAS STORY

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Made a gift for a friend GO AHEAD 5

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8 17 Read the Xmas story aloud to GO AHEAD 5

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Ate too many candy canes GO BACK 1

You win at backyard cricket GO AHEAD 2

COIN TOSS HEADS: swap places with leader TAILS: swap with last player

MARKS THE SPOT

God gave us Jesus EVERYONE WINS! John 3:16

Sing a line from your favourite carol GO AHEAD 2

Frown like King Herod GO BACK 4

What does the Hebrew word Immanuel mean?

GO AHEAD 3

Share a fave Xmas memory GO AHEAD 2

GIVE SOMEONE A HUG!

Shared Xmas baking with your neighbours GO AHEAD 3

UP THE LADDER

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DOWN THE TINSEL

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Chased a sheepby GO BAC K2

Holiday traffic MISS A TURN

COIN H E ADS TO S S and las: swap first t TAILS: players everyo safe ne’s

Name 3 characters in the Xmas story GO AHEAD 2

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Kia ora Reclaiming Xmas WAR CRY

The Salvation Army Te Ope Whakaora New Zealand, Fiji & Tonga Territory FOUNDER William Booth GENERAL André Cox TERRITORIAL COMMANDER Robert Donaldson The Salvation Army’s message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human need in his name without discrimination.

War Cry exists to support and advance The Salvation Army’s message, ministry and mission.

EDITOR

Major Christina Tyson GRAPHIC DESIGN

Lauren Millington, Amber Wilkinson STAFF WRITERS

Ingrid Barratt, Robin Raymond, Vanessa Singh CONTRIBUTORS

Martin Barratt (movie reviewer), Kris Singh (music reviewer) PROOF READING

Major Jill Gainsford OFFICE Territorial Headquarters, 204 Cuba Street, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Phone (04) 384 5649 Fax (04) 382 0716 Email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org www.salvationarmy.org.nz/warcry SUBSCRIPTIONS Salvationist Resources Department Phone (04) 382 0768 Email mailorder@nzf.salvationarmy.org $75 per year within NZ PRINT MANAGEMENT MakeReady | www.makeready.co.nz

Now, before long-time churchgoers gasp in dismay, the large Xmas on the facing page is not an admission of defeat by The Salvation Army that the world has finally succeeded in squeezing Christ out of Christmas. It’s a declaration that we’re reclaiming this word as it truly is: a proclamation that Christ (signified by the ‘X’ in Christmas) is still front and centre in our Christmas celebrations.

Have a read of Ingrid Barratt’s excellent article and you’ll understand this isn’t a word we should be offended by. ‘Xmas’ has a long, proud heritage within the church, and we have the chance to bring fresh meaning to it, literally taking Xmas to the streets and telling the story of God’s love for the world.

As you’ll see from the interactive game on our front cover (which we hope you’ll enjoy as a family on Christmas Day), our humble suggestion at War Cry is that the ‘X’ in ‘Xmas’ can be seen like the ‘X’ on a treasure map. ‘X’ really does mark the spot—it’s where God’s richest treasure is found.

It’s an awful and tragic truth that Christians are increasingly known more for what we are against than what we are for. Adding fuel to this are well-meaning Christians who complain at every mention of the word ‘Xmas’, as if it’s a personal attack on their faith. It’s not personal—most of the time, it’s simply marketing!

I recognise that some of the traditions I’ve grabbed hold of growing up in The Salvation Army do lend me a Grinchlike quality at Christmas. Because of the Army’s work with alcoholics, I was taught never to say ‘Merry Christmas’ because the word ‘merry’ implied over-indulging in Christmas spirits of another kind. I’m trying to reclaim that Christmas greeting, because it connects with so many people. When I say ‘Merry Christmas!’, I’m wishing people a carefree and cheerful festive season. More than that, I’m wishing people would let the peace of Jesus be their reality.

So, Merry Christmas on behalf of the War Cry team to all our readers. May this be a season where we cannot hold back our merriment at the treasure God has given our world: Jesus Christ!

Christina Tyson Editor

PAPER Tauro Offset is an environmentally responsible paper manufactured under environmental management system ISO 14001 using FSC® Certified, Mixed Source fibre from (WMF) Well Managed Forests and other controlled sources.

Member of the Australasian Religious Press Association.

All Bible references from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated.

Articles are copyrighted to The Salvation Army, except where indicated, and may be reprinted only with permission.

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BIBLE VERSE Luke 2:11–12 New International Version

‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

Ruka 2:11–12

‘Nō nāianei hoki i whānau ai he Kaiwhakaora mō koutou i te pā o Rāwiri, arā a te Karaiti, te Ariki. Ko te tohu tēnei ki a koutou; E kite koutou i te tamaiti ka oti te tākai ki te kākahu, e takoto ana i te takotoranga kai mā ngā kararehe.’

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WISE WORDS

Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox: that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.

G.K. Chesterton

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Photography: AJ Johnston

BY INGRID BARRATT

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hristmas is a taonga, a treasure for humankind. Some would say the treasure is hidden, buried under tinsel and decorations and obnoxious TV ads and fake Santas. Like all hidden gold, X marks the spot.

Some embattled Christians feel that ‘X’ is a conspiracy to take ‘Christ out of Christmas’. Yet the symbolism behind ‘Xmas’ has been deeply entrenched within Christianity since the days of the early church. In Greek, the word for Christ starts with an X, and was adopted by the earliest Christians. By the fourth century, the X became part of the official battle standard of the emperor Constantine—the first ruler to convert to Christianity.

With the invention of the printing press, X became a widely-known symbol for Christianity. ‘Xmas’, ‘Xian’ and ‘Xianity’ were popular abbreviations adopted by Christians. The X is a richly Christian symbol. It is a hidden treasure. X does indeed mark the spot!

But sometimes we’re so distracted by the details of the map that we fail to see the treasure. While we’re fighting the bandits of commercialism and secularism, we lose sight of Jesus. We do exactly what we criticise. But the treasures of Christmas are all around us. Jesus is hidden in plain sight.

In the Bible, Jesus’ disciple, John, tells the Christmas story in very different language: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with

God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all humanity (John 1:1-4).

The real Christmas story is that God reveals his true self through Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only the creator, but the fulfilment of all he created. Everything has been ‘Christed’ into being, and is restored by Christ. Jesus belongs to all humanity.

He is the righter of all wrongs. He is the light that penetrates all darkness. Jesus is the ‘the fullness of him who fills everything in every way’ (Galatians 1:23).

Jesus is expansive and deep and wide. The truth is that Christmas does not belong to Christians. Christmas belongs to all humanity. We know the origins of the festival are a mish-mash of the pagan and mythical. And followers of Jesus do what they have always done, bringing the Christ-spark to these rituals.

So we need not battle the humanness of our Christmas festival. Instead, we want to bring out the Christ-light within it. Whether this means reclaiming the generosity expressed in gift-giving, the worship we give at the scene of the nativity, or even the joy we find in a jolly, red, mythical figure. It means expanding our viewpoint so that we see Christ where we did not see him before, allowing his light to penetrate the darkness.

We need simply to find the treasure that is hidden in the map. It is marked with an X.

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Bookshelf

Go to www EpworthBooks.co.nz for these Christmas titles

Advent/Spiritual Practice The Season of the Nativity Sybil MacBeth A gorgeous and genuinely helpful treasure trove of ideas for those seeking to reclaim Advent and Epiphany as more than just the parentheses around Christmas.

Author Sybil MacBeth (of PrayingInColor.com) has created a book designed to help people develop greater intimacy with Jesus. Part memoir and theological pondering, married with pages of practices and activities. Suitable for parents wanting to bring the Bible to life and create helpful rituals in their families, but also an asset for preachers and worship planners planning ahead to help people encounter Jesus in different ways next Christmas. (Paraclete Press)

Playlist

Christmas/Theology Cards, Carols & Claus Rex A.E. Hunt Rex Hunt is a retired Uniting Church minister in Australia who says Christmas has always been a weaving of popular culture and religion and argues against adopting a siege mentality to guard its traditions. Hunt shares a ‘short story of Christmas past and present’, discusses Christmas cards as ‘acceptable personalised consumerism’, reflects on the popularity of carols by candlelight events, and considers the ‘folk hero’ of Santa. A fascinating if intellectual exploration of the world’s most popular season, with strong relevance for those celebrating Christmas ‘down under’. (Mosaic Press)

Christmas Wonder of Wonders Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the 20th century’s most beloved theologians. One of the leading voices against Nazism in WWII, this Christian minister and seminary professor was executed for taking part in a plot to assassinate Hitler. This beautiful collection of evocative photographs and biblical reflections are perfect as brief devotions for those needing quiet moments in the rush of the Christmas season. Timeless and reverent thoughts that are sure to be treasured by those who already love Bonhoeffer’s work and an inspirational introduction for others. (Westminster John Knox Press)

Reel News

Folk/Christmas Campfire Christmas Volume 1 Rend Collective Rend Collective’s Christmas effort gives the acoustic folk treatment to many well-known carols and seeks to create an atmosphere of community, embodied by the recurring idea of gathering around a campfire. With its assortment of folk instruments, including banjos, mandolins, bells and tin whistles, this is a friendly, upbeat record.

Including great arrangements of ‘Hark the Herald’, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘Joy to the World’, there are plenty of familiar melodies and some neat surprises too, which makes some of the more tired carols fresh and exciting.

Great for those looking for fun new arrangements for Christmas services.

Worship/Christmas Adore: Christmas Songs of Worship (Live) Chris Tomlin Leading the charge for this year’s Christmas releases is Chris Tomlin’s Adore. Spanning both traditional and original Christmas songs, it’s a fairly solid (if not a bit generic) album. Adore opens strong with the catchy ‘He Shall Reign Forever More’, with pulsing strings and a strong melodic hook giving the song staying power. Many of the album’s 11 tracks take their cues lyrically and thematically from traditional Christmas carols, and placed next to the relatively traditional ‘Midnight Clear’ and ‘What Child’, the juxtaposition works well. Some pleasant musical surprises in what, for the most part, is a safe and dependable release for Christmas.

GIVEAWAY To win a copy of Wonder of Wonders, tell us a blessing you’ve experienced in 2015.

War Cry Giveaway, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org. Entries close 05 Jan.

Sports Biography The Program Stephen Frears / M (offensive language) Ben Foster plays infamous athlete and cheat Lance Armstrong in this biographical drama depicting the events that led to him being exposed.

The story starts in 1993 with Armstrong’s first Tour de France and first interview with Sunday Times sports journalist David Walsh (Chris O’Dowd) on whose book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong this film was based. Walsh carried out a 13-year investigation into the seven-time Tour de France winner.

The Program relates how Armstrong battled cancer, how in hospital he discussed his use of performance-enhancing drugs with his doctor and how, once in remission, he became an unstoppable winner with the help of dubious sports medico Dr Ferrari. Enabled by team manager Johan Bruyneel, agent Bill Stapleton and with the tacit collusion of the cycling authorities, Armstrong would become the drug kingpin of the USPS team, helping his alltoo-willing team mates dope. He also became the ruthless enforcer of a code of silence about the truth, all the time repeating his mantra to journalists that he had ‘never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs’.

Foster is brilliant as the cold and calculating Armstrong, consumed by nothing but winning, while O’Dowd brings a quiet strength to the character of Walsh. There’s great support from Jesse Plemons as Armstrong’s teammate Floyd Landis, a devout Mennonite Christian lured into the doping culture and the first rider to be caught for a practice the Armstrong team had been getting away with for years.

Armstrong’s comeback from cancer and incredible success was a story the world loved and wanted to be true, but instead it reminds us we need to be careful about the character of those we would choose as our heroes.

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Some say the heart and soul of modern rugby is in its forward play, but 24-year-old Canterbury Rugby lock forward JJ Manning says having a relationship with Jesus Christ is the true heart and soul of his life.

Photography: Phil Walter/Getty Images

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utting seats out for the Sunday morning service is not what you’d expect of a professional rugby player, but this is an essential role in the temporary post-quake setting of The Salvation Army’s Christchurch City Corps (church).

It starkly contrasts with appearing on Sky TV as a lock forward in Canterbury Rugby’s championship ITM Cup team.

JJ (Joshua) Manning volunteered his help a couple of years back. ‘I was once told that everyone in a church family should do something. My Christian faith is number one. Sometimes things in life get hard, but God’s always there.’

With Christmas on the horizon, JJ recalls a special Christmas when he was almost 14. He and his family had travelled up to New Plymouth to be with his uncles and their families. His maternal grandparents, Brian and Doreen Bennetts, were there too. The family enjoyed some great times together, including climbing New Plymouth’s towering Paritutu Rock. This was JJ’s last Christmas with his dad. Chris Manning died just 10 months later.

The Christmas following his father’s death was a very different time—quiet and emotional. Christmas Day 2005 stands out in JJ’s memory for all the wrong reasons. Dad wasn’t there anymore.

JJ’s father was a Christchurch policeman who went out for a run on the morning of the 15th of October 2005. The day was meant to be one of celebration. It was Chris and wife Vikki’s 22nd wedding anniversary, and Brian and Doreen were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary that day too.

Tragically, Chris Manning never returned home, dying suddenly while running. Chris was a fit and active 45-year-old whose passing was a huge shock to his family, friends and police colleagues. He was the son of Salvation Army officers LieutColonels Ron and Mary Manning, Although JJ remembers the loss of his father as a terrible event, he says God worked in a remarkable way to bring comfort to the family. With so many friends and family in Christchurch to celebrate his grandparents’ wedding anniversary, they were able to draw on one another for strength and support.

Sights set on rugby From the age of five, JJ played soccer. With poor eyesight, it wasn’t until he got contact lenses at 12 that he was able to play rugby. At the time, JJ was in Year 9 at Middleton Grange School, a Christian school in the Christchurch suburb of Upper Riccarton. JJ was tall for his age and was selected for the Canterbury Rugby age group under-13s team, then the under-14s team, and on up.

JJ still plays with contact lenses. ‘I have to—I’m basically blind without them!’ he says. ‘My genetics didn’t do me too many favours in that respect. I went in for an eye test recently and the optometrist said he hoped I didn’t play any ball sports, as I’d have no chance. He was in shock when I told him what I do. I was quite proud of myself!’

In Year 13, JJ was awarded a sports scholarship to St. Andrews College. Out of the blue, at the end of that year, JJ received a phone call asking if he’d like to play rugby in Japan at Teikyo University in Hachiouji, in the southern area of Tokyo. It was only meant to be for one year, but JJ says it wasn’t difficult to accept an extension at the end of that time. ‘It was just a God-thing and he guided me.’ He remained in Japan for four years.

JJ’s schedule in Japan included a half-day of study and a half-day of rugby, five days each week. This was a big jump in his training regime, as back home he’d trained only for an hour to an

hour-and-a-half maximum. He lost a lot of weight early on, due to the extended training regime and his new Japanese diet.

For study, JJ attended Japanese language classes with a view to obtaining a diploma. He also attended English language classes whenever the teachers wanted him to help out. ‘I was never fluent in Japanese, although eventually conversation was fine. But I struggled with the more formal language. In written Japanese there are four dialects. I learnt to read and write in the katakana and hiragana dialects, but I never managed to master kanji with its 1000 complex Chinese characters.’

At university, 150 rugby students lived in three buildings and spent most of their time together. Each year, JJ shared a room with two other Japanese students. The Teikyo University team played in the National Universities Competition, winning for the first time in JJ’s first year and going on to win the following three years as well. JJ is quick to point out that this success wasn’t because of him. He says the team had been building up to it and it was just good timing on his part to be there at the time.

Although he enjoyed his time in Japan, JJ is happy to be home.

‘We were only given one day off a week and I was often so tired that I just wanted to stay in bed,’ he recalls. ‘Sometimes I’d catch up with my Kiwi mates for dinner, but without knowing the language it took me a while to settle. When I came back to New Zealand three years ago, the pace was much slower—in a good way.’

Christmas in Japan is mainly celebrated by families with very young children. Presents are given, there are Christmas lights, Santa and that kind of thing, but there’s not much that reflects Christianity. While in Japan, JJ used to Skype home for Christmas Day and he’d get a parcel from his mum and the Kiwi chocolate would keep him going for a while. He had a good group of Kiwi friends and some Christmases they gathered together for a hot roast beef feed, in typical Kiwi fashion.

JJ will spend this Christmas Day at his mum’s and he’ll also attend a morning church service at The Salvation Army. With the memory of Christmases in Japan still fresh, he really appreciates spending Christmas at home with family.

Playing rugby at home JJ will be 25 in January. He’s 1.98m tall and weighs 112kg. He says he’d love to make two metres, but thinks he’s probably stopped growing. When asked if he’d always wanted to play lock, JJ replies, ‘I keep telling people I’m too slow to play anywhere else and not fat enough to be in the front row! I’ve played number 8 and 6 a couple of times. Basketball was a sport I enjoyed at school, but I couldn’t jump very high.’

Currently, JJ plays rugby for the Marist Albion Club in the Christchurch senior competition. He was also selected for the NZ Marist XV in 2014. The first year he was back in New Zealand, JJ played for West Coast in the 2013 Heartland Championship.

A couple of players in the Marist Albion team played for West Coast and he was invited by their coach to join them. He travelled over there every Friday afternoon and had a quick run with the team. They would then fly away for the weekend game or play in Greymouth.

In 2014, JJ joined Canterbury Rugby’s wider training group and earned six caps during the ITM Cup season. He also joined the Crusaders for their pre-season training last year. That was a step up, with everyone working hard to prepare for the Super 15 Competition and three All Blacks contesting the locking position.

JJ didn’t have a contract, but was happy to have the opportunity to

Christmas 2015 | 07

for every position and some guys have had no game time. Once the decision has been made you have to accept it and do what you can to assist in preparing those who will be playing.’

The team playing the next game is announced in a team meeting at the beginning of the week. JJ had a couple of starting games and a few off the bench this year. He’d have liked more, but says you simply have to take what you can get.

Faith on and off the field

Sometimes things in life get hard, but God’s always there. learn as much as he could. He did a half day of training with them and then went back to work in the afternoons.

The competition for places in the Canterbury ITM Cup team is really tough. ‘But that’s good,’ JJ says, ‘because it makes you want to perform better.’ In 2015, he was contracted as a full squad member.

There’s a strong focus on getting the best out of every player.

A GPS tracking device is worn to monitor training and to assess individual performance in games. It records how far players have run all over the park along with top speed and average speed. Heart rate monitors are used in pre-season training. ‘If you take it easy at training, they make you do something extra to compensate. There’s no slacking off!’

Many rugby spectators wonder what it’s like in the engine-room of an ITM scrum and how to make sense of scrum collapses and resets. ‘You’re asking the wrong man,’ JJ says. ‘You need to ask the props and the hooker. We just put our heads in and push as hard as we can. A scrum collapse usually happens when someone has a leg lifted off the ground or there’s a loss of bind from one of the props and the balance is upset. Also, teams don’t like going backwards.

Referees see different things and that’s just the way it is.’

Locks do the lifting and catching in line-outs. And in professional rugby it’s a long way up! JJ’s been dropped on his back a couple of times, so far without serious injury. He says you’ve got to trust the lifters to bring you down safely. For the ITM Cup, the Canterbury forwards did three or four half-hour line-out sessions each week. Line-outs were changed often in the hope of confusing the opposition, and there’s no way JJ would ever reveal the codes the team uses!

The Canterbury team concentrates on fitness training in the pre-season so it can focus on rugby skills in the playing season. JJ trains four times a week pre-season. Once the season starts, team members do leg-weights and squats before training on Monday mornings, while on Tuesdays they focus on the upper body.

Thursdays is a power session, with weights and elastic bands for resistance training.

Coping with non-selection or sitting on the bench as a replacement is a challenge. ‘It’s not fun,’ JJ admits. ‘You put in all the work during the week and you want to be out there playing. But you’ve got to respect the coach’s decision. You talk to him to find out why and see what you need to work on. There’s competition

Each Canterbury ITM Cup player has a profile posted on the province’s website. JJ’s profile says that he is ‘active in The Salvation Army and is a diligent, dedicated trainer and a reliable player who is continuing to grow his game at provincial level’.

Being a Christian in professional rugby has its moments, JJ says. ‘There’s some interesting language you have to deal with, and in some teams there’s a drinking culture—although in professional rugby our level of fitness demands that drinking is kept under control.’ He’s always looked up to Brad Thorn as a great model of a Christian sportsman. ‘He did his work on the field but was such a quiet guy off it.’ The two play in the same position.

JJ says, ‘It’s been cool in the Canterbury team this year, with some of the young and older guys starting the week with a prayer group focusing on the team, families, and the people we play for.’

When asked how his father’s sudden death affected him, JJ says, ‘It was weird. My Christian faith was such that even when I was 14 I had a peace. It was hard and I’ve had to work through things on my own that I would have liked to talk to my father about. But God’s been good and he’s always shown up when I needed him.’

JJ has a rich Salvation Army heritage on both sides of the family, giving him plenty of role models to learn from. But JJ reserves his strongest praise for his mother. ‘Mum has a huge passion for helping others,’ he says. ‘She works for The Salvation Army in its Southern Division headquarters as a budgeting consultant. She also does all she can to help keep our local church going. She’s now married to Dean Stevenson and he’s a good guy.

He’s a policeman who served with Dad. Over the years, we spent quite a lot of time with him and his kids, so the transition when he and Mum married was quite easy for me.’

This year, JJ has been involved as a volunteer in a life skills course for men run by The Salvation Army’s Christchurch City Community Ministry Centre. ‘I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, so I just sat in as an extra pair of ears for the guys that were there. It was an incredible experience! What some of the guys had been through was a real eye-opener for me. There’s so much satisfaction in just giving them a bit of hope or showing them another way of doing things. When I talked about my involvement in Canterbury Rugby I don’t think they believed me, so when they saw me on the field they were a bit shocked. They didn’t pick that a quiet guy from The Salvation Army would do such a thing.’

Professional rugby players live with uncertainty. They have goals, but so many of their options are dependent on agents, selectors, coaches, resources, performance and team success.

They experience adulation and rejection; resilience and fragility; accomplishment and failure. But JJ, who learnt as a teenager just how uncertain and fragile life can be, is up for the challenge.

The overriding reality for this young man as he determines his future is that God’s guidance will be sought and God’s leading relied upon.

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ENVIRONMENT

LIFESTYLE

Dreamin’ of a Green Christmas

A Guilt-free Christmas Guilt and Christmas go together like a six-pack of mince pies and a tummy ache … can you have one without the other? Yes! Here’s how to enjoy family, food and festivities this Christmas, without the guilt.

Eat to your heart’s content: Christmas is synonymous with overindulging, which leads to guilt. Instead, eat to your heart’s content. That means nothing is off-limits—mince pies, ice cream, ham and turkey with lashings of gravy … But eat only until you feel contented. Keep in touch with your bodily signs of fullness by asking yourself how full you feel, on a scale of 1-10. Try to keep your fullness under a seven, so you don’t start feeling bloated and uncomfortable. Happiness is getting through Christmas without feeling sick.

We’re dreaming of a green Christmas that’s creative, natural and festive, without the plastic pile-up.

Buy luscious local fare: Local craft fairs and artisan shops are a great source of gifts and festive food. Buying locally means you support your local economy, and can often get the story behind the product.

Face up to family expectations: All families have traditions around Christmas and a lifetime of unspoken expectations, which can cause unnecessary guilt and stress. Instead, have an open conversation with your loved ones and come to an agreement that suits most of you. A common example is trying to juggle commitments between two families on Christmas Day. Instead, talk to both families about alternating celebrations.

Most unspoken expectations can be clarified by simply speaking up.

Go battery free: It sounds like a simple thing, but about 40 per cent of all battery sales are made during the Christmas season, and discarded batteries are an environmental hazard. It’s easy to find alternatives: solarpowered Christmas lights will save you money, and how about buying the kids some good old-fashioned wind power, such as kites and gliders?

Start a ‘green’ tradition: We’re blessed in New Zealand that we can get into the great outdoors on Christmas Day. Start a Christmas Day tradition that passes on a love of nature to the next generation, such as a post-lunch walk through native bush.

Avoid credit card calamities: One of the most stressful expectations is how much you’ll spend on Christmas. Again, have an open conversation with your loved ones. If gift-giving is a financial burden, it is time to re-think your traditions: suggest a ‘secret Santa’ arrangement or a price limit on gifts. Similarly, make Christmas one meal—you don’t need a week’s worth of food. Remember, Christmas should work for you—you shouldn’t be working for Christmas.

Give the birds a Christmas tree: Give your local birdlife their own Christmas feast by decorating an outdoor tree. Use seed bells, suet, pine cones with peanut butter, and seed trays.

Don’t try to have the perfect Christmas: Almost all our guilt can be summed up in the false pressure to fulfil the fantasy of a perfect Christmas day—with an elaborate meal, decorations, tree, presents, and most of all, perfect family togetherness.

Instead, decide on what is important to your family and focus only on those priorities. Perhaps a trip to the beach will be more fun than a traditional family meal? Throw out the fantasy, and embrace your messy reality!

Choose a live tree: Although plastic trees can be re-used, they will eventually end up in a land-fill. Whereas, a real tree is a renewable resource grown on farms that are replanted regularly, contribute to air quality and can be recycled into mulch. Better yet, buy a potted tree that you can re-pot and it will last you for years. Plus, it will smell heavenly.

Be creative with gift-wrapping: Avoid foil-based paper as this cannot be recycled and won’t break down. But there are so many creative ways to re-use paper as gift-wrapping—such as finding old maps, comics, newspapers and sewing patterns.

Make your own cards: Christmas cards have a big environmental impact—in the US, 300,000 trees are felled just for Christmas cards! A wonderful idea is to re-use your children’s artwork and make them into cards—it’s special, personal and a fun kids’ activity (plus you get to ‘give away’ all those precious works of art).

Little Pineapple Christmas Cakes Without a doubt Alison’s most popular Christmas cake recipe | Makes 6-10 mini cakes 1.5kg mixed fruit 450g can crushed pineapple 3 cups high grade flour 1 tsp each cinnamon and mixed spice ½ tsp ground cloves 225g butter 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence ½ tsp lemon essence 6 large eggs For decoration 50-100g each glace cherries 100-150g blanched almonds

The day before mixing the cake, put dried fruit and undrained pineapple in a large frypan. Cover pan, heat until liquid boils, then simmer until all juice is absorbed. Leave overnight or until cold. Mix flour and spices together and put aside. In a very large bowl, cream butter, sugar and essences until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, adding 2 tablespoons of the spiced flour with each.

Stir in the prepared (cold) fruit and remaining spiced flour. If mix seems too soft, add extra flour until mix just drops from spoon. Put into baking paper-lined tins, level the tops. Decorate with blanched almonds and cherries if you don’t plan to ice.

Bake mini cakes at 130°C for about 1½–2 hours, depending on size of tins. Cakes are cooked when a skewer pushed to the base of the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from tin/s when cold. For a larger (23cm) cake, bake at 150°C for about 1½–2 hours, then 130°C for about 2 hours longer.

From 100 Favourite Cakes & Biscuits by Alison Holst. Go to www.holst.co.nz

Christmas 2015

Q&A Alone for Christmas

Dear Q&A, I don’t have any family and am going to be alone at Christmas. What can I do?

Part of the Christmas mythology is that it is an ideal time of family togetherness. Even though this is often not true—in fact, Christmas can be very tense for families—it makes people outside the traditional family unit feel more isolated than usual.

Just because you are lonely does not mean you are not loved. It may help you to contemplate who the season is celebrating—Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus knew what it was like to be lonely: on the most important festival of the Jewish calendar, Passover, Jesus spent the night isolated, in deep distress and crying out to God. The Bible reassures us that God relates to our sufferings, and says: ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7).

To be human means to be lonely sometimes—but allow God’s love for you to be a comfort. Through prayer, which is simply talking to God, share your feelings and ask for God’s peace to be with you.

Testify Santa Claus tells the true story of three young girls who inspired his gifts, and lets us in on a little-known secret.

The name given to me by my parents was Nicholas. I later became known as Saint Nicholas of Myra, but I prefer my nickname, Santa Claus.

The land in which I became a man was white, cold and fierce.

As a boy, when the snow howled outside, a fire glowed in our hut.

My parents would put me on their knees and tell me stories of the Creator and his son Jesus.

As I grew, I realised that these weren’t just stories. Jesus was the greatest gift ever given to the world. I decided to dedicate my life to giving to others, the way Jesus gave himself for us. But, as usually happens, it was quite by accident that I found the role God had for me in this world.

Three small girls used to play outside my window, where I worked as a toymaker. They wore threadbare clothes and interrupted their clapping games to ask for change from passers-by. I gave them food daily and shelter from the icy air. One Christmas, I made each girl a doll fashioned in their image. Their eyes lit up like they had never known the hardship of the years.

As they became women, I knew a dangerous time was coming for them. In those days a woman had to produce a dowry to marry, which would guarantee her safety in this world. They had no such wealth and so would be

condemned to life on the streets. I knew what I had to do. I used my life savings to provide each of them with dowries.

I then became known as ‘St Nick the gift-giver’. I chose the day of Jesus’ birth to give out my gifts, since Jesus is the greatest gift to the world. As my fame grew, I took on a team of helpers and enlarged my workshop.

Some say they have seen me riding a team of reindeer across the sky like an apparition. Some say my helpers are ageless elves. I will just say this … just as he did that first Christmas, God is still doing miracles today.

But I will let you in on one secret—despite what many wellmeaning parents say, you don’t have to be ‘good’ to earn my gift.

The truth is that no one is good enough to earn the gifts they receive. My gifts are freely given to

anyone who wants to receive them. Just as Jesus gives himself to anyone who asks. I have only ever been a distant reflection of the true gift-giver.

Over the years, my noble beard has become white and my belly rotund. I have exchanged my priestly garb for a comfortable red tracksuit. Imagine my shock when a poem called ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ described me as having ‘a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly’!

‘Well, if the suits fits,’ laughed my wife. When I began work as a toymaker, children loved figurines of warriors and damsels. Today, they love Ninja Mutant Turtles and Elsa from Frozen. But one thing remains—the light in a child’s eyes. In those young eyes, I see a reflection of the great, eternal light of the world.

Jesus is the greatest gift to the world!

Of course, love is most often experienced through other people. So be proactive in seeking out company.

In many places, local Salvation Army churches holds a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service, and some also provide a Christmas Day lunch—a wonderful meal, along with great company. We can only urge you to contact your local Salvation Army and see how they can help you—don’t be afraid to make the first move.

Let’s Talk I would like: to explore what it means to follow Jesus information about Salvation Army worship and activities prayer for the following needs:

You could be a blessing to others who may be alone at Christmas. Are you able to invite people around to your place for a pot-luck meal? Or could you take the opportunity to help out at a local homeless shelter?

But if you are alone, be purposeful in doing something you love—get outdoors, go to a movie or simply read a good book. It may not be your ideal Christmas, but it will give you something to enjoy. Remember, even if no one else is there, God is there and he loves you—that’s the real Christmas message.

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NAME:

THIS CHRISTMAS GIVE A GIFT THAT TACKLES POVERTY AND INJUSTICE www.salvationarmy.org.nz/justgifts

ADDRESS:

Please post to: War Cry, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email: warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org

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WORD SEARCH

H K I N G F P P L B G E R E L U R S W R A P P E D

O S H E E P R X B O Q J C D C G S H E P H E R D S

Afraid Angel Appeared Bethlehem Birth Blessed Census David Decree

L R I M Q Z P A D E U O R A E S V J A A F G A V Z

Y Z C G I G S R N D T O K U E R M Y R R H V O F H

S B W A N R Q A E K L H Y K I P A X T P I O O L J

P I H X D N A A V G I G L H D O R E H D S K S O D

Earth East Flock Frankincense Gabriel Galilee God Gold Herod

I R K G I E O C I I N N G E K K O H P E S O J C I

R T I G S R S M L X O A C C H S M U W P Z I E K A

I H R U A R M S P E Q U M E S E L G X I A N I C R

Holy Spirit Immanuel Inn Israel Jesus Joseph Joy Judea King

T I S T U A M B E E E Z R D N T M P I H S R O W F

V J T F E Y M L S I E V F U Q Q N I Y A C Y D N GW B G W I W E C L O L L I L A G B F K E P N N M D G E V E M M J C P E S R R S H E L I O E E W A S L F U K B U Y R A M B K T G T Y S I Y O A N A J E N

Lord Manger Mary Messiah Miracle Myrrh Peace Ruler Saviour

E F U L E I R B A G I S R A E L A V H A I S S E M

Sheep Shepherds Sign Stable Star Virgin Wise men Worship Wrapped

BY INGRID BARRATT

On Christmas Morning Contemplation can help even the most pressured recapture the joy of Christmas Maybe it’s just me. Maybe not. But there is a pressure that bubbles underneath all the other pressures of Christmas. It is the self-inflicted obligation to feel ‘spiritual’ on Christmas day.

To feel an appropriate amount of gratitude for the world-turning miracle that was God born as a baby boy. To feel joy and peace and goodwill.

Let’s begin by releasing ourselves from this false guilt.

Of course, we cannot feel the vast measure of what God gave humanity at Christmas—it is surely more than our minds can contemplate or our hearts feel. But having released ourselves of the burden to fully experience Christmas, we may be surprised to find that Jesus has been there all along.

‘Contemplation is a sudden gift of awareness, an awakening to the real within all that is real … a present from God, as a free gift of love,’ says Thomas Merton. May we see the ‘real’ within all our comings and goings this Christmas. There may be surprising moments of contemplation that come to you as the kids jump on your bed at 6 am, as presents are opened, pancakes are cooked, a meal is enjoyed, cricket is played … God is revealing something of himself in all these rituals.

But contemplation can also be a mindful way of connecting with God. If you can find a still, small place before the busyness of the day, this contemplation may enrich all that Christmas brings to you and your family. Dip into what resonates with you …

Begin with prayer

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Find a comfortable place to sit, with your back straight. Take a few moments and close your eyes, preparing yourself to listen to what God may be saying to you.

Notice your breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. Use these or similar words: ‘Here I am, Lord. Here I am.’ When you are ready, open your eyes and pray.

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The light shines in the darkness Steve Connor, of Loyola Press, has written this story for Christmas contemplation. Enjoy it and ponder at your leisure …

Imagine you are walking along a country road at night. You see so many stars that you cannot stop looking up. It reminds you of when you were a child and would lie on the grass in the summer and look up at the brilliant night sky. Though it’s dark, you are not afraid. In the distance, you notice a warm, yellow glow of light coming from a house.

You are drawn to the house. As you walk up the path, you feel like you may be intruding, but you knock on the door anyway. Something is drawing you to this place. A small older woman answers the door. She is bent over from arthritis. Her fingers are gnarled. She looks up at you.

Smiling, she says, ‘Please come in. I’ve been expecting you.’ You wonder how she knows you. What do you say to her?

She invites you to sit at the small kitchen table. There are place settings for two. ‘Are you hungry?’ she asks. ‘I’ve baked bread and made some jam. I’ll put the kettle on.’ You look around her tiny home.

You see pictures of people everywhere. Perhaps they are her family, you think. Her home is warm and cozy. You are feeling so comfortable. She turns to you. Her face is so alive. Her eyes are bright and clear. She sits down across from you and asks you, ‘What are you looking for on this dark night?’ What do you say to her? What does she say back to you?

She gets up to make the tea. She brings back to the table slices of warm bread, butter, and jam. The tea smells like wildflowers. You sit in silence, buttering your bread and spreading it with jam. ‘You may feel lost,’ she says. ‘But you’re not.’ Are there places in your life you feel lost?

The woman looks into your eyes and tells you, ‘You’re not lost, because I’m always with you. You may not feel me, or know that I’m there, but I am.’ You gaze into her eyes and feel you are being wrapped in her arms. ‘No one is ever lost. I am with them like a guiding star.’

What do you want to say to her? Is there something you want to give to her at this moment?

The sun begins to rise. You can see the soft dawn light separating the night from the day. She turns to you with a smile that is filled with joy. ‘The light led you here through the darkness. Now the light of the sun will lead you on. My light is always here for you anytime, anywhere. Remember, you are always walking in the light.’

You get up to go but feel like you want to stay. She smiles and opens the door for you. The sun is bright. You walk out the door and

turn back to see her surrounded by the warm glow of the sun. What do you want to say to her? As you walk away, the warm, life-giving light of the sun surrounds you.

Who are the people in your life that have shown you the light when you felt lost or surrounded by darkness? Give thanks for them today, when the Light of the World was born. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ (John 1:5)

If you can find a still, small place before the busyness of the day, this contemplation may enrich all that Christmas brings to you and your family.

Put yourself in the story You are probably familiar with the nativity scene. See it again in your mind’s eye as you think it may have really been—the imperfection, the messiness, the hay, mud and manure. There is Joseph and Mary, exhausted, cradling their new-born baby. There are the humble shepherds. And there are the wealthy wise men bringing their gifts.

Place yourself in this scene. Who are you? What does the presence of this baby mean to you?

‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given … And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). Which of these names resonates with you? What is the God of this name saying to you? Close your eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Bring your thoughts to God in prayer.

Christians awake, salute the happy morn Whereon the Saviour of the world was born!

Rise to adore the mystery of love Which hosts of angels chanted from above; With them the joyful tidings first begun Of God incarnate and the Virgin’s Son. John Byron (1692–1763)

Adele may have broken *NSYNC’s record of most albums sold in the first week, but that doesn’t mean she’s released the best album of the year. Check out our top picks in our fave genres for the REAL winners: ROCK/HEAVY: It was a bit of a lull year for rock albums, with many of the top guns not releasing anything. Christian bands Fireflight, Haste the Day and Emery all released decent albums, with Muse and Fall Out Boy releasing okay efforts in the secular charts. But our fave album was mewithoutYou’s latest effort, Pale Horses.

Because Kiwis are notorious for the whole ‘yeah, nah’ thing, we thought we would write the list and you decide if it’s a yeah or nah trend. So here’s our list of 2015 trends…

NETFLIX: We’ve heard about it for a while now, but finally New Zealand caught up. Now we never need to wait a week in suspense for the next episode, we can binge watch all our favourite shows in a row. From just $10 a month, you’ll never need to watch an ad again.

INDIE: With new albums from fave-folkie Sufjan Stevens, along with indie-rockers Foals, Death Cab for Cutie and Mumford & Sons, as well as electronic cool kids Passion Pit and Chvrches, it was hard to pick just one. Gungor take it out though with their first in a trilogy, One Wild Life: Soul.

WORSHIP: The year wouldn’t be complete without every big name in worship music releasing a new album. In 2015 we’ve had new releases from Planetshakers, Rend Collective, Bethel and Tim Hughes, as well as worship-alty fave Dustin Kensrue. Top spot has to go to Hillsong for a solid new release in OPEN HEAVEN / River Wild.

POP: The tweenie king has returned with a new hairstyle, a new attitude and a heart to share how his faith has transformed him. Whether you’re a Belieber or not, it’s hard to deny Justin Bieber’s dramatic comeback. We reckon his latest album Purpose takes top spot, over Mark Ronson, 5 Seconds of Summer, One Direction, and dare we say it, Adele.

EMOJI: First there was text language, now we don’t even need the alphabet—cute little images are all we need. Emoji help us express all those thoughts and feelings we never knew how to before, like a smiling poop or a shocked cat. And we can finally virtual fist bump.

THE KARDASHIANS: They’ve been haunting us for a long time now, but 2015 was the year the world saw and heard so much about the Kardashians and Co that TV presenters lost the plot live on air and news stations refused to report on them. Love or hate them, the Kardashians were the biggest celeb fam of 2015.

ACTIVE WEAR: If you hadn’t got the memo, it’s now a-okay to wear your fitness clothes outside the gym. Yes, exercise leggings, trendy sport shoes and fluro sweat singlets are now perfectly acceptable at any location. From the movies, to a café to your friends place—you can look the part anytime, anywhere. #PRAY: Hashtags aren’t a new phenomenon but this year was the year of the #PRAY movement. The world suffered a lot of tragedy this year which spurred the hashtag. From #prayfornepal to #prayforparis—the world joined together in acknowledging the need for prayer and hope.

Who would have thought in a year with mostly average movie releases there would be two that would enter the top five highest grossing movies of all time: Jurassic World and Furious 7. Here are the top picks for 2015 according to the dollars: 1 Jurassic World 2 Furious 7 3 Avengers: Age of Ultron 4 Minions 5 Inside Out Honourable mentions: The Martian, Kingsman: Secret Service, Everest, Pitch Perfect 2, Bridge of Spies, Mad Max.

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1 New Zealand became the first team to win back to back Rugby World Cups as well as the first to win the cup three times. Tu meke, boys!

2 Our very own teenage golf prodigy, Lydia Ko, basically conquered the golfing world. Lydia broke seven ‘youngest player’ records, won six golf tournaments, and won the LPGA player of the year.

3 The Black Caps actually played some good cricket and managed to make it into the Cricket World Cup final (they lost …). Thank goodness they did well since we co-hosted the tournament.

This year, we’ve been spoiled for choice with memes and viral videos. Some of the top things on the net this year were Shia Lebouf’s motivational ‘just do it’ video, the Arron ‘see ya later’ Crascall videos, following Pakalu Papito’s hilarious tweets, watching silly people attempt the ‘lip challenge’ and seeing some seriously shockingly fat lips, trying to learn the ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ dance, the ‘what are thoooose?!’ vines, innocently watching a video and then John Cena appears, and that awful dress debacle—is it blue and black or white and gold?!

Our fave internet moment of 2015 has to be the viral video of the Superbowl shark that performed with Katy Perry. That shark was out of it!

Too many aviation tragedies: Taiwan, Fox Glacier, French Alps, Indonesia, England airshow, and Egypt-Russia.

Oxford Dictionary awarded the ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji as this year’s word as it represents the increase in popularity of emoji in 2015. Oxford looked at usage statistics of popular emoji and tears of joy came out on top by a mile. Who knew?! You’ve still got a couple of weeks to get on the band wagon ...

ISIS and its affiliates continued to create wide-spread havoc and tragedy around the world, while the rest of us don’t really know what to do … #PRAY One Direction announced they were breaking up. Oh no!

Wills, Kate and baby George welcomed Princess Charlotte into the family.

Two New Zealand rugby greats passed on: Jerry Collins and Jonah Lomu.

The world gathered to support Nepal after a major earthquake.

NASA found evidence that suggests liquid water flows intermittently on Mars.

The world counted down to 21 October 2015, only to find life was nothing like Back to the Future said it would be.

New Zealand went crazy over the flag debate. Most people are indifferent about it all, while a few of us Kiwis get very passionate.

We’ve had another awesome year of Salvation Army youth events. A record number of us kicked off the year in style at the sixth annual Amplify Creative Arts Camp. Such an incredible eight days of good times and God times. Some of us then took on Festival One or Cloud Festival and listened to some of the best in Christian music.

The South Island braved the weather and had their 7s Sports Tournament, while the North Island had to make do with local events due to some shocking weather! Later on, a bunch of us leaders got together in Christchurch for the Territorial Youth and Children’s Ministries Conference.

As well as a jam-packed year of combined events, we managed to head along to a heap of local divisional events: from worship services to a volleyball tournament, from a car rally to prayer nights. In between were some sweet Easter Camps and Youth Councils where we spent time together getting into the Bible, worshipping and playing crazy games.

Our overall favourite memories: watching 180 young people dodge the hardest tennis balls ever in the Amplify Big Game.

A HUGE THANKS to our awesome Divisional Youth Secretaries: Alison, Brad, Nicky, Pati, Ralph, Shane and Toa, as well as our fearless leader Territorial Youth Secretary Jo! You guys have done an incredible job this year hanging with a bunch of crazy young people. We’ll miss those of you who are moving on.

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A Year of Blessings

A Christmas Message from Territorial Commander Commissioner Robert Donaldson

As I look back on the past 12 months, it is with a deep sense of gratitude to God for his faithfulness. In counting just a few of these blessings, I’m overlooking others, but I want to remind all of us that God is at work through his Salvation Army!

Through the ministry of the Army this year, 500 people chose to follow Jesus for the first time, and we have also seen 200 new soldiers and 75 new junior soldiers enrolled. This is tremendous news and we praise God for his work in people’s lives! Countless lives have also been changed for the better through people’s contact with the dedicated staff of our social services—a work that, while rewarding, is also taxing because it often involves meeting people at their most desperate.

The year started with another successful Amplify Territorial Creative Arts camp. One hundred and eighty-three young people made the most of a week aimed at nurturing their creative talents and deepening their relationship with God. Creativity for the Kingdom was also on the agenda at our first Territorial Creative Ministries Conference in September.

The Salvation Army’s eighth State of the Nation report from our Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit was released in February, again sparking important conversations about the wellbeing of New Zealanders. All year, the unit has continued to promote policies on behalf of those in greatest need.

Our Community Ministries centres are often the front door to people’s connection with The Salvation Army. It is particularly concerning that over 300 people each week came to us asking for emergency food parcels for the first time this year. Over 12 months, we have provided emergency assistance to over 35,500 people, with over 61,000 children. This included transitional housing, life skills programmes, counselling and meeting basic welfare needs. We’ve seen many wonderful outcomes, with staff and corps also striving to introduce Jesus to the people we are privileged to journey alongside.

A pilot scheme offering micro-finance loans in Manukau and Waitakere has helped those on low incomes strengthen their financial literacy while providing a better credit option than loan sharks or third-tier money lenders. Families have received loans for essential household items or vehicles, which are being paid off quickly. Some people have been able to gain employment by having a vehicle for transport, while others have benefited from purchasing computers for their children’s education.

In Fiji and Tonga, The Salvation Army is also advancing its efforts to fight poverty, with a wide range of programmes and strategies. Children benefit from our kindergartens, and the lives of many children and their families are being transformed through our Cherish a Child sponsorship programme. In 2016, The Salvation Army will launch Fiji’s first comprehensive addiction treatment programme. I ask everyone to pray for this significant development. In Tonga, our work in this field is already highly valued.

In both Fiji and Tonga we are seeing the fruit that comes from people choosing to put Jesus and the values of the Kingdom of God first. In July next year, Tongan Salvationists

will host a visit from our international leaders, General André Cox and Commissioner Silvia Cox. I’m pleased to announce that this year’s Red Shield Appeal raised $2,381,063—above target and an increase from last year. Activities associated with this year-long fundraising appeal include general donations through our website and 0800 number, direct mail campaigns, the Red Shield street collection ($821,195) and Red Shield corporate breakfasts. This year, The Salvation Army was recognised by the marketing industry for our Red Shield Appeal television advertising, which depicted our work to provide a safety net for those falling into poverty.

Public funds are crucial for us to meet the significant amount of human need in New Zealand. Nationally, for instance, requests for food parcel assistance increased seven per cent this year.

Our 2015 Self Denial Appeal theme was ‘Hope through Community’, focusing on Salvation Army work in Cambodia, Pakistan, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea. For a second year running, the territory raised over one million dollars, which is an exceptional result! Next year, Salvationists will be able to give their donation in instalments throughout the year, which will be an attractive option for some. At the same time, I encourage all Salvationists to financially support their local corps.

There must be urgency to our mission—so many people desperately need the peace of Jesus in their lives!

Major David Bennett and Captains Ralph Hargest and Perry Bray were deployed from New Zealand as part of The Salvation Army’s International Emergency Services response to the Nepal earthquake. All three testify to witnessing a degree of human need on a scale most of us can scarcely imagine, but also to the Army’s commitment to meeting some of that need. Emergency responses like this remind us of the strength and impact of our international Army to help those in desperate need.

Those who attended the Salvation Army’s international Boundless congress in London in July were part of an incredible and inspirational few days in which the Army’s soul-saving and servant-hearted mission was centre stage. We were especially proud of our New Zealand delegates from Māori Ministry and Zoo Boogie who represented us so well. General André Cox took the opportunity to remind us that if The Salvation Army wants to write on the pages of history going forward from its 150th year, we must make a total surrender of our lives to the will of God and commit unswervingly to the mission to which God still calls us.

At the end of September, the University of Otago released its study into our addiction treatment programme, calling it ‘world class’. The University noted the unique and highly valued spirituality provided at the Bridge Programme. With news like this, it was fitting that our Recovery Church, an offshoot of the Bridge, celebrated its 20th anniversary in October. From one Recovery Church fellowship, started by visionaries Major

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Merilyn and the late Major Kevin Goldsack, we now have 15 Recovery Churches. These congregations are aimed at helping people continue their recovery from addiction alongside others who understand that journey, as all draw on God’s power together.

Our Aspire youth development programme has worked with 500 young people throughout New Zealand this year—in schools, community centres and corps. Research into this programme tells us that many of its participants have become more connected to their communities, gained skills and confidence, and set goals for the future. Many have also gained greater spiritual awareness. Our passionate and skilled team of youth facilitators have worked tirelessly week after week with schools and families to support young people in often tough circumstances.

I am sure that Aspire and our other excellent children’s and youth work across the territory will bring both short and long-term benefits to people’s lives, to our communities and to the Kingdom of God. Thank you to all who are investing week by week in our children and young people.

Hundreds of people have been equipped by programmes run by our Centre for Leadership Development at Booth College, along with additional leadership training from the Mission Resources Department at Territorial Headquarters.

Developing knowledgeable, passionate and effective leaders is crucial for the ongoing health of our Army and I am grateful to all who have played their part in the delivery of this training. A range of spiritual retreats have also been offered, aimed at giving people space and time to fan the fire of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We look forward to more of these opportunities next year.

Our year draws to a close with 26 officers commissioned in Suva and Wellington this month.

It is always wonderful to see people stepping up in obedience to God’s call as Salvation Army officers.

However, ours is a mission that requires the urgent attention of each and every Salvationist. Next year, we look forward to meeting in our own territorial congress in Wellington, from 29 September to 2 October. The theme of this congress is ‘Now is the Time!’ and I am asking as many Salvationists as possible to be part of what I am praying will be a spiritual turning point for our territory. I urge you to make the success of this congress a matter of earnest prayer.

As we pause to reflect on the gift of Jesus at Christmas, we must also reflect that we are to be Christ to the world … now! There must be urgency to our mission—so many people desperately need the peace of Jesus in their lives! I pray that the meaning of his birth will touch each of us so deeply that we cannot help but share his message of love with others in the coming year.

Thank you for your service to God through The Salvation Army. Janine and I are praying that you will know God’s blessings in a very real way this Christmas.

A New Perspective A Christmas message from General André Cox, international leader of The Salvation Army It is with hearts filled with thanksgiving and praise to God that we should enter this Christmas season. I hope we will all take time to reflect and contemplate the everlasting love and eternal plan of salvation that God has prepared since the beginning of time for all humanity.

We certainly have had ample opportunity to reflect on the boundless love of God to The Salvation Army throughout this milestone year of the 150th anniversary celebrations. Once again, now, we think of the extravagant love of God who gave us the greatest gift of all, knowing full well that most of us would not realise the value.

Isaiah wrote: ‘He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.'

God is ready to give his all to save men and women like you and me.

Despite it all, God still went ahead with his plan of salvation for the world! That is why Christmas is such a special time. The extraordinary revelation is that God sees things differently from us.

One of the first things Mary says in her song of thanksgiving to God is: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant’ (Luke 1:46–48).

We see here a clear distinction between the values of God and those of humankind. God is ready to give his all to save men and women like you and me. God is the God of eternity, he is the Almighty and yet he shows his love and concern for weak, imperfect human beings.

The subject of great joy expressed by Mary is a subject of great joy for us all. Yet she continues with another outpouring of thanksgiving and joy: ‘For the Mighty One has done great things for me …’ (Luke 1:49).

One of the elements of the Christmas story which never ceases to amaze me is to think that God is such a great and powerful being, yet he still is interested in us. That is why Mary rejoices and why we should rejoice as we look forward to celebrating the coming of Christ that changed the course of human history. God is ready to stoop down and even to use imperfect men and women to accomplish his plan.

Despite his power, God is happy to show mercy to the small, insignificant and imperfect people that we are. People give honour and glory to what appears to be powerful and wealthy in this world. God does exactly the opposite. God looks at humanity with love and mercy, which is what the story of Christmas is all about.

God turns the value scales upside down and shows his love for the small, the humble and the seemingly insignificant. We need to examine our hearts as we prepare for Christmas so we can eliminate all thoughts of pride and any spirit of materialism because, in reality, whether we are princes or paupers—or the General of The Salvation Army—we are pretty insignificant!

Christmas is about the fact that God came specifically to establish a relationship with us, and his glory is manifested in the lives of ordinary humble people. Christmas is a time of great joy and peace for all mankind.

I pray that we will experience the wonder of that reality in our lives this Christmas time and that we will show it wherever we are!

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BY ROBIN RAYMOND

Christmas Under Construction

Let’s get to the heart of Christmas. The celebration’s all made up. From flying reindeer, to indoor trees and e-cards, as retired Australian minister Rex Hunt says in his book Cards, Carols and Claus, ‘Christmas is a celebration still under construction.’ And that may be a jolly good thing.

Sifting through the history of Christmas and all its weird and wonderful traditions raises some interesting questions about what that heart of Christmas is and, if Christmas is still under construction, what Christmas will you and I build?

In about 6 BC, somewhere near Bethlehem in late December, a child was born and his parents named him … something that wasn’t ‘Jesus’. Because, he was some other child, unknown to history. Because, of course, we all ‘know’ Jesus probably wasn’t born on Christmas Day. Actually, we have no idea what month or day Jesus was born.

The first record of a Christian Christmas celebration is in 336 AD and the decision to celebrate on Christmas Day was made about 20 years later. The first celebrations of Christmas as Jesus’ birthday were, in fact, a takeover of old mid-winter festivals. Christians did as they often did with pagan festivals and gave the celebration a Christian theme. This was a great way of weaving the gospel story into people’s everyday lives!

But having picked a day to celebrate, soon scribes and scholars were coming up with reasons why Jesus had to be born on 25 December. They insisted he was born on that exact day. Yet to the early Christians, what mattered was that Jesus came to save the world, not if he did it on a Tuesday.

Does it matter if we know Jesus’ birthday? What’s so special about this birth that we set aside a day to celebrate it?

Although the initial Christian events on Christmas Day started off low-key compared to the big mid-winter festivals, the two quickly combined into a huge community festival in the Middle Ages.

Christmas began with 40 days of preparations (mostly fasting),

then 12 days of celebration from Christmas Day to 6 January. It all sounds like great fun, with huge street parades, plays, fairs and feasts.

While the church was mostly supportive, at various points religious leaders felt it all got too secular, particularly too much drinking in pubs, but also too much eating and, shockingly, people buying and selling on Christmas Day. Or, in the case of the Puritans in 1600s England, there was the view that this was all pagan nonsense that should be banned. Different religious leaders tried either forcing businesses to close and people to go to church and focus on Christmas, or forcing businesses to open and people to go to work and ignore Christmas. But it turned out you can’t ban people enjoying themselves.

That tension continued when our modern Christmas was invented in the 1800s. That’s when the German tradition of Christmas trees and the Dutch tradition of Christmas stockings became popular in the English-speaking world. In 1843, the first Christmas card was also made (as a specifically commercial activity). Father Christmas was also reshaped and popularised, mixing Clement Clarke Moore’s 1822 poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ with much older traditions.

Father Christmas’s origins are probably as a Scandinavian dress-up game. Looking for something to do in the months of dark and cold, those quirky northern Europeans would get someone to dress up as ‘winter’ and go round people’s houses where they would ‘welcome’ winter. Gradually, this figure got mixed with saints’ stories, in particular St Nicholas of Myra, and this mythic figure became popular in Christmas plays and celebrations.

Fortunately for advertisers, Santa’s revival came along just as the tradition of giving people presents to start the new year was shifting to

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giving presents on Christmas Day. New Year gifts were associated with sharing love, blessings and support for the new year, and with fun.

In the Christian Christmas, gifts were associated with remembering the ongoing gifts of God and the start of the amazing story of God’s greatest gift to us.

But Father Christmas was a marketer’s dream. No other figure has been so closely associated with the commercialisation of Christmas that people have been complaining about ever since.

C.S. Lewis, talking about Christmas, argued there are three types of Christmas: the religious celebration, the secular holiday and the commercial event.

Many people, regardless of their religious beliefs, don’t like the commercialisation of Christmas. We recognise we’re being pushed to excesses that are bad and we shouldn’t get into—over spending, over indulging.

In Cards, Carols and Claus, Hunt argues that the spirit of both secular and religious Christmas is very much goodwill, love and peace.

Everyone looking to celebrate that needs help from being sucked too far into the commercialisation of Christmas, from feeling judged, jealous and isolated, feeling like lesser people if they don’t meet up to commercialisms standards.

So, why do we give gifts at Christmas? Which of the three Christmases will we celebrate: the religious, the holiday, or the commercial?

Hunt suggests that the secular world also uses Christmas as a spiritual time where they discuss and promote Christ-like values, but in a different way to Christians. He says Christmas is a tremendous opportunity to connect if we’re prepared to meet people where they’re at in their own religious experience of Christmas, rather than being people who tell them they have to cut out Father Christmas, not have presents, or complain there aren’t more religious symbols on secular, commercial Christmas things like Christmas cards or Starbuck coffee cups.

And, through it all Christmas continues as a celebration, an opportunity to celebrate peace and love in our world as it is, not as some idealised place.

Perhaps Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it best in one of his Christmas sermons: ‘Despite it all, Christmas comes. Whether we wish it or not, whether we are sure or not, we must hear the words once again: Christ the Saviour is here! The world that Christ comes to save is our fallen and lost world. None other.’

We try and spread that good news with the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’. Yet, for many, Christmas is not merry. It’s a time of stress for the socially isolated, who can be made even more isolated by the feeling that Christmas is not for them—that it’s not for people who don’t relate to a white Father Christmas, and worse, that it’s not for Muslims, Jews or other non-Christians. In demanding that Christmas is only a Christian festival, we risk shutting out these people and removing Christ from their Christmas.

Christmas is also a time when, despite our talking about peace and love, people are still caught up in wars, hunger and all manner of suffering. That doesn’t sound like good news.

As author Steve Maraboli says: ‘Want to keep Christ in Christmas?

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.’

Jesus came to our world—will we? What does it look like to others when we do?

Finally, what we do on Christmas Day was probably decided by Charles Dickens more than any other. His most powerful effort in the reshaping of Christmas happened in 1843, when he wrote A Christmas

Carol. By the 1800s, Christmas was a dying festival, but Dickens’ story and constant championing of Christmas was at the heart of its revival.

Most of what we think a ‘true Christmas’ is, was popularised or revived

by Dickens. A celebration held on one or two days, with a family Christmas dinner featuring turkey. Even the white Christmas, the key role of children and being generous to the poor are all things Dickens attached or reattached to Christmas. He also helped revive carols.

Carolling comes from the French word ‘caroler’, meaning to dance in a circle. In the 1300s, people added Christmas-themed words to fun, popular songs and you had excited people dancing in a circle while singing about Jesus’ birth. They were so joyful, in fact, that (probably for practical purposes) the dancing was banned from churches—so people started going house to house carolling. How much more joyful can you get?

Christians have a reputation, sadly often deserved, as fun suckers.

The Bible talks a lot about joy, but at our worst we turn that to smug contentment or earnestly telling people we’re joyous while looking glum and refusing to have fun. But Christmas at its best captures the sheer child-like fun of celebration, and in carolling we have a great celebration of the overwhelming joy of the Christian Christmas story.

How excited are we by our ‘good news’? Do we have space for carolling in our churches and outside of them?

So, what is the heart of Christmas? In the end, if you strip it all back, what we celebrate as Christians at Christmas is a ridiculous story of astounding proportions: God become man! God become a helpless baby in a dirty, unsanitary stable. A refugee, a homeless man and a condemned criminal who came that people might have ‘life and have it to the full’. Who came to help us into a relationship with God! Christmas, as Bonhoeffer said, ‘Really goes beyond all comprehension: the birth of a child is supposed to lead to the great turning point of all things and to bring the salvation and redemption of all humanity. What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders of religions and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do—that now happens through a new-born child. That is the mystery of the redemption of the wold; everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the almighty God comes to us, descends to us in the form of a child, his Son.’ Isn’t that something worth having a day to celebrate? Worth remembering in ways that reflect that love and goodwill? Worth finding a way to share that peace, love and goodwill with others who need it, regardless of their beliefs or situation? Isn’t that something worth so much joy that you might just find yourself carolling?

We do not have to see [the Christmas] traditions as rivals and eliminate them until only the simple birth of Jesus Christ remains … The purpose of the customs, colours and legends of Christmas is to make available its essential Spirit. A Christmas Spirit that walks around naked will never be noticed. It needs a sprig of holly for allure.

John Shea Starlight: Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year Long

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This is how the community takes care of each other and that’s a great thing we can all do at Christmas.

BY ROBIN RAYMOND

Share the Christmas Spirit Kiwis are being invited to share in the Christmas spirit and join The Salvation Army in helping thousands of families in need at Christmas time.

This Christmas, the Salvation Army will be helping at least 17,000 New Zealand families who are struggling to keep up with the rising costs and pressures of the season. This year, on average, 315 new families a week have come to The Salvation Army needing food parcels. The number of families seeking basic food parcel help is up seven per cent from last year. Territorial Secretary for Community Ministries Major Pam Waugh says the added expenses make Christmas and the backto-school period an especially tough time for many families.

Some end up living from pay cheque to pay cheque or taking on high-interest debt to keep afloat, she says. For many Salvation Army clients at this time of the year, just keeping up with rent and power bills becomes tough and Christmas presents and food are cut back from the budget.

The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas appeal is asking Kiwis to help the Army support the increasing number of families who are finding it tough over the Christmas and new year period. The aim of the appeal is to help these fragile families get back on their feet, making sure they don’t miss out on Christmas and also that they’re able to be better prepared for the year ahead.

The appeal invites people to donate for families through a toll free number or online at www.salvationarmy.org.nz. Donations go to Salvation Army Community Ministries, which is then able to provide food parcels, Christmas gifts and basic necessities to help thousands who would otherwise be struggling, Pam says.

For struggling families with children, Christmas can feel particularly isolating, as children see how much they are missing out compared to friends. Often they are kids who already miss out on extra-curricular activities like music lessons, camps and sports clubs.

However, community support through donations helps parents create a special occasion for their children and makes sure they don’t miss out again, Pam says.

‘Like all of us, these families want to enjoy some special times at

Christmas, to swap gifts with each other and make great memories.

Why should children in these families have to miss out on having a great Christmas just because their parents are struggling financially?’

However, the Army’s focus goes beyond Christmas with an emphasis on getting families set for the long-term through education and financial literacy. Other long-term support can include emergency housing, employment training, counselling, addiction treatment, and a range of parenting, life skills and personal development services.

In some locations, The Salvation Army also helps link up people through the Adopt-a-Family programme where people can support a particular family for Christmas.

Giving is good for us, Pam says, and donations to The Salvation Army are a great example of the Christmas spirit, helping families build special memories of the day and beyond. ‘This is how the community takes care of each other and that’s a great thing we can all do at Christmas.’

Along with being able to make donations, this year the Army is offering Kiwis the chance to give practical Christmas support to a family through its new Gifts of Hope programme. The Gifts of Hope website (www.salliesgiftsofhope.org) allows people to buy specific items or services to help individual families into the new year.

Gifts of Hope include a family a food parcel, a cleaning and hygiene pack or a crisis care pack providing up to $150 of support to a family in an emergency. Other gifts include school starter kits, providing essentials like a sunhat and a lunch box, parenting skills sessions for raising children with confidence, and temporary accommodation to help keep a family safe and sheltered.

‘You cannot help everyone, but everyone can help someone,’ says Pam. ‘Knowing you’ve helped a family put a roast meal on the table, presents under the tree and that you’re also equipping them with the tools to start the New Year is a great contribution to the season. After all, Christmas is a time when we want to think about others and not just ourselves.’

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Say Hi to Shieldy Have you met Shieldy, The Salvation Army’s happy new mascot? Shieldy has been busy making people smile at fundraising events and a few Christmas parades around the country. Shieldy works in the Public Relations Department at Territorial Headquarters in Wellington.

For more info, email pr@salvationarmy.org.nz

Kiwi Community Keen to Help In addition to the Christmas Appeal and Gifts of Hope, many businesses have given New Zealanders other ways to support The Salvation Army’s work. They include: The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal: the popular appeal where customers, schools and businesses donate gifts and cash at Kmart stores has been running for 21 years.

Light Up Someone Else’s Christmas Appeal: Countdown stores are collecting donations of non-perishable food and cash for struggling families. Each Countdown store will also be donating $500 worth of food.

Back to School Add a Dollar Appeal: Warehouse Stationery has been giving customers the opportunity to add a dollar to their bill, with money turned into vouchers that are given to The Salvation Army to help clients with back to school costs.

Bunnings and TSB Bank: Staff are donating food and other items.

My Food Bag Christmas Collection: Donations of clothing, non-perishable food and gifts from customers in Hamilton, Napier, Rotorua, Palmerston North and Dunedin are being collected by staff in the lead-up to Christmas.

Help repair the shattered lives of Kiwi families in need Call 0800 53 00 00 or give at salvationarmy.org.nz

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The Vitality of Christ’s Coming PART THREE OF THREE

Barbara Sampson considers the deeper meaning of the Advent season.

A birth notice is usually a simple matter, announced within a few days of a baby’s arrival. ‘Ron and Melissa are proud to announce the birth of Sophie, a little sister for Jack and Charlie.’

The announcement of Jesus’ birth came, strangely enough, hundreds of years before it actually happened: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned …

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2–7) The prophet Isaiah, writing hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, told exactly who Jesus would be and what he would do. He would come to bring life and light to all those who walk in darkness.

I know some of these darkness-walkers. In fact, I worship regularly with them on a Sunday. There’s Don, for example. Brought down by the demon drink, he lost his marriage, his relationship with his sons and the respectable job he once held.

There’s Ian, laid low by anger built into him as a kid when his parents and others treated him as a piece of scum, a nuisance, a mistake. Using his fists to communicate, Ian’s anger landed him in jail time and again. ‘Sentenced to 10 months, out in five,’ he told me. ‘Or six months, out in three, or eight months, out in four.’ That was the pattern, in and out, in and out, never learning, never changing.

Then there’s Josie, whose downfall was men as she was always looking for a father figure to replace the father who had betrayed her, sold her a lie—a whole pack of lies, in fact.

Don, Ian, Josie are just a few of the crowd who gather on a Sunday to worship a God who knows about darkness, temptations and brokenness (Hebrews 4:15).

The amazing thing about these people is that they have each had a moment of awakening, a realisation that brought them to a turning point, a change, what the Bible calls ‘metanoia’, repentance.

Don’s turning point came through a godly woman who saw beyond the booze to a man with potential. She gave him a meal, offered him a job and helped him find his dignity again. Now, 15 years on from his last drink, Don still gives thanks every day for that woman. ‘She saved my life,’ he tells me often.

For Ian, the awakening was just that—a moment when he opened his eyes wider than they had ever been before and he saw the mess he was in. ‘I just got sick of it,’ he says, amazed both at the change in himself and how long he had lived in a kind of daze. Charting a new

path away from the prison gates was not easy. He slept rough for a time, then in a garage infested with mice. ‘I fed them in the hope they would leave my food alone,’ he says, ‘but it didn’t work.’ His great good news on a recent Sunday was that he had found a place to live and, for the first time in his life, he will have a home to call his own.

For Josie, the change came through a simple phrase that she heard—audibly or not, she cannot remember—but as clearly as someone speaking to her. ‘Don’t stop searching, I’m here for you.’

Wherever the voice came from, it landed in a deep place in her heart and suddenly she knew she had found the love she had for so long been searching. Josie’s face shows the strain of her hard life, but her eyes now tell a new story of vitality, hope restored and love found. She now has a new purpose, or rather a new Person, to live for.

I’m not broken like these people. I’ve only ever been in jail to visit someone. I’ve never got drunk. I’ve been blessed with good parents, a loving husband, great kids and grandchildren. But the darkness of sin has still left its marks on my life. I too have needed an awakening, a turning point, an experience of metanoia repentance. It’s now in the company of my broken friends on a Sunday that we sing together the songs of healing and hope.

‘I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.’

‘Something beautiful, something good All my confusion he understood.

All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife But he made something beautiful out of my life.’

Praise God, he’s brought us each home to a new way of life rich beyond imagining, a place of abundance and hope! The light that shattered the darkness has put together the broken pieces of our hearts. Songwriter Chris Tomlin declares it this way: Light of the world you stepped down into darkness Opened my eyes, let me see Beauty that made this heart adore you Hope of a life spent with you.

Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that you’re my God You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days, oh so highly exalted Glorious in heaven above Humbly you came to the earth you created All for love’s sake became poor …

Wherever we look there are examples of people being set free from darkness and stepping out into the light.

Through the generous giving and prayers of God’s people, a man in Cambodia is given a donkey to help him do his farm work more productively. Young women on the streets of Bangkok are rescued from

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prostitution, given a safe place to live and taught how to sew goods for sale. A babies’ home in Uganda provides love and care, clothing and education for abandoned or orphaned babies who would otherwise have no chance to thrive, or even survive. A village well is dug, a school is built and furnished, a hospital equipped—and the whole community benefits.

Closer to home, a man just released from prison came to a Salvation Army centre for budgeting help. The budgeter told me, ‘We worked for six months on his anger issues, but once we got those sorted, his finances fell into place with no difficulty.’

An alcoholic finally gives in and admits he has a problem. Seeking help, he finds sobriety, his life restored and a whole new faith-filled way of living. ‘I don’t know much about miracles,’ he says, ‘but I know God turned my beer into furniture.’

A woman gives her testimony in a Sunday service. ‘When I was little I played with little toys,’ she says. ‘When I grew up I gave away my little toys and started playing with big toys. But they were bad toys: alcohol, drugs, gambling. I lost everything, even my children.

In linking up with God’s people I’m learning everything new. How to dress myself properly, how to organise my life. In coming to this church I have found people who care for me. I had a dream of a green tree—it was my family. The tree blossomed. It was a promise that they would come back. Now I have my children and grandchildren back again. I have nothing to lose, because I had already lost everything. Now I have everything to gain. I get up in the mornings, have a karakia, read the Bible, start the day with God and everything is different.’

So Jesus continues to come bringing life, giving hope, transforming empty lives into lives of vibrancy and purpose.

He came to give us life in all its fullness, He came to make the blind to see, He came to banish death and doubt and darkness, He came to set his people free.

He liberating love imparted, He taught men once again to smile; He came to bind the broken-hearted, And God and man to reconcile …

These are the true gifts of Christmas, the richest blessings of this Advent season. What difference does his coming make to you? What vitality do you gain from Jesus, whose names can be written with every letter of the alphabet?

Advocate, Bread of life, Counsellor, Deliverer, Encourager, Faithful Friend, Grace-bringer, Helper, Instructor, Joy, Kinsman, Light, Majesty, Nourisher, Overcomer, Prince of Peace, Queller-of-Storms, Redeemer, Saviour, Teacher, Upholder, Vine, Well-Spring, ‘X’ (used as the first letter of the Greek word ‘Christos’ for Christ) Yahweh, Zealous.

At the end of the birth account in Luke’s gospel (Luke 2:21–40) is the story of two elderly people who waited long years for ‘the consolation of Israel’—meaning the comfort and redemption that the Messiah would bring to his people. Simeon and Anna spent years in the temple waiting, praying, hoping, fasting, worshipping. Some inner

The light that shattered the darkness has put together the broken pieces of our hearts. certainty held them in the place where they expected to see the Saviour come. When they saw him, they recognised him.

How did they know what the Saviour would look like? Why did they never give up waiting? It seems that they had hearts softened, moulded and shaped by their years of worship and attentiveness to God, always being in the place of waiting and expectation.

In the moment that Joseph and Mary brought in baby Jesus to dedicate him to the Lord and to offer their sacrifice of thanksgiving, Simeon and Anna recognised the baby for who he was. The One they had watched and prayed and longed for. The One sent to live among the darkness-walkers of the world and to bring them light.

May we too have an expectant, open-hearted stance this Christmas, standing on tiptoes and watching for his coming. May we recognise Jesus in the many ways he comes to those whose hearts are responsive and ready to receive him. May we rejoice once again that ‘a child has been born—for us! The gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counsellor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness’ (Isaiah 9, The Message).

How deep the Saviour’s coming in vulnerability and loss!

How high the priceless value, this holy Advent cost!

How vital is his presence how glorious his reign We bow in adoration And bless the Saviour’s name.

For Reflection What vital (literally ‘life-giving’) result has come from the new life you have found in Christ?

Take one of the ABC names of Jesus for each day leading up to Christmas.

Meditate on it and give thanks for this aspect of who Jesus is.

The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before. …

What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you … So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder.

Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon.

Jan L. Richardson Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas

What do you get if you cross Santa with a detective? Santa Clues!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Jesus’ birth is good news for everyone! When Jesus was born, this was God coming to earth as both God AND human. God knows what it’s like to be a child, because Jesus was once a child like us.

Jesus grew up and taught people how to please God with their lives.

Then he died in our place for the wrong things we’ve done that make a wall between us and God. Jesus’ death and return to life broke down that wall. Now we can be God’s friends forever if we choose to follow Jesus.

The best way we can say thank you to God for sending Jesus is to love God and to help others—just like Jesus did!

MEGA Spot the D fference Can you find 25 differences?

What says Oh Oh Oh? Santa walking backwards!

Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy!

Why are Christmas trees so bad at sewing? They always drop their needles!

What’s green, covered in tinsel and goes ‘ribbet, ribbet’? Mistle-toad!

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It’s Christmas, Eve!

What do you call a cat in the desert? Sandy Claws

What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas quacker!

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Why did the turkey cross the road? Because he wasn’t chicken!

How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizzas? Deep pan, crisp and even!

Chr istmas y r r e Chhe kids ‌ a e t v for a n H ing Fu

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d an

on any

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Ca st l e I sl and

52

at ingnts k e Pe rese URN p AT S MIS

25 24

Shopped til you dropped GO BACK 2

‘God did not send His Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent Him to save them!’

JOHN 3:17

(Contemporary English Version)

50

You get ta powder frlcum Gran agaom in GO BACK 2

No crea the pavm for lo MISS A va TURN

COIN TOSS HEADS: swap places with leader TAILS: swap with last player

You got sunburnt GO BACK 2

Put on yo ur best surp ri gift-facesedGO A H E A D4

COIN TOSS HEADS: the leade goes back to star r t TAILS: you go back to start

Start 1

Didn’t say thanks for your presents GO BACK 3

48

SING AND D A N C E TO JINGLE BELL S

DOWN THE TINSEL

How many reindeer can you name?

GO AHEAD THAT MANY SPACES

DOWN THE TINSEL

3

Hit by falling coconuts GO BACK 4

You buy sunscreen GO AHEAD 3

30

UP THE LADDER

UP THE LADDER

Banished to Castle Island MISS A TURN then go back to start

You build a sand castle that can be seen from space!

GO AHEAD 5

You knock the Xmas tree over START AGAIN

18

Can’t find the sticky tape GO BACK 2