{"id":2050,"date":"2018-12-14T14:30:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2018-12-25T09:34:49","modified_gmt":"2018-12-25T09:34:49","slug":"day-fourteen-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/?p=2050","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Day – The Lord has come!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was delighted, when visiting friends a few days ago, to be allowed to cuddle a very new baby.<\/p>\n

It set me to thinking \"\"<\/a>that you cannot beat the real thing. The warmth, the gentle breathing (and occassional stirring), the subtle smell of every small baby. It was a treasured moment of this Christmas season.<\/p>\n

Those who know me will know that I love nativity sets and the depictions of the events of the season. However, the wood and porcelain cannot compare with meeting with the real Jesus. In the stable as a baby, on our journeys as a man and in our hearts as our Saviour.<\/p>\n

I pray that in the days, weeks and months to come we will often feel ourselves touched by and connected to God on our journeys together.<\/p>\n

May I join with the rest of the church in wishing you a very happy Christmas.<\/p>\n

Luke 2: verses 6 – 20<\/h3>\n
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, <\/span> and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. <\/span><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. <\/span>An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. <\/span>But the angel said to them, \u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. <\/span>Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. <\/span>This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, <\/span>\u201cGlory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, \u201cLet\u2019s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.\u201d <\/span>So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, <\/span>and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was delighted, when visiting friends a few days ago, to be allowed to cuddle a very new baby. It set me to thinking that you cannot beat the real thing. The warmth, the...<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Nativity5.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2050"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}