Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

We all know the scene – children dressed up as shepherds, wise men and angels smiling round a baby Jesus in a hay-filled manger. But how much do we know about the real story of Christmas? What was Bethlehem really like? Who were the three Kings? Who was Mary? Now a new, short guide takes you...

Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus is brilliantly told – the angel’s visit to Mary to tell her she would be mother of the long-promised Messiah, the old priest in the Temple told by another angel that his wife would have a son to be called ‘John’, who would prepare the people of Israel...

It is as undesirable to see all women ‘at the front’ of church leading worship as it was once to see all men ‘at the front’ leading worship. So says the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, and the first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords. Speaking at this year’s Cheltenham...

Here you can download in one document ALL the editorial for December 2018, in either .doc or .docx

The Methodist Church is appealing for help in helping victims of the Indonesian tsunami. On Friday 28 September, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck just off the central island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, setting off a tsunami that engulfed the city of Palu.

Waves more than three metres high swept across the land destroying almost everything in...

There are two early stories that mention fir trees.  The first involves St Boniface, who went to Germany in the 8th century as a missionary and found people sacrificing a child to their god under an oak tree.  Boniface was appalled, and rescued the child. He then chopped down the oak tree and found a...

Recent research by the London School of Economics has found the debt charity, Christians Against Poverty (CAP) contributes £32 million to the UK economy. It seems that for every pound the Christian debt charity spent, it benefitted the wider society four times as much. The LSE also said CAP provides ‘crucial’ face-to-face support and goes...

Room Prayer for Christmas Joy Christmas Dilemma Advent The Manger The Christ who came ** Room (Luke 2:6,7) There was no room for Him. There is no room. In a world full of grasping, acquiring and keeping, of rights and demanding and self-centred living, there is no room for Him, the Child who is God....

No one is really sure, but a story is told of St Nicholas, a bishop who lived in the 4th century, who may have started the custom by accident.  St Nicholas was of a wealthy family, and of a generous heart.  As Christmas approached one year, he wanted to help a poor family whom he...

Do you mostly read the Bible in snatches off an app, or retweeted from friends?  Are the verses always encouraging, making you feel better? That is well and good, but there is more to the Bible than just ‘feel-good’ verses, and to grow as a Christian you need the ‘complete diet’. Now Dr Pete Phillips...

A major new nationwide evangelism initiative for 2020 was recently launched at Lambeth Palace. The campaign, Advance 2020, is a unique initiative on the part of more than 100 evangelists and ministry leaders.  They have agreed to lead a major evangelistic thrust in 2020, and beforehand, to multiply the gift of younger evangelists, through mentoring...

Our pretty Christmas cards do not do it justice – the stable that Jesus was born in would have been smelly, dirty, and full of mess.   So why did God not provide something better for His beloved Son?   Why let Joseph and Mary scrounge around until they ended up in a smelly stable? Perhaps because...