God moved into the neighbourhood

(Note to the reader - I will begin by showing a brief 1 minute video about why Christmas is special, with contributions from young children, in which they say that Jesus came to live with us because he loves everybody, because he wanted us to be good not bad, to fix the problems we were having, because he thought we were important to him, and because he loves us very much. Then I will speak)

So just why is Christmas so special? For Christians it is so special because it means that God came down to live with us. For 33 years God lived on earth as a man – Jesus, and walked amongst us.

How amazing would it be if Queen Elizabeth II decided to come and live here in Billericay? How amazing would it be if the Queen decided to come and live next to your school? How amazing would it be if Her Majesty came into your lessons at school and sat down with you at your desks?

How amazing would it be if Elizabeth played with you in the playground, drank tea with your Head Teacher, and even took you to the medical room if you weren’t feeling well? How amazing would that be?

I think it would be even more amazing than being able to run a knitting needle all the way through a balloon without bursting it. (Note to the reader - I will now perform a brief conjuring trick passing a thick sharp needle all the way through a see through balloon - a great trick)

How amazing it is that in Jesus God came down to live with us. Jesus was born like we are. Jesus grew up like we do. Jesus laughed and cried like we do.

In the Message version of the Bible it says that in Jesus, God ‘became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood’ (John 1:14). Jesus, the King of Kings moved into the neighbourhood, and that’s more amazing than sticking a needle through a balloon, and it’s more amazing than the Queen coming to have tea with Mr Collier or Mrs Haskins – even more amazing than that.

If you could give Jesus a present what would you give him? The children in the video said, “My love; my heart; everything I have.” A famous Christmas carol ends with these words: ‘What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man I would do my part. Yet, what I can, I give him; give my heart.’

Let’s sing that together now.