Category Archives: Christ Church

Glory in the Ordinary: Luke 2:15-21

shepherds“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.” (Luke 2:15-21)

There is one word that best describes the night the Lord Jesus was born – ordinary. The sky was ordinary. An occasional gust stirred the leaves and chilled the air. The stars were like diamonds sparkling on black velvet. Fleets of clouds floated in front of the moon. It was a beautiful night – a night worth peeking out of your bedroom window to admire – but not an unusual one. No reason to expect a surprise. Nothing to keep you awake. An ordinary night with an ordinary sky. The sheep were ordinary too. Some fat. Some scrawny. Some with barrel bellies. Some with twig legs. Common animals. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners. They were simply sheep – sleeping silhouettes on a hillside. And the shepherds? Peasants they were. Ancestors of today’s Bedouin. Wearing all the clothes they owned. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly. True they were conscientious, and hardy as well, to spend every night outside guarding their flocks. But you won’t find their staffs in a museum. You won’t find their writings in a library. No one asked for their opinion on social justice or the meaning of the Torah.  They were anonymous, simple, ordinary people.

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The Greatest of These Is…

Weddings1 Corinthians 13 is probably the most widely read passage at weddings. True, it’s the most beautiful description there is in Scripture about love – yet the context of the passage is not about marriage. It is about serving one another and when you think about it, that is what marriage is really all about.
I’d like us to examine this passage under three headings:

The motive is Love (12:31-13:3)
The quality is Divine (13:4-8)
The purpose is maturity (13:9-13).

  1. The Motive is Love

“And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3)
Do you see how important love is? The gifts of prophecy, knowledge, faith, giving, mentioned here are valuable or worthless depending on one thing: Motive. Listen to how these verses are translated in the Message translation.

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

The question I must ask myself therefore is this: Why am I serving? Why am I not serving? What is my motive?  Our motive must be love. Continue reading

The Blood of Jesus

crucifixionWhat will bring on the feeling of nausea most quickly for you? Is it the debris left on pavements by people who have drunk excessive amounts of alcohol the night before? Or maybe it’s those little presents left for you to step in by anti-social dog walkers who don’t clean up afterwards? Displays of wobbling body tissue resulting from a diet rich in carbohydrates is high on my list.  But what is most likely to cause you to faint? For me it is the sight of blood in the wrong place, especially my own. What is it about blood that makes us queasy, nauseous or likely to faint?  Perhaps it is because deep down in our subconscious we equate blood with life.  There are seven essential biological functions of blood that keep us alive.

  1. Red blood cells transport oxygen from the lungs to every cell in our body.
  2. White blood cells defend the body against invading microorganisms.
  3. Blood transports nutrients from the digestive system and when needed, from our storage reserves to every cell of the body. So fat is beautiful. Well some…
  4. Blood transports hormones from our endocrine glands to target tissues in need.
  5. Blood removes metabolic wastes from every cell to organs that excrete them.
  6. Blood helps maintain fluid balance in the whole body.
  7. Blood helps distribute metabolic heat within the body to maintain a healthy body temperature.

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Love and Marriage

Our reading today is from 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “love” chapter. This is probably the most widely read passage at weddings. True, it’s the most beautiful description there is in Scripture about love – yet the context of the passage is not about marriage. It is about giving for that is what marriage is really all about. I’d like us to consider this passage under three headings:

The motive for love in marriage is giving.
The quality of love in marriage is Divine.
The purpose of love in marriage is maturity

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Full Time Children’s & Family Pastor

ChildMin-1024x576Christ Church Virginia Water is a vibrant evangelical church of many different nationalities and denominations, with a Sunday attendance of 300, united in ‘Knowing Jesus and making Jesus known’.

We are seeking an experienced team player with proven leadership skills, spiritual maturity and a burning passion to reach out into the community and introduce children (0-11 year olds) and their families to the Lord Jesus Christ, nurture them in their faith, and equip them to share Jesus with others.

Click here for a copy of the Job-Description within which are detailed the role’s principal responsibilities.

Appointments are subChildrens-Ministry-logo-small-2ject to interview, references and enhanced DBS clearance. Interviews and potential appointment will take place as applications are received. The anticipated start date is September 2016.

There is a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) that the post-holder is a Christian and applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

Click here for an Application-Form or for more information email Penny.