Happy New Year! That’s right! This weekend’s service of worship marks the start to a new year in the Christian Calendar: First Sunday of Advent. A rich and varied season, Advent is a time to prepare not only to welcome the Christ Child to Bethlehem, but to wait and watch for his return at the end of time: when God will be “all in all”. At times that can, indeed, seem very much the “impossible dream”. But when we gather round the table—as we will do at the climax of this Sunday’s service—to share bread and cup, we are reminded of the many tangible reminders of God’s grace in our midst, and of Christ’s determination to be with his people: now and forever more.
