But, of course, when we use a magnifying glass, a telescope or a microscope what we are examining is completely unchanged. The small print is still just as small, the distant object is still just as far away and the tiny thing in the microscope is still too small to be seen with the naked eye. What is magnified is our perception of it. We can read the small print; we seem to be nearer the distant object; we can now appreciate the intricacy and beauty of that tiny thing.

What Mary is really saying is that she now sees that God is bigger than she had realised. The same thing applies in Psalm 34 where the writer exhorts us to “magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His Name together”.

So, as we celebrate the wonder of Christmas let us open our eyes wide and recognise just how much greater is our God than we had realised.

It was an August evening back in 1986. We (Dorothy and I, together with our then 8 year-old son, Tim and 6 year-old daughter, Charlotte) were driving on the M5 over the Avon bridge, approaching Bristol. Earlier that day we had said goodbye to all our friends and neighbours in Histon to begin three years study at Bristol Baptist College, in preparation for my call from teaching into the Baptist Ministry.

As we approached the city in all the mixed emotions of that day, we were treated to the most spectacular sunset - a wonderful rosy glow spread across the sky. We saw this as a sign of God’s blessing on our arrival in Bristol and our journey of faith that God had set in motion.

Much has happened since that glorious summer’s evening 22 years ago. First, those three years in Bristol – they were to be three years of study and exams, of involvement in the community life of the college, and of itinerant preaching into South Wales and Southwest England as far as Newton Abbot, Westward Ho and Southampton, on one occasion.

Then three pastorates in Essex, Berkshire and back here to Cambridgeshire - nineteen years of ministering to God’s people, of preaching and pastoring, of shared joys and sorrows. It is one of the privileges of ministry to have been involved in the significant moments of people’s lives. So I look back on the births and the baptisms, the weddings and the funerals with a sense of thanksgiving for being a part of all that.

And beyond the ‘chaplaincy’ dimension of ministry has been the on-going call to be part of the mission of the Church, and of seeking to make the Good News of Jesus Christ real and relevant to people’s lives. This has been one of the most challenging aspects of being in ministry - ‘going against the flow’ of an increasing tide of secularism, apathy and downright ignorance of the Christian faith in 21st century UK.

There have been difficult moments too – times of conflict amongst God’s people, times of seeking God’s on-going guidance, strength and call - particularly when seeking a possible move on to another church, but at other times too. Ever since we bade farewell to Histon in August 1986, it has been a ‘moving experience’, because the people of God are called to be a people on the move. God is always the God of new beginnings – as he will be for us, come this autumn and for Trinity Free Church in all that he has planned for you.

Of course, come Sunday October 12th it will be hard to make our ‘farewells’ once again, to another group of God’s family, whom we have got to know and love these past two and a half years. And, yes, we had planned it all very differently when Dorothy & I began here, back in June 2006. But you will all know by now the major changes in our circumstances over the past two years, that have caused us to end our ministry at Trinity earlier than originally intended. We do believe that God has given and blessed us with this new phase of our lives, as we move to Lichfield to live just three minutes walk from our grandchildren and family. We do not anticipate a quiet life (!), but rather a ‘hands on’ support in the precious pre-school, formative years of Adam and Zoe.

So, thank you, Trinity Free, for your gracious understanding and, indeed, support of our move. But thank you, even more, for your part in the past 22 years of full-time ministry. Thank you for your ‘partnership in the Gospel’.

Grace and Peace be with you all, Nick

Using these as props, I told the story of some of the changes in my own life over the course of the fifty one years since leaving Primary School. It was something of a salutary experience - not least to realise that it had been that long!

But looking back, one could trace the milestones and the memories of grades achieved, of successes and disappointments, and of the people and places where the journey of life had taken me. But this was no random collection of chance happenings and events, as far as I was concerned. The talk to the pupils ended with a quote from Psalm 139 ‘You have searched me, Lord, and you know me…you are familiar with all my ways.’

For the Christian believer, life is not a matter of ‘luck’, chance or fate. Our lives are not written in the stars, but rather in the ‘book of life’ that God has ordained for us all. And, yes, it is sometimes only by looking back that we can trace the pattern that God has marked out for us. But it is a source of comfort and strength to Christians the world over that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us.

And it is not only in looking back on our lives that we may trace that plan, but also, as we look into the future - and all its uncertainty - that we can read and believe the words found in Jeremiah: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope - and a future.’

As nineteen years of ministry draw towards their final few months and the prospect of retirement beckons, God’s promise still rings true - for the past, present and the future - for the individual pilgrim and for the Church.

Thanks be to God for his guidance, his goodness - and his grace!

The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, ‘My Mummy looked back once, while she was driving,’ he announced triumphantly, ‘and she turned into a telephone pole!’

Why you are like a pumpkin

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the pulpy stuff - including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then he carves you a new smiling face and puts his light inside you to shine for the world to see.

When Noah sailed the waters blue, he had his troubles same as you.
For 40 days he drove the Ark before he found a place to park.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it.

Is it true? Is faith in God the most important thing in life?

It is easy to have faith at harvest thanksgiving services and other uplifting meetings. Joy, thanksgiving and belief in God’s goodness bubble up.

But what about the “bad patches”? Will faith hold then?

Jesus spoke of the importance of faith, even if it was only like a tiny seed. It is for us to ask him to cultivate that seed, even at times when we feel it is just no use praying any more.

Yet if we persist in looking to our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be strengthened in times of trouble.

1. While sitting, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number ‘6′ in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

Told you so! There seems to be nothing you can do about it. It’s silly, trivial… but chances are, you’ll attempt it again in a minute or two!

Some clergymen and ministers are glad to see them even if it is only once a year; others are disappointed that they probably come only for a “good sing”.

Well, at least they’re saying thank you for the blessings of their lives. And to thank God for what he’s done for us, while not forgetting people in a worse state than ourselves, is no bad thing. Perhaps the challenge to our pockets posed by the fact of poverty in so much of the world could be the spur to consider what Christian commitment is really about. If it doesn’t extend to our pocket, it probably isn’t very real at all!

Could this be the year when you finally decide to put the harvest hymns into practice?

——o——o——o——o——o—–

Soon Send a Cow was born – and a small group of dairy farmers began by sending pregnant cows from their own herds to poor families in Uganda. They wanted to help poor farmers in Africa to become self-sufficient by providing them with livestock, training and advice.

20 years on, the charity still works with some of the most vulnerable groups in Africa, including children orphaned by war, families affected by AIDS, and disabled people.

All families helped by Send a Cow pledge to pass on the skills and benefits they gain to another family in need – meaning that just a little assistance from the UK goes a long, long way.

Nowadays, Send a Cow works in 10 countries across Africa, giving hope by providing a variety of locally bought animals and other assistance.