A European Christmas List

“I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.” Charles Dickens

Because people tend to open their hearts a bit more freely, my teammates spend lots of time with others at this time of year.
So here is a Christmas list of festivities going on across Europe through which my colleagues and I desire to shed some star-light pointing toward Christ.
Possibly this Christmas list might help you to pray for them, give thanks, and enter into some extra joy!
2 December 2006
Christmas club for neighborhood children. Seven children came, listened intently to the Bible story & sang the songs with great enthusiasm. In fact, they re-sang them each time a parent came to pick up a child. One of the parents told us they want to invite us for dinner after the holidays, which is an answer to prayer. (Mark Sims – St. Andéol)


Ladies’ shopping trip to Sheffield (Grace Church - Shirley)

5 December
Christmas party at the Language center. George Swain spoke. Cindy baked. Both along with the other staff members of the language center shared the Good News of Christ with the kids who came to the party. (Prague)

7 December
Feltmakers Ireland Board Party (Holly)

8 December
Good News Club Christmas party (14 kids in attendance) chez Martin. (Paris)

8-9 December
The youth group and others were "in the streets" offering hot coffee and tea, and the book, "The Gift of Christmas" and gospels to the crowds of people gathered for the annual Festival of Lights. (Grace Brethren Church of Lyon)

9 December
Lionhearts Volleyball Christmas event (Tom - London)
Gospel choir Christmas concert, 200 people attended. (Dennis - Paris)

10 December
A Sunday School Christmas program was well attended with lots of visitors and family coming who would otherwise not normally attend. (Dave - Basel Christian Fellowship)

A Christmas program, "The Rain of Christmas," was presented. "Prologue: For centuries on the earth, in spite of the riches of nature, there is a drought in the heart of man. But one day the Son of God was born, pouring out His rain of love and mercy even unto our day." The program was very artistic in nature (dance, acting, spoken message) and the actors were primarily the church's young people. (Grace Brethren Church of Lyon)

11 December
Moms’ Night Out (Holly)

13 December
Felters Guild Christmas Party (Holly)

Knitter’s ice skating party (Holly)

Megane and Anne's Christmas parties with friends (Barlows)

14 December
Reading the Christmas story with ladies' group in Le Creusot, and a gift exchange. One woman read the Christmas story from the Bible for the first time. (Susan)

15 December
“We will have six non-Christian friends for dinner. Afterwards I will read the story of the incarnation from the Gospels, interspersed with Christmas carols. Fadi, an intern in the Lyon church, will accompany us with the guitar.” (Mark Sims)
A “Carol Sing” based on a traditional “nine readings and carols” held in the restaurant of a local hotel. (Basel Christian Fellowship)

16 December
The Christmas program, "The Rain of Christmas" (see Dec. 10 - Grace Brethren Church of Lyon, France)

American Church in London Christmas evening (Barlows)

Caroling in Shirley, England town centre with other churches to distribute invitations to Christmas services Grace Shirley
Christmas party with the Prague Lions. (Swains)

“We have a jewelry and card making afternoon and lunch for ladies.
The children in our group have been learning about God's unstoppable love and plan. They will be celebrating three months of verse memorization with a trip to ENRG, a play centre. Afterwards they, along with a couple of Dads, will be celebrating Christmas by delivering clothes and bags of toiletries that they put together on Sunday nights to a local homeless shelter.” (Dublin: Real Life / Crossroads)

Christmas party at a friend's house - a group of outdoor enthusiasts (Roy)

American International Club Christmas Party at Schwartz’ home (Porto)
17 December
Christmas party at the Dijon church with poetry, skits, Noël songs, a Christmas quiz, some Christmas thoughts and… French culinary delights! (Klawitters)
Evangelistic Christmas service, an invite-your-neighbors Christmas Sunday. The choir has prepared special music. (Mâcon GBC)

A dinner/carol sing in St. Andéol. (Mark Sims)

Junior High youth Christmas party (Martins – Paris)

Christmas worship service in Autun followed by turkey dinner and Christmas program in the afternoon. About 60 are signed up for the dinner! (Griffiths)

Christmas Family Day at the international church with a children’s musical, an all-church Christmas meal, and a devotional about “finding your way home” spiritually. (Yoders – Berlin)

CULTIVATE Christmas party - an organization that promotes Sustainable and Ecological Issues for Ireland (Roy)

Megane and Anne's Christmas parties with friends (Barlows)

Mâcon children's Christmas club (Greg Burgess)

CAMARA Christmas party - a volunteer organization that refurbishes computers for Africa (Roy)
Riverside Porto International Church Christmas Service (Porto)
21 December
The spiritual family to see the film, The Nativity (Martins)

22 December
Comunidade da Graça Christmas Service (Porto)

24 December
Rainer Ehmann has been invited to be the special guest speaker at the Macon church. Christmas Eve celebrations with unbelieving friends … always an opportune time to be verbally bold about our Lord Jesus. We're going to finish the year with good stuff! (Weavers)
Hawkins/Schwartz Christmas Eve Dinner Party for any friends who have nowhere else to go (Porto)

Advent service at our house for friends / acquaintances (Barlows)

Christmas eve celebration with the Dijon church family (Klawitters)

Christmas Eve service Grace Shirley (Kiddos)

“On Christmas eve our group will be having a party together.” (Dublin: Real Life / Crossroads)

A Christmas day service. (Basel Christian Fellowship)

26 December
Christmas dinner in our home for some of the members of our group. Swains
And the European Christmas list goes on and on. E.g. throughout December there were many Christmas Clubs for children announcing the good news of the gospel. (Grace Brethren Church of Lyon)
Baking cookies with friends and sharing in an informal way. (Patty Morris)

Christmas gift The Great Divorce given to all of our language partners & Christmas caroling. (Swains)
On behalf of the entire GBIM Europe team I wish you a very:

Frohe Weihnachten
VESELÉ VÁNOCE
Nollaig faoi mhaise duit
FELIZ NATAL
Feliz Navidad
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Joyeux Noël...

...to one and all! paul

Just imagine a church that...

A hindrance for many Europeans is their perception of the Church. They avoid churches in order to stay pure! They want to keep themselves clean from guilt by association (see Jan. 06 entries “Smoke, mirrors and incandescence”).
Others eschew church because it feels like meetings and school, when they are seeking spirituality and community.

One might say, “They can think what they like, but our church is not like that!” But you cannot convince them of that for as the adage goes, “Perception is reality to the one who perceives.”

A week ago, I attended a DAWN / GEM / Kontaktmission consortium in Basel, Switzerland where directors of European church planting missions deliberated various questions. One of those discussions centered on, “What is church?”

Paul Morris presenting the Christian Associates' philosophy of ministryBasel - November 2006

How would you answer the question, "What is church?" (I admit to being less than satisfied when the consortium's discussion group recommended John Nelson Darby's definition of church as a worshipping, witnessing, working - social impact - community.)

Geoffrey Bromiley says that the Church can be “described in several pregnant phrases.” ("Church" in ISBE, vol. 1, p.693). Could it really be that simple?!
He asserts that the Church is the:
? people or Israel of God (Eph. 2:12; cf. 1 Pet. 2:9-10),
? household or family of God (Eph. 2:19; 3:15; 4:6),
? planting of God to bring forth fruit to His glory (1 Cor. 3:9; cf. Jn. 15:1f.),
? temple of God (Eph. 2:21f.; cf. Jn. 2:19f.; 1 Cor. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:4f.),
? bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25),
? body of Christ (Eph. 4:15, 1 Cor. 12:12, 27).

Other pictures of the Church include:
? a building (1 Cor. 3:10-15; Eph. 2:21),
? a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5),
? living stones (1 Pet 2:5),
? a city on a hill, salt and light (Mt. 5:13),
? a shepherd and his flock (John 10:1-18),
? a wild olive branch (Ro. 11:17),
? dough (1 Cor 5:6-7),
? an ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20),
? a virgin (2 Cor. 11:2),
? a golden lampstand (Rev. 1:20),
? a chosen lady (2 Jn. 1),
? a royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9).

Does your church look like any of these 18 pictures? Of course no local church fully embodies all of the essential elements depicted in Scripture, but are your church's priorities moving it toward a resemblance of these images? My guess is that Jesus thinks they should!

Blaise Pascal said, “Imagination decides everything.” Could you imagine starting all over to begin a church that embodied the meaning embedded in those images? What would you do differently? What would it look like? What would your unbelieving acquaintances think of such a church?
What if you were to release and resource some under-twenty believers that seem bored with church, to begin a church where they lived out the essence found in the above Scriptural images, what might be the result?

Just imagine…