A big free gift 4 U

Thanks to Andrew Stammers , who has sent us this account of Christmas at Radstock Baptist Church in Somerset:

Our theme this Christmas in our outreach events was "A big free gift 4U".

We started by giving away free hot chocolate and mince pies at the turning on of the Christmas lights in the town. Each cup had a Christmas message printed on it. A great opportunity to meet the community and share the joy of Christ's birth.

At our Nativity service a giant Christmas pudding was made the traditional way with 13 separate ingredients (most of the ingredients landed up on the floor!)  which traditional represented Christ and the 12 disciples. No silver six pence was added as the gift of Christ at Christmas is not hidden. Everybody took home a Christmas pudding as a gift and the children had a bag of chocolate coins. Hopefully this will help them remember the meaning of Christmas although when asked why we have Christmas puddings at Christmas one young lad very confidently and seriously said "because that was what Jesus ate at the last Supper"!

On Christmas day Father Christmas appeared from within a giant 10 foot present (to the shock of the congregation!) with presents to named individuals plus, puzzling to him, a small baby (doll!) with a gift tag "4U". We discovered that it was for everybody - even those who had not behaved well, which Father Christmas found hard to accept.
 

Blessings
Andrew

Radstock Baptist Church

Your Gifts for Mission

WEBA retained its position at the top of the Home Mission Giving charts in November, with gifts totalling £20,731. Our total for the year is now £227,500  that's £33.28 each, a higher rate per church member than any other regional association.

This is great news as the resources we have to spend in this region as a result are directly affected by local giving. Many of the stories in this blog, and many others like them, are made possible by Home Mission funding.

So- thank you, churches, large and small, your faith and generosity overwhelms those of us who collect these gifts month by month.

• If you are responsible for passing on Home Mission cheques, please make sure your gifts reach us by Friday 17th December so that they can be included with this year's total. 
• If your church receives, or has received a Home Mission grant, please tell us your story! You can comment below, or send your own blog post, ideally with pictures, to ruth.whiter@webassoc.org.uk