It was the best of carol services, it was the worst of carol services. I think if Charles Dickens had attended, he might have summed it up thus.
For a start, I thought there would be more people there. Then again it was the Sunday night before Christmas.
Then there was the sound. It seemed to work perfectly in rehearsal. It worked a treat in the Sunday morning service. Now it seemed to want to contribute sounds of its own that didn’t seem so melodic.
And, of course, there was the killer video clip. It had worked perfectly in the dry run. I was beginning to believe the tech team that there was no need to worry as we weren’t trying to stream anything. It was on a physical DVD. What could go wrong? Unfortunately, the killer video clip decided to retire a few seconds into its performance, filling the screen with frozen images. Try as we might, we couldn’t bring the DVD out of premature retirement.
It just so happened that we had invited some people who were quite important in the town. Well-known public figures! So I had to force a smile and turn the tech crash into a source of humour.
It wasn’t an ideal backdrop to the sermon. Loosely based on Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, I was trying to weave the Christmas story into the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. The effort to present the gospel in a way that was culturally recognisable seemed a bit undermined by the failure of my culturally cutting-edge frozen video clip.
Nevertheless, I ploughed on. The end came. In all honesty, it felt like it couldn’t come quickly enough.
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Direction Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Direction Magazine.
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‘Imagine Everyone On This Planet Is Your Equal'
David Beasley, Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN World Food Programme, reveals the words his work is founded on
God Sets The Example Of Adoption...
Many people have ruled themselves out for fostering or adoption when the system would rule them in, explains Krish Kandiah
The Work Of Missionaries In Lockdown
When lockdown brought Ian and Katie Moore’s mission work in Macedonia to a halt, they used the time to seek a refined vision for reaching their local area. They told Chris Rolfe their story
How Nurse Helped Acid Attack Model Find Faith
Katie Piper explains how a life-changing incident changed her life in more ways than she expected as she recovered in hospital
Big Challenges Issued At Online Conference
Elim’s first online theological conference examines how our understanding of the ‘End Times’ shapes our view of mission
Lockdown in London deepened my faith
Living alone in London may not have been what he dreamed about, but Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic says it has driven him closer to God
The Really Good News about new initiative!
Elim’s new online mission programme could be the biggest evangelistic outreach we’ve ever done, says national evangelist Mark Greenwood. As we gear up for Easter, he gives the lowdown on the campaign
It's the gospel of liberation, not renovation
When Jesus was 30 he went to the prison of sin, and knocked on the door. Satan opened that little window and said, “What do you want?” Jesus told him: “I have come to set the captives free!” A sermon by the late Reinhard Bonnke
The mystery of Skull Hill
Skull Hill is a rocky hill rising just outside the north wall of Jerusa-lem, not far from the Damascus Gate. It was given that name because of the striking resemblance to a human skull appearing on the weather-beaten formation of its southern face.
A decade of mission
With an Easter evangelism programme, the Elim Leaders Summit and a renewed call to mission, General Superintendent Chris Cartwright outlines Elim’s plans for 2021 and beyond
