Hi, my wife Jen, my support worker, and myself, went to the Hope FM Carol Service. At the service, Ann and Eric of Hope FM, came to ask me to do a Christmas message on their show, Fulfilled Lives, quite a honour.
I hope you are enjoying your life. God wants you to have a great life. If you don’t believe me, lets look at the Bible and see what it says.
Jeremiah 29:11 says 'For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future'. You see, God really wants us to have fulfilled lives because he has known us from the beginning of time.
Let me tell you a bit about my life. As a child I could not communicate at all, if I wanted to watched football on a Saturday I started to communicate it on a Monday by looking at the television, and the clock. Someone would ask me if I wanted to watch the TV, and I nodded. Then they would go through the days of the week until I nodded to Saturday, and then they went through the hours, until I nodded at 10. Because, of course, Match of the Day was on at ten.
At this time I was going to bed at 9, when I was in bed, I had this dream, or vision. I was talking to three rows of chairs, I was talking about different things, I was chatting away to myself, when quite often a member of staff, would come over to check everything was ok. One day I was lying over the wedge in the physiotherapy room, when out of the blue, in front of two people, I spoke for the first time. I said "I am going home", they both looked up at me and said "was that Ken"? but nothing happened.
I like Christmas, but I am not sure how many people know the real reason for the season. The reason for the season is that Jesus came to earth, as a baby, in a little town called Bethlehem. Nobody had heard of Bethlehem until Jesus was born, now Bethlehem will be known for evermore. The shepherds were just normal people, and they were the first people to see baby Jesus, lying in a manger. Also Mary and Joseph were just a normal couple who were engaged to be married. Mary and Joseph and the shepherds were normal people who will always be remembered. What was Mary doing when an Angel of the Lord, appeared to her? She was doing her housework, as she did everyday, so when you are doing the housework, as part of your everyday life, don’t be surprised if God turns up. After Jesus’s birth Joseph went to bed and had a dream. In the dream, Joseph had a visit from an angel to tell him were to hide from the king. God had planned Jesus's life before the beginning of time, just like God has planned our lives. God is always there for us to talk to.
Just remember what is the real reason for the season, that is Jesus Christ came to the earth so we could have a relationship with God the father, and we can live full lives with God.
We hope all of you will have a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year.
Ken