The marriage of Prince William to the ‘commoner’ Kate Middleton was a fairy tale come true, bringing joy to millions of people around the world. It was estimated that almost two billion people watched the wedding on Television while a crowd of a million people crowded the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the happy couple and perhaps see the kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Two things about this wedding stood out to me. Firstly everyone who was anyone wanted to be a part of this spectacular event but invitations were few and far between. Those who did receive invitations were considered to be greatly privileged as their names were published, and many news articles talked about who had and who hadn’t been invited. You were indeed considered part of the ‘A’ class of society if you were invited to this wedding.

The second thing that seemed to dominate many people’s minds, and the myriad of news items, was the bride’s wedding dress. The crowds and the media were delighted with the bride’s choice of dress as their comments demonstrated; The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. The lace design was hand-engineered (appliquéd) using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s. Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock… This ongoing detailed description of Kate’s dress is probably most appreciated by highly skilled seamstresses but it emphasizes an important point that an incredible effort went into the bride preparing herself for the big day.

While William and Kate’s wedding was significant it is not the most important marriage. The Bible tells us that all of creation has looked forward to one wedding for millennia. That wedding is the marriage of the Lamb when Jesus Christ will be united to His bride - the Church. The day is coming when we will attend a heavenly wedding ceremony that will be incomparable to any in human history and there will be a lot more than two billion people watching this wedding!

Just as people focused upon two things about William and Kate’s wedding, two things will be focused upon at the Wedding of the Lamb – one, who will be invited and secondly what will the bride wear? Those invited will be the most privileged of people and like any wedding not all will get an invitation and only invited guests will be allowed entry. Secondly the bride at this wedding will look even more stunning than Kate Middleton on her wedding day.                                            

I wonder as Christians if we truly comprehend the honoured position we are in, for we are more than invited guests to the marriage supper of the Lamb! As members of the church, the bride of Christ, we are the bride! If Kate Middleton is regarded as the luckiest woman in the world what does that mean we are? Realising her privileged position Kate did all she could to prepare herself for her groom and she excelled in her presentation. What about you and I? How well prepared is the church, the bride of Christ, to be presented to the groom, Jesus Himself?

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,

                      for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

                        and his Bride has made herself ready; (Rev. 19:7)


Brian 

Well we made it! Christmas is here and the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 is upon us. Whatever you may have experienced this year I’m sure you can find reason to give thanks to God for his faithfulness to you. Even if you have faced some dark times through the year, God is always faithful and is there for us - even when we can’t sense it or don’t obviously experience it. Faith is so important in the Christian journey; it helps us to begin our walk with God, and then guides and sustains us through all the ups and downs of life.

I think we sometimes forget that faith ultimately comes from God and is His gift to us. A gift to believe and trust in Him, in any and every circumstance - what a blessing! Faith is not God’s only blessing to us. Perhaps the end of the year is a great time to reflect with gratitude for giving us the gift of life, health, strength, love, family, friends, food, employment, homes, clothing, transport, the list goes on. There is no greater gift however than that of Jesus, God’s own Son.

We receive so many gifts at Christmas, but how could anyone give us their own Son as a gift and why? As strange as it may seem, we need God’s Son. We need Jesus, whose sacrificial death became the payment to a righteous and holy God for our sin. Without Jesus, and belief in Him, God remains righteously angry because our sin is an offence to Him. Sin must be dealt with by the sacrifice and shedding of pure blood before we can become right with God.

The loudest message of Christmas is perhaps the fact that God loves us dearly, more than we can know or think and He longs for us to be brought into a right relationship with Himself. We were made to know and experience God as we live our lives on earth. We are His image bearers and are most fulfilled in life when we know Him. The gift of His Son Jesus is a very real demonstration of the extent of God’s love and desire to bring us back to Himself to experience His love and abundant life.

This Christmas as we think about Christmas maybe you need to make some adjustments in your life, your thinking, your values, your choices? Maybe it’s time to hand your life over to God and give Him first place, not just a second thought.

On behalf of Edwardstown Baptist Church I extend to you and your loved ones Christmas greetings and may you enjoy a spiritually prosperous and peaceful New Year.

“To YOU a Saviour has been born, He is Christ the Lord!”

Brian