Dear friendsWe're halfway through Advent, and our schools are right in the middle of their Christmas services / rehearsals / end of term parties etc! It's the time where we are telling the story, and just today, I took an assembly at Cleve House for the whole school (age 5 - 11), we invited the year 4's of Knowle Park school into church for "Christmas through the keyhole", and then the pre-school (age 3!) came in to church this afternoon. Each of these groups involved 'ways in' to tell what is a familiar story to us, but in a way that they could understand.We think we know the nativity story really well, but when faced with an 8-year-old child saying, "how could Mary be pregnant if she wasn't married?", it's tricky to explain the incarnation of the Virgin Mary! When faced with 3-year-olds who can just about sit still for a few minutes, and you're trying to tell them about the shepherds in the field, and they say, "I've got a cat called Dexter and he has a toy shaped like a doughnut", you try to find a way to bring them back. And when faced with a whole school who are about to break up for their holidays, telling the Christmas story through the example of a Terry's chocolate orange really is the only way to go! It's all great fun of course, but a reminder of the complexity of a story that we've made into a pretty nativity scene. Those who followed the Advent material this week, either in person or individually at home, may have been challenged by some things about the familiar story that we believe are true, but which aren't found in scripture. As we followed the various characters on their journeys to Bethlehem, we were invited to think about what we could learn from each traveller. The awareness that baby Jesus wasn't born in a stable was quite a shock to some, and that reinforcement that so much of our understanding is probably shaped more through Christmas carols, than what is recorded in scripture. Mary wasn't even wearing a blue dress!The material is great, and remains available, just click the link on the Monday email if you'd like to follow it.What all of this says to me is that perhaps this is the year to be open to a new experience of the Christmas story. Perhaps to be "Christ child like" and have a sense of awe and wonder; to be prepared to learn something new; or perhaps to be prepared to be changed as a result of the encounter.We're only half way through Advent, and whilst it may feel as though shopping days are running out, there really is still plenty of time to pause and check in with the story so far. One way is to come along to "Christmas through the keyhole" tomorrow - it's not just for children, it really is for all ages. There will be the opportunity to do some arts and crafts alongside experiencing each of the scenes that depict someone from the nativity story.On Sunday, we'll be thinking about how ready we are to receive a gift at Cafe Church at 10.30am, while Steve will be preaching at our traditional 8.30am Holy communion service. It is Gift Sunday, so please do bring along a new, unwrapped gift for a child if you're able to do so, ready for the Salvation Army to distribute.May you continue to prepare to receive Jesus again.God blessBecky