The Story of Christmas - No 7

Today's Christmas episode deals with the arrival of the wise men from the east. They had probably travelled for around 900 miles. The guidance they had was the star. They knew they had come to see a new King, the King of the Jews. 

Their problem was they were looking in the wrong place. I wonder if you are looking in the right place when it comes to meeting God, finding the meaning of life and knowing the peace of God within your soul. The right place is not church nor religion. You can approach God directly by prayer and know the forgiveness of sins when you turn from your sins (repent) and confess them to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible promises 'the blood of Jesus Christ his Son (God's) cleanses us from all sin,' 1 John 1:7. 

Read this passage to discover how these wise men made their journey and finally discovered Jesus Christ, the Son of God

A new lifeboat station

 

 

At Anstruther in Fife, a new lifeboat station is being built with a new slipway to facilitate launching. Seven lifeboats have been stationed there since 1865, the latest being the Kingdom of Fife from 1991 to 2024. It was a Mersey class boat, but reaching the end of its operational life, it has been replaced by a Shannon class vessel, the beautiful, 13-47 Robert and Catherine Steen which arrived just over a year ago. It is superior in many ways, upgraded throughout and with a top speed of 25 knots. 

 

However, it is too big to fit inside the existing boathouse. So, at a cost of around £100,000, this new facility will be an all-round improvement for the benefit of the volunteer crew and for accommodating and launching the lifeboat to respond to emergency calls for help at sea.

 

“Saving lives at sea” has become a familiar slogan for the RNLI, and indeed that is its mission. Since its foundation in 1824 its crews have saved over 140,000 lives, some in the most difficult and dangerous conditions. Probably very few of us have had to call on them, but those who have, and have been rescued, are overwhelmingly grateful.

The Story of Christmas - No 6

This is an interesting story which sits beside the story of Jesus birth. The boy that is born turns out to be the forerunner and announcer of Jesus as Messiah. 

Read the end of the passage to discover what the boy's dad, Zecharias the old priest, thinks of Jesus (he calls him the dayspring from on high i.e. the dawn from heaven. Zecharias is teaching us that Jesus' coming would launch a new day for the world. Listen to his analysis of the outcome of the coming of Christ - 'To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.' An amazing consequence of the coming of Christ which is based on the death and resurrection of Christ. 

HS2 and The Christmas Island Project

 

The construction of the High Speed 2 railway line from London to Birmingham is a huge engineering project. Amongst the many tasks there has been the provision of a ‘bat tunnel’. An artificial tunnel, built over a section of the high speed line, to prevent bats being killed by fast trains as they fly over that particular  section of line. Years ago an electrified line on the third rail system had small tunnels provided underneath the lines to give badgers safe passage.

One of the most amazing examples of applying measures to protect wildlife from danger can be found on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Following the first major rainfall at the beginning of summer, millions of Christmas Island Red Crabs carpet the island as they migrate to the coast. These palm sized land crabs live in burrows in the rainforest for most of the time, feeding on leaves, fruits, flowers and seedlings, occasionally scavenging on dead crabs and birds.

Their young must, however, develop in the sea, thus, once a year both the males and females swarm in their countless millions to the coast to breed. The males arrive first to make burrows beside the shore. Females arrive then to mate with them and stay with the eggs while they develop, before they crawl out and release the eggs into the sea. Here the young hatch out as free swimming larvae. Although they are small and vulnerable to larger marine life, their vast number ensures that many survive to become tiny baby crabs ready to come ashore to the rainforest. When they reach maturity at about four to five years old they are ready for the yearly migration to the coast.