7th December 2025 Libby's Talk

OK, if I can actually to pause your conversations momentarily,

you can begin them again. Do you know, have you ever

walked into a room in pitch black and maybe walked into the

side of the bed or stubbed your toe on a chair or anything like

that? There's a few nods in our

bedroom. Our bed has a wooden bit, an end

bit. Has it got a name?

Foot Bedford. The foot of the foot of the bed.

Well, anyway, I can tell you exactly how tall it is.

It's this tall because I have a permanent bruise here because I

walk into it all the time. I mean, we have had the bed for

18 years and you'd think I'd learn, but no, we kind of walk

in in the pitch black, don't you?

And then you turn on the light. I'm going to try not to blind

anybody. And suddenly it's a good torch,

isn't it? See, all of you are squinting

now, and I'm not shining at your eyes.

Whoop. And the spotlight is going to

land on you when we turn on the light.

And if we'd have been able to work out the lights in this room

back, I'd have made it go completely dark, and then we'd

have turned the lights on. But they're really complicated.

When it goes dark, when it's dark and you turn on a light,

what happens? The darkness disappears.

The darkness doesn't fight back, it disappears.

It goes when you're in a space of complete pitch dark, pitch

black, one small flame, 1 little bit of light.

One of these tea lights would make such a difference.

The darkness is expelled. I don't know whether you've ever

experienced a power cut and you're searching around for that

one little tea light that you think is in the bottom of your

cutlery drawer somewhere and you light it and it makes all the

difference. When I asked earlier, what

sources of light do we have, Where do we get light from?

I think it was Bethany that said stars.

Stars give us light now because we have lots of light pollution.

I would say. Why don't we go outside

afterwards and just look at the stars?

I'm not sure we'll be able to see them.

But if you've ever been in the middle of the countryside and

it's been dark and you've looked up, the stars look incredible,

don't they? They give light and at this time

of year you just have to walk around or drive around that kind

of where you live. And houses are lit up, aren't

they? And some of them, some of them

near where we live are utterly impressive.

And I think I wish I had a house like that, but they are amazing.

They bring light. So this afternoon as I'm

talking, I'm just going to talk for another few minutes or so.

If you would like to create something, then over here Daisy

is going to help give out. We've got, we've got some stars

that you can decorate. We've got some things you can

color them if you'd like to, if you are small and would like to

do that, but also if you are big and you'd like to create things

that and Daisy is going to distribute some baskets and

there's some stars in there. There's wooden stars and there's

cardboard stars that you're more than welcome to decorate.

I'm guessing when you arrived here this afternoon, it was

either getting dark or it was already dark.

I don't know about you, but it feels like sometimes life can

feel a bit dark. Maybe at Christmas, when there

are lots of sparkling twinkly lights everywhere and everything

seems very jolly. It might be that actually, for

you, you don't feel that jolly. And it doesn't.

You don't really feel like being all smiley and cheery and happy.

It can feel dark. We carry with us grief, we carry

anxiety, we carry loss, we carry fear.

You know, our world can feel quite dark, can't it?

With wars going on, with the cost of living being high, with

political turmoil, with environmental crises.

There is brokenness and darkness all around.

And that's just the kind of world that Jesus was born into

when he was born over 2000 years ago.

He wasn't born into a world filled with fairy lights and

mulled wine, where everything was peaceful and calm, although

if you take the words of the carols, you might think that

that is the case. But he was born into a world

where there was a lot of fear and injustice and pain.

And one of Jesus's best friends, his beloved friend, wrote an

account of his life just before he died.

And his book is called the Book of John, and he wrote a couple

of letters as well. They're in the Bible and in John

one, right at the very beginning, John said the light

shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Some translations say in the darkness cannot overcome, cannot

extinguish it. You know, I think that this is

the heartbeat of Christmas, God's light, Jesus, the light of

the world breaking into real darkness.

You know, it's why every year we celebrate Christmas, not just

for commercialism, not so that we can just make our houses look

pretty with maybe sparkling lights and and nice smelling

candles. At least my house I like a nice

smelling candle. But we celebrate Christmas every

year. We remember it to remember that

Jesus birth changed everything. God coming to earth changed

everything. You know, just like when light

enters darkness, darkness is expelled and light cannot be

overcome. OK, how many of you have watched

a Christmas movie in this season?

Put your hand up, A few of you. OK, keep your hand up if you've

watched more than one Christmas movie.

Oh, there's some stalwarts amongst you.

Oh, I'm. I'm impressed.

Anyone watched more than three Christmas movies?

I'm loving this. Anyone watch more than 4

Christmas movies? Anyone watched more than 5

Christmas movies? I'm really impressed.

I think the prizes may be for for these guys and these guys.

How many of you watched Jonah 5? You've watched 5.

That's like, how old are you? 5?

You're 5, aren't you? Or you're going to be 5 this

week. You're already 5.

In a couple of days you had your party.

Now that means you're 55. You've watched as many years as

you've been alive. You've watched that many

Christmas films in the last few weeks?

I've only watched one, which was last night.

And one of my favorite Christmas films is The Muppets Christmas

Carol. Anybody agree?

Yes, the best I just heard. OK, even though we have someone

in our household who is doing GCC English and studying A

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, if you, if you remember

that in recent history, even though we've studied it and

we've learned quotes, I still love A Muppet's Christmas Carol,

the retelling of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.

But of course, with Kermit, Miss Piggy and Michael Caine playing

Scrooge, you know, Scrooge's world is dark, isn't it?

You know, not just because he's having a nightmare in the in the

story, but because his heart is cold and closed off.

He is grumpy, he is bitter, he's alone, and he doesn't want

anybody near him. And one of the things I love

most about this story is the transformation journey that he

goes on as the story unfolds. I'm not giving any spoilers, I

don't think, because I'm guessing that most of you know

it. But as the story unfolds,

Scrooge is Scrooge begins to see the truth.

Importantly, he remembers and he reflects.

He looks at moments of his formation which enable his

transformation to occur, and he has some help along the way.

We're going to watch a short clip.

Scrooge has seen the Ghost of Christmas Past, and his next

visitor is slightly different, so let's watch this.

Scrooge knew that the second of the ghosts was due to appear yet

now as the clock finished striking.

Nothing. Come in and know me better, man.

Come in and know me better, man. Did I already say that?

It did. I am the ghost of Christmas

present. This is the night before the

dawn before the day of Christmas.

Did I tell you that I am the Ghost of Christmas present?

It did, yeah. Come in and know me better, man.

You're a little absent minded, spirit.

No, I'm a large absent minded spirit.

My mind is filled with the here and now and the now is

Christmas. I don't believe I've ever met

anybody like you before, so really.

Over 1800 of my brothers have come before me. 1800 Imagine the

grocery bills. Have you ever noticed that

everything seems wonderful at Christmas?

In all honesty spirit, no. Perhaps I've never understood

about Christmas. Before this day is done, you

will understand. Oh, oh, oh, Oh no, Oh no, ah, we

shall go out into the world. I suppose you.

Enjoyed. That of course OK, the ghost of

Christmas Present literally in that clip as we saw, brings

light. He arrives and the lights switch

on literally warmth, bright golden touch showing Scrooge

what joy looks like. And Scrooge says he doesn't even

understand Christmas. Christmas Present says by the

end you will understand. Now if you haven't seen the film

or you don't know the story, The ghost of Christmas Past takes

him back to his childhood and he sees, he looks in on some of the

light and the warmth and the laughter and the love that he

had once experienced. And this ghost is going to show

him his current reality in the present moment.

And it doesn't look like it did when he was a child or there was

moment when there was moments of light.

But by the end of the story, light has broken in the darkness

that Scrooge was living in. The selfishness, the pain, the

loneliness is totally changed. Light came in and changed

everything. Light shone in the darkness and

the light could not be put. The darkness could not put the

light out. Scrooge, who once muttered Bah

humbug, is now laughing and giving and feasting and

embracing all of those around him.

And if you've seen the song, he wakes up singing and he says

he's going to start every morning with a prayer and a

thankful heart. His world is brighter not

because the sun came out, but because something had shifted.

Something had changed in him. Even Scrooge is darkness could

be transformed, the darkest of dark.

When light appears, things change.

You know, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, there was

a prophet by the name of Isaiah, and it's recorded in the Old

Testament. And he prophesied God himself

stepping into the world to bring his hope.

And Isaiah says this in Isaiah Chapter 9, verse 2.

Isaiah 9:2

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light and

those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.

And on that night in Bethlehem, in a stable, potentially among

the animals, the light of the world arrived.

The Christmas movie that we watched last night was The Star,

which is the animated story of the nativity and one of the

things I love about it is that Ruth the sheep, Boaz the donkey,

and Dave the dove. If you haven't seen it, it's

definitely worth watching. They are drawn to Bethlehem

because of the light, the star they have seen in the night sky.

The light is the thing that draws them to Jesus when he is

born. I quoted John earlier, Jesus's

best friend, Jesus's bestie. And if you read any of John's

writing, he talks about light a lot.

And just after he talked about light coming and the darkness

not extinguishing it, he says the true light that gives life

to everyone is coming into the world.

And he's talking about Jesus. Jesus that was with God right at

creation when light was created. Jesus is the light.

He wasn't bringing twinkly fairy lights, although I do have a

real appreciation for them. And he didn't necessarily bring

warm fuzzy feelings and fantastic Christmas songs.

But he did bring light, and with that light, hope.

When Jesus grew up, having been born in that barn, he announced

to everybody, just like Jacob said earlier, I am the light of

the world. And he says after that, and

whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.

Jesus came to push back real darkness.

The darkness of pain, the darkness of fear, the darkness

of grief, the darkness of shame, the darkness of anxiety, the

darkness of loneliness, the darkness of sin.

Sin is just what the Bible calls things that happen that God

doesn't want to happen. And the darkness of death.

Light doesn't need to fight darkness, it just shines.

And the good news of Christmas, the good news of Jesus, is that

He is the light that is brighter than any darkness we face.

Think back to a moment ago when I asked you about walking into a

dark room and stumbling into the bed and stubbing your toe.

A light is switched on a torch in the darkness.

Light doesn't just stay in one corner.

It spreads. Just like Jesus's light and

Jesus's love. It's not limited to just a small

little area. It spreads.

When we say yes to Jesus, when we say yes to his light in our

lives, our hearts and our lives begin to reflect that.

Just like Scrooge, he was changed when he when he saw

light. Jesus can warm the darkest,

coldest places in our lives. We just have to ask him.

So maybe you have felt darkness this year.

Maybe as you draw to the end of this calendar year, you look

back and you think there has been loneliness this year.

There has been grief, there has been anxiety.

There has been this sense of heaviness because of the world

we live in. The simple truth is that Jesus

doesn't wait for us to fix ourselves up.

He doesn't wait for us to get things right or for the world to

be perfect. He entered the our world into a

broken world. He stepped right Into Darkness

to bring light and hope. And that light is still shining.

That's the point of Christmas, the incarnation, God becoming

flesh, God having been made of flesh and blood and moving into

the neighborhood. Jesus, the light of the world

isn't just a story. It isn't limited just to

Christmas carols, but he is here right now.

As Pitt mentioned, we're going to be launching Alpha in

January. If you would be interested in

finding out more about the light that Jesus brings, then I'd

encourage you to sign up for that.

It might be that you are interested and you would like to

read some more. Again, Pitt mentioned why

Christmas and this little booklet.

We've also got some Bibles on the table out on the side.

But we've also got these booklets that are just two books

of the Bible handily together written by a doctor, by Luke.

He wrote two books. There's Luke and Acts.

I always think they should be called Luke 1 and Luke 2 because

then we'd know that it's the sequel.

But if you would be interested in, if you'd be interested in

reading this, do pick it up. And then I know we're on the 7th

of December, but if you start at the end of Luke, there's 24

chapters and if you read 1 a day, you'd get to Christmas Day

and you'd get to read it. So you might want to read a

couple of chapters for this next week and then keep on reading.

But if you've got questions about who Jesus is or you know

that you could do with a bit of light in the darkness that

you're living in, then I would fully recommend that you have a

little chat with him. We're going to sing some more

carols now, and perhaps as we sing, maybe have a little bit

think about what I've just said. If this is new to you, think

about what you've heard. I wonder what emotions are

stirring within you. You know, I believe that God

speaks to us often through our emotions.

He gets our attention. And I invite you to ask the

question, why am I feeling like this?

It might be that you're intrigued by what I've said.

It might be that what I've said annoys you.

It might be that you totally disagree with what I've said.

It might be that you're thankful for Jesus light.

It might be that you're desperate to know more.

All of those feelings are OK. I would see that as a sign that

the Holy Spirit is is prodding you.

And my my invitation would be to maybe have a conversation with

the Lord as we sing these next few carols.

So if you're able, why don't you stand?

And the band are going to lead us as we sing.