Westcliff Baptist Church
We are hosting a Christmas Tree Festival again this year. Our church will be open for Christmas Tree viewing from 2-5 pm on the following dates (All in December):
Thursday 5th 12th 19th
Friday 6th 13th 20th
Saturday 7th 14th 21st
Come and view the wonderful range of Christmas trees that have been provided and decorated by local businesses.
The SOUTHEND VOX CHAMBER CHOIR will be singing Christmas Songs & Carols on Saturday 7th Dec at 2.15pm
Seasonal refreshments will also be able and entry is free. Every one is welcome. Download a TREE FESTIVAL poster
What makes Christmas for you?
Recently, some of my friends have been posting on Facebook what they would add to complete the following sentence:
'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...'
The variation in Christmas essentials was astonish-ing. Some claimed it was Twiglets, or the sip of champagne on Christmas morning. For some it was the sound of a carol beautifully sung by a choir, or seeing their street transformed by sparkling lights. Others said it was the gathering of family, or the look of delight on children's faces as they opened presents. there are so many traditions that we have loaded onto Christmas. - food, decorations, and office parties to name just a few.
One answer remained unspoken, but is nevertheless true. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Christ. Yes, we could still celebrate and have a good time without Jesus – and many do, but it wouldn’t be Christmas.gathering of family, or the look of delight on children’s faces as they opened presents. There are so many traditions that we have loaded onto Christmas – food, decorations, music, cards, crackers, Santa Claus’ grotto, office parties to name a few and they all appeal to some.
Christmas is the celebration of the amazing fact that God reduced himself to a tiny frail baby in the vast universe he had created. It would be like us making a snow-globe and then somehow miniaturising ourselves to enter that world. Why would God do such a thing? He did it to show us how much He loved us and to rescue us.
Putting Christ at the centre of Christmas is not a matter of spoiling it with religion. Rather it is accepting the most precious gift – God’s gift to every one of us – a gift of love, of joy, of life and of peace, all wrapped up in swaddling cloths and laid in a feeding trough in a draughty stable.
Come & celebrate this wonderful gift with us at one of our services and make your Christmas truly complete. Our Candlelit service as at 6 pm on Christmas eve.