Sunday night was our guest Christmas service. We’re not a traditional church and we meet in a school so this service tries to walk the balance between traditional elements (carols and readings for those that only come once a year), evangelism (preaching the gospel to those that only come once a year) and more contemporary presentations (so it feels like us – in case guests decide to come more than once a year). I think on the whole we do a pretty good job.

We had a good number of guests which is always key to the success of a guest service. The musicians did a great job and we have some very talented people for a small (ish) church.

Our theme was ‘why Christmas is beautiful news’ and I decided to try and make the link with this years Christmas no.1, which is Alexandra Burke’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ (for the record the Jeff Buckley one is better). It’s interesting that at Christmas we have the nation humming hallelujah, but like the song, without Jesus it’s a cold and broken hallelujah.

And for your appreciation I compared the slightly depressing lyrics of Hallelujah with Lincoln Brewster’s worship rewrite, Another Hallelujah and put this slideshow with it. Enjoy and hope you know the presence of our Saviour with you this Christmas.