Notices 21st December 2025

A special welcome to everyone joining us in worship at Kingston today.

Matthew 1:18-23

How do you save face in such a situation?

Mary might have said to Joseph, “I’m going to have a baby”, but she would not have said, “You’re going to be a father!” People may have still believed the earth was flat back then but they did know how babies were made and Joseph knew that the one growing in the womb of his betrothed got there through nothing he had done! Can you imagine Joseph’s devastation? Oh the questions his tortured soul would have tormented him with. “Was she violated by force?”

“Does she secretly desire the affection of another?”

“Am I not good enough?”

Be under no illusion. The “Immaculate Conception” for anyone outside the annunciated was a scandal. Joseph’s instinct was to leave Mary quietly, to try and preserve her dignity as best he could, knowing that he was leaving her at the mercy of a cruel value system where a single mother had very few options. So Mary does not name Joseph as the father. But that role is given to Joseph by the Angel.

“You name him, you raise him!”

Jesus’ humble beginnings were shrouded in scandal. And maybe, that’s the point! No matter the circumstances of your arrival on this little blue ball, you have a God given right and a purpose in being here. Glad you made it.

God be with you!

Have your-self a very merry Christmas.

Rev Michael Duke