Welcome to the Parish of the Isle of Dogs Advent Calendar. Each day there is a piece of music from our choir, a passage from the Bible and a meditation for you to read, and a simple activity for you to do. To accompany each 'window' a poster has been placed in a window of a home in Grosvenor Wharf Rd and Castalia Square. Why not make a visit part of your daily exercise?

Luke 1, 11-14, 16-17

The angel said to Zechariah: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.  He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Childbirth nowadays has had all of the excitement and anticipation taken out of it, because you can now know the sex of your child before its birth.  In this story Elizabeth and Zechariah and the people around them are excited not just about the birth of their child but more about what he will do when he grows into a man.  He has been born to prepare the way for the Lord. 

Preparation for Christmas is something we are all doing , however have you stopped and thought about what you are actually preparing for?  Is it for the family, the Christmas dinner or is your preparation for the Lord, so when he arrives he will find you all prepared and ready for him?  Advent preparation is less about what we do and more about why we do it, who we do it for. 

Find your baby pictures and remember those times. Relive the excitement of a baby on its way.

Rev Tracy