The first syllable of Christmas

This evening, a group of four or five people from Boiler Room, which is the church I am part of in Guildford (not to be confused with the pub/live music venue Boileroom) cooked, served, and did the dishes proceeding from, a full-on, Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for my flat and the level above. There were 21 of us crammed into our kitchen (which, admittedly is quite large, but not of TARDIS proportions), and all of us had our fill of superbly cooked turkey, pigs in blankets, veggie mash, stuffing, peas, carrots, spuds and gravy. Oh, and Christmas pudding, custard and brandy cream for afters.

And we didn't pay a penny. Well, we don't have to, although we have all decided to chip in a bit and make a donation to the Boiler Room for being so awesome.

Now, why am I posting this on this blog, and not just leaving it on my Life At Uni blog? My reasoning is that I think this is EXACTLY what Jesus wanted us to do when he told the disciples to make disciples of all nations at the end of Matthew 28. Okay, so discipleship isn't being a student and having a meal cooked for you once a year, but I think the act of making a meal for someone and hanging out with them for a couple of hours (not Bible-bashing or trying to cram religion down their throats) is a truly fantastic way of showing this secularised society we live in what the Church is really about.

Before tonight, there were a couple of murmurs among a few of my flatmates that the dinner was going to be "a conversion thing" (genuine quotation - made me chuckle and grimace all at once). I was delighted when Dave Slinn (the leader of the Boiler Room Student Collective)'s mandate was "We just want to bless you and wish you a merry Christmas" and prayed the most wonderful grace I have heard in a long time:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for this food. Amen."

That was all there was to it, but I tell you, that tiny seed at the start of the evening led to multiple chats between the Boiler Room guys and the Pickard guys, one of which has resulted in my next-door neighbour and fellow Tonnie George showing an interest in coming to GBR next term.

I've written far more than I initially intended to, so I will leave it there I think, but seriously, how good is God?! I'm reminded (I'm not 100% sure why) of the passage from Romans 8 that reads 'In all things He works for the good of those who love Him.'

And with that I shall leave you.

J.R.