In a sense it's Christmas all year round at Verwood Road Chapel !
Not because we are forever partying (although we do sometimes),
but because we continuously appreciate and remember
the coming into the world
of the One whom the Bible calls:
Immanuel (which means "God with us"),
 Jesus (which means "Saviour"),
and Christ (the Greek title for "Messiah" who was promised in the Old Testament).

HE is the central subject of the New Testament
and is pointed to, in a multitude of ways, in the Old.
Ultimately, the Bible and Our Lives make no sense without Him.

We hope you will find the "messages" below more than interesting.

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A message from Peanuts in their Christmas Special Click here to watch the short video clip on YouTube In this clip, Linus quotes from the King James (Authorised) Bible, reading from Luke 2:8-14 as follows: " 'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' . . . . That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." Click here to view the whole "A Charlie Brown Christmas" video

A message for Christmas from Alistair Begg Alistair Begg has been in pastoral ministry since 1975, starting in Charlotte Chapel, Edingburgh. He has a well respected Bible teaching ministry around which the "Truth for Life" organisation has been built.      How good do we have to be to win God's approval? Click here to watch or listen to Alistair Begg 's answer If you would like to hear more from Alistair Begg, may we recommend: The daily Truth for Life broadcasts The extensive archive of sermons, for example: The Angel's Message (Luke 2:8-20) Also, whole sermon series are available free via the Topics page and Archive A Truth for Life App is available from Google Play (for Android devices) and the Apple App Store

A message to Shepherds Shepherds were among the poorest and possibly despised of men.  But here we see that God is interested in them, as much,  if not more than those in higher positions  to whom He could have announced the Saviour's birth.   Note that the angel declares:  "...I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people..." This message is not only for the shepherds,  but for us all, whatever our state or status.   The shepherds believed what the angel said and went to see the baby Jesus.   Having seen Him they came away rejoycing. More about Shepherds: Jesus describes Himself as The Good Shepherd (John 10:11 and 10:14). Read the whole discourse (John 10:1-21) here.   In Psalm 23:1-3, King David (perhaps recalling his time as a shepherd) writes: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness     for his name’s sake.

A message from Angels The message in the Peanuts video clip was delivered by the "angel of the Lord" and "a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God" . There is so much that we could write about angels. Reading the Bible, we find them mentioned in many places and situations. They are God's heavenly messengers - the title "angel" means "messenger".  The angels are a mighty multitude - without giving any hint of their actual number, Scripture makes it clear that the angelic host is a vast and imposing army. But, we are not to worship them: Scripture teaches that angels are created beings. Colossians 1:15-17 says that the angels were created - together with "all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible" - by Jesus Christ the Son of God. More about Angels: We recommend a sermon by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, called "Good Angels (#7502)" from his "Great Biblical Doctrines" series: Click here to see the web page and scroll down to listen or download. We can also recommend a sermon: "Christmas Angels" by Dr. Liam Goligher: Click here to listen to, veiw a video, or read a transcript of "Christmas Angels" There is also a thorough treatment of the subject of angels in a well known online Bible Dictionary HERE.

A Christmas Message from the Moon On December 24,1968, three American astronauts became the first human beings to orbit the moon. As Apollo 8 crewmen: William Anders, James Lovell and Frank Borman made their tenth and final orbit on Christmas Eve, they commemorated their journey by reading from first chapter of Genesis. It was the perfect Christmas message for a billion people who looked on from earth in wonder. To celebrate this extraordinary event, and the moment when much of the world paused to acknowledge the Creator of the universe, Illustra Media (as part of their John 10:10 Project) have produced a special short video. We hope you enjoy it. Click here to watch.