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Here is our Christmas Countdown Clock! Day Twelve activities If you have an Advent Wreath - here is a short reading and ceremony before lighting the two candles. John Ch1 v14 to 18 A Promised Messenger: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. Here we have John the Baptist - him self a successful preacher, who was teaching and baptising before Jesus came along. They were of course related as their mothers were cousins. He was telling the people that he was not the promised one, he was only there to tell the people of him and as we discovered the other day, to make the paths strait. John is the fulfilment of Micah prophesy, that there will be a messenger who will come before Jesus, who is the promised Covenant, and this Messenger would explain to the people and prepare the way for His ministry. Here it is happening just as Micah said it would. The people were amazed by John the Baptist, who, according to Matthew Ch3 v4, wore clothing made of camel's hair and ate locusts and wild honey, and baptized people in the river Jordan. He would appeared as a wild and strange man to the people of the time, but he was honest and faithful in bringing the message of the coming of Jesus. His words seem eloquent and persuasive, telling them that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth will come through Jesus and in Jesus we see God and His wonderful Love offered to everyone - there are no exceptions. I think that is a wonderful present to be thankful for this Christmas, and it is free and available to be passed on to others who have not had this gift as yet - how about trying to give the gift of God's love to someone this Christmas. Prayer: Everlasting God, no one has ever seen you, but John tells us us that if we have seem the beauty, Grace and Love of Your son Jesus, then we have seen You and know what You are Like. Father we are made in Your image, but in nature we are so unalike, help us to follow Jesus, to step in his footsteps like Wenceslas' servant, that we may know, Your love, forgivness and strength when courage fails us. Grant us peace in our souls this Advent that others may see that we have been with Jesus. Amen. Click here to find out more about John the Baptist - Opens in a new window Something to think about and do today Twelve Days of Christmas T is also for the Twelve days of Christmas. As our countdown clock is showing that there are 12 sleeps to Christmas I thought I would use the Twelve days of Christmas as our activity for today. I should point out that the Twelve days of Christmas are not the 12 days before Christmas, as many people think. For most of the Western Church, the 12 days are from December 25th to January 6th - Epiphany or the day observed as the day the Three Wise Men brought Gifts to the infant Jesus. However, some cultures observe December 26th as the first Day of Christmas, and January 6th is held as a special day (in Hispanic culture, it is known as the Day of the Kings, and gifts are often exchanged on this day). "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is also the title of a popular Christmas Carol which has a history steeped in legend and myth. While the song has long been considered a traditional English Carol, there is some evidence that it may be French in Origin. There are some who believe that the song contains hidden references to the Christian Faith and may have been used as far back as the 16th century as a Mnemonic divide to preserve and teach the principles of the Catholic Faith, during a time when religious wars raged and it was unsafe to profess openly your religious beliefs. Read about the supposed meaning of the Carol: Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree stands for Jesus Christ, symbolically the mother partridge who fusses over and protects her chicks - "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Luke Ch13 v34 NIV. Day 2: Two Turtle Doves stand for the two major sections of the Bible - The Old and New Testaments. Day 3: Three French Hens stand for Faith, Hope and Love - And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love. 1 Corinthians Ch13 v 13. NIV. Day 4: Four calling birds stand for the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We use the words 'Calling Birds' but originally they were 'Colly Birds'. A 'colly' bird" is blackbird i.e. black as coal. Colly is an old word derived from coal, specifically refering to the dust. Day 5: Five gold rings stand for the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or pentateuch. The five books are - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Day 6: Six Geese a'laying stand for the six days of Creation. Here's a list of what God created on each of the six days of creation: The first Day : The heavens, the earth, light and darkness. The Second Day: Heaven. The Third Day: Dry land, the seas, and vegetation. The Fourth day: The sun, the moon and the stars. The Fifth Day: Living creatures in the water, birds in the air. The Sixth Day: Land animals and people. God "rested" on the seventh day. Day 7: Seven swans a'swimming stand for the seven gifts of the Spirit - We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans Ch12 v 6 to 8. NIV. Day 8: Eight maids a' milking stand for the beatitudes: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew Ch5 v3 to 10. NIV. Day 9: Nine Ladies dancing stands for the nine Fruits of the Spirit - 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Galatians Ch5 v23 and 24. NIV. Day 10: Ten Lords a'leaping stand for the Ten Commandments: 1) You shall have no other Gods but me. 2) You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it. 3) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. 4) You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy. 5) Respect your father and mother. 6) You must not kill. 7) You must not commit adultery. 8) You must not steal. 9) You must not give false evidence against your neighbour. 1) You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour. Day 11: Eleven pipers piping stands for the 11 faithful apostles - The original twelve disciples / apostles are listed in Matthew 10:2-4. "These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him is not included." Day 12: Twelve drummers drumming stands for the twelve points in the Apostles Creed - here is the Apostles Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. It is thought that the true love mentioned in the carol represents God the Father. < Visit this school site to see some amusing ideas about the 12 days of Christmas enjoy! - Opens in a new window I wonder what Presents you are giving this year? I wonder what you are hoping to get? I wondered what it would cost to send all the gifts in the 12 days of Christmas. Someone has kindly worked it out and it is very expensive. I notice that it doesn't take into account the cost of feeding and looking after all the animals and people! Enjoy! The Cost of 12 days of Christmas The American bank, PNC Bank, does an annual survey into this very thing. They've been doing a Christmas price index for 23 years and THIS year the cost of all the presents for the Twelve Days of Christmas is at an all-time high of 21,080.10 comapred to 2007 at 19,507 dollars and 19 cents - which is £14,097.51 - Fourteen and ninetyseven pounds and 51 Pence. It's up by 8.1 per cent on last year because of the Credit Crunch and the collapse of the Stock Market. If you want the TRUE cost of Christmas, which is the total cost of all the items gifted by a True Love who repeats all the song's verses, it comes to £57,920.82.See if you can work out how many presents were given in total - you can find the answer below the picture to colour in. It is not as easy as you think! Here is a picture of the first day to colour in - right click to download the picture and colour it in using your Paint Programme. Here are all the pictures of the 12 days of Christmas to download - right click to download the Word Doc or PDF Document and then colour them in using your Paint Programme. 12 Days of Christmas Word .doc format. 12 Days of Christmas PDF format. The Total Gift List The total accumulation of unwanted gifts at the end of the 12 Days is: 12 partridges 12 pear trees 22 turtle doves 30 French hens 36 calling birds 40 gold rings 42 geese An unspecified number of goose eggs 42 swans A lot of water 40 maids and 40 associated cows More gallons of milk than you can count 36 very tired ladies 30 even more tired Lords 22 breathless pipers 12 drummers - still drumming This gives a grand total of 416 presents (including the cows, but not the eggs, milk or water). That's quite a Christmas...