Here is our Christmas Countdown Clock!
Day Seventeen activities
 If you have an Advent Wreath - here is a short reading and ceremony before lighting the two candles.
Isaiah Ch11 V1 and 3
The Branch From Jesse:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
 The words - He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears is an important lesson for us as Christians to learn, but probably one of the hardest. I read about a minister who did a Christmas day broadcast and he knew that two aunts would be listening, They hadn't spoken to each other for sometime. He suggested in his message that we shouldn't judge each other and that we should forgive as Jesus forgave. He suggested that anyone who was estranged from a loved one or friend should get in touch and offer the hand of friendship and forgiveness. Later that day one of the aunts phoned to say that she had enjoyed listening to the broadcast. She said, "I waited by the phone for my sister to phone, but she didn't call!" This is the time for reconciliation and goodwill to be extended to all and then we will know that inner peace that God offers in Jesus.
Prayer:
God our Father, we are so often conscious of the things around us that are wrong, we often judge without knowing the facts, we judge by what we see, rather than have experienced. Father help us as we get near Christmas to be aware of the offer of peace and goodwill to all human kind and to be part of that in the way we treat each other. Grant that Your Spirit will rest on us as it was promised to Jesus, and as was seen at his Baptism. Lord hear our prayer as we light our candles. Amen.
Something to think about and do today
Food at Christmas
It is the custom all around the world to have a family meal at Christmas. The Christmas dinner as we know it, has much to do with Dickens and much of it is taken from his Story, Christmas Carol. I am sure that most if not all of you will know the story which has been set as a film, cartoon and a play all over the world. Here is the quote from the story.
 Master Peter, and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession.
Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course -- and in truth it was something very like it in that house. Mrs Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah!
 There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it all at last. Yet every one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits in particular, were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows. . . . .
Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day. That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook's next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that. That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered -- flushed, but smiling proudly -- with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.
 Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. . . .
At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass. Two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle.
These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then Bob proposed:
"A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us."
 Later in the Story we see the list of food available in Scrooge's room shown to him by the Ghost:. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam.
Why not go online and read the story or listen to it as an Audio Book, it is a great Christmas Story!
Click here to read the story, Christmas carol by Charles Dickens online - Opens in a new window
Click here to listen to the story, Christmas carol by Charles Dickens online - an MP3 Audio Book - Opens in a new window
So what did they eat in Bible times?
 If you were living in Palestine in the days of Abraham, David or Paul, what would you eat? Well, the ordinary food for the average person was as follows: bread (this was the most important food of all), olive oil (this took the place of butter), milk and cheese from the flocks, and fruits and vegetables from the orchards and gardens. On special occasions you might have meat. Those living near the Sea of Galilee would enjoy fish. Thanks to the bees, there was Honey, they did not have sugar in Bible times so honey was the sweetest thing they had. The most common vegetables were beans and lentils. The common fruits were figs, grapes (and thus raisins) and a kind of fruit you may never have heard of, pomegranates. These are just some of the food they would have eaten and enjoyed.
 Instead of forks, knives and spoons people would use their hands to eat. Pieces of bread would be used to take the place of spoons and forks. With a piece of bread they could scoop up any food that was partially liquid (such as soups, sauces, or gravies). Each torn off piece of bread thus served as a spoon and was eaten along with the food it contains.
Hands were washed before and after each meal. The only dishes that were used at mealtime were those in which food was placed. They did not have to wash as many dishes as we do today. Each person did not have his own plate. Often there was only one dish for the food, usually a basket or a copper tray placed in the center of the table. Usually the table was simply a mat which was spread on the ground. The people would not use chairs, but would usually sit on the floor with their legs folded under the body.
Christmas Celebrations in our time:
 A meal has always been at the centre of the Christmas celebrations, but many of the things we associate with it are of comparatively recent origin. Some of them are survivals of, or associated with, ancient customs.
Probably the most important item on the Christmas table is the turkey although goose, pheasant and chicken are also used. In earlier times the choice extended to bustards, swans and oysters and perhaps more exotically, peacocks, which were carefully skinned before the bird was roasted. Then the feathers and skin were replaced and the bird was taken to the table resplendent with gilded beak.
The Christmas turkey arrived in the UK in the early 1500’s but didn't’t become common until mid century. To get the turkeys to market they were walked in large flocks taking as long as 4 months to get to London from Norfolk and Suffolk - the traditional breeding grounds.
By the nineteenth century the poorer people with their large families realised that they could feed everyone with these big birds and so savings clubs were set up so that they could afford a Turkey at Christmas.
 The first Christmas puddings were an adaptation of plum-porridge around 1670. Before, this liquid, served as a first course was made by boiling beef, mutton and sheeps' tongues. This broth was thickened by the addition of bread crumbs, raisins, currants and prunes. Wine, spices, cloves and ginger were added to give it a more piquant taste. It was eaten with a spoon either before or with the meat course. Gradually the Christmas pudding as we know it today evolved and probably the only surviving meat based ingredient is suet.
Guess the weight of the largest Christmas pudding? See how close you got to the correct weight! The answer is at the bottom of the Page.
 Many people put a sprig of holly on top. In Norway and Sweden this is known as the Christ-thorn because the prickly leaves are like the thorns in the crown that Jesus was forced to wear on Good Friday and the red berries remind us of the blood that He shed when the thorns pierced his flesh. We do well to remember this in the midst of our happiness.
The meal often ends with mince pies when the toast of a Happy Month is given. In some places it is considered very unlucky to refuse this.
 Mince or Christmas pies, also called shred pies, were originally oblong shaped to represent the Manger. At first they were filled with minced meat, but later fruit and peel were added and the colours reminded people of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Later still, a pastry crust was added to represent the roof of the Stable and the hole which allows the steam to escape was star-shaped.
Guess the weight of the largest mince pie? See how close you got to the correct weight! The answer is at the bottom of the Page.
So as we sit down to our meal and wish others a Happy Christmas we should not forget whose Birthday we are celebrating. This is just as true on Bondi Beach in the heat of New South Wales as they tuck into cold turkey and iced drinks as it is in Britain.
Here are some foods served around the world at Christmas – maybe you would like to try some of these instead of the Turkey and Trimmings!
Australia:
Christmas is in midsummer and lunch is often a barbecue of prawns, steak and chicken with ice cream or sorbet for desert, maybe cooked at the beach.
Czech Republic:
 Traditionally the meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and consists of fish soup, salads, eggs and carp.
Finland:
Traditional Christmas dinner will be a casserole of macaroni, rutabaga or as we know it the Swede, carrot and potato, with ham or turkey. A mixed platter of meat and fish is also popular. After the meal it is traditional to have a sauna and then to visit the graves of relatives.
Germany:
Roast Goose is the favoured Christmas meal, accompanied by potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnip and pickles. The meal is usually eaten on Christmas Eve. Rural southern Germany feast on game like wild boar and venison.
Greenland:
The Christmas feast may include Little Auks, (these are seabirds that are a bit like Penguins), wrapped in sealskin and buried for months until decomposed. I don’t fancy that much!
Italy:
Christmas lunch can run to seven course including antipasto, a small portion of pasta, roast meat, two salads, two sweet puddings followed by cheese, fruit, brandy and chocolates. Phew!
Jamaica:
 The traditional Christmas dinner is rice, gungo peas, chicken, ox tail and curried goat.
Latvia:
Christmas Dinner is cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage.
Norway:
The Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and for coastal regions is traditionally cod, haddock and lutefisk. Inland pork chops, Christmas meatloaf and special sausages are eaten. Farmers leave a bowl of nisse (gruel) in barns on Christmas Eve for the magic Gnome who protects their farms.
Portugal:
A special Christmas meal is salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve.
Russia:
Christmas food includes cakes, pies and meat dumplings.
South Africa:
Christmas is during the hot summer season but the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings is eaten at Christmas.
 Sweden:
A Smorgasbord Christmas meal eaten on Christmas Eve includes varieties of shellfish, pork, cooked and raw herring fish, caviar, cheeses and brown beans.
Ukraine:
Huge meat broths are eaten on Christmas Eve after which children await "Father Frost" to bring presents.
USA:
Christmas lunch is often in small town and rural America goose, turkey, a variety of vegetables, squash, and pumpkin pie are traditionally eaten . The USA has such a range of immigrant cultures that just about every type of food is eaten someplace at Christmas.
Christmas Drinks:
Champagne is a traditional Christmas tipple and millions of bottles of bubbly are enjoyed every year. Can you guess how many bubbles there are in a bottle of Champagne? The answer is at the bottom of the page. Beer, wine and mulled wine are also popular.
Mulled wine is a popular Christmas drink in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. It contains red wine, fruit, cloves and cinnamon and is served hot by street vendors at Christmas Fairs. It is also sold during the ski season on the slopes of many European resorts.
Thinking of people who are hungry and starving:
 We have spent a lot of time looking at food and customs about Christmas, but we also need to remember that there are millions in our world who will not eat on Christmas day, or maybe not eat for a few days. Some will die of malnutrition and there are many countries where food is scarce and people are fleeing from civill war and fighting. There are lost of things you can do to help. Here are some good sites you can visit and help provide food for needy people. All you have to do is click to give a cup of rice and you can do this every day. And every time you click the sponsors give some food – a great way to help.
 Click here to visit the Hunger site and click to donate a cup of rice online - Opens in a new window
 Click here to visit the Free Rice site, improve your word skills and donate rice online - Opens in a new window
 Click here to visit the Hunger Fighters site, improve your word skills and donate rice online - Opens in a new window
Answers:
Largest Christmas Pudding Answer!
Largest Mince Pie Answer!
Bubbles in Champagne Answer!
Here is a picture of a round stained glass window with holly to colour in - right click to download the picture and colour it in using your Paint Programme.
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