2022 is the 750^th anniversary of the death of Henry III. He is not the most well-known of England’s monarchs and it’s not helped that he is overshadowed by his uncle Richard the Lionheart, and his father King John.

Yet, I want you to imagine that you’ve been doing some work in the garden, preparing it for winter. As you dig you feel the spade impact against something solid. You investigate further and find an old wooden box, barely held together. Inside are some well-preserved pieces of paper bearing the seal of Henry III.

As soon as they hear, the historians from Cambridge University are on your doorstep. The box and its contents are taken away and a few weeks later they phone you up to let you know what they’ve found. The documents were Henry’s predictions of the birth of a child in 2022 and the things that child would do with their life.

Is that believable? Do you think it would ever happen? Would you ever try to write down what will happen in 750 years? I think if I was to find a box like that, I’d either think it was fake or that Henry III was a bit mad.

Yet, when we look at the Bible this kind of prediction is exactly what we find. Isaiah was a man who lived around 750 years before Jesus was born. In the book he wrote, which is found in the Bible, he speaks about the birth of Jesus, the death of Jesus and the difference Jesus would make to the world.

One of the most well-known of these prophecies is found in Isaiah chapter 9 and verses 6-7, a section that is often read at Christmas carol services. Isaiah tells us about a time where sadness will be turned to joy. Why?

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given… And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Does the birth of Jesus matter? The Bible says ‘yes’. And not just because it gives us a day when we get presents and eat a turkey dinner. The Bible explains that his birth is a life changing event for all people because Jesus came from God to bring us out of the sadness and pain of our sin into the joy of his forgiveness and love.

We, like many churches across the Fens, are having several special Christmas services during December. Why not come and join us, or a church more local, and discover Jesus, born to save.

For more details, check out our events page