Tier 4. Not unexpected, but no doubt disappointing to many and also troubling because of the escalating problem with Covid-19 that has caused this latest change to the rules. Whatever disappointments we suffer, and not just from the pandemic because life throws up many disappointments, the Gospel, which means 'good news', is of 'great joy that will be for all people'. This is what the angel of the Lord told the shepherds in Bethlehem's fields on the night Jesus was born. The story is told by Luke...

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)

Hundreds of years later...

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (The Gospel of Luke 1:1-4, ESV)...

Advertising is no new thing. For centuries, people have made banners and placards or painted slogans on buildings to try to get their message across. Years ago, when I was living in a very rural part of East Anglia. I would regularly drive through a nearby village in which there was a building with some very striking paintwork. It was found just at the start of a bend, where the road turned to cross over the railway. By the bridge, down a short track was a rather old hut with, if I recall correctly, a corrugated iron roof...

I noticed that the headlines on the front pages of a number of today's (23 November) newspapers were celebrating the likelihood of Covid restrictions being lifted to some extent for the Christmas holiday season. The Prime Minister seemed to confirm the papers were right in their optimism when, in his statement to Parliament this afternoon, he said that although it will not be a normal Christmas we should be able to see more of our families and friends than has been permitted lately. Let's hope so, it will indeed be a relief and something to look forward to for many...