Welcome to this week’s Word On The Streets.
This Sunday is the third Sunday in Advent – Sunday 13th December 2020
Matthew 2:10-11, “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (NIV)
What is our understanding of biblical joy? It goes far beyond momentary happiness. Like the happiness a child might experience when they unwrap a gift that they’d hoped for on Christmas day.
It is an extreme happiness that cannot be deterred by present circumstances. This type of joy comes from God alone. Joy can often be experienced when a Christian thinks about salvation, eternal life, or Jesus.
It is an eager anticipation about wonderful things to come. The shepherds experienced this as they ran to Bethlehem to see Jesus.
What does the Bible says about joy:
 God fills us with joy (Romans 15:13). We cannot will ourselves to experience joy. It comes from God alone.
It’s a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We experience more joy when we spend time with God. We have to keep in mind that joy only comes from God, but when we spend more time with him, we allow him to fill us with it. No one can take joy from us (John 16:22). Given to us by God himself, no one has the ability to rob us of our joy. No matter what circumstances we encounter, no one can take this away.
Joy rests in things from God such as salvation and righteousness. (crosswalk.com) 
God bless you all John
Saturday 6th Dec. Team John E, Keith L & Jane M
Salisbury is so beautiful this time of year with the many coloured lights hanging between buildings and wrapped around the trees. As we started our patrol the carousel in the market square was just closing with one final couple of people having a ride. It was a quiet, peaceful evening. Not too many under 35s in town, mostly middle aged people, who were quickly returning home after their meals. Very few conversations were had. However a group of 3 young ladies wanted a selfie with us because "Street Pastors are great". Also a couple from the army wanted our photo under the George Mall bauble for their regiment web page. The Cathedral Hotel was empty as was the Bishops Mill. Spoons was quite busy. New Inn remained closed. At the start of the evening there were five PCs on foot (why??), who we chatted with for a while. Charlie Whisky was apparently present. However, the radio didn’t make a sound all evening.
Not one rough sleeper was seen - which was unusual.
We covered all the normal places, Millford St, Market Square, The Maltings etc. We also walked a different route taking in Scotts Lane and Castle street. Peeking through pub windows to see how trade was for them.
Despite the quiet, it was good that our presence on the streets was appreciated by the few we interacted with. As street Pastors it’s so encouraging that “youngsters” want our photos, it’s a sign that they appreciate our presence, they know that we are there if they need our help
I cast my mind back to the world at the time Christ was born. Bethlehem was bustling full to the brim with people, because of a government decree that stated all had to return to their family town because of the census. That said despite the busyness, there were not many people present at our Emmanuel’s birth, Mary and Joseph and a few shepherds.
And here we are in 2020, all socially distancing, our churches closed, many of our pubs closed, or running at a fraction capacity, because of a government decree. What a difference a couple of millenia makes!!
John
Some really good news. Thank you all for your prayers for Street Pastor funding. We have had a superb answer to prayers and have been successful recently at receiving some sizeable donations and grants.
Today we heard from Wiltshire Community Foundation that we will receive a grant for £9000. Brian had to be interviewed during the process and he obviously gave a brilliant report. Thank you and well done Brian. 
We have also received grants of £1350 from Catenians and Salisbury Catholic Churches Outreach (SCORE) £1000.
God has opened up his store houses. Amen!
Pray for  Pray for our trustees and S.P.O.T members
Pray for our Street Pastor family, some of whom are still isolating, feeling scared and worried. Pray for the people on the streets who would normally come into contact with Street Pastors each week. Continue to pray for Lockdown in our city and those that feel lonely and depressed
Continue to pray for businesses affected by Lockdown Continue to pray for our government and also our local representatives Continue to pray for Street Pastors who are still having to isolate All our partners, who make Salisbury a safer & better place. We should continue to pray about the latest government rules which affect our places of worship. Every week we have a church that has agreed to pray for us. This week, it’s Amesbury Methodist Church who will focus on us from Sunday 13th December
COVID has had a big effect on our finances. Please consider us in your regular giving or pass our details to your friends or your church.
Perhaps you’d like to consider making a gift or a regular donation by bank transfer or card payment?
Whatever you give will be appreciated and valued and help us to continue to help the vulnerable on our streets.
By Bank Transfer Sort 40-52-40 Account 00022842
If you’d like to donate towards our work in Salisbury by card payment please click here https://www.goldengiving.com/wall/salisbury-street-pastors
Don’t forget that if you are a tax payer then we should be able to claim Gift Aid on your donations. Please contact Richard for a Gift Aid form. treasurer.salisbury@streetpastors.org.uk
Christmas arrangements A single set of UK-wide measures to help you come together with your loved ones in a way that is as safe as possible has been agreed. This means: - Travel restrictions between tiers will be lifted to provide a window for households to come together between 23 and 27 December.
- Up to three households can form an exclusive ‘bubble’ to meet at home during this period. When a bubble is formed it is fixed, and must not be changed or extended further at any point.
- Each Christmas bubble can meet at home, at a place of worship or an outdoor public place, but existing, more restrictive rules on hospitality and meeting in other venues will be maintained throughout this period.
Wiltshire placed in Tier 2: High alert
Wiltshire is now in Tier 2: High alert, which is one higher than before the recent current period of national restrictions which ended on 2 December.
This means that measures are in place including: - you must not socialise with anyone you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble, in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place
- you must not socialise in a group of more than six people outside, including gardens or public spaces
- businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-Secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs
- pubs and bars must remain closed, unless operating as restaurants and alcohol can only be served with substantial meals
- hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises must provide table service and are now required to close between 11pm and 5am with last orders being taken at 10pm
What impact does this have on our services? Our libraries and leisure centres will be able to open their doors to you again and will be operating the same service as before the current national restrictions were introduced.
Leisure Centres are due to open again on 3 December. Some libraries are expected to reopen next week, dates will be confirmed shortly.
Weddings will be able to take place again with up to 15 people able to attend wedding ceremonies. Up to 30 people will be able to attend funerals.
During the current national restrictions, traders at our street markets were only able to sell food, but from 2 December they will once again be able to sell their full range of products and produce.
We will keep our COVID-19 page as up to date as possible with any other information on our services. 
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Don’t forget that WOTS is circulated by email and is also available from the SSP web site https://streetpastors.org/locations/salisbury-word-on-the-street
The main website is https://streetpastors.org/locations/salisbury/
If you have any news from your team, your church, your family, in fact, anything for future editions, please let me know.
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