Isaiah 9:6-7

THE LIGHT HAS COME!

(Sunday December 03, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares … 

Today is the first day of the season called Advent which many churches observe throughout the world. Often associated with Advent is the lighting of a candle each Sunday with a final one being lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

The lighting of the candles is not just a decorative novelty – but symbolic of light that banishes darkness.

One of the values of Advent is that it encourages us to –

  • Reflect on Christmas’ spiritual significance in the midst of so many distractions and anxieties in the world.
  • Remember that Christmas really has nothing to do with Santa Clause but has everything to do with the birth of Jesus.
  • Read afresh John’s summary of 2000 years ago: ‘The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him’ (John 1:9-10).
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‘… MY KING FROM OF OLD!’

(April 18, 2023) Stuart Reynolds reminds us of a coming royal event – and challenges our loyalty to our coming King of kings…

A patient in an asylum was standing on the stool in his room and shouting over and over, ‘I am the king of the universe!… I am the king of the universe!’

A nurse came by and tried to calm him down. ‘Who told you, you were the king of the universe?’ she asked. He answered: ‘God did!’ To which another voice from the next room shouted: ‘I did not!’

It’s not just the mentally insane who believe themselves to be ‘masters’ and ‘monarchs,’ but also the morally insane!

However, there is one, for whom becoming ‘King’ is not a delusion but a destiny!

In speaking of that King, I firstly remind you that come May 6 next month at Westminster Abbey in London, King Charles III will be crowned ‘king’ of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth – not ‘king of the universe’ as the patient above, and neither a king without predecessor nor ultimately successor.

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