22^nd December 2017

Joy to the world the Lord Has come

As we sing Isaac Watts carol this year, the question is, “Do we sing about joy in a way that ignores the reality of the turmoil of our time, or does Jesus coming envelop us and our broken world in an even greater reality?”

In the year of the anniversary of the Reformation, one of the themes of the Reformers has impressed itself upon me. “In Christ alone.” I have realised again how often we are distracted from a focus upon the unique person of Jesus Christ. As the church in Luther’s time had lost its way, so today we need to de-clutter our lives and institutions to refocus on (1) Who Jesus is, (2) What he did, (3) How He lives within His people.

Luther understood that righteousness is not just a demand that God makes on us, but a gift God gives us. God has assigned Christ’s rightness to us and assigned to Christ our sins as he suffered on the cross. 2 Cor. 5:21, Phil 3.9. God forgives, makes peace with us and comes to live within our hearts. In an amazing grace God makes us His own.

Join us in looking upon God’s unlimited grace, believe it with all your heart, and you will experience a ‘Joy to the World’ this Christmas that will send you to serve others.

Ted and Beryl Curnow: Christmas 2017