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Epiphany is the season of revelation. The ‘who’ of the revelation is Jesus, Messiah, Saviour, King of kings, Lord of lords, and so much more. The ‘what’ of the revelation is the Kingdom of God which is now here and yet to come in completeness. Through Jesus’ teaching about the Good Samaritan we hear the call to ‘become neighbour’ today. In further conversation we encounter a man shamelessly assaulting our front door at midnight just to get some food to offer a late night guest. It’s lesson about prayer. How do we pray in the Kingdom which is here and now? How do we pray for the Kingdom yet to come? Let’s have some conversation together about this as the Church gathers around the world and in our community.

Epiphany is the season of ‘shining forth.’ It is the time and season of the Church year we celebrate Jesus being made known to us as Saviour and Lord. More than this, Epiphany is about our vision, the way we see the world around us in the Light of Jesus Christ. Steve Bell, a Canadian artist, puts it this way, “Epiphany lifts our eyes from immediate personal, familial and tribal spheres to demand that we include in our vision ‘all the ends of the Earth.’ (Ps. 98.3)” So, as we enter Epiphany we are going to pay attention to the travel narrative in Luke’s Gospel and listen in on conversations Jesus has with the people He encounters. The wider passage is Luke 9.51-10.37 and I hope this can be part of your reading this week. We will take a smaller portion for Sunday morning as we listen into Jesus’ conversation with scholar who asks, ‘and who is my neighbour?’ See you Sunday.

This year, December 29th marks the fourth day of Christmas. The traditional text for this day is not a happy Christmas type of story. The text for this day is filled with rage, murder, profound sorrow, and displacement from home and family. It seems a strange text to dwell on during Christmas but also a necessary balance for the coming of Jesus, while wonderful with majesty, brings a ‘sword to pierce the heart’ as Satan rages against Jesus and His people, as darkness tries to snuff the light. As we gather, still warm with family celebrations, let’s also gather to see once again how necessary Jesus is for our world. See you Sunday!

The eager expectation of Advent, the birth of Jesus, is almost upon us. Just a few more sleeps, as our children say. We have been looking at the themes related to our adoption into God’s family. Adoption is a great gift which means a separation from one family in order to be brought into another family. In Jesus we are brought into the best family ever, not without its struggles, but still the best. So, as we let go of those things which take life from us, we have to grow into this bond with Jesus. Jesus has some challenging things to say about this covenant bond but God’s desire for us is ‘have no other gods before me.’ We are going to unpack Jesus’ teaching about leaving death behind as we gather this Sunday to celebrate our new life in Him. Hope to see you all there!

Adoption is one of the beautiful illustrations God uses to describe how His people are brought into His family. But adoption also means pain. There is pain from something missing in our lives. There is pain because something or someone has been left behind. During Advent the world gets excited for Christmas, which is a good thing, but for followers of Jesus there is the reminder of the tension of longing for something more in the return of Jesus to put an end to all the pain and heartache. That first step in adoption recognizes the separation which has taken place or needs to take place in order for us to embrace new life in Jesus. Advent speaks about this preparation to receive and Jesus gives a special invitation as well. Hope to see you all on Sunday!