Throughout Advent, I’ll be trying to help us to focus our thoughts on the arrival of Christ as a baby at Bethlehem through a variety of songs. The first one is from Aaron Shust’s new Christmas album ‘Unto Us‘ and is called ‘Advent Carol’:

No more sadness, now nor fasting,

Now we put our grief away.

God came down, the Everlasting,

Taking human flesh today.

God came down on earth, a stranger,

Working out His mighty plan.

God was cradled in a manger,

Very God and very Man.

There were shepherds once abiding

In the fields who watched by night

And they saw the clouds dividing

And the sky above was bright

And a glory shone around them

On the grass where they were laid

And a holy angel found them

And their hearts were sore afraid.

‘Fear ye not,’ he said,

‘For cheerful are the tidings that I bring.

Unto you so weak and fearful,

Christ is born, the Lord and King.’

As the angel told the story

Of the Saviour’s lowly birth,

Multitudes were singing

‘Glory be to God and peace on earth.’

Angel hosts sing ‘Hallelujah’

Heart’s redeeming love proclaim

Led by church in every nation

Sing the glory of Thy Name.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, and Stephen spoke this morning from Micah 5:2-5. The Old Testament saints were in a time of waiting and preparation, looking for the arrival of the Messiah. Now, we are in a time of waiting and preparation: first of all, looking back to the first coming of Christ and secondly, looking ahead to His return in glory.

Christmas speaks to us of the revelation of God in Christ whereby all creation is reconciled to God. We can look back on Micah’s prophecy as fact: we know that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem (‘house of bread’) and that God has fulfilled His promises to us. This encourages us as we wait in faith for His other promises to be fulfilled. We can know God’s protection, guidance and peace in our lives, and the fruitfulness implicit in the word ‘Ephrathah‘ can be ours as we abide in Christ. (John 15:1-14)

Most of us will have experienced the anticipation and joy of opening the doors on Advent calendars:

The beauty of Advent calendars is the surprise waiting behind the numbered door (often a chocolate or toy.) Advent reveals the gift of God to us, His ‘indescribable gift’ (2 Cor 9:15). Let’s celebrate and be excited during this season, for Jesus has arrived; hope is here!

Advent officially begins on Sunday 30th November and this period is one full of anticipation and expectation as we prepare for Christmas and remember our Lord’s arrival in Bethlehem as a baby and anticipate His second coming in glory as King and Ruler of all!

The parish church is holding a Christmas Fayre today (29th November) from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., so you can call at our coffee morning and make your way there afterwards if you’re planning on doing some Christmas shopping!

Don’t forget that we are holding a Christian bookstall selling Christian books, CDs, gifts and cards after the evening service on Sunday 30th November. This is in partnership with the Christian bookshop CLC in Sheffield and is the ideal way to do some Christmas shopping without having to brave the traffic and crowds of Sheffield! Bibles, devotional readings for the New Year, testimonies and Christian music and gifts (eg mugs) will be on sale and this is a great opportunity to buy something which will last long beyond the chocolates and mince pies!

We have lots of special events coming up in December, so do keep listening and looking out for updates in the days to come!

1 John 5:16-17 contain some of the most disputed verses in the New Testament. John, in urging us to pray for others, talks about ‘sin that leads to death’ and ‘sin that does not lead to death’. Interpretations of these verses have varied over the years, looking at the question of whether a believer can lose their salvation. Is John referring to physical death or spiritual death? Is he talking about believers or non-believers? Whilst it is impossible to be wholly positive about his meaning, it seems clear that the majority of this letter was written to encourage believers to stand firm in the face of opposition which John categorises as ‘antichrists’, those opponents who refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and who, therefore, were cut off from the forgiveness and salvation offered by His sacrifice for us. John seems to be at pains to stress that confidence and assurance can be the experience of believers.

In 1 John 5:18, we read ‘We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.’ The Christian does not make a practice of sinning (see 1 John 3:9). We dwell in Christ and though we do still sin, we have God’s nature now living within us, steering us away from sin. The relationship between believers and Christ is emphasised by the phrase ‘born of God’; we rely on Christ to protect us and ensure our safety. We do not have to live in anxiety, wondering if we have committed the ‘unforgivable sin’ (see Matt 10:33, Mark 3:29), for God keeps us from falling and will present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. (Jude 1:24) Jesus Himself prayed for our protection (see John 17:11, 12, 15) and assures us that no one can snatch us out of His hand. (John 10:28) Peter reminds us that Christians ‘through faith are shielded by God’s power’ (1 Pet 1:4-5) We need not fear, for God protects us (see Ps 32:7, Prov 2:8) and will strengthen us and protect us from the evil one. (2 Thess 3:3)

Tonight’s Bible study looked at 1 John 5:13-18. Strictly speaking, verse 13 belongs more to the previous section, when John is writing about the testimony God has, namely that life is in the Son. His aim in writing is that we may know we have eternal life. Once more, he is full of assurance and confidence, which is not at all the same as arrogance; as John Stott writes, “certainty and humility do not exclude one another.” The certainty and assurance of believers rests in the promises of God’s Word and not merely in subjective feelings; John has given them throughout the previous chapters 3 criteria (doctrinal, moral, social) by which to test themselves and others. The purpose is to establish their assurance.

1 John 4:14-17 goes on to look at how this assurance helps us in prayer. We have confidence to approach God, knowing that He hears us (see Ps 116:2, Ps 34:15, John 9:31). Just as Jesus prayed before Lazarus was raised to life again (John 11:41-42) with confidence that His Father always heard Him, so our relationship with our heavenly Father means our prayers of faith mean we believe in order to see (see Mark 11:24). The key condition to answered prayer, of course, is that we pray according to God’s will (see Matt 6:10), remembering that unconfessed sin hinders our prayers (Ps 66:18-19) and that prayer is rooted in relationship (with God and with others, see John 15:17, Matt 5:23-25, 1 Pet 3:1-7).

Some may well ask if it is God’s will for us to receive answered prayer, why do we have to bother asking in the first place? Warren Wiersbe writes ‘Prayer is the way God wants His children to get what they need.’ We pray in obedience to God’s commands and because our wills are aligned with His as we pray.Jesus prayed. He depended on prayer. He arose early in the morning to pray (Mark 1:35). He spent whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12). He prayed with strong crying and tears. (Heb 5:7) If the sinless Son of God needed to pray, how much more do we?

Those of you who remember the series on the Apostles’ Creed will know that our church thinks it’s important that we know what believe! Newsboys’ song ‘We Believe‘ is another attempt to put what we believe to music and help us to articulate our faith.

‘In this time of desperation
When all we know is doubt and fear
There is only one foundation.
We believe, we believe
In this broken generation
When all is dark, You help us see
There is only one salvation
We believe, we believe.

We believe in God the Father.
We believe in Jesus Christ.
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life.
We believe in the crucifixion.
We believe that He conquered death.
We believe in the resurrection.
And He’s comin’ back again, we believe.

So, let our faith be more than anthems
Greater than the songs we sing
And in our weakness and temptations
We believe, we believe!

Let the lost be found and the dead be raised!
In the here and now, let love invade!
Let the church live loud our God we’ll say
We believe, we believe!
And the gates of hell will not prevail!
For the power of God, has torn the veil!
Now we know Your love will never fail!’ (‘We Believe’, Newsboys)