Love is at the heart of the Christian faith. Our faith depends on God’s Love Unfailing, and Love Unfailing is the response that God requires of us. This love is sacrificial and self-giving, focusing on the needs of others. God expressed his love most clearly through sending Jesus into this world for us and our salvation. May Love Unfailing shape who we are and everything we do.
Joy is not the absence of pain, rather it is experiencing the presence of God whatever the circumstances may be. In that way, joy is an attitude that we adopt based on our hope in God’s love and promises. During Advent we remember the joy that was born into the world through Jesus, and base our joy in the love of the One who conquered even death so that we may live fully now and in eternity. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
So often we mistake quiet for peace. As long as conflict doesn’t erupt, we assume peace is present. But that is not God’s picture of peace in the Bible. God’s true peace—God’s shalom—is everything set right, everything as it was meant to be. That peace became incarnate in Jesus, who brings true reconciliation between God and humanity. As we follow the Prince of Peace, God calls us to be peacemakers who embody his restoring work. And as we anticipate Jesus’ return, may we actively pursue shalom and lay aside anything that disrupts God’s work of restoration and wholeness.
This Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent, and we will light a candle for Hope. We look forward to the coming of Jesus, who is our hope today and forever. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). We celebrate the hope that came into the world through the birth of Jesus, and we eagerly anticipate the fulfillment of all hope when Jesus comes again!
This Sunday is celebrated in many churches around the world as Christ the King Sunday. Normally we focus on Jesus’ kingly majesty, but this year we are focusing on the return of the King. In Matthew 25, Jesus concludes his teaching ministry with 3 parables (something like metaphorical stories) about the final judgment followed by a more literal description of the final judgment that will happen when he (Christ the King) returns. It will be a separation of people like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. It’s a chilling scene, because it seems to catch everyone unaware. Jesus tells us the story precisely so that we will be aware and ready for his return. It’s an account of God’s sovereignty, God’s mercy, God’s judgment, and the fruit that true faith bears. May we hear with open hearts and respond with our whole lives.