Dear Friends
At the start of it all was the Word, the Word being God as with God. He was there in the beginning with God, all things coming into existence through him and nothing existing without him. What has come into being in him is life; life that is light for all people. That light shines in the darkness, the darkness having been unable to extinguish it. He was in the World and the World owed its existence to him, yet the World did not recognise him. He became part of what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. To all, though, ready to receive him and believing in his name, he gave the right to become God’s children – children born not of blood or any union of the flesh, nor of any human desire, but of God. The Word became flesh
and lived among us, such that we have seen his glory; glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. [John 1:1-5, 10-14]
There is something unusual about the Gospel of John. Unlike Matthew and Luke, John does not start with Mary and Joseph, nor does he refer to Bethlehem, a stable or even a manger. There is no Christmas story at all. Unlike Mark, John does not start with the ministry of Jesus either, though he soon moves on to it. Instead, John takes us to the dawn of time and the events of creation, reminding us of God’s sovereign will which has been active since the beginning. Despite everything that was done, everything we continue to do, God’s gracious purpose was being worked out from the very start and continues onward.
The coming of Christ was God’s natural expression of love, a love constantly at work, revealed in history, declared through the prophets and lived out in flesh and blood. That love will be with us as we go into a different future than some of us might have imagined. We may be selling the sanctuary at Warwick Road but we are starting something new based at the Baginton Road church site – a new name, a new way of being, a new mission. It might feel scary, we might have lots of questions and not many answers, but John’s testimony calls us to reflect on all that God has yet to do in the light of everything God has already done. We are promised that we will not be alone in this – God’s love walks with us every step of the way.
God bless and have a wonder-ful Christmas as we go into a brand new year.
God bless,
Yvonne