Sermons

Join us for our 2025 Christmas service.

In the Christmas Carol, ‘O Holy Night’ we sing the words, ‘A thrill of Hope, A weary world rejoices.’ How true as we reach the end of the year 2021 is it to say, our world is weary! The carol says however that there is hope. As we consider the Biblical account of Christmas, we discover that Hope has come, Peace has come and Joy has come. Hope has a name, Peace has a name, Joy has a name and his name is Jesus!

John Piper gives the following definition of Joy: ‘Christian Joy is a feeling in the soul, produced by the holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.’ Joy is something that should characterise all Christians. The question though is, does it? Do you have Joy? Are you Joyful? And what gives us Joy? The passage shows us the Joy of Elizbeth, of John and of Mary. We consider also that for some believers our Joy may have faded. We need to look once again to Christ and we must seek to walk with him and be obedient to him that our Joy will be complete.

A.W.Tozer said, ‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.’ Who is Jesus to you? Is he a stumbling block to you? Will you reject him and be crushed by him in judgement or is he your saviour? Or perhaps you think he is absent, leaving us now to our own devices like an absentee landlord? Or do you see him as active in our world and in your life? God has done and continues to do everything for his children. If you believe this, then how will you live?