by gordon | Dec 26, 2019 | Reflections
Jesus is shown to the world! The first visitors we hear of are the shepherds. Here is Luke’s familiar telling of the powerful message of joy and praise: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of...
by gordon | Dec 19, 2019 | Reflections
Nearly there! All is ready. Mary and Joseph have arrived in Bethlehem. Our presents have been wrapped; cards have been sent and received. Just a final push… The actual birth was a very ordinary affair. Most families at the time lived very simply, often sharing their...
by gordon | Dec 12, 2019 | Reflections
We think of Christmas as a time of peace and good will, and indeed that is what is promised. But it is not always an easy or comfortable message. God coming to earth shatters all expectations, challenges us, disturbs the accepted order, just as it did for those...
by gordon | Dec 5, 2019 | Reflections
Not long to go now, and we get a real sense of excitement as we approach Christmas: Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child...
by gordon | Nov 28, 2019 | Reflections
We now turn to the narrative of the New Testament. Strange things have already taken place and more are foretold. In a vision, Mary’s barren cousin Elizabeth has been told she would conceive a son who was to be named John. ‘He will turn many of the people of Israel to...
by gordon | Nov 21, 2019 | Reflections
Our final vision from Isaiah is that of a great light being brought into the world by the birth of a child. This prophecy, too, was taken later as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus, God incarnate – that is: God in human form. We celebrate Christmas with the lighting of...
