It was the first time since the end of September that I got to sit in for the whole service at Church.(what with preaching engagements, Bible class, the youth event and conferences), so it was a real delight to hear our pastor, Jim Turrent preach on my favourite passage, John chapter 1. I have always loved John's gospel, as a young Christian I was told by a senior saint, that all young Christians prefer John until they move on, well I haven't moved on. In his introduction, Jim pointed out how strange it is that for most of the year parents tell their kids not to talk to strangers, except one stranger, with a weird sense of dress. They are placed on his lap and asked what they want for Christmas, they are then told that this stranger will come to their home whilst they are asleep. Jim reminded us that for most people Jesus is also a stranger, yet he is the creator, but when he stepped into humanity, he came to his own people and they received him not. Jim rightly picked up on John's linking Jesus with the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord. Yet Jesus didn't have a halo like on those old paintings, he looked like an ordinary first-century Jewish man, but to anyone with eyes to see he was all the glory of the Father, his words, his acts, his miracles, his death and resurrection all point this out. John chapter 1 is an appropriate Christmas passage for John's purpose is to link the coming of Christ with the death of Christ, Jim brought this out. Finally Jim urged those who still think of Jesus as a stranger to make him a friend this Christmas, for knowing Christ is the greatest gift not just for Christmas but for eternity.
Shalom
Stephen
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