Pastoral Letter 241
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
On the first Sunday of Advent, we as people of hope, lit the Candle of Hope, with our hearts full of anticipation, believing that the Kingdom is near, and God’s light will shine bright in the midst of our darkness. Last Sunday we lit the Candle of Peace longing for God’s peace, saying the words of the Palestinian hymn: “God of peace and of justice, rain down upon us Your peace. God of peace and of justice, fill every heart with Your peace”. This Sunday we will light the third Candle of Advent, the Candle of Joy during our traditional Carols Service. This candle gives the flame of joy to be a sign to us of the joy that springs forth from the wells of salvation and guides us in the way of Christ.
The following two weeks will be a busy time for us Christmas programs, before we go into the last week of the year 2024. So, as we celebrate in this joyous season and praise our loving, caring and compassionate God, let us remember those who are less fortunate, needy, homeless, lonely, depressed, not well, going through difficult time and have serious medical issues asking for God’s care, help and presence.
Tomorrow, we will have Avent 3 Service with the theme of Joy and singing Carols. We are glad that David Cant will join Mark for our singing and on Tuesday 24 December, Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 pm, hopefully on the lawn weather permitting, and on Wednesday Morning 25 December Christmas Service at 9:00 am.
All Christmas gifts and food for the Bill Crews Foundation should be in by tomorrow Sunday, 15 December 2024. Please be generous and give as much as you can to help the needy and for the glory of God. Thanks in advance.
If you are not able to join us for worship tomorrow, please light a candle and worship with us following the attached Order of Service.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for Lebanon, Israel and Palestine and Syria, especially for the people of Aleppo.
- Pray for the displaced people, the homeless who need shelter, the hungry, the sick, the poor and those who are less fortunate.
- Pray for the sick and those who are not well.
- Pray for the victims of natural disasters.
- Pray for a blessed Advent, Christmas and a New Year season full of joy and peace in the world.
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
Everlasting and Enduring Joy
Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 61:1-11
What give us a real and everlasting joy?
The answer to this question is not the same for all. It varies from person to person. Some believe they will have joy if they have more possessions, a good well-deserved holiday, living in a safe place away from the turmoils of the war-ravaged countries, having peace at home, a welcoming and loving church community and mano other things.
All these are good and could give us some kind of joy as we struggle through the ups and downs and the challenges we face day by day.
Will those things give us satisfaction and joy?
As we wait in this Advent Season for the coming of Jesus Christ let’s think about real joy.
The theme of the third Sunday of Advent is Joy. The Angel on the night Jesus was born announced to the shepherds saying: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. Usually, we lose our joy at the most joyous season of the year for different reasons. The Lord Jesus came to the world to bring joy into our hearts, regardless our pain, sorrows and worries.
Did He succeed in bringing that joy to us? It is useful to take the time to think and examine our hearts.
When we read the fourth chapter of Philippians, we see that Paul knows the difficulties that the believers face and shows how we can regain the joy that we had lost.
The prophet Isaiah rejoices because the Lord sends him to proclaim the good news of the deliverance to the suffering people of Israel. Joy and happiness, passes from the promise to the reality that God, with His Spirit, anointed someone to give the good news of salvation. It is clear that the relationship between God and His people has been transformed, as our relationship should be transformed today, especially during this Advent season.
The Advent is the time to wait for the Baby Jesus with great excitement. To wait for the One who will be our Saviour. The people of Israel were waiting for salvation and the prophet, in the first verse of chapter sixty-one of his book, refers to an Anointed One, who will save the people.
Today we have the privilege to look to this expression through the lens of Christmas and to see Jesus as the Anointed. But let us not forget that those who were listening to Isaiah did not have that privilege. They were living many centuries before the birth of Jesus. Therefore, where is the joy of the people of Israel and ours?
The joy of these words is in the promise that many things will be changed; imprisonment into freedom, mourning into comfort, captivity into liberty, grieving into provision, spirit of despair into praise, ruins into restoration, etc. He gives the details of the change through the Anointed who brings the good news. Not a change of life only, but also promises that this transformation will give power, which is based on the change of heart from sadness to happiness through the right relationship with God.
Only the Anointed could give that joy to us, which also gives us strength for the future. The prophet said that the Oaks of Righteousness will build the ruins and restore the cities. We are the Oaks of Righteousness and the receivers of joy, who know the Anointed. We have the great responsibility to correct the mistakes, restore the broken relationships and stretch a helping hand for those who are in difficulty. We have to stop in our breathless ride, count our blessings and think about the real meaning of Christmas. When we proclaim Christ as the Anointed, we accept that we are the receivers of goodness; hence, we have the responsibility to rebuild and restore. We should do this with joy and gladness. We are happy because God was pleased to send His only Son so that we can have the hope of joyful eternity. Therefore, the birth of Christ gives us joy.
The celebrations of Christmas should be the expressions of our joy. These days are days of hope and joy. Come let us pass this joy, our joy, to others, especially to those who do not have it.
Amen!