The Advent Collective

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Hello and welcome back to another week of The Advent Collective. We are on day 14 and I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

Throughout this series of podcasts we have seen that Advent is a season of hope, promise and preparation and I think our passage today sums that all up.

The passage I am talking about is John 1:1-15.

I have to say, I am quite familiar with this passage. I lived in Northern Ireland for 12 years and throughout my teenage years I was given the job of reading this passage at our Christmas Day service every year (I mean that is pretty much what happens when your dad is the pastor!) But even though I say I am familiar with the passage, it doesn’t mean that I understand it and see the significance of it. I ended up seeing it as a script that I would just reel off every year making sure it was clear and word perfect and was constantly seeking approval afterwards as to whether I sounded okay (I am a Musical Theatre performer and studied it and uni so this really comes as no surprise) so with that being said I wasn’t thinking about the message that was being delivered. But it hasn’t been until reading it through and picking it apart for this podcast that I finally started to understand the significance of this passage and why I believe it is used at this time of year – Advent.

One thing that really stands out to me is the word light. Jesus is the light. The light that shines in the darkness. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

As the beginning of this passage states that even in the beginning the word was with God and the word was God – He planned for Jesus’s birth since the beginning of time. That word then became flesh and dwelt among us, He came to live among us. I mean the title of this passage pretty much tells us that – The word became Flesh. How amazing is that?! God sent Jesus and had his life planned out years and years before he was born, to be the light of the world – and that, He was. The reason He came was to be the one and only way to the Father, He came to dwell with us and died for our sins and rose again, so that one day we may dwell with Him in Heaven forever – if we put our trust in Him and believe His word that was set from the beginning.

Helen summed it up perfectly about Advent. Advent is a season of hope, promise and preparation but I would love to add another word to the summary of Advent and that is light. There’s so many examples of how Jesus is the light but you and I both know that we could be here all day so I’ll leave you with one final thought for us.

How can we bring light in to what is a dark time for our world at the moment (sorry yes, I am talking about the C word). Like John the Baptist we are a witness to testify concerning the light in the hope that through him all might believe. So how can we do that? Advent is the perfect time to spread the good news of Jesus, and how He is the light of the world. Carols in the Street and the advent packs that have been made up recently that have been delivered to our communities are some of the many ideas that come to mind when I think of this.

So I have a question for you… In a time when we are socially distanced and feel isolated and apart. How can we show that Jesus is light and be a witness of that to those around us this Advent season?

Let’s encourage and work with each other to do this as best we can – teamwork ...

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to the Advent Collective, day 14.

I can still remember my first day at university.  My parents dropped me off, we unpacked the car, visited some local shops to make sure I’d got enough food, and then the moment came when they had to go and we had to say goodbye.

My mum cried; I played it cool; my dad was really concerned that he’d be able to find the payphone number in my student house so they’d be able to call us when they got back. After they went, I sat in my room and sobbed.

Since going to university aged 19, and latterly with my family, we’ve moved 7 times to different cities, and in some cases, back again.  In fact I’ve worked out that I’ve lived in 12 different houses.  So sometimes I find myself asking the question: where exactly is home?

At the very beginning of the book of Zephaniah, the prophet talks of the ‘day of the Lord’ and it makes for some pretty stark reading.  It talks of a day of judgement, of Israel being held to account for a faithlessness.  It talks of God’s covenant being broken.  His promises weren’t believed by Israel, and there was a judgement coming, that they would stand before a holy God and give account.

It’s like a prophetic heart cry for Israel to return home to God – not to go her own ways, not to ignore God, but to see that true life, true beauty of life, is to be found in God alone.

Towards the end of the book of Zephaniah, the mood changes.  The day of the Lord is talking about celebration and dancing and jubilation – for example, Zephaniah 3:14 says this: “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Israel!”  Zephaniah is calling on God’s people to declare passionately in song of God’s goodness.

In verse 17 it says “The Lord your God is with you.  He is mighty to save.”  It’s like when he rescues Israel from Egypt; this time, he’ll do it again, but through Jesus.  God’s people will be able to return home, back to God.

In fact I encourage you to read verses 14 to 20, because they are some of the most intimate, beautiful, loving words in Scripture.  For example, it says in verse 17, “he will take great delight in you.  He will quiet you with his love.  He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Thats a wonderful image of God’s closeness to us.  It’s the perfect image almost of being home in God’s presence.

The whole final chapter of Zephaniah describes a time when we will be able to ask and soak in God’s glorious presence, because God will fulfil his promises, and make it possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In verse 20 it says “I will gather you at that time, I will bring you home”.  Some say it points to Israel’s restoration, but most say it points to a picture that the apostle John paints in the book of Revelation.

So, where is home?

The gospel writer Luke captures it like this in the infamous prodigal son story: the story describes the younger brother leaving his family home to go and try to make a new home for himself on his own terms.  It represents a picture of humanity trying repeatedly to do the same thing.  Ever since we left the Garden of Eden back in Genesis – we read about that earlier, a couple of weeks ago.

It says that the younger son comes to his senses – he runs out of money – and Luke describes a glorious homecoming when the father embraces the lost son.  The scripture points out that that’s the true home.  That moment when we encounter forgiveness and surrender our lives to God.

That’s why Zephaniah’s final words capture the second of the great Advent themes,

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

I’m Tom – married to Clarissa and Dad to Hannah, Theo & Phoebe

Let me ask you a question:  Have you ever your house extended?  Or have you ever had some building works done to your home?

A few years back in my previous church we had a major building refurbishment.

At the beginning of the project I really thought it was exciting – so signalled so much change.  The beginning of a new era.

But if I’m honest there was a moment when I thought – what have we done?  This was when the whole building was gutted – right back to the bare bricks.  The floor had been removed and old wires and pipe dangled from the ceiling.

The old was gone – the present was unrecognisable – and the future?  Well that was contained in architectural drawings, engineers’ plans and in the hearts of the team making it happen.

It’s a bit like when Kevin McCloud from the TV show Grand Designs appears in the middle of a building project and starts wondering round pointing out the spiralling costs and shakes his head at the inevitable big delays and then he interviews the formerly happy couple who are now living in a caravan next to their building site.

In some senses today’s Advent passages describes a similar situation for the people of God – they’re in that place just without Kevin McCloud or the caravan.

Zechariah 8:1-8 is a deeply encouraging hope filled account of a number of prophetic sayings that the prophet Zechariah shared with God’s people.

Jerusalem is really significant to the Jewish people – and the central piece – the temple was the very epicentre of God’s presence.

The reason for their despondency was that by the time we get to the books of Zechariah & Haggai known as part of the Minor Prophets we learn that after God’s people return Jerusalem they find it a wreck – a total shell of what it was.  The most significant city to the Jewish people was decimated and the temple was destroyed.

How would they rebuild the temple?  How would Jerusalem be restored?

When faced with the wreckage, rubble and people in the land who have the touch of the Kevin McClouds about them – pointing out you’ll never do it –  it was no surprise the people of God were downcast.

But then God speaks.

In Chapter 8 verse 3 he says this ‘This is what the Lord says:  ‘I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem.  Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain’.

God promises that he will return to Jerusalem.  In fact in Zechariah 9:9 he says this:  ‘See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious lowly and riding on a donkey’ – it talks of Palm Sunday – when Jesus will walk victoriously into Jerusalem.  It’s part of a bigger plan – God’s rescue of his people and once again Jerusalem will be front and centre.

These words dripped with hope at a time when it seemed as though everything was stacked against God’s people.

As we come to the end of 2020 – we can look back on these past 12 months and say without doubt all of us have been affected by the Coronavirus.  Whether you’ve had Covid or not – it’s disrupted the way we all live our lives.  And as we approach Christmas – it’s affected that too.

We are very used to be in control of our lives.  We’re used to getting out the yearly calendar and making our plans.  We’re used to booking our holidays & organising our lives.

It’s in these moments when our plans lie in tatters and it seems like everything is totally up in the air – in that place of deep vulnerability I think we have a choice.  We try and take control of our lives – to fix our lives.  Or we surrender our lives to God.   This in some way comes to the heart of the Christian gospel – who really is in control of our lives?

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to day 12 of the Advent Collective podcast.

In my twenties I studied Law. I loved the law itself but also the pursuit of justice. I am sure if you asked those that know me well, especially my husband, they would tell you how passionate I can be when faced with something I perceive to be unjust!

A little uncomfortably for me, I can see the same character trait in my youngest son, Thomas. At the moment, his favourite phrase is ‘no nono not fair!’. He regularly shouts this at me, for instance, when I might suggest he tries to eat a vegetable or, even worse, wear a coat when it is very cold outside! As an adult sometimes I am weary and it is easier for me not address things that are unjust. However, Thomas, aged two and a half, is not burdened by the need to keep a family going in a global pandemic and he never fails to take the opportunity to address the injustice in his world!

Today we find ourselves considering the words of the prophet, Ezekiel. We hear that it was always God’s plan to send Jesus, the one perfect shepherd, to save us. In verse 16 we are told that he ‘will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… [he] will shepherd the flock with justice’. In verse 26, we are told ‘[he] will make a covenant of peace with them’. The word ‘peace’ here means more than no conflict but a complete contentment, fulfilment and security. Even more than my son Thomas, Jesus, the perfect shepherd, promised by God, is not afraid, or, like me sometimes too weary, to address the injustice in our world.

The image here of Jesus as a shepherd is a powerful one. A shepherd’s whole life revolves around caring for the wellbeing of their flock, protecting them, day and night and making sure they have the best land to graze on. They deal with their flock fairly and they go after sheep who are lost. This is what God promises us in Jesus. He has come to bring justice to our world,to rescue us and bring us complete security, day and night.

The pandemic has highlighted lots in our world that is unjust. We have all seen the headlines about the number of children living in poverty and how, since March, this has greatly increased. This year everyone has a personal story of how the pandemic has impacted them.  My grandmother died over the summer. Because of Covid restrictions we weren’t able to grieve together as a family, or celebrate her life in the way we would have wanted to. It is ok, in this season of waiting to stop, pause and acknowledge these things.

As we look back on what has been a challenging year for us all, maybe today we need to hear again God’s promise to us that in Jesus, he sent us the perfect shepherd to rescue us, who came to bring us, his flock, ‘showers of blessing’.

During advent we are reminded we live in the ‘now and not yet’. Jesus was born, died and was resurrected but as we wait for the second coming we do see breakthroughs in our world. The scientists managing to discover a vaccine in less than a year being a great example of this!

I have found it helpful over the last few months to make sure I stop and reflect, and give thanks for the things I have seen God do in my life, in the everyday, whether big or small.

Can you think of times in your life this year when you have seen God’s kingdom breakthrough in the everyday, where you have felt the ‘showers of blessing’ promised to us in this passage?

As we look to next year, what does this passage mean for us? How do we live in the ‘now and not yet’, trusting in the promise that Jesus came to earth to rescue us? We are called to follow him. Who are our flock? Who are we called to serve?

In Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 11, we are told ‘He tends the flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart’.

This Advent,

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to the Advent Collective, day 11.

Have you noticed that some leaders are able to galvanise a team? To pull together a bunch of individuals and fashion them into a collective greater than the sum of their parts.

Well, with Sheffield United languishing at the bottom of the premier league, with only 1 point from their first 11 games, it is probably not the time to be using their manager, Chris Wilder, as an example of great leadership… but I am going to anyway!

When Chris Wilder came to the club, Sheffield United had just endured their lowest league finish for a very long time – 11th in the third tier of English football.

But under Chris Wilder’s leadership, the very next season saw them win the league with a massive 100 points.

Two seasons after that they won automatic promotion to the premier league, finishing second behind Norwich city.

And then last season, tipped for relegation by every football pundit and football journalist in the country… against all odds they finished 9th. Their highest league finish in over 40 years.

The transformation of a team that had hit rock bottom and the journey Sheffield United have been on in such a short space of time has been phenomenal.

It’s been a tough start to the new season… but don’t write them off just yet!

I wonder if you have ever experienced leadership that has been so transformational?

When a group of nobodies has pulled together to achieve something extraordinary?

Or when you and a bunch of friends or colleagues have faced a common threat and someone has taken the lead and galvanised the team and you’ve come through?

Maybe for you it’s been playing sport and the captain or coach has brought the best out you and others.

Some leaders unite and galvanise; others divide and fragment.

What about Trump or Biden? Prime Ministers: Thatcher, Blair, Boris Johnson…

Or how about the leadership of Nelson Mandela?

Or the Spiritual leadership of Desmond Tutu, Ghandi or Martin Luther King…

Some leaders have the ability to galvanise a huge numbers of people around a common cause. To change the course of history…

In our passage today, Micah 5:2-5, God’s judgement was about to fall on nation of Judah. An invading Assyrian army was at the gates of Jerusalem… Why? Because the leaders of the people and the prophets in the land had become rich through theft, greed and corruption. They had divided the nation between rich and poor, Injustice was widespread; the terms of God’s covenant with his people had been trampled underfoot.

Judgement was coming but Micah prophesied a future when a leader would be raised up, a moment when God’s law and justice would be upheld… a new era…

‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

Hope for a nation…

The turning of the tide…

The future hope of security and Justice…

A leader whose greatness will reach the ends of the earth!!

A huge promise! A shepherd – a leader – a future king whose leadership would reach every corner of the globe: Jesus!

Jesus came to earth… 2000 years ago. He wasn’t the king that Israel expected, but his influence has spread around the world… however… his justice, security and peace has not been fully realised.

In Advent we remember a time when the world longed for the birth of a child… the shepherd… the longed for leader of people.

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to the Advent Collective Day 10

In your darkest moment, who gave you strength and led you through?

Who led you to your greatest triumph – To your biggest breakthrough?

When were your glory days and who was at the helm?

I’ve shared before that at 16 I left home and went to boarding school so that I would have the best possible chance to take my swimming to the next level. The culture shock was so great that I didn’t want to stay… in fact I would have done almost anything to leave.

Looking back, as I struggled through that time, one person stands out. One person believed in me, encouraged me, gave me strength, pushed me further and ultimately enabled me come through that period: my swimming coach, Archie Brew.

Now when I encounter self-doubt or a challenging time in my life I often look back and long for an Archie Brew type character to come alongside and help me find my way.

Today’s reading is Jeremiah 33:14-17.

Jerusalem, the nation’s capital was surrounded by the vast Babylonian army. Judah’s army was weak, their allies were either defeated or had retreated to their own lands. The city was on its knees, food supplies were cut off, water was in short supply. All the enemy had to do was wait…

Years before, Israel had split in two. Israel in the north, Judah in the south. Israel had already been defeated and its people carried off into exile…. and now it was Judah’s time.

The glory days, where had they gone? The people of God, had he forgotten them?

In years gone by… there had been a great king, a king who had united the 12 tribes of Israel. A king who had been victorious in battle, who had defeated the mighty Philistine army, who had established a nation and laid the foundation for abundant prosperity. God’s anointed and a man after God’s own heart. The king? David!

Into a city in despair… into the violent headwind of oncoming disaster, the prophet spoke,

14 ‘“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

‘“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.

In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Saviour.”

For this is what the Lord says: “David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel”

God will be victorious! Nothing will stop his unfolding rescue plan. You see his plan was bigger than the nation of Israel, bigger than Judah, bigger than the promised land. No, God’s plan has always been a plan to bless the whole world. And the righteous branch from David’s line? The one who would sit on David’s through forever? Jesus – the Lord our Righteous saviour!

Life in the middle of a global pandemic is tough. Life locked down, in isolation is difficult. Having to choose between family members at Christmas… The constant threat of a nasty virus that has killed 10s of thousands in the UK.

We may have moments when we ask, “where is God in all of this?”

Rest assured, he’s here. He has not forgotten. Nothing will stop his unfolding rescue plan.

The Prophet spoke a word of hope – a reminder of God’s promises – into the blackest of moments in a nation’s history.

Archie Brew, came alongside me at a tough time in my life, he believed in me, he caused me to lift my head and press on.

Who needs a word of hope from us today? Who is struggling? Whose head has dropped, who is overwhelmed and needs you to stand with them and pray?

Let’s pause…

Let’s remember his promises… to never leave us,

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to the Advent Collective, day 9

When I was at school a friend’s family threw a big birthday party. I don’t know whose party it was, but myself and a small posse were best friends with the daughter. So we got an invite. The friend’s house was fairly small but it was part of a run of houses with shared gardens. Don’t think Sheffield terraces, this is Wiltshire, think lots of green space. They hired a large marquee, a disco and DJ . The food! The decorations! The drink! Everything beautifully arranged with great care and attention to every detail.

There were loads of people, we partied on into the night it was an awesome time.

The friends had been invited to stay over, on the condition that we help tidy up the following morning. So at the end of the party, we got out our sleeping bags and bed down for what was left of the night.

It had been a great time, so much fun! But I will never forget waking up the following morning to the utter devastation.

I was groggy from too much food, a little too much drink and having not had nearly enough sleep, pulling on yesterdays clothes… and then walking outside…

The marquee was still standing – that was something – but the mess! Left over food, paper plates, beer cans, empty bottles of wine… one can only marvel at the ingenuity of some people to be able to finish a drink and get the empties into such creative locations. Mess everywhere!

The night before… full of such fun, laughter and life…

The morning after… emptiness, brokenness and carnage.

I wonder if you know the feeling?

The highs followed by the deep lows…

And I’m not just talking about the low after a great celebration… Or the silence after the raging storm,

But euphoria, the expectation, the hope… Lost.

The empty room after your eldest child has left for university

The days, weeks, even months following a broken relationship.

The loss of a job

The death of a loved one

Or another period of flipping self isolation!

Do you know that feeling?

Now let’s take that feeling and magnify it 100,000 times…. Or across an entire nation

Our reading today is Isaiah 61:1-4

Here Isaiah the great prophet, speaks to the remnant of a broken nation.

A kingdom long divided, battles fought and lost, the few returning to the promised land, which had been reduced to rubble and over run with thorns…

A nation called by God, that had shown such early promise, but experienced such abject failure, total ruin, complete despair.

When all hope was lost… reality looked so bleak, Isaiah spoke these words:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion –

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

Into the stark reality of life – life that can be both brutal and beautiful – God speaks a promise and reveals the job description of Jesus, his anointing from the father, the call on his life.

So how are we doing today people of God?

Broken-hearted? Feeling stuck, overwhelmed, grieving a life lost or feeling down and in despair?

People of God:

Wait for Jesus…

Reach out for Jesus…

Listen for Jesus…

In Jesus, all the promises of God are yes and amen!

FREEDOM! RELEASE! FAVOUR! COMFORT!

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Hello and thank you for tuning in to the Advent Collective today. We’re going to be looking together at Isaiah 52, unravelling this wonderful story of Jesus Christ, that underpins the whole of scripture, as we go.

As you will have heard so far as part of this series, a significant theme of Advent is this idea of home. We’ve talked about it already on this podcast.

I wonder what comes to mind when you think of home? Do you think of family? Comfort? Warmth? Or you might think of fear? Abuse? Loneliness?

I know especially during this time, the idea of home has changed dramatically. For many, home is no longer the place you go back to. The place you return to. For some at the moment, and I think especially of my Grandma who is 87 and lives alone, it’s the place you never leave.

Some of you listening to this may be students. Home is always a tricky one when studying in a different city. I remember when I was a student, that first tea back at home at the end of a term was always so special. It felt like I’d left all my bags, literal and figurative, at the door and could relax. For most of you, that’s not the case at the moment. You can’t pop home for a weekend, or travel to a different place to see old friends.

Some of you listening may be in a situation like my Grandma who lives on her own and has barely been past the end of her drive since March. Home can feel lonely. Home can feel isolating.

Some of you listening may be finding it really hard to connect with Church at the moment. Maybe your family don’t believe in the same things that you do and it feels like an ongoing battle over what Sunday mornings consist of.

For so many of us, home is a place of rest, relaxing, sleeping, eating, working, worshiping, praying, grieving, mourning.

The story of God’s people through history is a story of returning home. From Eden, to Canaan, to Egypt, to wandering in the desert, to nationhood, to judges, Kings, prophets, exile, conquest.

This passage in Isaiah 52 is no different. The Israelites are in a tough spot. Some have already been conquered and led off into a foreign land. Some are still fighting for survival. Most have turned away from the Lord. Isaiah prophesies “Wake up! Wake up! Shake off the dust and rise again. Salvation is here. You are coming home.”

At every step, God’s desire was to be at one with his people. That they would be his, and he would be theirs. To lead them back into his arms.

Just like us, the Israelites turned away from the Lord and decided they knew best. However, in all of this, God did not abandon them. He did not say, forget this, I’m out. He did not say I’ve had enough, I’ll leave you to it. He was faithful to the end. And he is faithful to the end. And the good work he began thousands of years ago will be seen to completion as scripture promises.

And that completion is what we wait for in Advent. Jesus Christ coming to earth, as a baby first, and with the call of trumpets second. We wait for the new heaven and the new earth. We wait for home. Jesus’ first coming and through the redeeming power of the Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, God’s home is in us by his Holy Spirit. His second coming instigates a new home. The new heaven and the new earth we read of in Revelation chapter 21.

It’s the restoration of all things. As they were and as they should be. In perfect relationship and union. Everything made new. Every tear wiped, no more death, no more mourning, no more crying. We will be his people and he will be our God.

Christmas is the time when our homes truly come into their own. Hosting family and friends, decorations, trees, the smells, the tastes. But we’re all having to accept that this year is going to be very different.

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Hello, my name is Sam and welcome to the Advent Collective. As we have begun journeying through this season together, I’ve been really blessed by what I’ve heard so far and I hope you have been too. It is only in recent years I’ve understood more of the heart behind this funny pre-Christmas period. It’s not just a time for chocolates and candles, but this ancient festival reminds us of the eternal hope that is found in Jesus. The act of God putting on flesh and moving into the neighbourhood. And it reminds us of the hope that we profess for the Kingdom to come as we wait for and long for Christ’s glorious return.

Now today, we’re going to be looking at chapter 40 of the book of Isaiah. I’d encourage you to read the whole thing in your own time, it’s an absolute corker. But for now, here is verse 9:

‘You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”’

I have quite a small family, especially in comparison to others when it comes to cousins. I have just 3 on both sides. The youngest of my cousins is called Joe. Joe was born in 2008, and while I don’t have fantastically clear memories of being 9 years old, I have a very distinct memory from the day he was born.

My auntie had gone into labour and while they were busy at the hospital, Joe’s older siblings, Ethan and Jess, were at our house being looked after by my mum and dad. It was a lovely July afternoon, we’d all just finished school, we were playing in the garden, I’m wearing shorts – it’s a good time.

As we’re playing, the landline starts to ring. At the sound, we all stopped and stood still, silently watching through the windows as my mum answered the phone. We all looked around at one another eagerly anticipating some news. Then, mum puts the phone down, we glance at each other again. She walks towards the door, and like the Queen emerging on the balcony of Buckingham Palace she says, “he’s here.”

Cousin Jess explodes in unfiltered joy, frantically jumping around, clapping her hands, excited beyond all control and rationality. She is 6 at this point so we’ll let her off. But it’s this news of a baby brother that releases in her sheer joy and delight, so much so that she can not keep it to herself. She can not contain it. The news of ‘here is your brother’ is good news.

In this passage from Isaiah 40, we read similar words. He calls those who have good news to share it, to shout it, to tell everyone – “Here is your God!” Just like my cousin heard the news ‘here is your brother’, who needs to hear to words “here is your God” today? Who needs to hear the truth of who God is? Who needs to know the good news of Jesus Christ this Advent?

In our Bible reading, Isaiah is calling those who have been faithful to Yahweh to remind their own people, God’s chosen family that he is their God. Reminding them of who he is, what he has done, and what he has promised to do.

That was the cry to Israel, “here is your God!” Our cry is the same today.

We read in scripture that each and every person on Earth is fearfully and wonderfully made. Knitted together in their mother’s womb. Created to know their creator. Our restless souls yearn for a home. Other things in life try and imitate it, but that home is found in the Father. In our Father. You see God longs for a relationship with each person he has created. He chases after them. He leaves the 99 to chase after and seek out the 1 who has gone astray. Here is your God! Or in another translation, “Behold! Look”, here is your God! This is who he is! And this is the good news we have to tell.

As much as this is a call to share the good news w...

A daily reflection drawing from Advent Bible passages – to help us grow as we live out our faith in the everyday moments of life.

Welcome to the Advent Collective day 6. One of the big themes of Advent, which appears in the passage that we’re going to read today, is one of waiting.

I’ve been remembering Christmas Days growing up and the agonising wait to open the first present from under the tree. In the Murphy household, this doesn’t happen until after the Queen’s speech at 3in the afternoon, and then sometimes after that Dad would still have to make a coffee, which I now realise doesn’t take very long at all, but at the time it felt much, much longer! It was then a very sweet moment when it was finally time to open the first present, and I do think it was probably all the better for having to wait.

Today’s Bible passageis Isaiah 11:1-16. It’s a passage with some beautiful poetic language, that I think trying to summarise it wouldn’t do it justice, so I’m going to read verses 1-9 in full for us now:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;

and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

In this passage we get a glimpse into the character of Jesus and the kingdom of God that he will bring about – Isaiah prophesies that Jesus will be filled with a spirit of wisdom and understanding, that he will judge and act with justice, that he will be clothed in righteousness and faithfulness. And God’s kingdom will be one of unity, of peace and of harmony, filled with the knowledge and the presence of the Lord. What a beautiful image!

But what’s particularly struck me as I’ve reflected on this passage is where Jesus and this kingdom that’s described, comes from. Verse 1, again, says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”A stump is left after a tree has been cut down, or has fallen, it could be left to rot and decay and yet, out of this, in the passage, comes a shoot, a glimmer of hope. In this case, Jesus’s heritage, the line of Jesse, was broken, and in the previous chapter we see that Assyria has been destroyed, leaving a remnant of God’s people, Israel. But there’s just enough life in the stump for a shoot to find its way through. Out of the hopelessness and despair, springs hope, and life.

Maybe you’re in a season of waiting right now, I think, to an extent, 2020 has been a year of waiting for us all in different ways. Maybe you feel like things have been stripped back and chopped down, and you’re left with something that resembles a tree stump,