Beloved Advent is an invitation to Good News - to be present to the God who is with us! Today in this season we proclaim Christ has come and continues to come to man and will one day come again to fully restore all that has been marred and disfigured by sin and brokenness.

Jesus Christ came to humanity that had been deformed and disfigured by the wasting sickness of Sin....in a wasteland of trying to find life yet utterly unable to fend off the affects of this wasting sickness. The scripture declares He took our disease, our sorrow our sin upon Himself for our healing, our hope and life. Not only did He bring healing but a whole new way to live - called the Kingdom of God.

In a world convinced that hope and change can only come as result of Power or Privilege - God has entrusted us with a ‘talent’. Something we did not create but we have been given - the Good News of the Gospel - that will actually change the world - the Love of God revealed in Christ.

In a world filled with empty promises of joy and delight our invitation to live in and from Jesus Kingdom is an invitation that is not about Duty and Drudgery but and invitation to Delight – in real life a partnered life with Jesus.

The Good News of the Gospel is all about what God has done - His Grace His Mercy His Faithfulness. His decision to relate to us on the basis of what He has done and is doing! That is called Grace! That Grace is an assault on everyone one of my well painted facades.

The hope, victory and life of the Kingdom of God is not based in the systems of this world but in truth of the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus.

In a world filled with contradiction, confusion and consumption - God has come in the person of Jesus not only to rescue man but to provide what cannot be secured on our own; contentment settled in the real peace and the joy of His presence with us!

God has come in the Person of Christ - in this we rejoice and place our confidence there is no safer place to be. When religion tells us our confidence and identity is what we know or what we have done or not done. The Gospel proclaims what God has done in Christ and IS doing in us now!

Repentance is not about Remorse and Regret how sorry we are for the mistakes we have made. It is an invitation to reconsider rethink and re-calibrate our thinking and our life to what has always been true. We have a Father who is Good, Compassionate, Generous, Forgiving and Welcoming. Because His love is extravagant and unchanging. He really is better than we think so we need to change the way we think - that is beloved is a gift called Repentance.