Jesus comes to us as both Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God. He walks with us in both an intimate and powerful manner as our Friend and Saviour. It is this combination of immanence and transcendence that the prophet Isaiah proclaims in his song of praise found in Isaiah 9:1-7.Watch at: https://youtu.be/xGtSoTcbyy8

Wonderful Counselor - Christ is always coming toward us - in every day and every hour. The invitation and opportunity we receive is to be open, aware and receptive to the gift of Jesus coming to us in our everyday. The poem of Isaiah (9:1-7) reveals four titles for the coming Messiah by which we may be attentive to Jesus' voice in our contemporary world. May we hear and receive Jesus this day as our 'Wonderful Counselor' as we begin the season of Advent.Watch at: https://youtu.be/q2sWu-8kITk

The Psalmist reminds us that God is our Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour. The entire earth belongs to God including both lands and peoples. As created beings God is worthy of our praise and devotion. What is exciting is that God provides fro our righteousness (v5) which allows us to reflect back to God the beauty of his own presence, joy and compassionate love.Watch at: https://youtu.be/FcCpksueL7M

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The challenge we face is to be truly conscious of our interior world (& needs) while we are inundated with external stimulate. The distractions of our day to day living press our interior longings to the back of our minds. As such we need to hear the truth of the Gospel that Jesus travels with us in the midst of our everyday and offers us a shalom which is deeper than our daily concerns.Watch at: https://youtu.be/_q_7bkkvMd8

The risen Jesus came to his disciples (and especially Thomas) to deal with the issues of fear and doubt. He comes to them to inspire them with his peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit we also receive the ongoing presence of Jesus so that we can live as his faithful followers. Indeed, Jesus enables us to move from doubt to faith and mistrust to trust by his enlivening indwelling.Watch at: https://youtu.be/lJeTjIdQtc8

The cosmic journey of Christ reveals Christs descent from heaven to the world and his return from the world to the Father. It is because of this great journey that, through faith, we have the opportunity to become the children of God. As we open our hearts to the presence of Jesus, we move from the realm of death to the endless possibilities of new life in Christ.Watch at: https://youtu.be/QwFXUJfdWRc

In Psalm 30 the poet gives thanks for God's restorative healing powers. He underlines his point by noting that his interior spirit also needed to know God's healing touch. His crisis was multi-leveled - both exterior and interior. In a similar way we also cry out to God for his restorative work in our lives. May we give God thanks (even as the Psalmist) as he is attentive to our prayers and supplications.Watch at: https://youtu.be/Nx7nrqfFNeY

The fifth "I am" statement of the Gospel of John is "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25) which is spoken by Jesus to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus. It contains the incredible paradox of "even though one dies they will live forever." How does one both die and live forever? It seems nonsensical! Yet, it is this paradox that Jesus holds out to both Martha and to us. Yes, we die physically but our "true interior selves" remain connected to God because we are in relationship with a "deathless loving God".Watch at: https://youtu.be/6ChRNgT8_1c