Sunday Service - N.D

A thought that often tortures the Christian mind today is the thought that God seems strangely absent from the world He himself has made. The Christian faith is that this world is God’s world. He is in this world and is mightily at work in it. He has a purpose for this world and is conducting the affairs in it to fulfil that purpose. But when we look at what is happening in this world we wonder if our faith is true. We are conscious of the misery people have experienced and are still experiencing as a result of this war. Millions of families have been uprooted from their ancestral soil and have experienced untold misery. There seems to be so much of bitterness and enmity among the nations and people one towards another. There appears no immediate prospect of world peace. Everything that we have valued in our present civilisation seems to be breaking down; and we naturally wonder how God is working out his purpose for the world. Is he in the world controlling and directing its affairs or is he away from us. We are disillusioned and we become cynical and we question our faith. How can we Christian people face and master the fear that haunts us that God may be remote and aloof from this world and perhaps even no longer its governor. How can we ourselves be sure and then help persuade others that the world process in which we are involved is one of redemption and not of judgment and destruction? The message of Christmas furnishes us with the answer. Christmas directs our gaze to the only light that shines upon our bewildering darkness. That light streams from a stable in Bethlehem in which the stupendous thing happened that is the marvel and the glory of our faith. In Jesus God has visited and redeemed his people. He has not only drawn near to his world, he has entered it. The pervading Spirit of God has become the invading and then the indwelling Spirit. With Jesus God Himself has come to the world and has come to stay. This was the conclusion to which the first disciples were irresistibly led. The message of Christmas is that in Jesus God has entered into the world and is sharing the life of his children. Jesus is Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us’. Let us take that message to heart. In spite of circumstances that point to the contrary, let us re-affirm the presence of God with us in the world. The evil that is prevalent in the world and the suffering that the world is experiencing are due to our own sins. Even in the hell that we have made for ourselves in this world, God is there with his people ever seeking to turn them to repentance and renewal. So we can be confident that out of the present chaos and confusion, God will bring order and harmony and thus work out his purpose for the world. God’s purpose for the world is redemption and not destruction. Though we may witness the triumph of evil for a time let us be confident that

ultimately God will be victorious. We have already seen it in the victory God has granted to the Allied Nations. We can be confident that God is leading the nations to a time of peace and prosperity. As Christians we are called upon to cooperate with God to work for the establishment of peace and harmony in the world. Not only in our national life, but also in our individual lives we sometimes meet with disappointments and failures, sufferings and sorrows. God appears to be so remote from us at times. We meet with difficulties which we are unable to face without divine aid. Life seems to be a burden to us because we are not conscious of God’s presence with us. Let the message of Christmas bring us cheer and comfort. Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. With that thought let us meet all life’s experiences with the confidence that God is with us. Nothing can separate us from his love in Christ. Because He is with us we can conquer everything that threatens to break our spirits and rob us of our inward peace. Let us face all life’s problems with calmness and confidence. As we come to God’s Holy Table and partake of his body and blood let us come to a fuller realisation of his presence with us. We will then be filled with joy and peace and we can face the new year with confidence. Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us.