Christmas is just simply wonderful.

The message of Christmas is even more wonderful.  From the breaking of a silence, the end of a long wait, to the arrival of a promise.  There are so many elements in the Christmas story that get me so excited. The first announcement from heaven is brilliant and ignites the birth of not only a new person but a new way.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Heaven is speaking loud and clear – there is fresh hope with this announcement especially after 400 years of silence.

Change is in the air. God is promising peace with Him – and we find out later in the script that peace isn’t a state but a person called Jesus. His very name is to save us, Immanuel declaring that God is with us.

Mary has always been the person and storyline I find the most fascinating in the Christmas story.  “Let it be onto me according to your word” has to be the most incredible faith filled words uttered in this scenario.  To simply believe God at His word. I don’t know about you, but I have lots to learn from her childlike faith.

John 1 is that great message that talks about Jesus being the word of God, there at the beginning. His arrival on earth is the simplicity of word being made flesh, a concept becoming a reality, something heavenly becoming something earthly.

Even in that I see the beauty of heaven coming to earth – but where does that start – a word.

My church have been running a series called Hope Awakens this month. I got the privilege of sharing some thoughts with our older teens last week on the whole idea of hope being revelaed.

The basis of what I shared was simply that hope was revealed firstly in a word. A promise was given,  and when there is a promise then there is hope.

I read Kris Vallotton’s blog a few weeks back and was struck by what he said:

Without hope, you can’t have faith……

I’ve really been thinking a lot about the apparent link between a word, a promise, the hope that brings and the faith to see it. This is how heaven comes to earth.

The good old carol Oh Come All Ye Faithful that I have sang for years sealed the message for Christmas again this year “Word of the father, now in flesh appearing”. What a line – that I had not really noticed until Sunday.

That’s the message of Christmas. The word becoming flesh.

I guess it’s the cry and hopeful longing of all of our hearts surely? That we would see in the flesh the word of God come.

I don’t know what you are longing for this Christmas.  Is there a promise that you are waiting on? Is there a hope that your situation could be different? Sometimes I feel like an expert in waiting. I’ve had every emotion imaginable in the waiting. I’m not even going to pretend to know or answer why some of us don’t see the things we feel we’ve been promised. The one thing I’m absolutely certain of is, that He is good, He is faithful, and His promises are always true, even if it doesn’t look like what we thought it would we have to trust his working is only for our good.

All of our hope begins with simply a word. What does HE say about what you’re walking through? That’s the word that matters the most, that’s the word that can change everything.

This is the beginning of hope this is where hope awakens. That we get to know a word, and that word can become reality.

WORD OF THE FATHER, NOW IN FLESH APPEARING

Let’s dare to believe and be confident that we will see His goodness in the land of the living.