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“The highest of all of God’s commands is this: that we ever hold up before our eyes the image of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He must daily be to our hearts the perfect mirror, in which we behold how much God loves us and how well, in his infinite goodness, as a faithful God, he has grandly cared for us in that he gave his dear Son for us. Do not let this mirror and throne of grace be torn away from before your eyes.”
—Martin Luther, Letters of Spiritual Counsel
“Jesus, with Thy Church abide; Be her Savior, Lord, and Guide. While on earth her faith is tried...Keep her life and doctrine pure; Grant her patience to endure, trusting in Thy promise sure...May she one in doctrine be, one in truth and charity, winning all to faith in Thee...May she guide the poor and blind, seek the lost until she find, and the broken hearted bind: We beseech Thee, hear us.”
— Thomas Pollock, Jesus With Thy Church Abide
“As always, the people of God must decide what reading of their experiences they will live by. Are they to look at the darkness, the hopelessness, the dreams shattered and conclude that God has forgotten them? Or are they to recall his past mercies, to remember his present promises and to make great affirmations of faith?... Hope is the present reality, part of the constitution of the ‘now.’ The darkness is true, but it is not the whole truth, and certainly not the fundamental truth.”
— Alec Motyer, Commentary on Isaiah
“For many, Christianity is just a beautiful dream. It is a world in which every day reality goes a bit blurred. It is nostalgic, cozy, and comforting. But real Christianity isn’t like that at all. Take Christmas, for instance: a season of nostalgia, of carols and candles and firelight and happy children. But that misses the point completely. Christmas is not a reminder that the world is really quite a nice old place. It reminds us that the world is a shockingly bad old place, where wickedness flourishes unchecked, where children are murdered, where civilized countries make a lot of money by selling weapons to uncivilized ones so they can blow each other apart. Christmas is God lighting a candle; and you don’t light a candle in a room that’s already full of sunlight. You light a candle in a room that is so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…Christmas, then, is not a dream, a moment of escapism. Christmas is the reality, which shows up the rest of ‘reality’. And for Christmas, here, read Christianity.”
—NT Wright, For All God’s Worth
“Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation of things—the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on—will get better. Hope is trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.”
—Henri Nouwen
Oh come, oh come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel.
Who mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Has come to thee oh, Israel.
—O Come, O Come Emmanuel
[Unfortunately, sermon audio is not available for this week. Please check back for the first sermon in our Advent series.]
“How we react is often a better thermometer of our heart than how we act.”
—Sinclair Ferguson
“It is in the dark struggles with God that we are surprised by His response to our anger and fear. What we receive from Him during our difficult battle is not what we expect. We assume He wants order, conformity–obedient children. Instead, we find that He wants our passionate involvement and utter awe in the mystery of His glorious character.”
—Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, Cry of the Soul