Advent Letter 2023
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Dear Friends,
I am writing to you all at the start of probably the busiest season of our year. The irony of encouraging people to slow down and enjoy advent, whilst we run around planning endless services is hard to reconcile. There is so much we have to do, and also so much we want to do. At a time when people so need Jesus, it is natural to want to make the most of every gospel opportunity that Christmas presents. But I think in all that pressure we can also rely on God to give us a manageable pace and to be in control of the timing. If the 400 years of waiting for the Messiah teaches us anything it is that God acts at just the right time and is not governed by our urgency or agendas.
One of the regular Christmas readings is Micah 5, and yet we often don’t go beyond the prophesy about Bethlehem and miss this wonderful promise;
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace.
At a time when there is so little peace, especially in the land where the Christmas drama played out, perhaps our role this Christmas is to model that peace and security. Maybe instead of doing everything we can do, we should ask what is definitely ours to do; resting in the sure knowledge that the Gospel message of Christmas is God’s to share and he can do it through who we are as much as the events we put on.
As a team we will be praying for all our churches as you make Jesus known over Christmas. May you know the strength of the Lord as he lovingly shepherds you through your wonderful and imaginative ways of sharing the gospel.
Every blessing,
Lisa and the CBA Team
