Word in Five

The LORD says, "Do not be afraid". They are words we need to hear as there are so many things to make us afraid. Yet we can be like Mary, quietly trusting our God who does the impossible.

Jesus welcomes the outcast - we are always welcome with Jesus even when we think we don't belong or feel like outsiders.

Four beautiful names to describe the One who would be born king!

Jesus is the Great Light who shines in the darkness. May we come to him as he gently exposes our hearts and shows us our need of him.

God wants us to be in no doubt about who Jesus is. He told us he would be born to a virgin and he is God with us. Let's not be like King Ahaz, but trust the God who is with us.

Hannah prayed about Jesus the King and Messiah who would come - she believed even in the darkness that God would keep his promises.

Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah who has come as God's promised king to save all the nations of the world.

God is love - the truth at the heart of the Christmas story from the very beginning!

Our God humbled himself, taking on flesh - a real human nature - so he could rescue us and his creation.

Jesus is the Light of the world who has come to restore all of creation. May we follow his light and worship him this Christmas!

Jesus is the good man - the only one! His prayers are always prayed - we get to pray in his name. He prays against his enemies - let's keep going, knowing that one day all of God's enemies will be overcome.

Jesus loves his Father and loves his people - he delights in us. May we love God and one another and walk by faith, even in the darkest place.

Jesus is the Man who kept his promise even when it hurt. He has clean hands and a pure heart. Trusting in him, we can live in God's presence - now and forever - unshakable in Jesus.

God doesn't flatter us. He sees that none of us are good - but he doesn't leave us there - he has sent a Saviour from heaven who died in Jerusalem to make us clean. May we live and act believing that there is such a God!

Jesus knew what it was to be full of sorrow and to rejoice in the same situation. How real his life is and how he can help us in our suffering.

We live in what has been called a post-truth age. Where is truth? Who can we trust? God's word is flawless - Jesus is Mr Truth. We can trust him. Let's be people of the truth.

Keep going serving the King even if it seems like the foundations of everything are being destroyed. That's what it seemed like to Jesus, but he kept going and finished the work he had to do, rising from the dead.

God is faithful even when we are faithless - he cannot deny himself. Abraham has very little, but powerful people realise God is with him. Abraham looked forward in faith to a lasting city, the new heavens and earth, whose builder and architect is God.

Paul tells us in Galatians 4 what Moses wanted us to understand about Hagar and Sarah. Hagar stands for trying to save yourself. One had faith in Jesus and was saved.

Sadly not everyone wants Jesus - Ishmael didn't. But even then the LORD is kind and wants Ishmael to see and believe. Will we see and believe in this kind God who rescues and saves?

Jesus brings joy. He shows us that God keeps his promises. He is the answer to every promise. May he help us to be joyful even in tough times.

The patience of the LORD with us even when we repeat the same failings. Jesus prays for us, knowing what it is like to be tempted, yet he never once sinned!

We can blot out the sun by holding a 5p in front of our eye. We do that with God when people and problems can seem like giants and we doubt and do the wrong thing. May he help us to remember and do the right thing, trusting in Jesus.

The Bible certainly isn't a boring book. God's friend Abraham had prayed for Lot to be rescued. Lot was rescued and then this happens! Yet, even in this God is working out his plan to save the world through Jesus!

The LORD is so kind in rescuing us - it's all his doing! May we love Jesus more than we love anything else and keep trusting him.