Andrew's Sermons

  Christmas Eve Night Readings and Sermon 2024 John 1.1–14 The Gospel according to John In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become...

The beginning of Advent is full of hope, but also offers us permission to see the world as it really is while still hoping for a future we can only sometimes glimpse.     Earlier we heard the prophet Jeremiah being hopeful, looking forward to a righteous branch from David’s line delivering what is right , what is just and safety for Judah and Jerusalem.     This passage is now commonly read to be predicting the coming of Jesus, and whether Jeremiah was being hopeful for that things may be better in the future, or truly knew of Jesus, we can’t be sure, but in the context of much of his writing, for Jeremiah, this was extremely optimistic.      Jeremiah was a prophet who knew the harsh realities of the human experience. He is writing from prison (Jer 32:1-2 ), and living in the aftermath of Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem around the year 587 (1:10). Jeremiah doesn’t offer any niceties or platitudes to smooth things over, just a dose of reality a...