Letter from Jon, December 2022 

 Your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven
                        Matt 6:10
 
Dear Friends
 
As we enter the last month of 2022, I realise that for many, if not all of us, this has been a tough and challenging year.  I don’t need to remind you of all the factors that have made it so, causing fear, poverty, and tragedy in this year, and which continue to haunt us as we draw near to Christmas; and we, as believers in Christ, are certainly not immune to these things.  The verse above you will probably recognise as part of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray.  These are words we come back to very often, and rightly so.  As we pray these words, we are inviting God’s kingdom to seep into, to flood, to saturate us.  We are inviting him into our own lives, our families, our communities and our world.
 
It may seem obvious to you, but last week as I prayed these words, I was struck that to invite God’s kingdom is to invite God’s goodness.  Everything about God’s kingdom, his rule and reign, is good because everything about God is good.  In the gospels we read of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and addresses him as “good teacher”, and Jesus responds by asking why he calls him good, that only God is good.  Of course, we know that Jesus is completely good because he is completely God. 
 
God’s kingdom reflects who he is.  Paul invites us in his letter to the Philippians to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy.  Our God is all these things.  He brings light into the darkest recesses of our lives and our world.  He is hope that overcomes the darkest despair.
 
Jesus is ‘good news’ for all and time and time again I see that goodness at work in and through you, his people, and I am extremely grateful to be part of Liberty.  As we celebrate Christmas this year, I pray that for you and those you love it would truly be a celebration of God’s goodness.  As the song goes ‘He is good when life is not’, and I pray that whatever you have gone through or are going through, that you would know the riches of God’s goodness this Christmas. 
 
Joy, peace and love
 
Jon