Christ made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness... Philippians 2,7
Firm - and eager to learn. During the Synod of our Church in October in Harburg we focussed extensively on this topic. Firm - set free by Christ and fully accepted by Him, well versed in the Scriptures, and knowing where we come from and who we are, we can live in this world and our time with confidence. Eager to learn - we do not withdraw from this world, live in seclusion, but are constantly looking for better ways of sharing the gospel in our time and our circumstances.  It is when we are firmly rooted, that we can develop the confidence to learn, to move forward.

Jesus is the best example for this. Philippians 2, 5-11 tells us, how he, Son of God, “took the plunge”, became human. He gave up everything, risked everything, even his life, for our salvation. Why? God knew that only He could do it, His love for humankind was strong enough to allow his Son to do it. And Christ’s confidence in God Father was strong enough to go ahead.

The Child in the manger - seen by most as “sweet baby Jesus” is in fact the biggest risk that God could ever take - risking everything to set free his creation.

My prayer is that as we celebrate Advent and Christmas we will again discover that our most important foothold in life, Christ Jesus, is totally reliable, his love is unfailing. May this foothold give us the courage to also learn to look for new ways of making known his Gospel, finding new courage to reach out to others, to invite friends into our congregation, to share the story of this wonderful Lord who risked everything for our sake.

May you have a blessed time of Advent and Christmas, and find the strength you need for the new year that lies ahead.

Your brother in Christ

Horst Müller

News from the Church: Synod report at www.elcsant.org.za/