Harmony of Grace

  Ephesians 2:1-4 The apostle Paul shares a grim synopsis about those who choose to live in darkness, rather than seeking the light. He says that all people have been dead in their transgressions and sins. This was because they followed the ways of the world and the evil one.  Most of us get to a point in our lives when we realise that we are not living the lives that we should be. Some people's stories are more tragic than others, but most realise that to some extent, we are not as good as we would like to be. Paul echoes this thought in verse 3 when he says that at some time, all of us have gratified the cravings of the flesh and followed its thoughts and desires. We can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone in these feelings of disappointment in ourselves.  The Good News of the Gospel is that we are loved and forgiven of our past mistakes and failings, regardless of what we have done. We have been given a new life to live in honour and glory of the God who has ...

John 3:18-21 I love verse 19 in our reading for today: "Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." What a fitting description of our world today.  Many people claim that the world is a horrible place; that people are evil and there is no hope for redemption.  I have a different view. There is much good and light in the world. The problem is that much of humanity chooses to love and seek darkness instead. When the Light came into the world in the form of Jesus, we were shown how to bring light into the world by living lives of mercy, peace and justice. And yet most of humanity still chooses to love darkness by living lives of resentment, violence and selfish gain. I am sure that we would all love to see a world with more light and goodness. I believe that in order for this reality to be realised, we need to live by the truths that Jesus taught: more love, more forgiveness, more grace, more peace, more giving, and mo...