I started an Advent calendar with my 4 year old. He was excited to eat chocolate; I was excited to share the Christmas story.
The first day included a verse with the words Christ, Lord and Saviour. I thought, “Time to translate for a 4 year old.”
I said we need a King to love us and lead us and rescue us. Boom! Converted on the spot. Not quite, but a seed was sown before the excitement of the chocolate kicked in.
Lord and Saviour often fit together in church language, but without love as the way God rescues and rules then Christ is Lord is not enough.
Love is the bridge to truly understanding our Lord and Saviour.
I was in France recently meeting churches working with students. I happened to be there a few days before the Paris attacks.
My prayers since have been sourced from both delight and despair. Delight at what I saw God doing in France - the faith, hope and love. And despair at the hatred and killing.
The ISIS kingdom (caliphate) portrays a god that rules and saves through violence and fear. It is the opposite of the reality of Jesus’ Kingdom of love and freedom.
The deeper we go into the simple gospel, one that both a 4 year old and a student can understand, the clearer our call becomes – respond to a God who rules and rescues out of love not fear. Then maybe we'll gamble on going a bit deeper into what God has for us.
The advent (the coming) of Christ means our lens in the student world is LOVE – may our understanding of Christ, Lord and Salvation be baptised in LOVE this Christmas.