Official Report 950KB pdf
Good afternoon. Our first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Gordon Kennedy, minister, Craiglockhart parish church.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to share this time for reflection with you.
Advent is a season of hope. We do not hope for something that we already have. In the darkness, we hope for light. In distress, we hope for comfort. We long for a hope that will sustain us, prove to be true and deliver what we have hoped for.
As a disciple of Jesus, I live in hope—not a hope in my own wisdom or ability, both of which are limited, but in the God who loves me, in Jesus who has come to be God with me and in the promises of God’s enduring word.
To a nation that was troubled by war and facing turmoil, our God sent his word by Isaiah his prophet:
“to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder ... his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Eight hundred years before our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God declared the good news of hope. Those words are about not stables or stars but who Jesus is and what he will do; they are words of hope, which God displayed to be true when a young girl gave birth to her son.
King Jesus will set his shoulder to the yoke, and he will bear our heavy load. He will go before us and set the path for us. King Jesus is the one who will give us wonderful counsel. He knows more than we do about how we need to live. King Jesus is God and, with all the power of God, is able to be at work for us. King Jesus can gather us into the unending security of his love and grace. He will rule for our wellbeing, our wholeness and our harmony.
What are you hoping for, this Christmas? Are you hoping for snow? Are you hoping for a quiet time with your family? The hope that God offers us at Christmas is far more—far deeper—than that. Hope in Jesus is shown to be true by his continuing work among us. Hope in Jesus delivers what we have hoped for.
Advent is a good time to leave behind the hopes that will disappoint us and to find real, lasting and glorious hope in Jesus our king.
Thank you.
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