Today is the first Sunday of Advent—four weeks before Christmas.  Time flies, doesn’t it?  Well, to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of Jesus Our Lord, I’m planning to preach a brief series which I titled, The Joy of Mary, on the first three Sundays of December. You see, from the first day she learned that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit till the day she gave birth to this baby Jesus, there was no other emotion that burst out of her soul but joy. 

Before Mary, no women have ever been and after Mary, no women will ever be given the responsibility to bear the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  Such a huge understanding yet Mary was able to rise to the challenge and accepted the task with joy.  There was neither complaint nor self-pity, just pure joy, through and through.  It is then imperative that we learn from the mother of Our Lord how to accept God’s appointment not only obediently, but also with joy.

This coming Thursday, God’s willing, we will bury Danny, the son of our brother Robby and our sister Susy.  While we are on this side of heaven, we can never wrap our heads around this puzzle, “Why did God call him home at a relatively young age?”  We do not have the answer to it, but we have the faith for it.  We know that God has a plan, and His plan is ultimately good and will bring glory to Him. 

Like Mary the mother of Jesus, Danny also rose to the challenge and accepted God’s appointment for him.  Neither did he complain nor slump into self-pity; he faced death boldly because he had securely placed his faith in the Almighty God though Jesus His Son.  Leaving behind his young children must be hard for him but he knew that they would be safe in the arms of Jesus, his loving Savior.  Losing a son must also be difficult for our brother Robby and our sister Susy but they know this is not a goodbye.  It’s a “See you again, Danny.”

Pastor Paul