Every year, there is some interest in the first ‘sighting’ of Christmas. Whether it be the presence of tinsel and fairy lights piled high and prominently placed spotted during an October trip to Bunnings, or the faint discomfort caused by hearing the sparse opening bars of All I Want for Christmas is You on a pleasant Spring morning, there is wide agreement that preparation for Christmas festivities begins all too early!

This week I have been involved in my first conversations about TIGS Christmas Celebration (scheduled for the early evening of Wednesday 6 December, if it’s not already marked on the family calendar, I invite you to take this opportunity to save the date!). Unlike my first annual sighting of a portly Santa in board shorts, carrying a surfboard, this particular reminder that Christmas is approaching is always welcome. TIGS Christmas Celebration is a wonderful event that brings hundreds and hundreds of people of all ages together in celebration of our community and acknowledgement of, and gratitude for, the birth of Jesus.

For the Christian, looking forward to Christmas reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus and what his birth, death and subsequent resurrection mean for humanity. There can be no doubt that we are living in an age where hope is desperately needed and, all too often, in short supply. Living by faith means being secure in the knowledge that God is over and above all things and that our hope is placed in nothing less than the creator of Heaven and Earth. In John’s gospel we read, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world”.

So, over the coming weeks, when you hear Mariah Carey hitting the high notes, or have your first sighting of a bejewelled tree with an intoxicating smell of pine oil, my encouragement to you is to take heart – these sensory experiences can be more than a marketing ploy to orient you to spend money. The evidence that Christmas is coming should be a happy reminder that ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ (John 1:5).

See you on 6 December!