North Ryde Christian Church

I remember Christmas eve as the peak of childhood excitement. I could say it was about family or feasts or celebrating Jesus’ birth, but the truth is it was all about the anticipation of presents. It was a magical feeling falling asleep on Christmas eve… the scent of Christmas pine, the glow of twinkling lights, the promise of presents.

But as the years pass, the excitement declines. As a teenager getting gift cards is preferable but not quite as exciting. As a young adult Christmas starts to hold more responsibilities and less magic.

As the excitement of presents dim over the years and the awareness of stress and conflict grows, that little figurine of baby Jesus in the manger starts to seem more important.

I want to take you back for a moment to the first Christmas evening. It was an ordinary night. There were no Christmas preparations, no gifts bought and wrapped. Ordinary shepherds were doing their ordinary thing watching their sheep. Then something truly remarkable happened. An angel in dazzling light appeared to them. The angel announced that the promised saviour had just been born in Bethlehem. And to highlight the magnitude of such news the whole sky was set ablaze with a multitude of shining angels singing glory to God. Read the original account in Luke 2:8-15.

That first Christmas the ultimate gift was given – the gift of peace with God. Jesus Christ came into the world to reconcile God’s rebellious children to their loving heavenly Father. Jesus was born, lived and died to be a peace offering between us and God. This ultimate Christmas present, given over 2000 years ago in a little town over 14,000kms away, is still available and being received today.

What would it mean to you to have peace with God? To know through Jesus’s life and death you are completely forgiven and accepted by God; you are completely known and loved by God, you are right with the author of all creation and even after death you are going to enjoy peaceful friendship with Him forever.

Forget battery operated toys and giftcards, the gift of peace with God is like all our Christmases have come at once.

Prayer: Dear God, I accept the gift of peace with you through Jesus Christ. Thank you. Please show me how to live in this peace from now on. Amen.

Acknowledgement: This article was sourced from Outreach Media, Sydney, Australia.
Images and text © Outreach Media 2025

Mark Taylor told Sam Konstas to ditch the ramp shot and go back to basics to force his way back into the (Australian) Test team. The basics are the foundation of whatever you are talking about. Builders know that if the foundation isn’t right, the whole structure will fail.

When Paul changed the topic from “spiritual gifts” to “the Lord’s resurrection” in 1 Corinthians 15, he went back to the foundation of Christianity. He wrote: “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said” (1 Cor. 15:3-4NLT).

He is saying, “Here’s the news that matters most: Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. And this was predicted in the Old Testament”.

The three aspects of the gospel (good news about Jesus) are: Jesus died for our sins, then Jesus was buried, and then Jesus rose back to life.

Looking at each of these in turn.

First, Jesus died for our sins. He substituted for us; He took the punishment that we deserve. Second, His burial confirmed His death. And third, His resurrection showed His victory over death and that God had accepted the price Christ paid on the cross. God was pleased with Christ’s sacrifice for sin.

Paul says that all this was predicted in the Old Testament (it was “just as the Scriptures said”). First, His death was like that of the suffering servant (Isa. 53:5-6, 11-12). “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6).

Second, He was buried in a grave – “He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave” (Isa. 53:9).

Third, Peter and John said that He rose from the dead as predicted in Psalm 16 (Ps. 16:8-11; Acts 2:24-28; 13:34-35). “No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave” (Ps. 16:9-10). God would not allow His physical body to decompose.

The gospel message is that Christ died for our sins. He was buried. And He rose again on the third day. And that’s the foundation for Christian living.

If Christ did not rise from the dead, then the Bible is a hoax and fake news. And our Christian faith is futile and useless (1 Cor. 15:14-19), and we are deluded and our sins have not been forgiven.

But Paul asserts, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20NIV).

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for your plan of salvation that was not understood in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.

Paul was reminded of this good news about Jesus when he addressed the fact that some people in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of the body – they valued the spirit/soul more than the body. So, he told them of the importance of the Lord’s resurrection.

We give thanks for Jesus offering up His life as a sacrifice for our sins. He was a substitute who took our place. And Father, we see this illustrated by the Jewish animal sacrifices and the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.

As those who have trusted in the good news about Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, we offer thanks and praise for all that you have done through Jesus. In Christ’s name, Amen.

G Hawke

Do you know that throughout recorded history there has never been a period of complete global peace? Though some consider we have been in a state of “long peace” since the end of WW2 that isn’t the reality for the millions who have lived in Myanmar, Rwanda, Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Libya, Vietnam, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Palestine and so many more countries.

Then there’s our own homes. It’s rare to meet a family where there isn’t an estrangement, an ongoing conflict, or a renegade somewhere in the family tree or even sitting around the dinner table.

Getting even more personal there’s the conflict within us — the uncertainty, the arguments with ourselves, the double guessing and anxieties.

Peace… world peace, family peace, inner peace it all seems unattainable for any length of time. But Jesus said: “What is impossible for people is possible for God” (Luke 18:27).

When Jesus said this He was answering the question “who can be saved?” Another way the Bible speaks of salvation is having peace with God. With the wars around us and the conflict within us we often overlook our deepest need for reconciliation and peace – peace with God.

If we can’t garner peace amongst us or within us how can we possibly secure peace with God? We can’t! It is impossible for us, but is possible for God. That is exactly what Jesus came to earth to do, earn peace with God for us. He paid the penalty for our rebellion and warring with His undeserved crucifixion. His death bought our everlasting peace.

Can you imagine everlasting peace? Being in God’s beautiful, all loving presence for eternity in heaven. No more arguments or slammed doors. No more weapons or funerals. Nor more sickness or anxieties. Tranquility, contentment, everlasting peace. This is what God has made possible for all us through Jesus. It is everything you’ve ever really wanted. Accept this gift from God today.

Prayer: Dear God, I can not find peace on my own. I am distressed by the wars and conflicts around me and inside me and I know I don’t have the power to stop them. Forgive me for my own rebellion against you. I want the everlasting peace you offer through Jesus. Amen.

Acknowledgement: This article was sourced from Outreach Media, Sydney, Australia.
Images and text © Outreach Media 2025

When do you feel at your weakest and most vulnerable? Perhaps it’s when you’re experiencing financial insecurity or if a relationship isn’t going the way you hoped. Perhaps you feel weakest when you’re faced with uncertainty whether it’s uncertainty about your children, about your health, or about your future. Perhaps the everyday demands of life simply leave you exhausted and unsure how you will muster the energy to face another day.

When the world seems to be throwing more at you then you can handle it is natural to feel weak, insecure or under attack. Yet, in our weakness we can discover something beautiful. As the ancient King of Israel, David, declares during his own experience of vulnerability:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield” Psalm 28:7

The LORD, that is the God who is compassionate and all knowing and all powerful, is my strength and shield. The God, who sent His son Jesus to die for my sins to bring me forgiveness and new life, is my strength and shield. When what is coming at me is bigger and stronger than me, God is my strength and my shield. That doesn’t mean I won’t get hit or get hurt. We see from King David’s life and Jesus’ life and the Apostle Paul’s life that trusting in God doesn’t guarantee physical safety and comfort. What it does mean is that whatever is coming at me God’s got it. It also means that I am safe from the most horrifying and dangerous thing of all – God’s punishment for my rebellion against Him.

It is before God in our sin that we are truly at our weakest and most vulnerable. But… Jesus died to pay the price of our sins and bring us back under God’s protection. Through trusting Jesus we are protected, not merely from the perils of the world, but the punishment of God due us for our sin. Do you know the strength and protection of trusting Jesus Christ? However weak or tired or attacked you are, whatever the world throws at you, you can be safe in Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Dear God, I trust that I am safe from punishment from you through Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. Thank you. I want you to be my strength and shield come what may in this world. When I feel weak or under attack please help me to depend on you. Amen.

Acknowledgement: This article was sourced from Outreach Media, Sydney, Australia.
Images and text © Outreach Media 2025

Australia is a very safe country to live in. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace 2024 report Australia ranks as the 19th safest country in the world. In such an economically, politically and environmentally stable country it’s normal to feel safe.

Then there are events global or personal that rock our sense of safety. COVID 19 threatened not only our health but our sense of normalcy and control. The impact of current American politics ripples through the world economy including the cost of our groceries. Bushfires and floods sweep away homes and lives.

On a more personal level, unexpected sickness, unemployment, separation, or death of a loved one can ambush us, leaving us to feel we have no solid ground to stand on.

Even living in a country as safe as Australia, most of us will experience times of desperate fear or hopelessness. A sense that our world’s falling apart and we have nowhere to run to. So, it seems, felt the author of Psalm 91. With the exception that, during times of desperation and danger there is one place to run to, one place to find safety and refuge – God the LORD Almighty.

“I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2

Everything in the world can break or disappoint or perish, but God is not of this world. When you feel you have nowhere else to run to, God is the safe, unshakable fortress and refuge you need. Everything else may fail and fall but He will not.

Run to Him today and know the safety of the loving powerful God.

Prayer: Dear God, Whether I feel safe and secure or desperate and hopeless may I find my refuge and safety in you. May I trust you alone as my safe place and my protection. In Jesus name, Amen.

Acknowledgement: This article was sourced from Outreach Media, Sydney, Australia.
Images and text © Outreach Media 2025

In Psalm 77, the writer “cried out to God for help” (v.1NIV). He was in distress (v.2) and couldn’t sleep (v.4). He could only think about his troubles. And he doubted God’s mercy and kindness (v.7-9).

But then he looked back at what God had done for Israel in the exodus from slavery in Egypt (v.10-20). He wrote,

“¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
¹² I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

¹³ Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God? [Obviously none]
¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.” (Ps. 77:11-14)

Miracles show the greatness and power of God. In this post we will look at two of the greatest miracles of all.

The first verse in the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen 1:1). The creation of the universe out of nothing is the greatest miracle of all. This means that the universe of space, time, energy, matter and nature had a beginning. And from the law of cause and effect, the universe had a cause which was spaceless, timeless, immaterial, powerful and intelligent. When we look at the other attributes of creation, we see that the God of the Bible is the great Creator.

And the New Testament says: “though Him [Jesus] all things were made” (Jn. 1:3); “the world was made though Him” (Jn. 1:10); “Jesus Christ, through whom all things came” (1 Cor. 8:6); “in Him [Jesus] all things were created … all things have been created through Him” (Col. 1:16); “His Son [Jesus] … through whom also He [God] made the universe” (Heb. 1:2). And “the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Heb. 11:3).

So, we are living in a miracle – in the beginning, our world and universe and everything in it was created from nothing by Jesus Christ, our eternal God. The Bible says that God’s existence is obvious from the things He has made (Rom. 1:19-20).

The next greatest miracle would be the resurrection of Jesus. Of course, this was preceded by the incarnation when God became a human being, which was also a great miracle.

In Ephesians 1, Paul prayed that they would recognize that God has “incomparably great power” which was shown “when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 1:20). Jesus conquered death by His resurrection. And He is now in a place of honour where He intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34).

We didn’t see these great miracles of creation and resurrection, but we see their effects. The complex and vast universe we live in and the radical change in the disciples (the apostles) and the growth of Christianity even though it was suppressed by the Roman Empire.

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for the demonstration of your supernatural power in creation and in salvation. Creation was your idea and salvation was your idea. We realise that the creation and the resurrection are the foundation of our Christian faith.

And Jesus, we thank you for being the instrument of creation and the instrument of salvation. You are the creator of life – both physical and spiritual. And like the psalmist changed from being self-centred to being God-centred when he looked back to the exodus, we look back in awe and wonder to your death, resurrection and ascension. You rescued us by being our substitute.

And we thank you for Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension that enabled us to become your children, have our sins forgiven and join you in the heavenly realms. In Christ’s name, Amen.

G Hawke

There are many prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah said that honour and “a great light” would come to the region of Galilee. Galilee was part of the northern region of Israel. In Old Testament times, Israel was mainly invaded from the north because there was desert on the east and south and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. So, Galilee was targeted in many enemy attacks.

The book of Isaiah contains the prophet’s message to Judah. They faced judgement because of their idolatry and rebellion against God. The Assyrians were to inflict judgment on Israel and Judah. It’s a gloomy situation because the land will be devastated.

But then Isaiah says, “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he [God] humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali [Galilee], but in the future, he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isa. 9:1-2NIV).

So Galilee would change from a place of humility and darkness to a place of honour and light.

In 733BC, the Assyrians captured Galilee and deported many Israelites to Assyria (2 Ki. 15:29; 17:6, 23) and replaced them with Gentiles (2 Ki. 17:24). So, the prophecy of judgment of a nation in the spiritual darkness of idolatry was fulfilled. That’s when they were humbled.

Matthew quoted the passage from Isaiah 9,

^‘12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He withdrew to Galilee.
¹³ Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—¹⁶ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Mt. 4:12-16).

Jesus Christ is the “great light” that brought honour to Galilee. This happened at least 760 years after Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus was based in Capernaum, which was on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. 11 of the 12 disciples were from Galilee. At the time of Jesus, Galilee was a mix of Jews and Gentiles that was despised by the Jews of Judea. Christ’s ministry was predominately amongst the common people in Galilee rather than the amongst community leaders (political, religious and academic) in Jerusalem. He was Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem. Christ’s focus on Galilee shows that Christianity flourishes more amongst the common people than the elite.

Galilee was transformed from spiritual darkness to spiritual light by Jesus. Galilee had been devastated by the Assyrian army, but it was honoured by the ministry of the Messiah which brought joy and salvation. Although the world is a dark place spiritually, the good news about Jesus brings spiritual light.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). And the Bible says, “God is light” (1 Jn.1:5). So, Jesus is the divine Son of God. Light represents what is good, true and holy, while darkness represents what is evil and false (Jn. 3:19-21). There was spiritual darkness in the world in the time of Isaiah, and in the time of Jesus and today.

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for your prophecy about Galilee. Although they were living in spiritual darkness, you sent Jesus to transform them through the light of His presence and message.

And we thank you that since that time this transformation has been available to people across the world through the good news about Jesus. We recognize that Jesus is the only one who can reconcile us with God through the forgiveness of our sin. So, we offer thanks and praise for all that you have done through Jesus. In Christ’s name, Amen.

G Hawke