On the final podcast of Advent, we again look back, and with John we look back to a time of beginnings in order to understand the present and the future. Echoing the words of Genesis, John declare that the Word has become flesh. But what does this mean? And what does it tell us about who Jesus is and how we should live? As we reflect on Advent, we are asked to stop, to reflect, and to give our hearts and lives to the Light of the World - the Word who became flesh. What will be our response this Christmas? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - After Christmas

Learned men travel hundreds of miles across the desert to greet the Promised One, chasing a prophecy that had been passed down through generations. They are Gentiles, and another sign that the promise to Abraham was about to be fulfilled. Their gifts also speak great truths, revealing who this child is and who He will be, forecasting a time when the curtain between God and humanity that had fallen at Eden, would be utterly torn in two. Their visit also reminds us of the truth that following God will not lead to easy paths, but we will never be alone, and will walk the paths that lead us home. After the visit of these learned men, Mary and Joseph fled death, carrying the Saviour. As we walk the roads of sunny green pastures and dark valleys of the very shadow of death, the Saviour offers to carry us. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Seeing the Future

A night like any other in the fields around Bethlehem. Shepherds, watching their flocks by night, shivering in the cold, gathering around a campfire to keep warm. The long hours trickled slowly by as their breath clouded around them. This dark night was no different to any before it. Until the darkness was cracked in two. Why was this message brought to lowly shepherds? These lowly shepherds were given a glimpse of a deep truth: they were loved despite the fact they were a mere breath in the winds of time – gone like dew evaporating in the rising sun. Despite their fragility, they were loved absolutely. In love, their Creator sent angels to them, to invite them to come and see the event on which history would pivot. How did the shepherds respond to this message? In the only way they could. What will be our answer? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Gustav Holst - In The Bleak Midwinter

Mary and Joseph searched Bethlehem desperately to find a place to stay, eventually giving birth to the long-promised one in the lowliest of places. The Light of the World had finally, finally arrived. For centuries people had feared to look upon the face of God, knowing it could mean death due to their sin. Now everything had changed, for a young peasant couple held a baby. They looked directly into the face of God, and they held him close. They wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in the only bed available – a feeding trough for animals. Humanity could now see the face of God – Jesus. Now, if we desire, we can look upon the face of God and find not death, but glorious life. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Niya - A Promise

Joseph had just had his world turned on its head. Devastated and broken-hearted, he prepares to break off his engagement with the woman he had expected to spend the rest of his life with. Until a dream changes everything. A simple man, with a simple faith, the next day he chooses obedience, knowing the incredulous reactions of those around him. God still calls us to do things that seem crazy in the eyes of the world. Will we ignore him and cling to the comfortable and familiar? Or will we be like Joseph, doing what defies comprehension and stepping into the unknown, trusting in the one who has called us? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Aerocity - Cold Weather Kids

Having been struck dumb for nine months due to his doubt, Zechariah holds his baby son, and having transcribed his name on a writing tablet as John, he speaks anew, speaking words of praise over the boy, drawing deeply from the well of his knowledge of the promises given to his people in the past. These words were no longer mere words on a page, but were now life to him. Listening to his words, we should reflect if we have allowed the truths of who God is to become dulled by familiarity, and if we have, to come again before Him this Christmas and be reminded of the God who saves, who intervenes and who is alive. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons

Upon hearing the message that would split history in two, Mary goes to visit her relative Elizabeth. There she finds both confirmation, and a woman transformed. From Mary's lips, burst forth words that came to be known as the Magnificat. Her song of praise tell us of the people God chooses, who are not who the world would choose, and calls us to be transformed and live lives that resonate to the values of this new Kingdom, rejecting as empty much this world counts as success and being a voice for those robbed of their own voices. Above all of this, Mary's song calls us to walk in faith, stepping out even when we don't know what lies ahead, because we trust the One who walks beside us. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons

The time had finally come: the Creator steps into the creation to walk alongside and save the created. All the millennia of yearning, of waiting, of anticipating, have led to this. But the invasion of this world does not start as anyone would have expected. It begins with a whisper to an ordinary peasant girl. A young girl who knows what this could mean for her, for the risks involved, yet shows remarkable faith, and presents a stark challenge to us today. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - After Christmas

The final prophecy anticipating Christmas and the first coming of Christ. And then we turn in our Bibles to a blank page. A blank page representing 400 years of yearning, of anticipating, of expectant hope. Until the moment when everything changes. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Seeing the Future

In a land that felt like a desert, parched for the Word of God, when things seemed darkest, God spoke. And He described how He would send one to clear a way in the wilderness for the Promised One. Generations later an old man stood in the Temple. The last prophet had been sent 400 years ago, and he expected this day to be like any other. Until it wasn't. God spoke to the old priest, telling him that the promise to Abraham of salvation for all humanity was finally, finally about to be fulfilled. Slavery had not crushed the dream. Rebellion had not crushed it. Exile had not crushed it. Years of silence had not crushed it. The Enemy had failed to curse humanity for eternity, and his defeat approached. The message of hope must again be declared. The old man faces the same choice we do - faith or doubt? Today, how do we respond to the call on our lives? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Imagination Hunt

Generations lived through slavery, divided broken kingdoms, military defeat and exile, and many wondered if their prayers were heard. Where was God’s hand in all the mess? But he heard their groans, and he continually saved and preserved them. And in the midst of the pain and tragedy, a promise was being kept. A promise made to Abraham, then to Jacob and then to David: that all nations would be blessed through their descendant. In the midst of the senseless violence, heart-breaking tragedy and horrific injustice in our world, we can also gaze at the heavens, wondering where God is. But the one who preserved a line for millenia through all the turmoil of history that tried to crush it, is still active today. Will we trust Him? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Aerocity - Cold Weather Kids

Zechariah speaks to a people healing from the trauma of exile, drawing from the well of the prophecies of Isaiah, and revealing more about what this Branch from the stump of David's line would be like. And what he says seems to make no sense. He spoke of this coming figure coming to Jerusalem on a humble donkey, and being rejected and betrayed by His own. And strangest of all, he wrote of how God himself would be pierced. What could this mean? One day, all would be revealed as Zechariah's words became reality. And the sins of those who followed this Promised One were forever removed in a single day. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Blissful Ignorance

At the halfway point of Advent, we look at how the promise to David that his descendants would sit on a throne forever looked to have been forever lost, as domineering empires choked off the disappointing line of kings who came after him. The mighty tree of David’s line was chopped down, crashing to earth, its corpse rotting to dust. But a promise was made, of a coming Branch from the stump of this line of kings. And through Him, as the waters filled the sea, the earth would be filled with people who know the Lord. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons

From Assyria to the iron fist of Rome, Israel had faced foreign oppression for centuries. Promises of coming justice were interpreted as defeat for their enemies when the Promised One finally arrived. Yet, when this prophecy is quoted and fulfilled centuries later, it appears the Promised One has a very different idea of who the Enemy was who must be defeated, and the scope of those who he had come to save. In a similar way, what Messiah do we truly follow, and how do we respond to those we see as different to us? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Overcoming Stage Fright

The warnings were unheeded and the invaders warned about crushed Israel under their heel. The heartbreak of exile began. The darkness seemed to have won. But into the darkness prophets spoke again, with Daniel, a man who defied kings, speaking of a coming figure who would one day rule over even the nations that towered over Israel. As empires rose and fell, in the wake of the trauma of exile this promise seemed a forlorn hope. Until the dream of the exile became a reality. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons

Humanity was created to enjoy fellowship with their Creator, a relationship of love like a loving Father with their beloved children. However, humanity had grasped at appetite and fallen, seemingly without hope. They stood alone, lost and bereft, alienated from all they had been created for, and could do nothing to heal their mortal wound. How could they be saved? Only by the actions of God Himself, becoming Immanuel - God with us. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Niya - A Promise

Isaiah prophesises that the coming Messiah who would save humanity would be more than any dare hope, and whispers unimaginable truths of his identity. A Wonderful Counsellor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. What do these title mean? And in a world of violence and turmoil, what does this mean for how we live and pray? Music: Ikson - Last Summer Dexter Britain - Back to Life

Christmas is a time when we can easily be seduced by the siren call of materialism. However, Advent serves to remind us of the call to live counter-culturally and justly, proclaiming spiritual and material liberation, just like the God who stepped down from the glories of heaven, ripping human history in two, and became part of this broken world to save it. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons

With mounting injustice and rebellion, Isaiah warns of the coming exile. Amongst these warnings however, he also spoke of a coming figure who would redeem Israel and all those who follow him, a figure who would bring justice to the nations, and not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Creative Commons Music

If the people continually failed to keep the covenant,  did this mean all hope was lost? Among the cries of condemnation of the prophets against idolatry and injustice against the vulnerable, there are whispers of a day when a new covenant will come, when people will be given new hearts. Music: Ikson - Last Summer Niya - A Promise