“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10
Just like that, we are at the end of the year. Our hearts are filled with thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness and love in carrying us through.
We are also thankful for your faithfulness in partnering in God’s mission with FEBC to let every tongue, tribe and nation hear the gospel.
With COVID still raging, particularly the widespread Delta strain, and now murmurs of new variants, increased persecution of Christians around the world, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, 2021 has been a tumultuous year.
Melbournians, we stand with you in the challenges you have faced from the extended lockdown, and indeed with all across Australia.
More than 2000 years ago, Jesus came down to earth, entering into a similarly turbulent time. The ruling Romans oppressed the Israelites. Herod the King poured out his reign of terror, killing innocents and crushing lives. Weary hearts were crying out for the Messiah prophesized about so many years ago.
Into this darkness, the Messiah was born, in a displaced family, in a poor country, a refugee.
Emmanuel came to be with us, to save the world from eternal death, to give hope for the future and life to the full.
This was the good news of great joy that the angels were heralding when Jesus was born.
Through radio and digital media, this is the Good News FEBC heralds each day to those similarly oppressed. The Good News that we share in different heart languages because it is for all people.
This is the hope we, together with your partnership, bring to the weary. This is the light we shine in the darkest places. This is the joy of Christmas we share.
May you rejoice with heaven in the stories of salvation, and remain prayerful for the unreached as we take you through Christmases in different countries, unravelling stories.
There are stories and testimonies that speak of God’s plentiful harvest, reaching minority tribes, and bringing hope to the most oppressed.
Jesus may not have been born on December 25, but what’s more important is that, through your partnership, He now dwells in the hearts of many who were once unreached. And that is indeed good news.
May Emmanuel dwell in your homes and hearts always. Merry Christmas.
In His Service
Kevin Keegan
National Director, FEBC Australia
