Advent | Hopeful Waiting
Rev. Andrew Irwin
As the nights grow longer and the cold sets in, Advent comes again. Not as an escape from the darkness, but as a promise that light is on the way. Every year, it catches me a little off guard. Every year, I need it more than I realise. Advent reminds us that waiting is not wasted; it is the space where hope grows.
And as we step into this Advent, I find myself thinking more and more about our 175th anniversary. One hundred and seventy-five years of worship and witness here at St Paul’s & St Barnabas. That is an extraordinary gift and privilege for us as a church family.
Sometimes I try to picture it. What was it like to stand here when the foundations were first being dug? When the stone walls began to rise and a new church building took shape in the heart of this community? What was it like on that first Sunday when the doors opened and the buzz of people entering filled the air? When the first prayers and hymns filled the building as the people worshipped God? I imagine a sense of excitement, wonder, fulfilment, and the hope of faith alive with the possibility of growth and mission. They could not have known what the years ahead would hold, but they believed that Christ was worth building for.
And here we are. Standing on the same ground and worshipping the same Lord. Still called to the same mission. The story of this church has always been one of grace meeting need, of God calling ordinary people to live as a light in their community. Generations before us prayed, served, gave, and stayed faithful so that the gospel could be heard in this place. We are the fruit of their faith.
But now the question rests with us. How do we continue? How do we sustain our worship and our witness in this season? How do we celebrate the past without becoming trapped by it? How do we grow, not for our own sake, but for the sake of Christ and his kingdom? These are not easy questions, but they are good ones. They remind us that mission is not a programme; it is a posture.
Advent helps us recover that posture. It teaches us to wait in hope, to prepare the way for Christ to come again; not just in December, but in every corner of our lives. The Christmas story tells us that God’s mission begins in the most unexpected place: a manger, a quiet night, a world in need. And yet, the light of Christ breaks in where it is least expected and most needed.
So as we prepare to mark 175 years of ministry, my prayer is that our foundation will not simply be history, but hope. That the years ahead will be marked by renewal, faith, and a fresh joy in the gospel. That we will continue to be a people of light, rooted in Christ, reaching out in love to the world he loves.
There will be time in the coming year to gather, to give thanks, to tell our story, and to dream together. But for now, in this season of waiting, may we rest again in the promise that God is faithful. The God who spoke light into darkness still speaks today. The God who came once in Christ still comes to us now.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come and renew your Church.
Come and make all things new.
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