Northern Lights MCC
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Mission Values
    • Who's Who
    • History
    • 5 Year Plan
  • What We Believe
    • Bedrock Beliefs
    • LGBT People and the Bible
    • Our Denomination
  • What We Do
    • Sunday Worship
    • House Group
    • Personal and Spiritual Development
    • Pastoral Care >
      • Suicide Prevention
    • Social Action >
      • Rainbow Home
    • Social Events
  • Catch Up
    • Ordinary Corner
    • Audio Recordings >
      • Catch Up Archive
    • Video Recordings
  • Support Us
  • Find Us
  • Job Vacancies
  • Returning to In Person Worship
  • Social Media Policy

Redeeming Grace

3/12/2014

0 Comments

 
It is hard work trying to keep the season of Advent alive, when all around us Christmas appears to have already started. The traditional ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ run from Christmas Day to Epiphany on 6th January. Instead we do our partying and wishing each other “Happy Christmas” in Advent. By 26th December, it all seems to be over. In true curmudgeonly style, I was not best pleased when our voice coach at the Pride and Joy singing workshop suggested that we sing a Christmas carol on 22nd November. A great deal of internal hurrumphing was going on, on my part, as we started to sing ‘Silent Night’. This is my favourite carol, and we did sing part of it in German, which started to cheer me up.

However, in the midst of the working out which bits we were going to sing in which language and the ironing out of some bad singing habits, something remarkable happened. I started to really notice the words of the carol. Most of us can sing ‘Silent Night’ by heart, without thinking. This time, I really noticed the content of the words and what they meant to me. The phrase that stood out was “redeeming grace”. How marvellous is that? Redeeming grace. If you read the verse out loud as a sentence, rather than sing it, you get a sense of what is being said: ‘Son of God, love’s pure light radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.’
 
Grace has several meanings. In this instance, it is the grace that God is offering us – the free and unmerited favour of God. Jesus shines with the unconditional love of God and offers us redeeming grace, the free and unmerited favour of God. We don’t need to do anything to deserve it or earn it; God offers it to us freely. Because we are offered this grace, we are redeemed. That is, we are not left to our own devices. We are not left without guidance or direction in our lives. We are called into active relationship with God by following Jesus. We might not be able to describe grace, but we know it when we see it or feel it. The dawn of redeeming grace that comes with the birth of Jesus offers us a new and intimate experience of God.

As we continued to sing the carol, it was as though I was hearing the all words and their meaning for the first time. When it came to the last verse, describing the shepherds quaking and the angels singing, I was almost bursting with the feeling of God’s presence and grace for me. With the heavenly hosts I sang out a heartfelt “Hallelujah”.  This year, I remember why the Saviour was born.

God bless

Cecilia

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Hope & Light Blog

    Follow the church on Twitter

    Archives

    December 2019
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Contact us

Submit

About us

Who We Are
What We Believe
What We Do
Whats On?


Follow, tweet and talk to us!

Worship with us Sunday 6.30pm GMT at
St. James's URC, NE1 8JF and our YouTube channel

Email: contact@northernlightsmcc.org.uk
Phone: 07770543407

Social Media Contribution Guidance

NLMCC Policies and Documents

Registered Charity Number 1093009
Website designed by Carly Steven 
Logo and branding designed by Naomi Neilson