SOMEHOW we are already in December! Christmas is coming! It happens every year and yet somehow it always manages to catch me unaware… I wonder if you have the same experience?

In the parish of St Austell – as in lots of churches around the world – we take time to prepare ourselves for Christmas, spiritually speaking, by journeying together through Advent. Traditionally, each Sunday in Advent has a different focus. The first Sunday (just gone) is all about hope.

What does hope mean to you? What do you hope for? Perhaps it’s for a peaceful and joyful Christmas with friends and family, or the space and time to get through the busyness this season often brings. Some people struggle at this time of year, so perhaps your hope is that things will soon improve, or that you will have what you need to get through tomorrow.

Lots of what we hope for in life is really optimistic thinking. Often, we have no reason to expect the outcome we desire, we simply… desire it!

In my faith though, the Christian faith, hope is a bit different: it’s all about the expectation that God will keep his promises and do good to us.

For Christians, this is what Christmas is all about. The birth of Jesus is the ultimate proof that God is faithful and that he does keep his promises. In the centuries and millennia before Jesus’ birth, God’s people were in a mess. Their lives were broken, and full of hurt and darkness. The world was in a mess too!

Into this situation, God promised a saviour: someone who could come and put things right.

In Jesus, we believe, God has kept this promise. Since then, literally billions of lives have been transformed by the hope that is in Jesus and, because of that, we continue to hope that he will keep working until all the darkness which yet remains has been made right.

So, whatever the Christmas season looks like for you, there is always hope. And we are here for you - any time!

The Rev Jonathan Huff

Vicar, St Austell Parish