Sunday 11th January 2026

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A Gospel ABC

I’m always looking for clear and memorable ways of summing up the message of Christianity.  Here’s one I heard shortly before Christmas, which I shared in our celebration on Christmas Day.  I like it because it’s clearly biblical, focusing on just three Bible verses, and it’s also memorable (many of us will already know these verses).

A is for ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23, NIV).  This is what the apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Christians in Rome.  His point is that we’re not what God wants us to be.  We fall short.  Like when you try to jump a stream, but you fall short, and you fall in.  That’s what sin is.  

One of the simplest ways to understand what sin is, is to see that ‘sin’ has ‘I’ in the middle. It’s where I do what I want, not what God wants.  I say, “My life, my rules.”  When I ought to say, “Your world, your rules.”  And we all do it, every single one of us, every person reading this, however old we are, however clever we are, whatever country we’re from.  That’s A.  All have sinned.

B is for ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29, ESV).   This is what John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus coming towards him: Here’s the good news.  Jesus comes to take away our sins, if we ask him to.  He takes them away from us by taking them on himself.  When we sin, we put ourselves where only God should be: on the throne.  When God saves, he puts himself where only we should be: on the cross.  That’s B.  Behold… he takes away sin.

C is for ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:29, NIV).  Here’s the invitation Jesus gives to every one of us: ‘Let me take your burden, the burden of your sin, and give you rest.  Don’t try and carry it yourself.  You can’t. Let me take it away from you, and take it on myself.’  That’s C.  Come to me.  

At Christmas we remember that Jesus has come to us … so that we can come to God.  The question is: Will we admit that we’re among the all who’ve sinned and fall short of God’s glory?  Will we believe that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  Will we come to Jesus and receive the rest he promises?

Prayer
:  Lord, thank you for taking away my sin and giving me rest.  May I know more and more of what these things really mean, and may I see others come to believe as well.  Amen.

Yours warmly, in Christ,

Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)