In His famous “Sermon on the Mount”Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). The Promise, the Hope, the Joy, and that Expectation of Advent were all fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. Christ has come! The Incarnate Christ entered our world and lived among us, and we celebrated His coming during Advent and Christmas. Now, the flurry of Christmas has come and gone. The Season of Epiphany begins on January 6, and continues until February 18, Ash Wednesday, and we enter the Season of Lent. The church seasons, like the season of the year, move quickly and are constantly changing. These seasons, of the church and the world, should cause us to pause and to reflect on the words of James, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). January allows us the opportunity to settle down from the hectic activities of Christmas and the New Year. For some, it may even be a time of New Year’s resolutions and yet another chance to, perhaps, actually keep some of those resolutions in the New Year. At least January does feel like a fresh start. It presents us with the feelings and emotions of a new beginning anyway. Old things seem locked in the past and a clean slate is set before us. Hope, excitement, and anticipation are the emotions that dominate the coming of the New Year remind us God’s continuing hope, promise, joy, and expectation of what He is doing in calling us unto Himself. John, in the beginning of His Gospel, should remind us a little of Moses. When Moses wrote the book of Genesis, he went all the way back to the beginning. He wrote about the creation itself. In recording his account of the holy Gospel, John the Apostle goes back even farther than Moses. John goes back to a time we might even be called “pre-history.” He wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). This Word that John wrote about is the very personification of the creative and dynamic power of God Himself. This Word brought all of creation into being, all things visible and invisible! As abstract as this language sounds, it helps us to grasp the fact that our world and our lives have meaning and purpose. In other words, God, exercising His divine power, created the world and all things; we are not here by chance! Rather, our world, the universe, all created things, and we ourselves are the resulted of a Divine design and you and I are part of God’s plan. Yet, even in the midst of God’s creation something happened. Sin entered the created order. Darkness crept into God's world. The power of sin polluted God’s good creation and the power, presence, and reality of sin (Genesis 3) still seek to destroy the goodness, order, and purpose of God’s design. In John 1, the beloved disciple uses the word “darkness” to describe the power of wickedness, sin, and evil in God's creation. In order to illuminate the contrast between good and evil, John wrote of darkness and of light. He described the divine goodness of God as the light of God that came into a world darkened by sin and wickedness. He then illustrates a great spiritual truth for us. In the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (John 3), John wrote that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, in the darkness. Here, the darkness represents the power of doubt struggling to find faith, to answer the call of God. The encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus is summarized in these words penned by John's declaration, "the light has come into the world, and the people loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). Later in his account of the Gospel, John wrote about Judas Iscariot, and he summarized the wickedness and evil unleashed the betrayal with the simple words, "And it was night" (John 13:30). You and I must recognize and reject the power of sin and darkness in the world. We know of the many ways that evil has corrupted our world, our society, and us. In our day, the power of evil seeks to counterfeit what is good and godly. Therefore, it is common within our society for people to call that which is evil, good and that which is good, evil. One day, a man and his family left home for an extended vacation. Upon their return, they found their refrigerator had broken and was not cooling. The freezer part of the appliance was full of bugs. The eggs embedded in the meat had hatched. That is very much like the evil of our world. It is present and it is only waiting for the right conditions to bring spoil, damage, and destruction. We see the evil of creation in things that happen naturally. Natural disasters that kill and destroy. Drought and famine that destroy crops and food. Wars continue. Political corruption abounds. People of all ages battle cancer, illnesses, and sickness. Alzheimer’s eats away at a person's mind. The list of destructive forces goes on. These are all parts of the evil power that rules in darkness over a fallen creation. Yet, in the midst of this seemingly unending misery, there is God’s divine message of hope! John declares, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:5). The light shines, present tense, and darkness does not overcome it. The darkness has tried but it has failed. The Greek word for "overcome" can also mean, "understand." The darkness has intelligence; it plots strategy, it actively opposes God. It seeks purposely to kill and to destroy. Jesus affirmed this truth when He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11). The light that John wrote about is the light of God's goodness, love, mercy, and grace. In other words, John is saying to you and me today, in spite of the darkness the light is victorious! God is light and His light continues to shine. That is a statement of faith that brings hope to the hopeless. Consider this question: What will the New Year hold for you? Will our old baggage and problems follow us into January and throughout 2026? Or, will a new optimism fueled by the power of “the True Light of the world” that is, the light of Christ, empower us in and throughout the New Year? I don't know what this new year will be like. However, I do know, beyond any doubt, that we who call upon the name of the Lord will experience His love, mercy, and grace. Therefore, as we enter 2026, let us embrace “the light of the world” and the hope that is freely offered to you and me in the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. Thanks be to God! Pastor Jim