Advent Day 24: Joy to the World!

"Peruvian Nativity- God With Us" Marcia Carole

Joy to the World!

Be silent for a moment and consider:
What is the good news?
What is good news to displaced people?
To an asylum-seeker?
To someone in a refugee camp?
To someone awaiting resettlement?
To someone longing for truth and reconciliation?
What is good news to you?

Here is the really good news:
We are neither hopeless nor helpless as we face the refugee situation in the world, nor any of the trials and troubles that assail us.
Christ has come, and he is still present in our midst! And whether we do big things or small things, if we do them faithfully and with the love of Christ, they have eternal significance.
Jesus is with us.

Here is a brief story of one house in Canada that is continuing to bring the joy of God into the world:
The Peoples House opened its doors to refugees in January 2016. The majority of residents are refugee claimants. These asylum seekers receive care and support at the house during their first few months in Canada.
This home is a ministry of The Peoples Church in Toronto, and was created with the support of IAFR Canada, in response to the question of how the church could best respond to the refugee crisis that is facing our country and our world. Thousands of refugees are fleeing their homes due to danger and persecution. They come from all around the world and seek a safe home and a new beginning in Canada. The Peoples House has responded to this need by providing a safe home for approximately 8-14 refugees at a time who would otherwise have no safe place in Toronto.

The Peoples House is a beautiful expression of God’s love for his children. And it is not the only one! Across Canada, and around the world, Churches and faith groups and communities and individuals are responding to the refugee crisis with love and joy. Let us live up to our identity as carriers of hope, makers of peace, distributors of love, and singers of joy!

Read: Luke 2:13-14

Pray: Sing “Joy to the World” as a defiant hymn of praise, of victory of light against darkness, of hope against despair. 

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