A prayer for the true light of Christmas, written by Tim Chester and read by Kelly Givens.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize

him.

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

John 1, 10 and 11.

If this were a world of light, it would be easy to see the truth about Jesus.

But this is a world of darkness into which Jesus steps as the true light.

V. 10 and 11 of John 1 remind us of why we need light, because we live in darkness.

This means that to see God's kingdom, to understand its nature and welcome its coming,

you need to be able to see in the dark.

For that, you need help.

You need the spirit of God to make you a new person with new insight.

In John 3, 3 through 8, Jesus says you need to be born again.

Jesus offers eternal life to rebellious subjects,

but we prefer darkness and death to life in the light.

We don't want to admit we need the King on the Cross, dying for our sins.

As a result, the Cross looks like the epitome of shame to us rather than the epitome of glory.

We call darkness light and light darkness.

We don't recognize the light that has come to us.

Only the spirit of God can open our eyes to the true light.

Only the spirit of God can enable us to recognize and receive the truth of these words with joy,

the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

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