Do you find yourself engrossed in news media? Intrigued by conspiracy theories? Incited by social media? Are you anxious and wondering how we are going to face 2021 with all the chaos of pandemic, lock-down and everything else? In Matthew 24, Jesus prepared His disciples to thrive in suffering and unprecedented catastrophy. It worked for them and it will work for us, we have a solid hope and strategy to go forward boldly.

Matthew 3:13-16 records Jesus baptism and start of His Ministry. God announces His Son and the greatest change the world has ever seen. It's a source of great hope during uncertain times.

Luke 3 shows us the world into which John the baptist and Jesus entered to minister and earn our salvation. They were tough times like we're experiencing right now, but as always, God provides the way for us to joyfully fulfil our purpose for Him.

Isaiah writes about God being our strength and our song, Mary and Joseph demonstrate this hope. We can celebrate Christmas with joy because of what Jesus has done.

Like Simeon, Anna was ready and waiting for Jesus because she had heard from God and was ready for His Messiah. How can we be ready for Jesus' return?

How do we hear God? Simeon was ready for Jesus' arrival. We can learn from him how to live in a way that we can be attentive to God's voice and welcome the return of Jesus.

Jesus calls us to His Table in remembrance of Him. We must know Him to remember Him and Psalm 23 helps us to think deeply about our Shepherd King.

Do you long to have peace? Hebrews shows how true peace only comes with righteousness. Righteousness only comes from Jesus and what He's done for us. How then do we find peace?

Can our faith save someone else? What does 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 really mean, and what benefit do the unbelievers that we love actually gain from their relationship with believers?

Having read about Jesus entering the veil and securing us into the presence of God we ask what happens when we go through the veil that Christ opened for us.

When the storm is raging, and we're too tired to row we can weigh anchor and ride out the storm. The hope we have in Jesus Christ does the same for us.

The invitation to come close to God and meet with Him has been extended for thousands of years. The Lord's Table is pointed to throughout Scripture, God fulfilled His plans and sent Jesus to make it possible to be washed of our sin and have true communion with Him.

What are you craving right now? If it's some sense of certainty then you're not alone. Scripture shows us that God wants us to have certainty about our eternal salvation. This provides us with a sense of love, acceptance, significance and permanence.

How do we deal with being warned? Do we listen and respond, or get offended or ignore the warnings? When God warns us in the Scriptures it's because He loves us. We need to be careful to listen to the warning, respond and trust in God's grace and love.

How do we know what God's will is for our lives? Hebrews 6:1-3 starts us on a journey of asking three questions which help us to answer that question.

Are we trying to please God in our own strength thinking that it's easier than trusting Him? Every aspect of our faith and lives are subject to His power and work, we must trust, believe and surrender to His will.

Through Hebrews we find out that while we start out as spiritual infants, God calls us to grow and mature as we learn from His Word and apply it. We can't live on milk, and have others chew our spiritual food for us forever. God loves and nurtures us as infants, but doesn't want us to remain that way.

Is everything going to be okay? What is going to happen, when will it happen, how will we manage? In uncertain times, we may not be able to get answers to our what how and when questions, but we can be sure of who will be with us, if we know Him. Do you know Him?

The last few months have seen so many well laid plans fall apart. We can not know the future and so we need to entrust our plans to the One who does. The figure of Melchizedek show how perfectly God planned the ministry of His Son Jesus. As we get ready to start again after lock-down, how can we ensure our plans fit in with God's?