This is the season of short days and long nights as winter is now with us. To go out on a clear winter’s night and look up at the sky is to see the stars gleaming and twinkling – a magnificent sight!

Our church text for 2009 picks up on this glorious picture - ‘Shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life’ (Philippians 2:15-16).

Stars are only visible because they are set against the backcloth of night and, in the same way, in our world which is morally and spiritually a very dark place, we as Christians are called to shine.

Some are shining in countries where there is war and conflict; others are shining where there is disease and malnutrition; others are doing so in the face of fierce persecution for their faith; and in this country we are seeking to shine in the midst of an economic downturn as people worry about the future.

Against this background what a faith we have to offer in the God who holds all things securely in His hands, and in His Son Jesus Christ, ‘the light of the world’, who died on the cross to forgive all our wrongdoing and who is willing to come into our life, remove the darkness, and replace it with the light of His love and salvation.

He will carry us through dark and difficult times; He will guide us as we journey through 2009; He will encourage us and give His joy.

Get out there and look up at the stars in the night sky; and then ‘shine’ for Him!