THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From Daniel Khan
18th December 2025
Into the Warmth
We are now well into the season of Advent and the world outside is becoming sharp, dark and cold. Having grown up in the Caribbean, I am especially aware of the cold! The air bites, the pavements and bushes glitter with frost, and every breath seems to hang in the cold morning light. Many of us would prefer to stay indoors, wrapped in blankets, avoiding the sting of winter. And yet this physical cold can remind us of another kind of chill we sometimes encounter, one not felt by the skin, but by the heart. I am sure that we all felt a chill on hearing of the dreadful recent event on Bondi Beach, it is a struggle to understand the dark thinking that brought about such actions, and to comprehend the coldness that had settled in the hearts of the two gunmen.
Closer to home, however, we may also know what cold relationships feel like: conversations that have frozen over, long silences where warmth once lived, or misunderstandings that settle like snowdrifts between friends or family. We may have experienced a frosty welcome, even in places that should offer refuge, sometimes even in the Church. Perhaps we can recall a moment when walking through the doors felt a bit like stepping out into an icy wind, we felt unsure, hesitant, reluctant.
And yet, Advent proclaims a different story. Into a world that knew winter, Jesus comes as warmth, not the fleeting warmth of a momentary fire but the deep, sustaining warmth of God’s love. As the prophet Isaiah foretold: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
The light that dawns is not harsh or blinding but gentle and warming. It thaws what has grown numb. It softens what has hardened. It invites us back into life. And Jesus meets the coldness of the world not with more coldness, but with compassion. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.” (Matthew 12:20)
What a picture of divine gentleness, God tending even the faintest spark, coaxing it into flame.
As the temperatures drop, we may find ourselves reluctant to go outside. And yet Christ calls us beyond our comfort, not into harshness but into His warmth, the warmth of reconciliation, welcome, and renewed hope. His invitation is simple: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Advent is a season of waiting, but it is also a season of warming. It is a time for the Church to be a place where frost melts at the door, where strangers are met with hospitality, and where those carrying coldness inside them encounter the glow of Christ’s presence.
So, as we light the candles on the Advent wreath, let us allow the small flames to remind us that warmth is returning, hope is stirring, and the Light is coming into the world. May we each reflect that warmth, and in reaching out to thaw old hurts, let us offer a kind word to someone standing in the cold. Let us ensure that our church doors open into a place where Christ’s love is felt as clearly as the warmth of a fire on a winter’s night.
Come, Lord Jesus. Melt our coldness. Kindle our hope. Warm our hearts again.
Daniel Khan (Licenced Lay Minister)