In the weeks leading up to Christmas, there’s so much planning, looking forward—and waiting.

There’s the happy waiting that kids do, eagerly anticipating gifts, holiday adventures, and fun with friends and cousins. But for some, there’s a more sombre waiting: enduring seasons of hardship and grief, being patient in times of loneliness that are even more stark after the celebrations finish, or simply waiting for life to get better.

In her Christmas message, Kath Henry, senior pastor of Northridge Vineyard Church in Thornleigh says we can learn about waiting patiently, from the Christmas story in the Bible.

“There’s a passage [in the Bible] where Zecharaiah talks about his own son John coming, and the way he was waiting for him, but also the way he was waiting for Christ to come,” she says.

“I think Zechariah understood how to wait. In a season that could’ve been filled with a lot of pressure and anxiety, instead he chose to wait on God’s tender mercy, with an understanding of peace, and a new way of living and a hope that was being offered to the world.

“I want to choose that sort of way of waiting, and I hope you do too.”

See More Like This

For more Christmas messages from church ministers around Sydney, as well as songs from Chris Sebastian and Dami Im, see the full Journey to Christmas series.