There are two groups when it come to Jesus - those who are on the inside and those who are on the outside. What does it mean to be on the outside of Jesus? It is not understanding and accepting what Jesus is on about. This passage highlights that at this stage, even His own family are not on board with Him. You can grow up in a Christian home and go to church, but you are still on the outside of Jesus if you have not committed and handed over your life to Him. As an outsider you can be sincerely or deliberately wrong. Either way, Jesus is rejected and there is no future in God's Kingdom. To be on the inside with Jesus you need to accept and respond to the call of God. You need to spend time with Jesus and live your lives that become an extension of His ministry in this world. There is no middle ground when it come to Jesus - you are either in or out. Which side of Jesus are you on?

The gospel of Mark is one of activity and action and it is about what Jesus did rather than what He said. In this chapter we discover the identity of Jesus, His authority and His compassion in the miracles He performed. Jesus is shown to be a servant, and as Christians, this is the calling that has been placed on our lives. We need to show compassion in serving others, but also allow others to serve us when needed. The challenge for us is shown in the healing of the man with leprosy. Jesus commanded him not to tell anyone what had happened to him, but the man disobeys and tells everyone about Jesus. Today we have a different command. Jesus says go and tell everyone, but we don't tell anyone. If we are to follow Jesus we are to live like Him and be like Him, and by our actions and word, tells other the good news about Jesus Christ.

Earlier in this letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds the people of how they should live as followers of Christ. The same goes for us as Christians today. From Ephesians 4: 31-32, we are to get rid of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and every form of malice and instead be kind and compassionate to one another and show forgiveness to each other as God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ. In this passage, we are to stand firm for the Lord in all the challenges that life brings. We are told that Satan has many schemes to deceive and make us fail in our walk with the Lord. We need to remember the elements of the armour of God and recognise that we can't do this in our own strength, but only through prayer and the power of God. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then there is no room for Satan.

Our everyday life can be changed by the interjection of the enexpected. Over the past few weeks we have seen how this has happened to Zechariah, the Shepherds and Mary. In this passge, Simeon has a promise revealed to him, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple Simeon is full of joy and praise because this promise has now been fulfilled. Has God's world crashed into yours through Jesus Christ, the saviour of the world? Do you have a relationship with Him?

Our world is far from perfect and Christmas time is no exception. The actual birth of Jesus was unremarkable - born in simple surroundings and laid in a animal feeding trough. There was great fear amongest the shepherds when the angels appeared to them. But the angels had good news - peace and salvation had arrived to the world in Jesus. The same good news is for us as well. We have nothing to fear if we stay close to Jesus. The shepherds spread the good of Jesus. We too are to spread the good news of the hope people can have in Jesus. We view peace as a world without conflict but Jesus came to this world to bring peace between us and God.