God has many ways of speaking to his people. To Saul of Tarsus he spoke through a bright and shining light, to Job out of a whirlwind, to Moses from a burning bush. To Elijah he spoke in a still small voice, and to Jacob he spoke in a dream. To you and me he speaks in various ways. Some may have heard him speak in sunrises or sunsets, in bright stars on a summer night, in towering mountains or surging seas. Some may have heard him speak in the caress of caring friends, or in upswelling notes of song. Some may have heard him speak from the pages of the Bible, or in the holy hush of the sanctuary or the quiet time of prayer.

When God speaks he is always saying something, and it is of supreme importance that we understand what it is that he is saying. Our Bible book of Hebrews begins this way: "God, who at various times and in many ways spoke in time past to our fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son ..." Here is his supreme utterance: in Christ the heavenly Father gives us the ultimate expression of himself - his most wonderful and mighty word comes to us in the "Word-made-flesh." His own beloved Son is the language by which God speaks to us his most self-revealing word.

What is it our heavenly Father is saying to us in Christ? If we are to know this, we must know the language by which he speaks: we must know Christ. An old song says, "More about Jesus I would know ..." This, I am sure, is one of the great reasons for the high place the assembly of Christ's people has always had in Christian life and experience: a better perception of him. This, I would hope, is one of our main reasons for being together here this morning. "More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern." May this be our prayer today.