On their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the people of Israel come to a wilderness. It was barren and forbidding there. But the Scripture says, "They looked beyond the wilderness and beheld the glory of God."

It is always good to look beyond whatever wilderness we may be in, and to see the glory that is there. In many ways in our time we live in a wilderness kind of world; there are many problems, there is a lot of trouble, there is much complexity and confusion, and a great deal of the news is bad.

Occasionally we need to lift our gaze and look beyond all this. And this is what we do on Sunday morning when we worship God: we look beyond to see the glory.

The central element of the Christian Faith is the Christian gospel - and the word "gospel" means "good news." Beyond all the bad news that's in the daily press is the good news of Christ, our deliverance and our hope. There may be a lot of gloom in the world around us, but think of it: there isn't a single pessimistic idea in the whole New Testament! Today, may we all together see the glory of this, the wonder of what lies beyond.