We live in the shadow God’s generosity. We are the beneficiaries of the greatest gift ever given in our Savior. God brought His Light and His Presence into our world -- for you, for me.

In the hustle of present hunting this season, let remember the power of presence.

Presence > Presents

Salvation came - was present with us...

Salvation belongs to God alone.
see Matthew 1:18-25

*Joseph’s story reminds us we are not the orchestrators of our own rescue. The angel didn’t tell Joseph “here’s what God wants, so now go make it happen”. He said, essentially - “here’s what God has made happen and here’s how to receive the truth.”

-Matthew 1:18-25
18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23
See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

Jesus and Emmanuel are virtually interchangeable names…

It’s God’s presence that makes our salvation possible and it’s this salvation that allows us to stand in his presence.

Christmas reminds us of the Savior who came, The Savior who is God With Us (Emmanuel) and the Savior who promises to stay with us to the very end.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned for his part in opposition to Hitler’s regime in WWII. Writing from prison he said it was there inside his cell that he had one of the best experiences of Advent in his life. “Here I am trapped inside a cell, and my only hope is for someone to come from the outside in to rescue me. There’s nothing I can do to get myself out, I need a rescuer.”

Christmas took on a deeper reality! The Savior’s presence comes into my world to rescue…

In Christmas God is declaring that He is FOR you and He is WITH you.

Christmas is not the beginning of the story; Christmas is really the middle of the story.

Christmas is the moment where all of God’s promises to once and for all reunite with his people finally begin to find their fulfillment.

Christmas is not just about a rescue, it’s about a reunion.
The reunion of God with man.

It was scholar Dale Bruner who points out that here in the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is given the “God with us title” and then at the end of his Gospel, it’s Jesus who gives us the “God with us promise”—"Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Christmas preaches to us this truth:

Because of Jesus - every day is a With God day,
every hour is a With God hour,
every moment is a With God moment.
You and I never walk alone in any of it.

Jesus...
God For us - He saves. He continually and consistently keeps on saving.

Emmanuel...
God, With us - then, now and forevermore.

Whether you joined us on-site or online, thanks for being with us tonight!

Join us next SATURDAY AT 4PM OR 6PM for our Christmas Eve Services as we continue to lean into Christmas together...

*you / your family can join us from your living room for an online Christmas Day Devotional via our 'watch' button online or via YouTube anytime after 9am on Christmas Day.

*Merry Christmas friends*