Signs and Faithfulness

“Signs and Faithfulness: God With Us”

Isaiah 7:10–16 | Matthew 1:18–25

Isaiah 7:10–16 CEB

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign from the Lord your God. Make it as deep as the grave or as high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask; I won’t test the Lord.” Then Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Isn’t it enough for you to be tiresome for people that you are also tiresome before my God? Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign. The young woman is pregnant and is about to give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.He will eat butter and honey, and learn to reject evil and choose good. Before the boy learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Matthew 1:18–25 CEB

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, And they will call him, Emmanuel. (Emmanuel means “God with us.”) When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

Grace and peace to you, in the name of Jesus Christ—our Promise, our Peace, and our Emmanuel. Amen.

We have come to the fourth Sunday of Advent, walking together through this series we’ve called “Signs and Faithfulness.” Each week, Scripture has whispered to us:

Look for the signs God is placing before you.

Trust the One who keeps His word.

Be faithful in the waiting. And today—on the threshold of Christmas—we receive the boldest sign of all: God Himself comes to dwell with us.

I. A Sign Offered, a Sign Refused (Isaiah 7)

In our first reading, we meet King Ahaz—frightened, politically cornered, spiritually uncertain. He is a king who cannot see beyond the threats closing in around him. The armies of Syria and Ephraim are tightening their grip. Fear rules the day. Anxiety writes the headlines.

And in the middle of that fear, God sends Isaiah with an astonishing invitation:

“Ask for a sign… let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”

In other words: Ahaz, ask Me for anything. I will show you that I am faithful. But Ahaz refuses. He hides his fear behind a mask of false piety: “I will not put the Lord to the test.”

It sounds holy. But it isn’t. Ahaz is afraid to trust God because he’s already leaning on his own alliances, his own strategies, his own human answers.

And still—this is the beauty of God— God gives the sign anyway. “…the young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”

Even when we are reluctant, even when our faith wavers, even when our courage falters, God’s faithfulness does not depend on our faithfulness. God keeps reaching. God keeps speaking. God keeps giving signs.

And the sign is not thunder or lightning or a great military victory. It’s a baby.

A child born into vulnerability, into ordinariness. A child whose very existence whispers: “God is with you—even here. Even now.”

II. Joseph’s Fear and God’s Faithfulness (Matthew 1)

Fast-forward hundreds of years to another moment of fear—this time in the life of Joseph.

Matthew tells the story with quiet tenderness. Joseph has just learned that Mary is with child. All his plans… shattered. All his expectations… undone. His future—what he thought his life would look like—is suddenly uncertain.

Joseph considers what seems like the most reasonable, honorable path. But then God intervenes, just like He did in the days of Isaiah.

“Joseph… do not be afraid.” This child is from God. This child will save His people. This child is the promised One.

And Matthew connects it all back to Isaiah’s prophecy: “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord… ‘They shall name Him Emmanuel,’ which means, God with us.”

Joseph wakes up—and in one of the greatest acts of faithfulness in Scripture— he obeys. No fanfare. No speeches. Just quiet, steady trust.

Joseph stands where Ahaz stood— but he makes a different choice.

Ahaz refuses the sign. Joseph receives it.

Ahaz clings to fear and his own solutions. Joseph clings to God and God’s promise.

And because Joseph said yes, the world receives Emmanuel.

III. What Does God’s Faithfulness Mean for Us Today?

Here we are, Church— in a world still full of fear and confusion, in a season when many carry burdens they cannot name aloud, in a time when faithfulness feels costly.

And God speaks again: “Do not be afraid… I am with you.”

God’s sign to us is not abstract. It is not theoretical. It is not “spiritual” in a vague, distant way.

It is a person. It is Christ. It is Emmanuel—God with us.

God with us in our fears, so we don’t face them alone. God with us in our disappointments, so we don’t lose hope. God with us in our wandering, so we find our way home. God with us in our joy, so we know who to thank. God with us in our grief, so sorrow does not swallow us. God with us in our waiting, so the waiting becomes holy.

And this—this is the miracle of Christmas: God becomes one of us so that none of us must face life without God.

IV. The Call to Our Own Faithfulness

If Joseph teaches us anything, it is this: Faithfulness isn’t loud. It doesn’t always make headlines. It looks like trust in the dark. It looks like obedience when the path is unclear. It looks like showing up. Listening. Saying yes to God’s leading—even when you don’t have all the answers.

Faithfulness is not perfection. Faithfulness is willingness.

In Advent, God is not asking us to be heroic. God is asking us to be available.

To listen for the voice that still says: “Do not be afraid.” To receive the sign that still comes: a child, a Savior, a Redeemer, a King.

And to stand, like Joseph, and say: “Yes, Lord. I will trust You.”

V. Conclusion: The Sign We Still Need

Isaiah promised a sign. Joseph received it. And at Christmas, we celebrate the fulfillment of it.

Not a God who stays distant, but a God who draws near.

Not a God who watches from afar, but a God who enters our story.

Not a God who abandons us to our fears, but a God who stands with us in every season.

Emmanuel. God with us. This is the sign. This is the promise. This is the faithfulness of God on full display.

And because God is faithful, we can be faithful too.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—Amen.

One-Line Tagline

“Faithfulness takes root in our lives when we trust the God who is always with us.”