Christmas is coming

The Birth of Jesus is the Moment God Became The Most Present In Humanity

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

The Message of Matthew The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25)

Immanuel (23) means ‘God is with us’. It is not a prayer. It is a statement. It takes us back to Isaiah 7:14: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.’ That child of prophecy, that child who was to be a ‘sign’, has come at last. And he is no less than God with us. The Hebrews had such an exalted conception of God that they did not even make any image of him—something which so amazed their Roman conquerors that they dubbed them ‘atheists’, people without gods. Against this background Matthew claims, not that God has given us a representation of himself, but that he has come in person to share our situation. What a claim, right at the outset of the Gospel! It is so ultimate, so exclusive. It does not fit with the pluralist idea that each of us is getting through to God in his or her own way. No, says Matthew. God has got through to us in his way. And Jesus is no mere teacher, no guru, no Muhammad or Gandhi. He is ‘God with us’. That is the essential claim on which Christianity is built. It is a claim that cannot be abandoned without abandoning the faith in its entirety.

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This is going to be the best Christmas sermon ever composed in under 5 minutes.

This Christmas is going to rock!

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John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus is the reason for our hope!

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the beginning was the Word

1 Corinthians 15:3–7 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

This is awesome!

John 1:14 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.