Emmanuel - God With Us - Matthew 1:18-25: The Birth of Immanuel (Richard McConnell)

The run up to Christmas this year has left us a bit weary. It’s been less dashing through the snow and a bit more dashing of our hopes. Less frosty the snowman, more NPHET the no-man. Are your nerves jingled, are your tempers jangled? Perhaps it’s this current weary context - coupled with the stuff about life that’s routinely distressing – that brings us here longing, hoping, craving to be reminded of real Christmas good news. That’s my role today. Please don’t be so familiar with it that fails to salve your weariness. Remember that when Matthew wrote … his book was breaking into 400 years of weariness. With the announcement that God was making his long-promised arrival. Jesus Christ. And this arrival would be unlike other turning points in history. Jesus Christ was Immanuel: God with us.