God with us 2: In the Storm - Psalm 46

On Boxing Day 2004, there was a huge tsunami that hit parts of Asia. And there was a picture that was all over the internet of the moment people on the beach, vacationing, realized that a gigantic wave was crossing the boundary between sea and land bringing great destruction. The people in the picture are running as fast as they can away from the wave, desperate to get to safety, except there's one woman who is not running away. She is headed straight for the wave. Why would you go against every instinct to be safe and run into a tsunami wave? Because her children were out there. There was no way she was going to run inland, she was going to run to get her children. In a small way, this illustrates for us this name given to Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Not running away, but running straight into the storm to be with us. It's a theme that goes all through scripture, but we're going to focus on Psalm 46 to think about what it means that God is with us in the storm.Advent reading: Luke 1:46-56Preacher: Leslie Shillinglaw