Sunday, December 22, 2024 - How to Experience a Genuine Relationship with God - Pastor Paul Vallee

How often is it that things aren’t always what they appear to be? Events have no meaning apart from revelation. The word revelation means ‘an unveiling.’  What was it about Mary and Joseph that brought attention to them in the little town of Bethlehem during that first Christmas season?  Absolutely nothing. They were just a poor couple looking for a place to stay, struggling with a baby about to be born. It is amazing and sometimes hard to believe that Jesus was born in such poverty, struggle, and obscurity. Would we question God’s grace, love and wisdom if we were seemingly forsaken and forgotten? How do you view your present circumstance? Do you wonder where God is in the equation? Had God forsaken this little family? Of course not! How often do we read the wrong message in our outward circumstances of life? When things are not going as we would like them, we are tempted to question God’s love, goodness, and possibly His faithfulness to us.     We see from the Scripture that there was no family to support this couple as they were alone in Bethlehem.  Even the people from town didn’t do anything to assist them in this most important event in their lives. The birth of Jesus, the Messiah, would have gone unnoticed by humanity if it had not been for Divine intervention. For the most part, the community would have never known that the most important person to have ever lived was being born in their town. They would not have hazard a guess that one of the prophecies of Scripture was fulfilled at this very moment. Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. God intervened and revealed to a group of people who this child was. In our text, we learn that God is always at work revealing Himself to people. Here, we see the nature and the purpose of this child, but it can only be understood when God reveals it to people. God is showing us the way of salvation and true and lasting peace in our lives.