Sermons
As we draw near to one another on this darkest bluest night of the year let the name Emmanuel echo deep within your heart reviving your hope that your dreams are not dashed but restored in the presence of Christ who is with us always. This birth, against all odds, is the hope we’ve been waiting for, the one who makes us one, the Emmanuel, God with us, who will be with us always. The darkness has been redeemed, and on this night our collective dreams and restored faith can shine bright like a beacon in the night for all the world to see.
It is into this messy, vulnerable, unfair, mysterious, and scandalous world Christ comes. Emmanuel, God with us. God with us in the shame and doubt. God with us in the questions and ambivalence. God with us in the disappointments and confusion. God with us in a world or a life that is not turning out how we always thought or hoped it would. Through the imperfect story of Joseph and Mary, and their walk of shame, comes our very salvation and healing.
