God with Us

The scripture reading comes from Matthew chapter 1. Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or on your Bible.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Starting in verse 18, we read,

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 Emmanuel, 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.

This is the word of God.

Thank you so much, Betty.

Welcome. Merry Christmas, everybody.

Oh, that was about the best ever. That's great.

My name is Chris. I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark.

Just really, really excited to see you, if it's your first time, if it's your thousandth time.

I'm particularly excited to see what people wear at Christmastime,

because I've seen some very exciting colors going on.

I looked in my wardrobe.

The only red thing I could find was a Liverpool football shirt,

so I thought that may not be appropriate.

Let me just pray for us as we get into God's word.

Father, I thank you for Christmas.

Thank you that today, in all the presents and all the stuff, all the food and the friends and the time together,

Lord, I thank you that the central, key focus of everything is you.

Thank you, Jesus.

Open our hearts to hear your word, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Great.

We've got the kids in, so be prepared for a little bit of chaos,

but that's fine, because we're a family together.

Christmas, do you know, actually didn't start as a celebration.

There were no lights.

There was no turkey.

There was no presents.

There was actually just confusion and hurt and darkness.

Christmas.

Because, you know, Christmas actually started as a breakup.

They were wedding planning.

You know, they'd got the dress.

They'd ordered the caterers.

They'd sent out the invites.

And then one day, Mary, who's this young Jewish peasant girl,

who's probably around 12 years old,

comes to her fiancé, Joseph,

and says,

Joe,

I'm pregnant.

And Joe knew that he wasn't the father.

And Mary continued that,

it's an angel who came to me and said,

the baby is from the Holy Spirit.

And Joseph, at that point, doesn't go,

well, we believe all kinds of unscientific things these days,

so that's fine.

I mean, Holy Spirit conception, no problem.

No, he doesn't.

He goes,

Holy Spirit.

Right.

Right.

That's a good one.

And you see, at that point,

at that moment,

all of his plans,

all of his trust in her,

all of his dreams for a family were shattered.

And I can imagine him lying on his bed at night going,

what have I done to deserve this?

Like, why me?

Because Joseph is a good guy.

I mean, he loves her.

You can see from the passage,

he loves her.

And it says,

even with this news,

he doesn't want to shame her publicly.

So he comes up with his own kind of solution

of how to fix this mess,

which is like,

okay,

let's just do a kind of low-key,

quiet divorce.

Let's not kind of make this public.

Let's make this the best of what we can.

But Joseph is feeling alone and lost.

Mary,

what do you think she's going through?

I mean,

she'd had this joy at the idea of being pregnant,

and now it's been shattered by the rejection from her fiancé,

and her life,

her reputation,

were on the line.

Because in first century Jewish culture,

single mothers were not treated well.

And for her,

what was God up to?

What is he doing?

Where is he even in the midst of this?

Both of them confused.

Both of them alone with their struggle,

with their shame,

with all the things that are going on,

on the verge of breakup,

and it's not their fault at all.

It's not their fault.

And this is how Christmas begins.

And so I don't know for you,

many of you may have had an amazing 2021,

but I know some of you,

it's been a hard 2021.

It's been one where maybe you're going,

life doesn't make sense sometimes.

Whether that's COVID,

whether that's a loss of loved ones,

whether that's sickness,

or a whole lot of other things.

I know for many people,

Christmas can be a hard time.

But you know,

Christmas is actually all about

how God turns darkness into light.

How God takes tragedy,

and turns it into glory.

You see,

it's how God turns expectations

that we have,

and the way we think life should work,

upside down.

And that's what God always does

for everyone who trusts in him.

And the thing is,

the Mary and Joseph story in this passage,

actually come in the context

of another breakup,

which is a breakup

which goes all the way back

right to the beginning of the Bible.

Well,

the breakup

that is the backdrop

for this story.

You see,

the Bible story says

that you and I were made

for a relationship

with the creator God

that we saw Annabelle

and Justin

so well talk about.

And that relationship

is that when we're with him,

in right relationship with him,

then we're home.

And home is where you're safe,

you're secure,

you're known,

and you're loved.

You've got nothing to hide.

You can be who you are,

you can be yourself

because you are safe.

And the story goes,

if you know the story

and you've been in Watermark a while,

but actually on page three

of the Bible,

everything goes wrong

because it's not that God

who walks out on us,

but actually we walk out on him.

We want to live life our way,

do things according to our plans,

in our own self-reliant strength.

And that's where everything goes wrong.

You see,

my son Etienne,

who's two years old,

about a month ago,

we were in the lift in my building

and we were coming home

and I was holding his hand

just as the lift doors were opening

and I was just getting out

and then he lets go of my hand

and he starts pushing me

out of the lift.

Lovely son.

And if he'd have managed to do that,

you know,

the doors would have shut

and I think he'd have enjoyed his freedom

for just a few seconds probably.

You know,

he'd have joined being there

and not having me interfering in his life

in any kind of way.

He could do what he wants,

but at some point,

and I think for him

it would come pretty quick,

he'd realize that his little fingers

couldn't reach the buttons

for the open lift.

And you see,

the very freedom

that he thought he had without me

had actually become a prison

of his own making.

Because he couldn't get out

and when you're in that place,

that's a place of stress,

that's a place of anxiety,

that's a place where you,

it's all on you

to try and fix this situation.

Because that's what it is

to be alone and away from home.

And that's often what we actually do

with God in our lives.

We say,

I'll call you when I need you,

but let me live my life,

my career,

my ambitions,

my dreams by myself

and it's all on us

to try and make it happen.

And that's actually at the heart

of what the Bible calls sin.

Pushing God out

so I can be on the throne,

I can be in control of my life.

And this is exemplified

700 years before this passage.

A prophet called Isaiah

comes to a Jewish king called Ahaz.

And this guy Ahaz,

he's in a tough spot

because his allies

have just turned on him

to try and force his hand

to join them

in resisting the big superpower

of the time

who's called Assyria.

And he's besieged

by this superior army.

His back is against the wall.

It doesn't look good at all.

His whole kingdom,

his life,

his reputation,

everything is on the line.

Tragedy is beckoning.

And this prophet Isaiah

comes to him

and says,

hey listen,

Ahaz,

don't trust in your own wisdom.

Trust what God says to you.

And he's got this situation.

It looks bad,

but don't worry,

he's got it.

And do you know what Ahaz says?

Ahaz says,

sorry,

Isaiah says,

he'll give you a sign.

And the sign will be this,

a virgin will conceive

and bear a son

and you shall call his name

Emmanuel.

And what does Ahaz do?

Well,

like a male driver

who's lost

and won't admit it,

he says,

I'm going to sort this out myself,

thank you very much.

I don't need God's help.

Let me deal with it.

And do you know what happens?

That decision

leads to breakup.

It leads to the end

of his kingdom.

It leads to the exiling

of his people

away from the home

of where God was

and where they were meant

to be safe,

secure,

known and loved.

And unlike Mary and Joseph,

this breakup

with God

and with their land

and with the people,

that was entirely

their choice.

Entirely their choice.

And the amazing thing is,

though,

that actually

two chapters

later on

from this verse,

in the midst

of the chaos

of what's going on,

Isaiah comes

with another promise.

He says,

Emmanuel is still coming.

The promise

that in the darkness

light will come

and he says this,

he says,

unto us

a child is born.

Unto us

a son is given

and the government

will be on his shoulders.

You see,

what he was saying is,

in spite of the chaos,

there is a king

who's coming.

There is one

who's coming

to bring you home again.

And the Jewish people

for years

were looking forward

to this Messiah

figure to come.

They were looking

forward to that,

but they felt

lost,

alone,

confused,

and wondering

in their current

circumstances,

where was God

in the midst

of this?

Well,

for many of us,

some of us

may see that God

as absent.

Maybe that's because

you don't believe

in a God

or maybe it's because

you,

like Mary and Joseph,

look at your current

circumstances

and go,

well,

if God really cared,

then he wouldn't

allow me to be here.

And so,

you end up feeling

like you've got

to carry life

on your own shoulders.

Maybe he's absent.

Or maybe some of us

are like Ahaz,

that we see that

maybe God comes

to be with us,

but actually that's

bad news because

you think he's there

to give you a whole

load of religious rules.

You think he's there

to take control

of your life

and just disturb you

and ruin you

and make you feel

kind of guilty

about all the stuff

that you're doing

or you're not doing enough.

And maybe like a,

you know,

like a teenager

whose parents say,

hey,

can I come and join you

at your friend's

Christmas party?

And they go,

no way,

you're going to ruin

everything.

That's deep down

how we actually

think about God.

Or maybe,

we don't just see him

as absent,

maybe we don't see him

as just with us

but bad news,

but maybe he's with us

as like a distant uncle,

a kind of non-interfering

kind of deity

who sends you

an occasional Christmas card.

You can ask him

occasional things,

but actually,

he just lets you

live life

the way you want

to live it.

Maybe that's your

view of God.

But the Christmas story

here tells us

that each of those

views are wrong.

This passage tells us

that whether we feel

the suffering,

the pain,

like Mary and Joseph do,

or whether we are

the cause of suffering

and pain,

like Ahaz is,

for all of us,

the reality is

we're away from home

without God.

I showed a video

a few years ago,

I'm going to show it again

in Watermark.

It's from the movie

Home Alone.

Who's seen Home Alone?

Okay, pretty good.

I spoke to Tess yesterday

and she was about

the only person

in the Christmas Eve service.

So, there's got to be

a viewing for those of you

who haven't seen it,

like after the service.

If you haven't seen it,

okay, spoiler alert,

Kevin,

who is a young boy

played by Macaulay Culkin,

has wished that his family

would disappear

after having a fight

with his family.

The next day,

he finds out

they've gone on holiday

and they've forgotten

about him

and he's left alone

at Christmas time.

And some burglars

realize that he's alone

and then they plan

to break in.

And here's one of the things

that Kevin does.

Great, thank you.

I don't know how he managed

to fix all that stuff up

in like less than 24 hours,

but kids are smart these days.

You see,

why do I show that to us?

I think that actually

gives a picture

of what life is like

when we're away from God.

Because when you're away

from home

or when you're home alone,

we actually feel insecure

and we have to put up

some kind of puppet show

to try and keep out

the threats from our lives.

We pretend that we're fine.

We get defensive

when we're criticized.

We work super hard

to prove ourselves.

We do a whole lot of things

that other people

think we're okay

when deep inside

we know

that there's something missing.

because we feel

the insecurity

of the world around us.

And these last couple of years

we've really felt that, right?

And if you're alone

it's all on you.

It's all on you.

And it may feel like,

you know,

Kevin,

it seems to work for a while

but it's super tiring

and super stressful

if you've got to keep that up

for the whole of your life.

That's the breakup.

But Christmas

doesn't kind of end

with that kind of bad news.

Christmas actually

has something

far more wonderful

to tell us.

It tells us actually

that the very situations

that we fear,

the very situations

that stress us

that we go,

what is going on?

That we,

like Mary and Joseph,

think are threats

in our lives.

When you get

who God actually is,

he turns them

from potential catastrophe

into what

Lord of the Rings

author J.R. Tolkien

calls a eucatastrophe.

Catastrophe

is something

that turns

unexpectedly

bad.

Okay?

Something unexpectedly

bad that happens.

Eucatastrophe

means good

in Greek.

And it's so,

a eucatastrophe

and in his language

is this.

It's the sudden

happy turn

in a story

which pierces you

with a joy

that brings tears.

Let me read that again.

I love that.

He says,

a eucatastrophe,

a good catastrophe,

is a sudden

happy turn

in a story

which pierces you

with a joy

that brings tears.

You see,

it's like

receiving a letter

from the Inland Revenue

which you thought

was asking you

to pay more tax

and just as you're

in despair,

you reread it

and realize

they're giving you money.

That happened to me

this year.

Okay?

That's a eucatastrophe.

For the angel,

for Mary and Joseph,

an angel comes to Joseph

right when he's in the pit

and says,

don't fear.

Don't be afraid.

What looks dark,

I'm actually right

in the midst of this.

And for us,

whether you're looking out

at 2021

and going,

what just happened?

or you're looking out

into 2022

and you're going,

I don't know what's coming.

Things still seem

out of control.

He says,

don't be afraid.

Whether you go,

hey,

there's so much in my life,

there's habits,

maybe I'll make

New Year's resolutions

but I know I'm going to break them.

There's things in my life,

there's sin,

there's shame,

there's things here

which are no right

and you just feel like,

oh.

He says,

don't be afraid.

And for Joseph,

he says,

don't be afraid.

Take Mary as your wife

because what she said

is actually true.

God is the one

who is disturbing

your life right now.

It's not all going wrong,

it's all going very right

because it's better

than you think it is.

This baby who's actually

just rocked your entire world,

you ought to call him Jesus.

And the name Jesus means,

okay,

it's like with the kids,

okay.

The name Jesus means

God saves.

Okay,

you can remember that one

for later.

It means God saves.

You see,

the very hope

that people have been

waiting for

and waiting for

and waiting for

for centuries,

he's here.

He's here

and he's disturbing

your world

and he quotes

the prophecy

from Isaiah

that we mentioned before.

He says,

a virgin will give birth

to a son

and he will be called

Emmanuel

and then he just translates it

in case you didn't get

the message.

He says,

which means

God

with

us.

God

with

you.

God

with

me.

God

with us,

not to nag us.

God

with us,

not to control us.

God

with us,

not to ruin our life

or spoil our fun.

God

with us,

to save us

from ourselves,

to save us

from our sins.

God

with us

who can reach

the buttons

that we cannot

get out of the prisons

that we have made

for ourselves

because the chasm

between us

and God

is too great

for us to cross

by ourselves

but when we

could not cross it,

he has come

down to us.

He has brought

home

to us.

Jesus

is

God

with us.

He has not

abandoned you.

He has not

left you.

the creator

of the universe

is one

who is neither

distant

nor disinterested.

He has come

to you.

Both

2,000 years

ago

in that little

manger

but also

today

he comes

again

to us.

You see,

even when we

walk away

from home,

he brings

home

to us.

You see,

he came

from the glory

of heaven

into the slum

of our lives

and he didn't

just come

to be with us

in the good times.

He's not

our kind

of fair

weather

friend.

He came

with us

even to

the depths

of our

darkness

because he

knows you,

you know.

He knows

the depths

of your

shame.

He knows

the depths

of your

impatience,

your unkindness,

all the things

that even

you've been

stressed about

over this

last little

while.

He knows

all of

that.

He knows

the depths

of your

aloneness.

He knows

the depths

of your

pain.

He knows

wherever

you are

right now

and he's

there to

be there

with you

right now.

And the

reason you

know he

can be

there with

you right

now is

because he

has been

to the

places where

you cannot

even imagine

that you

should be

because he

came,

as Annabelle

showed us,

he came

to die.

He came

to take

our shame.

He came

to take

our aloneness.

He came

to take

our sins

on himself.

He entered

our self-made

prisons and

did a

prisoner swap.

He put

himself there

so that we

could get

out and be

freed.

He took

the death

sentence on

himself so

that our

aloneness

might never

be a true

aloneness.

You know,

actually,

I just

remembered,

do you know

what the

Liverpool

anthem song

is?

Sorry,

this is just

a nostalgic

moment for

me.

Okay,

if you don't

know it,

you need

to go

home,

along with

watching

Home Alone

and play

this,

the Liverpool

song is

You Will

Never Walk

Alone.

Do you know,

maybe I should

have worn my

shirt this

morning,

but Christmas

says,

if you come

to Christ,

you will

never walk

alone.

You will

never walk

alone.

Because he

says,

I bring

home to

you to a

place where

you can be

known,

where you

can be

loved,

where you

can be

safe,

and where

you can

be secure

with me.

Because there's

nothing to

hide.

Because he

loves you even

though he

knows everything.

And that's a

place where we

can quit the

puppet show.

It's a place

where you don't

have to fix

your 2022.

Because God,

if God,

the creator of

the universe,

who holds

everything that

you fear,

every problem

that you may

face,

he is bigger

than it all.

if he is

with you,

then that

changes

everything.

There may

still be

burglars

outside.

There may

still be

threats and

insecurity in

this world

and in your

life.

There may

still be

pain in

2022.

For many

of us,

there will

be.

And some

of us know

that.

But when

he is with

you,

you can

have joy

even if

family life

is tough

because you

know you're

not alone.

You can

have peace

because no

matter what's

going on,

it's not

all on your

shoulders any

longer because

Jesus is big

enough to

handle those

things and

you can give

him your

burdens.

And you can

take one

step at a

time with

him.

You see,

if Jesus

is with

you,

then you

can have

hope that

his love

is strong

enough to

see you

through whatever

you're going

to go through,

whether it's

going to be

highs or

whether it's

going to be

lows.

And that is

a place of

freedom.

That is a

place of

confidence for

this coming

year.

Because,

you know,

when home

is hard,

everything is

hard.

But when

true home

is with

you,

nothing can

heal you

like home

can heal

you.

You see,

my 10-month-old

daughter,

who Angeline

I think is

wonderfully looking

after right now,

sometimes she

just cries and

cries and

cries.

And no matter

what you try

and do,

she is just

inconsolable.

until she

sees my

wife.

She doesn't

see me.

It's got to

be my

wife.

And my

wife picks

her up and

then suddenly

she smiles

again.

That's joy.

Why does she

get joy?

I don't know

why she doesn't

work with me.

Because she's

safe.

Because she's

home.

Because she

knows that

that's where

she belongs.

And you

know,

you can

look in

a thousand

places,

but the

promise of

Christmas is

only Emmanuel,

God with

us,

can truly

comfort and

satisfy your

soul.

And he's

here.

And he's

calling us to

respond to him

today.

Whether you

are a

Christian or

you wouldn't

even call

yourself a

follower of

Jesus.

So there's a

breakup.

The Christmas

story has a

bad news,

good news

story.

Because against

the bad news,

the good news

is the

eucatastrophe

that God

has come to

be with us.

How do we

come and

respond to

him?

It's my

final thing.

You know,

my sister lives

in Canada.

I'm in

Hong Kong.

My parents

are in the

UK.

After we

got married,

I hadn't

seen my

sister for

six,

nearly seven

years because

things just

didn't work

out.

Two years

ago,

we were in

the UK,

me and my

wife with

my parents,

and it was

Christmas Eve.

And we had

all the food

was ready,

we'd prepared

everything,

everything was

on the table,

we were just

about to eat,

and then we

hear this

carol singing

outside.

And then there

was this

knock on the

door.

And we went

to the door

and opened it,

and there on

the threshold,

totally

unexpectedly,

was my

sister and

her family.

we were

going,

wow.

Now at

that point,

do you

think we

should have

gone,

hey,

listen,

we're like

super busy,

we haven't

got food for

you,

so do you

think you

could maybe

just come

back another

time?

Like,

wouldn't that

be nuts?

Why?

Because who

cares if your

life gets

disrupted,

family that

was apart

comes back

together again?

Isn't that a

far deeper,

greater joy

than turkey

or whatever,

right?

You see,

Isaiah said

God would

come,

and at

Christmas,

God didn't

break his

promise.

He disrupted

everything for

Mary and

Joseph,

and you know,

he'll disrupt

everything for

you too.

you can't

stay living

life your

way and

have him

with you,

because you

have to get

out of the

lift and

only he will

move you

out there.

You can't

stay trying

to fix

life your

own way,

your own

problems,

in your

own strength,

with the

idea of

either he's

an absent

God,

he's maybe

a distant

God,

he's a

disinterested

God.

You can't

stay like

that and

know joy,

the joy of

coming home,

but actually

this Christmas,

the invitation

to every

one of us

wherever you

are is,

will you

open the

door and

let him

in?

Will you

invite him

into your

life as

your saviour,

as your

Lord,

as the

one that

you're going

to put

your trust

in this

coming year,

that he's

going to be

the one that

no matter

what happens,

you know

Emmanuel,

God with

us,

and that is

the greatest

joy that you

can have

this Christmas.

Let me

just pray

for us,

and maybe

if you

just,

while the

band comes

up,

maybe you

just want

to think

about what's

going on

in your

life,

and how

can you

respond?

Are you

going to

leave Jesus

on the

doorstep

with all

your plans

and busyness,

or will

you make

him the

centre of

your life?

Father,

I pray

that this

Christmas,

we'd

realise

you're

better than

we think

you are.

We'd

realise

that actually

all the

great

longings

that we

have in

our

hearts,

all the

desires

that we

have,

good and

bad,

but all

the things

that actually

we think

we satisfy

are ultimately

just sunbeams

pointing us

to the sun,

which is

you.

And I

pray that

we would

in our

hearts realise

and not

stay one

day longer

away from

you.

Draw us

to yourself

this morning,

we pray.

Show us

just what

an amazing

thing Christmas

is.

Lord,

would we

realise

this is

good news

of great

joy,

not just

for everybody

else,

but for

us this

morning.

Thank you

so much

for sending

your son

to us.

Thank you

for today.

Lord,

I pray

that we

would go

out with

great joy.

In Jesus'

name,

Amen.