Immanuel
This Sunday is our Carols and Cappuccino service where we celebrate the birth of Jesus because of who He is, what He has done and what He is still doing to this very day. Jesus invites us into a relationship with Himself and through Him a relationship with God the Father. IF this seems a meaningless statement perhaps you will consider joining us next year on an Alpha course to explore that?
In the bible there are many names given to describe Jesus . As Matthew writes in summary of what happened in Bethlehem ‘All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet
( Isaiah 7:14) ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us.’ Matthew’s Gospel chapter 1v22-23
Our service this evening is more reflective than last year, an invitation to encounter Immanuel . To experience God with you in the trials and challenges of life, the joys and sorrows, the upsets and uncertainties, the times of confusion, despair as well as in celebration is what Jesus made possible. He came to us. Christ-mas…literally the anointed one sent. He continues to come to us through the Holy Spirit and we have prayed that if you have not experienced this before you will this evening.
May you be blessed. May you know that you are loved by God. May you discover the wonderful truth that the baby in Bethlehem went on to reveal the nature of God, to be the crucified Christ, the risen Christ, and He did that for each one of us so that we could know Immanuel. God with us.
Shalom
Jamie