God With Us Matthew1:18-23 12-21-08

God With US, Matthew1:18-23 12-21-08

Lat week
God is personally in touch with us.
In the faces and the hearts of those around us
In the healing hand of touch that makes us whole

This week God with us
We need someone to be with us...our world is so marked by broken unhealthy relationships.
Fly byes - remember Top Gun - people want to use us
People grow tired of church walk away
Tired of marriage - walk away
Tired of friends
Tired of children - what is wrong with our society - we thro our children away
Susan Smith killed her children in 1994
Nebraska law
Caycee Anthony, Kailie Anthony
Evey child should be wanted
Our adoption ministry - every child deserves a loving home
In life we want something real, We want more than a fly by

There are many Biblical examples of how not to do it
David kills Bathsheba's husband
the prodical son runs away,
in the Christmas story there is no room in the inn
cute angles on this where the inn keeper relents...
we want it to end differently

There are many biblical examples of what relationships should be like
Joseph could have put Mary away, but he stayed

Later, Joseph takes Mary and the child to Egypt...more on this next week

Prodigal son - son set a bad example, father did it right

In the story of the good Samaritan, he is the good Samaritan
Religious folks pass by, bu Jesus says, this is how we should be...

The story of the Bible is a story of the God who is with us.
Joshua 1:5 Joshua takes over for moses - W ill never leave you or forsake you

the writer of Hebrews ends his letter Hebrew15:5 I will never leave you or forsake you

The scripture says, Immanuel, God with us
Immanuel, a mysterious name, but very precious;
God incarnate, born among us, and so God is available to us, at peace with us, and taking us into covenant and communion with himself

In the birth of Jesus, the unexplainable God finally meets man and woman in the flesh. Amazing. Immanuel = God immediate, God with us.

In our lives today we need something real
Some relationships need to end
Abuse, hatred, etc.
Got together for all the wrong reasons

We need to be better at building foundations and thinking long term
the do gooders in Indiahoma........
they came, they did their work, they left.

Almost all popular music, of any age, holds in tension the desire for love and the struggle to find it.

Rascal Flats - My Wish - the challenge of relationship, the hope of relationship
I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the one who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
and you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
and you always give more than you take.

Maroon 5 I won't go home without you - the challenge or hope of relationship
It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you

conclusion
especially today, we need something in our life that is a good investment
something that we can trust
a wing-man that will not leave
we need to know that we are worth loving

Francis of Assisi was horrified by poverty and by all forms of suffering, but nothing raised his revulsion so much as leprosy. If he chanced to see a leper while he was out riding, he would dismount, hold his nose, and send a messenger to give some alms. Then on day, at the beginning of hie conversion, he came unexpectedly upon a leper on the road. His first impulse was to recoil, then he remembered his desire for discipleship. 'He slipped off his horse and ran to kiss the man. When the leper put out his hand as if to receive some alms, Francis gave him money and a kiss.'

we need to know what we are worth loving

These is a story that came out of China many years ago of a missionary who found it necessary to be gone from his family for an extended time. Aware that his leaving would not be understood by his youngest daughter, he placed in his coat pocket a rare treat in that part of China--a bright red apple-- to give her as he boarded the train.

finally the moment came. He embraced his wife and each of the older children. And then it was hie little girls turn. Picking her up in his arms, he pressed the apple into her hand, hoping that this special gift would soften the impact of his leaving. But instead, as he looked back from the slowly departing train, he saw the apple slip from her hand and roll across the platform. Tears streaming down he face, she ran alongside the train sobbing, Daddy, I don't want what you give --I want you!

Here is the good news.
There is not place where you can go, where God is not there

Psalm139 If I go up to Heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 8If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea. 10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If you are in Colorado, he is there, if you are in Florida, he is there, if you are in a cold spell, he is there, in foreclosure? He is there

God want to be with us - God is with us
this is precisely the message that Jesus gives in coming to earth.

Immanuel God with us
From the Manager to the cross, to the empty tomb,
When he ascends, he says, lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age
he has promised to never leave us, and so we have a friend, a Lord a savior, Jesus Christ, God with us.