God IS with Us

The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 7:14

The wonder of Christmas is not that God came into a perfect world, but that God chose to come into a world as messy, divided, and unjust as our own. At the first Christmas there were rulers who ruled by fear, who threatened the vulnerable and clung to power at any cost. There was deep inequality, with wealth and safety concentrated in the hands of a few while many lived precariously at the margins. Truth itself was fragile, shaped by power and propaganda. This is not unfamiliar territory for us today.

Into that reality, God did not send an army or a decree, but a child. Jesus was born into our world to save us — to bring a light that shines in the darkness, a light the darkness cannot overcome. And that light came through Mary.

Mary’s “yes” came at great personal cost. She chose courage over safety, trust over certainty, love over fear. She committed to protect and nurture life when the world around her made that choice costly.



Mary inspires us to believe when the future feels unclear, to take courage when doing what is right carries a price, and to love faithfully, trusting that today here and now, God is with us.

Eternal God,

as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,

so we wait for his coming in glory:

bring us through he birth pangs of this present age

to see, with her, our great salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Christmas to you all.