Emmanuel: God With Us In Incarnation And Presence

Devotional

Day 1: Emmanuel: God With Us, Here and Now

In Jesus, God draws near—really near—to the lives we are actually living. He is present in our joy and present in our tears, the God who rejoices and the God who weeps. He has gone ahead of us into every valley and every celebration, so we are never alone. Today, dare to speak to Him about what is most real for you, trusting that His nearness is not a theory but a promise. He is with you, even here, even now [31:42].

Matthew 1:23
A young woman will carry a child and give birth to a son; His very name will declare that God has come to live alongside His people—God with us.

Reflection: Where this week will you deliberately pause—at the dinner table, during your commute, or before a meeting—to acknowledge that Jesus is with you and speak to Him for one minute?

Day 2: Prepare Room to Receive the Gift

Sometimes we must prepare to receive a gift, like learning a skill to enjoy it fully. Advent is this kind of preparation—making space to receive what God is giving. Confession, quiet prayer, and simple acts of mercy tune the heart so grace can be received without hurry or distraction. Let your soul slow down so you can notice the One who longs to be near. Open your hands before the Lord and ask for a contrite, spacious heart [26:14].

Isaiah 57:15
The One who is high and holy says: I live in the heights beyond time, and I also live with those who are humbled and sorry, breathing new life into the lowly and renewing the hearts that turn back to Me.

Reflection: What small daily practice—two minutes of silence before bed, a brief examen, or a simple prayer of confession—will you adopt this week to make room to receive Jesus’ gift of grace?

Day 3: Born of the Virgin: Truly God, Truly Man

The virgin birth announces that Jesus is fully human and fully divine, the true meeting place of God and humanity. He receives complete humanity from Mary and brings complete divinity from the Father, uniting heaven and earth in Himself. Because of this union, He is able to save and able to sympathize. He knows our hunger, our stress, our laughter, and our sorrow—and He carries us into the life of God. Trust the One who has walked in our skin and still reigns over all [29:49].

Luke 1:35
The messenger said: God’s Spirit will overshadow you, and the child conceived will be holy; He will truly be called the Son of God.

Reflection: What specific human experience you’re facing—anxious waiting, grief, or a hard decision—will you bring to Jesus today because He fully knows your life from the inside?

Day 4: He Comes in His Church and His Table

Jesus still comes to us—when His people gather, even in conflict and confusion, He stands among them. He meets us at His Table, where the bread and the cup draw us into a real sharing in His life. He hides Himself among the hungry, the stranger, and the imprisoned, making our service to them a meeting with Him. Look for His arrival in worship, in the Sacrament, and in the face of the one who needs help. Let your eyes be trained to recognize His nearness in ordinary places [33:26].

1 Corinthians 10:16
When we bless the cup and break the bread, we are not handling mere symbols; we are participating in the life of Christ Himself, sharing in His body and His blood.

Reflection: Who is one specific person you know who is lonely, struggling, or in need, and what concrete act—an invitation, a meal, a ride, or a visit—will you offer them this week?

Day 5: He Descends to Lift the World

The Lord stooped low—into our weakness, our cross, our grave—so He could raise us into His life. He comes near not only to comfort but to carry, not only to be with us but to bring us where He is. Because He is gentle and mighty, you can entrust your sins, your burdens, and your future to Him. He will not let you fall; He intends to make all things new and hold you fast. Place your weight on His shoulders and walk forward in hope [45:22].

John 14:3
I am going ahead of you to make ready a place, and when it is prepared, I will return and bring you to Myself, so that where I am, you will be with Me.

Reflection: What particular burden or fear will you hand to Jesus today, and what small, practical step—an honest prayer, a difficult phone call, a confession—will mark that trust?

Sermon Summary

We are in Advent to prepare—really prepare—to receive what God is giving. The Father sent his Son to us in the flesh; veiled in flesh, the Godhead is not an idea but a person we can behold, love, and follow. Like practicing the clutch before driving a gifted stick-shift, preparing our hearts helps us fully enjoy and not squander the gift of Christ’s coming. We remember his first coming in Bethlehem, we look for his second in glory, and we attend to the ways he still comes to us by the Holy Spirit—right now, in this room, in the ordinary and the sacramental.

The virgin birth matters because it guards the truth of who Jesus is: truly human from Mary, truly God from the Father. In him, the divine and human are united without confusion; he is our atonement, the living bridge where God and humanity meet. Scripture calls his name Jesus—Yeshua, “the Lord saves”—and Emmanuel, “God with us.” His very name is a promise, not of sentiment, but of salvation from our sins and the restoration of communion with God.

Because he is Emmanuel, he is with us in his body, the church; in the eucharist, where we truly share in his body and blood; and in the face of the hungry, the stranger, and the prisoner. But the wonder goes deeper: God desires to be close—so close he embraced our entire human condition from infancy to adulthood, joys to griefs, hunger to laughter, obedience to the cross. Wherever we stand today—celebrating, aching, deciding, repenting—he has gone ahead of us and meets us there.

And he does more than meet us; he lifts us. The Lord descends in humility in order to raise us into the life of God. So, amid the bustle, the lines, and the noise, we say yes to this gift with contrition and joy. We tell him the truth. We confess where we’ve missed it. We receive mercy. We come to his table, and we prepare our hearts for the One who comes—and is coming again.

Key Takeaways

1. Prepare to fully receive the gift Preparation isn’t performative; it’s training our desires to recognize what God is actually giving. Advent calls us to clear space, sharpen attention, and cultivate hunger so the Gift doesn’t sit in our garage undriven. Practices of prayer, confession, and worship tune our hearts to delight in Christ himself, not just the season’s sentiment. Preparation enlarges our capacity for joy. [26:14]
2. The virgin birth guards the gospel If Jesus is not truly God and truly man, the bridge between heaven and earth collapses. The virgin birth anchors his identity: full humanity from Mary and full divinity from the Father, united without dilution. Only such a Savior can heal human nature and reconcile us to God. This mystery is not a hurdle to faith but the doorway into hope. [29:49]
3. Emmanuel means presence, not abstraction From Matthew’s first chapter to the last line, the promise is presence—God with us. He meets us in the gathered church, communes with us at his table, and identifies himself with the least and the lost. His nearness is not a feeling but a covenantal fact secured by the Spirit. Learning to notice his presence reorders how we worship, serve, and suffer. [31:08]
4. Bring your whole life to Jesus Because he embraced our human condition, nothing in us is foreign to him—joy, sorrow, confusion, or pain. Honest prayer is not informing God; it’s consenting to be met by him where we actually are. Confession becomes safe because his name is salvation, not condemnation. In that honesty, intimacy grows and grace takes root. [39:55]
5. He descends to lift us higher God’s nearness is not mere sympathy; it is rescue. The Son stoops into our ruin to shoulder it and raise us into resurrection life. This is the pattern of grace: humility that exalts, surrender that saves, descent that leads to ascent. Hope is not escape but participation in his rising. [44:47]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[09:17] - Collect and Prayers for the World
[12:41] - Intercessions for Church and Sick
[14:22] - Children’s Blessing
[23:22] - Prayer for Illumination
[23:52] - Longing for Christmas Meaning
[26:14] - Incarnation and Advent Preparation
[27:26] - The Virgin Birth Matters
[31:08] - Emmanuel: With Us in Word and Sacrament
[33:57] - Serving the Least: Meeting Christ
[34:43] - His Name Is Jesus—He Saves
[37:47] - God with Us in Every Season
[44:47] - He Descends to Lift Us
[46:29] - Re-centering Amid Holiday Busyness
[51:20] - Creed, Communion, and Blessing

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Bold Matthew 1:18–25

Observation questions

In Matthew 1:21, what reason is given for the name “Jesus,” and what problem does he come to deal with?
In Matthew 1:23, what does the name “Emmanuel” mean, and what does that promise say about God’s posture toward his people?
Where does Jesus promise to be “in the midst” when believers gather, and in what kind of church moment was that promise first spoken? “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.” [32:03]
What claim was made about the virgin birth and Jesus’ identity? “Truly human… and also truly God.” [29:49]

Interpretation questions

If Jesus’ name means “the Lord saves,” why does Matthew 1:21 stress “he will save his people from their sins”? How does that confront common expectations for what we want God to save us from?
Emmanuel means “God with us.” If his nearness is a covenant promise and not just a feeling, how should that shape prayer and worship on days when feelings are thin? “Behold, I am with you always…” [31:42]
How does the virgin birth guard the gospel? Why does Jesus need to be fully human and fully God for reconciliation to be real and effective? [29:49]
Isaiah 7 gave a sign for Ahaz’s day and a fuller fulfillment in Christ. What does this layered promise reveal about how God works across generations—timely help now and deeper hope later? [35:29]

Application questions

Prepare to receive the gift: What one simple practice will you adopt this week to “get the clutch work” for your heart—set prayer time, confession, or worship—so you don’t squander Christ’s gift? Name the practice, time, and place. [26:14]
Expect his presence in the church: Think of a current tough conversation or decision. If Jesus is “in the midst” when believers gather, what would change about your words, tone, or pace in that moment? Be concrete. [32:03]
Come hungry to the Table: If you plan to receive Communion, how will you prepare and how will you respond, knowing it is a real participation in Christ’s body and blood (1 Cor 10:16)? If you’re not receiving, what step would move you toward Jesus this week? [32:47]
Serve where he is waiting: Who in your week fits “hungry, stranger, sick, imprisoned, or lonely”? Name one person and one doable act (meal, visit, call, gift card), and choose when you’ll do it. [33:57]
Bring your whole life to Jesus: Which part of your current season—joy, grief, confusion, or pain—do you need to say out loud to the Lord without pretending? What exact words will you use when you tell him? [42:47]
Confess with confidence: What specific sin or pattern will you confess to the Lord this week, trusting that his name means salvation, not condemnation? What simple help will you use (daily examen, trusted friend, written prayer)? [43:04]
Descend to be lifted: Where is God inviting humble surrender so he can lift you into new life—an apology to make, a habit to drop, a command to obey? Name one step you will take in the next 48 hours. [44:47]

Sermon Clips

Now, I want to say a brief word about the virgin birth because both of our gospel lesson and our Old Testament lesson talk about the virgin birth.Christ, we believe, was born without a human father.was born without the necessity of intercourse.He was miraculously conceived in the womb of His mother who was a virgin and that is so important.It's in the Apostles' Creed, it's in the Nicene Creed, it's also in the Athanasian Creed, and it's in the communion liturgy.You can't go to an Anglican service if it's done by the book without affirming this.We do it every single time we gather. [00:27:14] (33 seconds) #CreedsAffirmIncarnation

In his incarnation, he comes to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and in the sacraments and in all these ways, he still comes to us and he promises in his glorious victory he's going to come to us again at last. [00:36:57] (15 seconds) #ChristComesBySpirit

The old theologians and church fathers talk about how Christ hallowed every part of human life by connecting it with the infinite holy life of God by becoming one of us.And so he started out as a baby just like we do, and then he became a little toddler and fell and scraped his knees, and then he grew to a child and he became an awkward teenager and probably had acne and all that stuff, and finally he became a grown man. [00:38:50] (26 seconds) #GodHallowedEverydayLife

Are you shedding tears over wayward children?Look at Jesus in Luke 19, 41, weeping over the city of Jerusalem, his beloved people who have gone wrong again and again and again and are about to reject him, weeping over his people.And if that's your heart right now, look at Jesus and see, that's God's heart.He's come to be with you, even right there. [00:40:46] (29 seconds) #WeepingHeartOfGod

There are lots of philosophies and religions in this world that understand there must be some kind of God, some kind of highest power that kind of sets everything else in order that we all depend upon but only the Christian gospel tells us that the Lord God Almighty, the King of all things, stooped low, really low, in order to come and be with us. [00:41:56] (23 seconds) #KingStoopsToServe

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