I just got home from our annual Advent by Candlelight program. It was a wonderful time with friends and for reflection. I feel all filled up. I wrote the program, so I’m stealing the first two parts of it for my post tonight and will post the other sections for tomorrow’s post. 

As I look around this room, I realize that this is one of the best parts of Christmas. Friends and family sharing a meal, sharing an evening. I watched as you embraced each other, welcomed each other with a hug, a smile, a kiss on the cheek. I watched as you gathered here, laughing with each other, sharing stories from your day, commiserating about your problems, offering support, a smile, a squeeze. I watched as you moved over to let another person around your table and into your conversation.

One of the best parts of Christmas is this, what’s going on in the room right now. One of the best parts of Christmas is being together.

Being together is the focus of many of our Christmas celebrations, isn’t it? We plan parties, cook meals, exchange presents, travel long distances, all to be near those that we love. Being with those we love fills us up, doesn’t it? We need love, understanding, and support. We need connection.

God tells us in his Word that connection is the reason the whole world began. God created the world and everything in it, but he wasn’t finished until he made us. We, as humans, are the most special part of creation because we were made not only to connect with one another, but to connect with God, to have a relationship with Him. Simply put, God made us to be with us.

God with us is the theme of our Advent by Candlelight service tonight. You will hear this message in the words of our devotions and in the words of the Christmas carols that are sung, but most of all, you will hear it in the words of the Christmas story, the story of God with us.

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It’s been said that Christmas can be summed up in just four words:

God. is. with.us.

That’s what we sing about in every Christmas carol, like the one we just sang:

“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel…God with us…shall come to you, O Israel!”

or in these familiar words:

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

It’s what we see in the decorations all around us: the lights in the darkness symbolize Jesus coming into this dark world of sin, the presents under the tree represent the fact that the presence of Jesus is God’s gift to us, the evergreen trees are a sign that God is always with us, ever-living.

Most of all, the words of Christmas, the story of Christmas, reminds us that God himself came to be with us to save us, just as he said he would.

Listen to the words of Luke 2:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels announced that there was “peace on earth” they meant it literally. Peace had literally been born that night. Peace is what lay in the manger. Peace is what the shepherds ran to see.

Jesus is our peace. Through his life and death, he restored the relationship between God and man. Because of Jesus, we have the peace of knowing that our sins are forgiven, the punishment is paid for, and the hope of heaven, of a reunion with God, is possible. That peace, that restored relationship, is our joy this Christmas and always. Joy to the World, the Lord HAS COME!