December 19, 2016 – Luke 1:68-70

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.” Luke 1:68-70We cry out for reality!  This is reality – Jesus IS.  Jesus came to redeem His people.  Lineage means something…when we understand who someone’s father is, it tells all we need to know.  God’s people were alerted to the coming of Jesus almost a thousand years before his birth from prophets of old.Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus and gave us signs to watch for.  A virgin will give birth to a son.   Who is the father of Jesus if Mary had no husband at this point? No earthly man. There was no sonogram to determine the sex of the child in that day, or even in 1952, when I gave birth to our first son.  But read again — She will give birth to a son...Isaiah knew 700 years before.  It could not have been anything but a ‘God-o-gram’.  Indeed, his name will be Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us‘!The reality of God, Jesus, would be sent to live among us.  To doubt and deny Jesus is to turn away from God Almighty as well. Those who turn away become enveloped in darkness and confusion.  For Jesus is the light of the world.  He is our hope and underlies every act of love.This season is more than a Christmas Season, it is the Season of Giving.  God gives us each breath we take, God gave us His Son Jesus to pay for our sins and through his blood forgive our future sins.  Giving celebrates his birth…not tinsel and magic.  Jesus’ Love is the reality of Christmas and every day.All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14