The scripture reading comes from Matthew chapter 1. Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or on your Bible.
Starting in verse 18, we read,
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.
And he called his name Jesus.
This is the word of God.
Thank you so much, Betty.
Welcome. Merry Christmas, everybody.
Oh, that was about the best ever. That's great.
My name is Chris. I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark.
Just really, really excited to see you, if it's your first time, if it's your thousandth time.
I'm particularly excited to see what people wear at Christmastime,
because I've seen some very exciting colors going on.
I looked in my wardrobe.
The only red thing I could find was a Liverpool football shirt,
so I thought that may not be appropriate.
Let me just pray for us as we get into God's word.
Father, I thank you for Christmas.
Thank you that today, in all the presents and all the stuff, all the food and the friends and the time together,
Lord, I thank you that the central, key focus of everything is you.
Thank you, Jesus.
Open our hearts to hear your word, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Great.
We've got the kids in, so be prepared for a little bit of chaos,
but that's fine, because we're a family together.
Christmas, do you know, actually didn't start as a celebration.
There were no lights.
There was no turkey.
There was no presents.
There was actually just confusion and hurt and darkness.
Christmas.
Because, you know, Christmas actually started as a breakup.
They were wedding planning.
You know, they'd got the dress.
They'd ordered the caterers.
They'd sent out the invites.
And then one day, Mary, who's this young Jewish peasant girl,
who's probably around 12 years old,
comes to her fiancé, Joseph,
and says,
Joe,
I'm pregnant.
And Joe knew that he wasn't the father.
And Mary continued that,
it's an angel who came to me and said,
the baby is from the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph, at that point, doesn't go,
well, we believe all kinds of unscientific things these days,
so that's fine.
I mean, Holy Spirit conception, no problem.
No, he doesn't.
He goes,
Holy Spirit.
Right.
That's a good one.
And you see, at that point,
at that moment,
all of his plans,
all of his trust in her,
all of his dreams for a family were shattered.
And I can imagine him lying on his bed at night going,
what have I done to deserve this?
Like, why me?
Because Joseph is a good guy.
I mean, he loves her.
You can see from the passage,
he loves her.
And it says,
even with this news,
he doesn't want to shame her publicly.
So he comes up with his own kind of solution
of how to fix this mess,
which is like,
okay,
let's just do a kind of low-key,
quiet divorce.
Let's not kind of make this public.
Let's make this the best of what we can.
But Joseph is feeling alone and lost.
Mary,
what do you think she's going through?
I mean,
she'd had this joy at the idea of being pregnant,
and now it's been shattered by the rejection from her fiancé,
and her life,
her reputation,
were on the line.
Because in first century Jewish culture,
single mothers were not treated well.
And for her,
what was God up to?
What is he doing?
Where is he even in the midst of this?
Both of them confused.
Both of them alone with their struggle,
with their shame,
with all the things that are going on,
on the verge of breakup,
and it's not their fault at all.
It's not their fault.
And this is how Christmas begins.
And so I don't know for you,
many of you may have had an amazing 2021,
but I know some of you,
it's been a hard 2021.
It's been one where maybe you're going,
life doesn't make sense sometimes.
Whether that's COVID,
whether that's a loss of loved ones,
whether that's sickness,
or a whole lot of other things.
I know for many people,
Christmas can be a hard time.
But you know,
Christmas is actually all about
how God turns darkness into light.
How God takes tragedy,
and turns it into glory.
You see,
it's how God turns expectations
that we have,
and the way we think life should work,
upside down.
And that's what God always does
for everyone who trusts in him.
And the thing is,
the Mary and Joseph story in this passage,
actually come in the context
of another breakup,
which is a breakup
which goes all the way back
right to the beginning of the Bible.
Well,
the breakup
that is the backdrop
for this story.
You see,
the Bible story says
that you and I were made
for a relationship
with the creator God
that we saw Annabelle
and Justin
so well talk about.
And that relationship
is that when we're with him,
in right relationship with him,
then we're home.
And home is where you're safe,
you're secure,
you're known,
and you're loved.
You've got nothing to hide.
You can be who you are,
you can be yourself
because you are safe.
And the story goes,
if you know the story
and you've been in Watermark a while,
but actually on page three
of the Bible,
everything goes wrong
because it's not that God
who walks out on us,
but actually we walk out on him.
We want to live life our way,
do things according to our plans,
in our own self-reliant strength.
And that's where everything goes wrong.
You see,
my son Etienne,
who's two years old,
about a month ago,
we were in the lift in my building
and we were coming home
and I was holding his hand
just as the lift doors were opening
and I was just getting out
and then he lets go of my hand
and he starts pushing me
out of the lift.
Lovely son.
And if he'd have managed to do that,
you know,
the doors would have shut
and I think he'd have enjoyed his freedom
for just a few seconds probably.
You know,
he'd have joined being there
and not having me interfering in his life
in any kind of way.
He could do what he wants,
but at some point,
and I think for him
it would come pretty quick,
he'd realize that his little fingers
couldn't reach the buttons
for the open lift.
And you see,
the very freedom
that he thought he had without me
had actually become a prison
of his own making.
Because he couldn't get out
and when you're in that place,
that's a place of stress,
that's a place of anxiety,
that's a place where you,
it's all on you
to try and fix this situation.
Because that's what it is
to be alone and away from home.
And that's often what we actually do
with God in our lives.
We say,
I'll call you when I need you,
but let me live my life,
my career,
my ambitions,
my dreams by myself
and it's all on us
to try and make it happen.
And that's actually at the heart
of what the Bible calls sin.
Pushing God out
so I can be on the throne,
I can be in control of my life.
And this is exemplified
700 years before this passage.
A prophet called Isaiah
comes to a Jewish king called Ahaz.
And this guy Ahaz,
he's in a tough spot
because his allies
have just turned on him
to try and force his hand
to join them
in resisting the big superpower
of the time
who's called Assyria.
And he's besieged
by this superior army.
His back is against the wall.
It doesn't look good at all.
His whole kingdom,
his life,
his reputation,
everything is on the line.
Tragedy is beckoning.
And this prophet Isaiah
comes to him
and says,
hey listen,
Ahaz,
don't trust in your own wisdom.
Trust what God says to you.
And he's got this situation.
It looks bad,
but don't worry,
he's got it.
And do you know what Ahaz says?
Ahaz says,
sorry,
Isaiah says,
he'll give you a sign.
And the sign will be this,
a virgin will conceive
and bear a son
and you shall call his name
Emmanuel.
And what does Ahaz do?
Well,
like a male driver
who's lost
and won't admit it,
he says,
I'm going to sort this out myself,
thank you very much.
I don't need God's help.
Let me deal with it.
And do you know what happens?
That decision
leads to breakup.
It leads to the end
of his kingdom.
It leads to the exiling
of his people
away from the home
of where God was
and where they were meant
to be safe,
secure,
known and loved.
And unlike Mary and Joseph,
this breakup
with God
and with their land
and with the people,
that was entirely
their choice.
Entirely their choice.
And the amazing thing is,
though,
that actually
two chapters
later on
from this verse,
in the midst
of the chaos
of what's going on,
Isaiah comes
with another promise.
He says,
Emmanuel is still coming.
The promise
that in the darkness
light will come
and he says this,
he says,
unto us
a child is born.
Unto us
a son is given
and the government
will be on his shoulders.
You see,
what he was saying is,
in spite of the chaos,
there is a king
who's coming.
There is one
who's coming
to bring you home again.
And the Jewish people
for years
were looking forward
to this Messiah
figure to come.
They were looking
forward to that,
but they felt
lost,
alone,
confused,
and wondering
in their current
circumstances,
where was God
in the midst
of this?
Well,
for many of us,
some of us
may see that God
as absent.
Maybe that's because
you don't believe
in a God
or maybe it's because
you,
like Mary and Joseph,
look at your current
circumstances
and go,
well,
if God really cared,
then he wouldn't
allow me to be here.
And so,
you end up feeling
like you've got
to carry life
on your own shoulders.
Maybe he's absent.
Or maybe some of us
are like Ahaz,
that we see that
maybe God comes
to be with us,
but actually that's
bad news because
you think he's there
to give you a whole
load of religious rules.
You think he's there
to take control
of your life
and just disturb you
and ruin you
and make you feel
kind of guilty
about all the stuff
that you're doing
or you're not doing enough.
And maybe like a,
you know,
like a teenager
whose parents say,
hey,
can I come and join you
at your friend's
Christmas party?
And they go,
no way,
you're going to ruin
everything.
That's deep down
how we actually
think about God.
Or maybe,
we don't just see him
as absent,
maybe we don't see him
as just with us
but bad news,
but maybe he's with us
as like a distant uncle,
a kind of non-interfering
kind of deity
who sends you
an occasional Christmas card.
You can ask him
occasional things,
but actually,
he just lets you
live life
the way you want
to live it.
Maybe that's your
view of God.
But the Christmas story
here tells us
that each of those
views are wrong.
This passage tells us
that whether we feel
the suffering,
the pain,
like Mary and Joseph do,
or whether we are
the cause of suffering
and pain,
like Ahaz is,
for all of us,
the reality is
we're away from home
without God.
I showed a video
a few years ago,
I'm going to show it again
in Watermark.
It's from the movie
Home Alone.
Who's seen Home Alone?
Okay, pretty good.
I spoke to Tess yesterday
and she was about
the only person
in the Christmas Eve service.
So, there's got to be
a viewing for those of you
who haven't seen it,
like after the service.
If you haven't seen it,
okay, spoiler alert,
Kevin,
who is a young boy
played by Macaulay Culkin,
has wished that his family
would disappear
after having a fight
with his family.
The next day,
he finds out
they've gone on holiday
and they've forgotten
about him
and he's left alone
at Christmas time.
And some burglars
realize that he's alone
and then they plan
to break in.
And here's one of the things
that Kevin does.
Great, thank you.
I don't know how he managed
to fix all that stuff up
in like less than 24 hours,
but kids are smart these days.
You see,
why do I show that to us?
I think that actually
gives a picture
of what life is like
when we're away from God.
Because when you're away
from home
or when you're home alone,
we actually feel insecure
and we have to put up
some kind of puppet show
to try and keep out
the threats from our lives.
We pretend that we're fine.
We get defensive
when we're criticized.
We work super hard
to prove ourselves.
We do a whole lot of things
that other people
think we're okay
when deep inside
we know
that there's something missing.
because we feel
the insecurity
of the world around us.
And these last couple of years
we've really felt that, right?
And if you're alone
it's all on you.
It's all on you.
And it may feel like,
you know,
Kevin,
it seems to work for a while
but it's super tiring
and super stressful
if you've got to keep that up
for the whole of your life.
That's the breakup.
But Christmas
doesn't kind of end
with that kind of bad news.
Christmas actually
has something
far more wonderful
to tell us.
It tells us actually
that the very situations
that we fear,
the very situations
that stress us
that we go,
what is going on?
That we,
like Mary and Joseph,
think are threats
in our lives.
When you get
who God actually is,
he turns them
from potential catastrophe
into what
Lord of the Rings
author J.R. Tolkien
calls a eucatastrophe.
Catastrophe
is something
that turns
unexpectedly
bad.
Okay?
Something unexpectedly
bad that happens.
Eucatastrophe
means good
in Greek.
And it's so,
a eucatastrophe
and in his language
is this.
It's the sudden
happy turn
in a story
which pierces you
with a joy
that brings tears.
Let me read that again.
I love that.
He says,
a eucatastrophe,
a good catastrophe,
is a sudden
happy turn
in a story
which pierces you
with a joy
that brings tears.
You see,
it's like
receiving a letter
from the Inland Revenue
which you thought
was asking you
to pay more tax
and just as you're
in despair,
you reread it
and realize
they're giving you money.
That happened to me
this year.
Okay?
That's a eucatastrophe.
For the angel,
for Mary and Joseph,
an angel comes to Joseph
right when he's in the pit
and says,
don't fear.
Don't be afraid.
What looks dark,
I'm actually right
in the midst of this.
And for us,
whether you're looking out
at 2021
and going,
what just happened?
or you're looking out
into 2022
and you're going,
I don't know what's coming.
Things still seem
out of control.
He says,
don't be afraid.
Whether you go,
hey,
there's so much in my life,
there's habits,
maybe I'll make
New Year's resolutions
but I know I'm going to break them.
There's things in my life,
there's sin,
there's shame,
there's things here
which are no right
and you just feel like,
oh.
He says,
don't be afraid.
And for Joseph,
he says,
don't be afraid.
Take Mary as your wife
because what she said
is actually true.
God is the one
who is disturbing
your life right now.
It's not all going wrong,
it's all going very right
because it's better
than you think it is.
This baby who's actually
just rocked your entire world,
you ought to call him Jesus.
And the name Jesus means,
okay,
it's like with the kids,
okay.
The name Jesus means
God saves.
Okay,
you can remember that one
for later.
It means God saves.
You see,
the very hope
that people have been
waiting for
and waiting for
for centuries,
he's here.
He's here
and he's disturbing
your world
and he quotes
the prophecy
from Isaiah
that we mentioned before.
He says,
a virgin will give birth
to a son
and he will be called
Emmanuel
and then he just translates it
in case you didn't get
the message.
He says,
which means
God
with
us.
God
with
you.
God
with
me.
God
with us,
not to nag us.
God
with us,
not to control us.
God
with us,
not to ruin our life
or spoil our fun.
God
with us,
to save us
from ourselves,
to save us
from our sins.
God
with us
who can reach
the buttons
that we cannot
get out of the prisons
that we have made
for ourselves
because the chasm
between us
and God
is too great
for us to cross
by ourselves
but when we
could not cross it,
he has come
down to us.
He has brought
home
to us.
Jesus
is
God
with us.
He has not
abandoned you.
He has not
left you.
the creator
of the universe
is one
who is neither
distant
nor disinterested.
He has come
to you.
Both
2,000 years
ago
in that little
manger
but also
today
he comes
again
to us.
You see,
even when we
walk away
from home,
he brings
home
to us.
You see,
he came
from the glory
of heaven
into the slum
of our lives
and he didn't
just come
to be with us
in the good times.
He's not
our kind
of fair
weather
friend.
He came
with us
even to
the depths
of our
darkness
because he
knows you,
you know.
He knows
the depths
of your
shame.
He knows
the depths
of your
impatience,
your unkindness,
all the things
that even
you've been
stressed about
over this
last little
while.
He knows
all of
that.
He knows
the depths
of your
aloneness.
He knows
the depths
of your
pain.
He knows
wherever
you are
right now
and he's
there to
be there
with you
right now.
And the
reason you
know he
can be
there with
you right
now is
because he
has been
to the
places where
you cannot
even imagine
that you
should be
because he
came,
as Annabelle
showed us,
he came
to die.
He came
to take
our shame.
He came
to take
our aloneness.
He came
to take
our sins
on himself.
He entered
our self-made
prisons and
did a
prisoner swap.
He put
himself there
so that we
could get
out and be
freed.
He took
the death
sentence on
himself so
that our
aloneness
might never
be a true
aloneness.
You know,
actually,
I just
remembered,
do you know
what the
Liverpool
anthem song
is?
Sorry,
this is just
a nostalgic
moment for
me.
Okay,
if you don't
know it,
you need
to go
home,
along with
watching
Home Alone
and play
this,
the Liverpool
song is
You Will
Never Walk
Alone.
Do you know,
maybe I should
have worn my
shirt this
morning,
but Christmas
says,
if you come
to Christ,
you will
never walk
alone.
You will
never walk
alone.
Because he
says,
I bring
home to
you to a
place where
you can be
known,
where you
can be
loved,
where you
can be
safe,
and where
you can
be secure
with me.
Because there's
nothing to
hide.
Because he
loves you even
though he
knows everything.
And that's a
place where we
can quit the
puppet show.
It's a place
where you don't
have to fix
your 2022.
Because God,
if God,
the creator of
the universe,
who holds
everything that
you fear,
every problem
that you may
face,
he is bigger
than it all.
if he is
with you,
then that
changes
everything.
There may
still be
burglars
outside.
There may
still be
threats and
insecurity in
this world
and in your
life.
There may
still be
pain in
2022.
For many
of us,
there will
be.
And some
of us know
that.
But when
he is with
you,
you can
have joy
even if
family life
is tough
because you
know you're
not alone.
You can
have peace
because no
matter what's
going on,
it's not
all on your
shoulders any
longer because
Jesus is big
enough to
handle those
things and
you can give
him your
burdens.
And you can
take one
step at a
time with
him.
You see,
if Jesus
is with
you,
then you
can have
hope that
his love
is strong
enough to
see you
through whatever
you're going
to go through,
whether it's
going to be
highs or
whether it's
going to be
lows.
And that is
a place of
freedom.
That is a
place of
confidence for
this coming
year.
Because,
you know,
when home
is hard,
everything is
hard.
But when
true home
is with
you,
nothing can
heal you
like home
can heal
you.
You see,
my 10-month-old
daughter,
who Angeline
I think is
wonderfully looking
after right now,
sometimes she
just cries and
cries and
cries.
And no matter
what you try
and do,
she is just
inconsolable.
until she
sees my
wife.
She doesn't
see me.
It's got to
be my
wife.
And my
wife picks
her up and
then suddenly
she smiles
again.
That's joy.
Why does she
get joy?
I don't know
why she doesn't
work with me.
Because she's
safe.
Because she's
home.
Because she
knows that
that's where
she belongs.
And you
know,
you can
look in
a thousand
places,
but the
promise of
Christmas is
only Emmanuel,
God with
us,
can truly
comfort and
satisfy your
soul.
And he's
here.
And he's
calling us to
respond to him
today.
Whether you
are a
Christian or
you wouldn't
even call
yourself a
follower of
Jesus.
So there's a
breakup.
The Christmas
story has a
bad news,
good news
story.
Because against
the bad news,
the good news
is the
eucatastrophe
that God
has come to
be with us.
How do we
come and
respond to
him?
It's my
final thing.
You know,
my sister lives
in Canada.
I'm in
Hong Kong.
My parents
are in the
UK.
After we
got married,
I hadn't
seen my
sister for
six,
nearly seven
years because
things just
didn't work
out.
Two years
ago,
we were in
the UK,
me and my
wife with
my parents,
and it was
Christmas Eve.
And we had
all the food
was ready,
we'd prepared
everything,
everything was
on the table,
we were just
about to eat,
and then we
hear this
carol singing
outside.
And then there
was this
knock on the
door.
And we went
to the door
and opened it,
and there on
the threshold,
totally
unexpectedly,
was my
sister and
her family.
we were
going,
wow.
Now at
that point,
do you
think we
should have
gone,
hey,
listen,
we're like
super busy,
we haven't
got food for
you,
so do you
think you
could maybe
just come
back another
time?
Like,
wouldn't that
be nuts?
Why?
Because who
cares if your
life gets
disrupted,
family that
was apart
comes back
together again?
Isn't that a
far deeper,
greater joy
than turkey
or whatever,
right?
You see,
Isaiah said
God would
come,
and at
Christmas,
God didn't
break his
promise.
He disrupted
everything for
Mary and
Joseph,
and you know,
he'll disrupt
everything for
you too.
you can't
stay living
life your
way and
have him
with you,
because you
have to get
out of the
lift and
only he will
move you
out there.
You can't
stay trying
to fix
life your
own way,
your own
problems,
in your
own strength,
with the
idea of
either he's
an absent
God,
he's maybe
a distant
God,
he's a
disinterested
God.
You can't
stay like
that and
know joy,
the joy of
coming home,
but actually
this Christmas,
the invitation
to every
one of us
wherever you
are is,
will you
open the
door and
let him
in?
Will you
invite him
into your
life as
your saviour,
as your
Lord,
as the
one that
you're going
to put
your trust
in this
coming year,
that he's
going to be
the one that
no matter
what happens,
you know
Emmanuel,
God with
us,
and that is
the greatest
joy that you
can have
this Christmas.
Let me
just pray
for us,
and maybe
if you
just,
while the
band comes
up,
maybe you
just want
to think
about what's
going on
in your
life,
and how
can you
respond?
Are you
going to
leave Jesus
on the
doorstep
with all
your plans
and busyness,
or will
you make
him the
centre of
your life?
Father,
I pray
that this
Christmas,
we'd
realise
you're
better than
we think
you are.
We'd
realise
that actually
all the
great
longings
that we
have in
our
hearts,
all the
desires
that we
have,
good and
bad,
but all
the things
that actually
we think
we satisfy
are ultimately
just sunbeams
pointing us
to the sun,
which is
you.
And I
pray that
we would
in our
hearts realise
and not
stay one
day longer
away from
you.
Draw us
to yourself
this morning,
we pray.
Show us
just what
an amazing
thing Christmas
is.
Lord,
would we
realise
this is
good news
of great
joy,
not just
for everybody
else,
but for
us this
morning.
Thank you
so much
for sending
your son
to us.
Thank you
for today.
Lord,
I pray
that we
would go
out with
great joy.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.