We cannot deny what this year has been and still continues to be. Pandemic, quarantine, in some countries actual lockdown, death that some try to argue is small in percentage points, but percentage points cannot comfort the grieving and they do not tell the story of how each loss affects us all. We have experienced virtual everything, church, school, work, birthday parties. If Facebook live, YouTube or drive by parade is what has become our norm. If we used to do it face to face, we now do it screen to screen. In the middle of a pandemic, then our country was forced to face the realities of our racial injustice, our slanted system and the unresolved pains of the past and the present. As the worry seem to become worrier, we watch as the medical system was overwhelmed and then we were thrust into what has been the most contentious election of our lifetime. The places many of us have historically run to for solace have largely become unavailable to us. And I have more than a few people say to me, I just can’t take anything else. Thank God for Christmas!
In today’s sermon, “Jesus Is Here,” Pastor Abie Kulynych looks closely at the Christmas story to remind us of three things in particular: God hears us, God is with us and God knows us.