This is our first week of our series called “God with Us” based on Matthew 1:23 which says, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). The story of Christmas is really the story of God coming down in the person of Jesus to bring us back into relationship with the Father. Christmas reminds us that Immanuel, God with Us, gives us hope, peace, joy and love. Advent (meaning arrival) is a time of expectant waiting, preparation, with great anticipation, for the arrival of Jesus. We live between two advents. We look back at his birth which gives us hope for his return at the second coming. Advent invites us to slow down and experience Immanuel–“God with Us anew, who came to bring us hope, peace, joy, and love in the midst of the messiness and busyness of the our lives.