Christmas Eve {End of Advent}

Did you know without even realizing it, you probably reaped the benefits of at least five hinges before you got here this afternoon?

The hinge is an interesting contraption isn't it? Two pieces of metal with the kicker being the pin that can, and does, literally take things in a whole different direction.

Did you know we gather tonight to celebrate the benefit of another hinge? Except it is no ordinary hinge, but a hinge of history. Somewhere in Bethlehem, many, many years ago, a baby's birth changed everything. The long, straight wall of history bent.... History itself hinged and went in an entirely different direction.

And the pin of this hinge of history is a tiny little word...and a preposition at that...the word WITH. We read the words from the first chapter of Matthew, “ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”- which means “God with us”.

God WITH us. WITH is the pivot point. WITH takes everything in a new direction.

The last candle of Advent represents Jesus – this “God with us”. The central location of the candle among the others reminds us that the “God with us” is the pivotal point. All the other candles hinge on that center one.

Because WITH is a word of hope – Someone now knows our deepest longings and with Him, all things are possible.

WITH is a word of love – because He opens His arms and welcomes us into the family picture

WITH is a word of joy – because we can see we are not alone

WITH is a word of peace – we know we can rest because we are held in Strong Arms.

WITH is a together word. It brings two things together and allows them to go in a whole new direction.

WITH changes everything.

The whole timeline of the planet shifted that night. God came into the world a whole new way, in flesh and blood, and history hinged. It was no longer just God or just us, but God WITH us. That was good news then...and it is good news now. And that, if we let it, can be the hinge that opens our lives in a whole different direction.