Merry Christmas. How are we doing church? Doing good? You got your Bibles. I hope you do. Go John

Chapter 1. What kind of world do we live in where on a Sunday morning, a 43-year-old pastor of a church

feels like he needs to explain why he's got his shirt tucked in at church. It's crazy,

isn't it? This is crazy. So maybe I'm just a grown man, want to wear a girl man clothes sometimes,

or maybe I have a wedding right after the 130 service. You decide. All right, so everybody's freaked

out this morning, boy, over it. Okay, relax. Some of you're new here, you're like, well, you're not even dressed up. That's casual Friday where I work, okay? Come back next week. All right.

So, hey, grab your Bible.

John, chapter one.

We are in the fifth week of a six-week series called, and he shall be called.

It's rooted in the prophet Isaiah's prophecy about the Messiah that we hear at Christmas a bunch where he said for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the

government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty

god everlasting father prince of peace and if you back up a couple of chapters to Isaiah chapter 7

in Matthew chapter 1 Matthew quotes Isaiah 7 and says this.

It says, all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

And then he quotes Isaiah, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.

And the Bible helps us out and tells us what Emmanuel means.

In parentheses, it says,

which means God with us. God with us. How in the world is the almighty God with us?

In 1995, I was a first year student in seminary, and this theologian asked this very thought-provoking question

that made its way throughout the country, literally from coast to coast. And the question was this,

what if God was one of us? I don't know if you're around in 95, but the thesis went this way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, God is great. That's a fact, all right?

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