Rest For Your Souls: God With Us
Birth announcements bring good news.
After our sons were born my husband and I mailed out little birth announcements to share the news and celebrate with our family and friends. The cards featured an adorable baby picture (of course!) and other information like the baby’s weight and date of birth. We also chose to explain briefly the meaning of the names we chose for our children.
The Bible also contains a birth announcement. Except this one seems highly unusual. This announcement came before the baby’s birth. Even more unusual, the message came from a heavenly being in order to inform the parents exactly what they should name their future child.
A sonogram of a baby soon to be born
Read for yourself the birth announcement in Matthew 1:18-25.
An angel appeared to Joseph to reassure him that even though his fiancé Mary was pregnant, she had not been unfaithful to him. This unexpected and miraculous pregnancy had a special purpose. So, the angel encouraged Joseph to go ahead and take Mary to be his wife, despite the scandal the situation would cause in the town.
This pregnancy was actually good news because of God’s intentional plan for the life in Mary’s womb. And, the pre-chosen name for the child revealed who the child would become one day.
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (18:20-21, NLT).
Many of us living in Berlin today, whether we trust in him or not, have heard the name Jesus. This name became so well known throughout the centuries and all across the globe that we often forget what the name itself actually means. Jesus is a Hebrew name which literally means, “the LORD saves.”
Most people in Berlin today probably disagree with and dislike the idea of sin. None of us want to feel bad about ourselves and the strong value modern society places on independence often makes the concept of needing salvation seem irrelevant or archaic.
And yet, the Bible explains that sin is exactly why Jesus came. Jesus was born on this earth in the vulnerable form of a human infant and grew into a Jewish man, who gruesomely died during a public execution in order to save his people from their sins.
The Bible continues this bold claim by stating, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Birth announcements bring good news.
The birth announcement Joseph received about life in Mary’s womb continues to bring good news for us today. Why? When we believe that Jesus truly is the Lord God who saves us from our sins, then, we receive new life in him.
Do you believe this good news about Jesus?
We invite you to worship Jesus and celebrate the good news about him with us. Please join Community Church for her first ever Worship Gathering this coming Sunday, 3 December 2023. For more information about when and where this service will take place, please check out our connect page.