Immanuel means “God is with us.” This is one of the names of Jesus, because in Jesus, God came to be with us.

Most of the time we do is on the “be with” part of that phrase. But I’m quite taken with the “us,” this year. We are never meant to be on this journey alone.

It’s always supposed to be an “us.” Jesus, even as he calls his first disciples, calls more than one. The church is an us – a group of people bound together by the love of Jesus.

A group of people who are called to share that love with a world that desperately needs it.

Today, as I prepared services for my group of people at Graceview, I was struck by what a privilege it is to belong to a community of faith.

My hope is that you will gather with other members of the church – either at your home congregation, or at a church where you are a guest this time of year – and experience Immanuel, God with us.