God With Us
God With Us
This fourth Sunday in Advent we find ourselves brought into one of the profoundest mysteries of our faith: Emmanuel—God with us. This simple phrase captures the heart of Christianity—that the infinite, eternal God chose to draw near to us, and gladly so. Sunday's readings from Isaiah, Psalm 24, Romans, and Matthew all converge on this extraordinary truth from different perspectives.
Just think for a moment what these words mean: God with us. Not God distant from us. Not God observing us from afar. Not God, arms crossed, waiting for us to reach him. But God with us—present, intimate, and weaving the fabric of our existence.
I love the thought of exploring this with you Sunday.
At Year’s End
Redeemer is an amazing congregation, and I’m writing at year’s end to express my gratitude.
Over the years your generosity has been astounding, and I know most have said No to other important things to say Yes to Redeemer’s work. Candidly, that’s humbling. I feel sincere gratitude for this kind of commitment and echo the words of St. Paul to the Philippian church: “I thank God in all my remembrance of you.”
Sunday attendance has grown steadily in 2025, but that’s not the only way we’ve grown. In fact, I could enumerate many ways, but the one I’m most enthused about is the growth in our church’s giving. Last January we set a hugely aspirational goal of more than doubling our giving from around $14,000 in 2024 to just over $32,000 in 2025 (on an operating budget of $227,150), and thanks be to God, at the end of November we were less than $4,000 from meeting that goal! This has provided:
Support for the work of our diocese,
over 1,800 lunches for The Light House shelter,
benevolence needs including rent assistance, utility assistance, food and basic needs assistance, medical needs assistance, and,
missions needs, purchasing three desperately needed motorbikes for our diocesan mission in Haiti.
God has been faithful—and so have you.
A majority of Redeemer’s members give consistently throughout the year. Thank you! But some people do make special year-end gifts. So, if you’re deciding on a year-end gift that will have a meaningful impact, I hope you’ll consider giving toward Redeemer’s continued work in 2026. You can do so with confidence.
But before you decide if, or how much to give, will you first pray? Let’s start there. Pray with me for the movement of the Holy Spirit among us, and that we might have the discernment and strength to be open to his challenges and opportunities in 2026.
You can give on Sundays, by mail, or securely online here.
With sincerest thanks,
Steve+
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lessons and Carols and Wine and Favorite Hors d’Oeuvres Reception—Christmas Eve, 5:00pm. Bring a bottle of wine (or your favorite beverage) and a favorite hors d’oeuvre to share.
Christmas Day Holy Communion—11:00am
Men’s Bible Study—Will not meet Christmas Day or New Year’s Day
Morning Prayer—Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 8:00–8:30am on Zoom (redeemerannapolis.org/midweek)
Annual Meeting Materials—For those unable to attend Redeemer’s Annual Meeting, handout materials (agenda, proposed budget, giving intention card) will be available on the table at the back of the Sanctuary.
Photo: Kalisa Veer on Unsplash
