Advent || The Disruption of Christmas || Matthew 1:18-25

Christmas is often portrayed as peaceful, sentimental, and predictable—but the biblical story tells a very different truth. The birth of Jesus was a holy disruption that radically altered the lives of everyone it touched, starting with Mary and Joseph. In Matthew 1:18–25, we see a God who interrupts human plans not to ruin them, but to rescue and remake them. Joseph’s carefully planned future is shattered when Mary is found to be pregnant—but through a divine encounter, Joseph discovers that this disruption is not chaos. It is salvation. Jesus’ name literally means “God saves,” revealing the heart of Christmas: humanity’s deepest problem is not lack, failure, or circumstance—it is sin, and we cannot save ourselves. The Christmas story confronts our relentless pursuit of “enough” and exposes the exhausting cycle of self-salvation that leaves us empty. But the story doesn’t end with rescue alone. Jesus is also called Immanuel—God with us. Unlike distant heroes who fix problems and disappear, Jesus enters fully into human weakness, pain, and suffering—and He stays. Christmas declares that God doesn’t save us from afar; He draws near, makes His home with us, and begins the work of renewal from the inside out. This sermon invites listeners—whether lifelong Christians or curious skeptics—to consider a profound question: What if the disruption you fear is actually the salvation you need?