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The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Here is an earthier translation from The Message

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish (The Message).

You may recall that on Tuesday I suggested that there were two things frequently involved in God\u2019s appearances in the Old Testament: he showed his glory here on this earth and he came to call his people back. On Tuesday, I said somethings about God\u2019s glory. Today, I want to spend some time on the second thing.

As a background image to this topic, I invite you to imagine God and his angels sitting under the tree having lunch with Abraham. God had important stuff to do further on, but he took the time to linger with Abraham. Many of us cannot imagine God having such time for us, but consider Jesus drawing the little children to himself when his disciples tried to shoo them away. God has time for us. He is Immanuel.

John 1 is a deeply theological chapter that draws in all sorts of Old Testament references. This might cause us to miss the main point, which, as Peterson paraphrases, is: God has moved into the neighbourhood. Why has he come? He has come to find the lost. As Pastor Anthony has been telling us, he came to make the arrangements to adopt us. He wants to be able to call us his children.

Luke 15 Jesus paints three pictures of God on the hunt for us. In the first, he compares God to a shepherd who has lost one of his 100 sheep. He ends the story with way, \u201cAnd when he (the shepherd) finds it (his sheep), he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, \u201cRejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep\u2026I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent\u201d (Luke 15:5-7).

So, if you are listening and don\u2019t follow Jesus, know that God is looking for you. He wants to find you and call you his child. He wants to give you a brand-new identity and a brand-new family, the church. Please get in touch with us if you\u2019d like to have a conversation about this.

Many of you who are listening have family and friends who do not follow Jesus. Our text has a word of encouragement for you. We wonder how on earth we are going to get them to follow God. Know this, God has his eye on them, he is out searching for your child, your spouse, your relative, your friend.

We try to figure out how to connect people to God. The thing is, God is way better at arranging that connection than we are. In my work as a pastor, I have observed that when people find God, its usually not in the expected manner. God tends to surprise us in the way he finds his lost sheep.

Throughout the stories of Jesus birth, the gospel writers emphasize that Jesus came to save. So, let\u2019s have confidence that God is able to connect with people. Let\u2019s not try too hard to make it happen, rather let\u2019s pray that God will do his stuff and let\u2019s tell stories of God\u2019s love in our lives.

So, what shall we put on our ornament for today? How about a cell phone? Isn\u2019t that how we get in touch with people today? We can even track people with them. God\u2019s calling to invite himself for lunch. And for something to do, pray that list of unfound people we have. If you don\u2019t have such a list, maybe its time to start one.