How teen murderer who believed God couldn't save him inspired Nativity film 'God With Us'

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Entertainment Editor Tuesday, November 03, 2026

When filmmaker Jimmy Jenkins visited a juvenile detention facility to share the Gospel, he encountered a 16-year-old boy who believed his crimes had placed him beyond God's forgiveness.

The teenager, incarcerated for murder, interrupted Jenkins, son of First Baptist Church of Glenarden Pastor John K. Jenkins, as he preached, insisting there was no point in talking to the young offenders about Jesus because God could never save people like them.

"He said, 'Hey, Jimmy, ain't no point of you preaching to us. God can't save us. You know we're murderers,'" Jenkins told The Christian Post.

The Maryland native explained to the teen that the Bible was filled with deeply flawed people, including murderers, whom God nevertheless chose to use. The teenager admitted he had tried reading Scripture but struggled to understand it.

Then he made a request that would inspire Jenkins' latest film.

"He said, 'Jimmy, man, you make movies. You do this for a living. Can you just teach me the story of Jesus, but just put it in my neighborhood so I can better understand it?'"

That encounter became the inspiration behind "God With Us," a contemporary retelling of the Nativity set within an African American community, opening in select theaters Nov. 13.

"That's the people I'm trying to reach: the 16-year-old murderers, the juveniles who are in prison," Jenkins said.

Written and directed by Jenkins, "God With Us" reimagines the biblical account of Mary and Joseph through the lives of Mary Anne Thomas, played by Ashley Olivia Fisher ("Average Joe"), and Joseph "Junie" Love, portrayed by Aspen Kennedy ("The Forge").

The childhood sweethearts find their relationship tested when Mary Anne experiences a miraculous pregnancy, forcing them to navigate suspicion, judgment and a divine calling neither could have anticipated.

The ensemble cast includes Lil Rel Howery ("Get Out") as Gabe, Rotimi as Walter Moon, Roger Guenveur Smith ("Do the Right Thing") as Boozer, Ashley Rios ("Cross") as Rosa Lee, Gregory Alan Williams ("Remember the Titans") as Dr. Amos and Clifton Powell ("Ray") as Willie Earl.

The film opens with a disclaimer emphasizing that it's not intended to rewrite the Gospel, a distinction Jenkins said was necessary because he anticipated criticism of the film’s unconventional approach to the sacred story.

"The whole purpose of this is just to reach a new audience, and sometimes you got to put it in their language for them to understand," he said, adding that his goal is to introduce the Gospel to people who would never set foot in a church. 

For example, he said, he deliberately portrayed Mary Anne as someone society would be quick to dismiss, a young woman whose difficult upbringing made her an unlikely candidate for an extraordinary calling.

"All throughout the Bible, God chose the humble ones, the ones that didn't have a lot, the ones that didn't have it all together," he said. "I wanted Mary to be in that same room. I wanted her to be somebody you would never expect God to use."

In the film, Mary Anne is born to a mother struggling with crack addiction and having attended special education classes, circumstances Jenkins said were intended to challenge assumptions about a person's worth and potential.

"Just because the world puts labels on you doesn't mean they ring true," he said.

The filmmaker also uses humor and cultural references to challenge assumptions about race and identity. In one scene, three young boys discuss the traditional depiction of Jesus as white, with their conversation incorporating assumptions about names, race and absent fathers.

"Those are all three labels that people put on others that aren't true," he said. "The same thing with Mary. Labels are not real, and just because somebody puts [on] a label doesn't mean it's true."

Beyond its unconventional Nativity narrative, "God With Us" also takes aim at religious hypocrisy and the prosperity gospel, the belief that God rewards financial donations with material wealth and happiness.

In one scene, a woman questions why she has been encouraged to give financially to a church with the expectation of receiving blessings while she continues to struggle economically and the pastor drives a Cadillac.

Jenkins said the scene reflects his concern that some church leaders have exploited people's faith for personal gain, adding: "I feel like people have confused a good God with bad churches.”

The filmmaker pointed to the biblical warnings to churches in the book of Revelation, emphasizing that not all churches and ministry leaders reflect God’s character.

"Just because a building says church, it doesn't mean that it reflects God," Jenkins said. "It's our responsibility to find good churches and don't confuse bad people and bad churches with a good God because they're very prevalent."

"Sometimes people go to a church and they get a bad experience and they're forever never going back to church and they blame every church," he added.

Jenkins, whose pastor father served as an executive producer on the film, said that growing up in the church, he's witnessed firsthand the damage caused when Christians fail to extend the compassion they profess.

"I grew up my whole life in church, and I've seen so many instances where people were treated wrong and treated bad, and not treated with the love of Christ," he said. "Just because you've been hurt, just because you went through a bad experience, don't mean God ain't good," he added. "I just want to try to give some comfort to those people who got hurt."

The themes of judgment and unconditional love are familiar territory for Jenkins, who previously explored similar questions in "Sinners Wanted," his feature filmmaking debut with his older brother and creative collaborator, Joshua Jenkins. That film follows a pastor whose decision to love a woman rejected by his religious community places him at odds with his congregation.

"For me, I go to grace and mercy so much because I'm so filthy as a person. I'm, like, really messed up, and I need it for myself," the director told CP. "Sometimes I feel like I'm unlovable. But then I remember the cross, and I remember the mission of Christ, and it encourages me.”

Jenkins acknowledged that the film's modernized setting and unconventional interpretation of familiar biblical figures have already generated criticism, including accusations of “blasphemy.” But he pushed back against the idea that faith-based entertainment should avoid difficult subjects.

"I would tell them to go look up the disciples and what they were doing when God chose them," he said. "Go look at the sinners that God hung around with and ate with and drank with."

"If a guy wants to learn about Jesus and asks you to give him the story, but just put it in his neighborhood so he can understand it, as a faith-based leader, as a Christian, what would you do?" he asked.

Ultimately, Jenkins said he wants "God With Us" to reach people who have been rejected, overlooked or convinced that their past disqualifies them from God's love, much like the incarcerated teenager whose request first inspired the project.

"I would hope that it encourages them to give Jesus another try, and I would hope that it encourages them to go read the story of Jesus again," he said.

"I want to reach the worst people. I want to reach the prostitutes. I want to reach the murderers. I want to reach the robbers. … I just want them ultimately to feel like, yo, like God can still use me no matter what I've done. God can still use me."