God with us
Key Passage: Matthew 1:23
Date: June 7, 2024
Matthew chapter one. I felt the Lord, really at the beginning, or maybe to November, to preach on the names of Jesus for the holiday season. Now, the Lord changed last Sunday, and we will let Him change. He is the one. By the way, the sound is coming in and out. We do have another cord; I ordered it, but it is just not here yet, so we are working on it. But this will get you listening up anyway in the meantime.
Anyway, we want to start this morning on the names of Jesus, and I believe we will carry it through the month of December on Sunday morning—the names of Jesus. The first one we find is in Matthew 1 and verse number 23. Matthew 1:23. We will just read that one verse for the time this morning. Matthew 1 and verse number 23. Let me find out if you are ahead of the ballgame. How many have already bought at least one Christmas gift for Christmas? Wow, you are ahead of me, I promise you that. Has anybody bought all the Christmas gifts already?
All right, I am mad at you folks right there. I have not even bought the first one yet. And you have not even decided what you are going to buy people for Christmas. All right, we are on the same boat right there. We will work on it, though. Amen. We will work on it. Let us stand, if you would, please. I will read God’s word together. Matthew 1, verse number 23.
And the angel speaking here today of the stepfather of Jesus. Verse number 23, he says, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child.”
By putting back to Isaiah 7:14, I believe it is. And I do not want to preach a whole message on it, but be careful with the decisions. They will change that, and they will say “a child.” Well, they will say about a child giving or a mother giving birth to a child. I am not talking about a late—excuse me, I am sorry, I misquoted. I would not plan on saying this, but the new versions often will say a maiden, a young maiden will give birth to a child. Well, there is no sign that. The sign is a virgin will give birth. So just a little side note. That was a free sermon. That one did not cost you anything right there. Amen.
But that is what he is quoting back here. Verse number 23: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. And they shall call his name Emmanuel,” which being interpreted is—would you say those last three words with me? Here we go: “God with us.” That is the title this morning, God with us.
Just kind of let those words sink: God with us. Would you go to prayer and ask God to begin?
Father, Lord, it has been great just to be with your people. It has, Lord. Thank you just for fellowship. Wonderful. Thank you for the music, Lord, just a good day in Sunday school. Thank you for it all. Lord, we come to the time where we want to just dine at your table and eat the bread of life. Father, from your word, would you do a work? Lord, I do not know what all you like to accomplish, but I pray that it will all be accomplished. And would you come and be with us during this service in a special way, Lord, please? We will brag on you and thank you and praise you for what you do, Lord. And it is in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
God has always wanted to be with mankind. Take Adam and Eve in the garden. God would come and walk with them in the cool of the day. Now, a lot of people are in the morning times. Some will say that is the afternoon, evening time. Some people will say he came twice a day. I do not know. But he came and he walked with them. He wanted—he decided to be with them.
Then a little bit later on, after the Bible, God told the children of Israel, “I want you to build a tabernacle, a temple, a sanctuary.” When he told them to build it, let me tell you what exactly he said. I will read it for you. Exodus 25, verse number eight: “And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” God said the reason why I want them to make that temple or sanctuary: I want to come down there and dwell among them. I looked up the verses and decided not to read them for time.
There is sometimes, as you get to the Old Testament law, ceremonial law, some will call it, that it was given to the nation of Israel how to live, and some of the clean and unclean laws. But sometimes he said, “I want you to clean these things up because I am going to be walking in the midst of the camp.” God likes to dwell among us. At the very beginning, he would come and he would walk with them. Then he said, “Build the temple there because I want to dwell amongst them. Keep things clean because they are going to be walking in the midst of you.”
And now, as we begin the New Testament and Jesus on the scene, one of the names that God gives to us in his word about Jesus is Emmanuel—God with us. As you think about Christmas, and maybe you see the Christmas tree with gifts underneath it, I hope that reminds you of Jesus coming. This season, this Christmas, this thing—this Christmas—it is all about God with us.
Just think that through: the God of the universe, the Almighty One, the Creator, the God that knows everything, the God that put the moon out there and hung it on nothing, and God that created the sun and the stars and the mountains and mirrors and all that you see—that God—Christmas is God with us.
It is an amazing thought that God would want to be with us. It is what Christmas is about: God with us. Now, let me just make it, if you will: it was not just a baby. Oh, he was a baby. He became flesh, but that was God—God with God. Yes, God, we call it the incarnation—all the power of the universe, and God, the omnipotent one, and the omnipresent one, the omniscient one—God, he, if you will, wrapped himself up, if you will, in flesh. He became a man. That baby—maybe you will see a manger scene and you see it so beautiful. Last week I wore a tie that had a manger scene. I do not have it today. Actually, I do have a little bitty manger scene all over this tie here. But when you see a manger scene, you see that little baby there was God—God with us.
One of the verses often quoted and read around this time of the year is Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born”—that is humanity. “Unto us a son is given”—that is the deity. “The government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God.” As you hear that, the Mighty God—Jesus. Then he says, “The Everlasting Father.” That is 1 John 5:7, 3 and 1: Father, God, the Son, God the Holy Spirit. That is why Colossians 2:9 says, “In him,” that is Jesus, “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” It is in Christ. He is a Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. That is Jesus. Jesus lying there in the manger—that was God with God.
Can you imagine the fears put into the devil and the demons that want to get after you and I when they imagine, “Hey, God is with them!” I am so glad God is with us. This is all about that. That is why 1 Timothy 3:16 says, “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” God, Emmanuel.
Jesus has many names. So many names. The people often say he only has one name, Jehovah. He has many names, friend. One of those is Emmanuel, God with us.
Now, I want you to change a little bit. I want you to kind of narrow it down: God with us, yes, but I want you to put yourself in there: God with you. You are part of us, are you not? Us, the spirit of mankind. God—think about that—Jesus coming, the Christmas story, and he lay in that manger, the shepherds coming and adoring him. Hey, this thing of Jesus—that is God with God.
I want you to kind of single yourself out. I want you to forget about your neighbor—not too long, if it is your spouse, amen, you know—but I want you to kind of single yourself out. Christmas is about God with you.
As we sing the Christmas songs, and I love it. I am glad, Brother Anthony, so glad he led us in some Christmas songs this morning. And as we sing Christmas songs, and you hear a Christmas—we have been playing Christmas music around my house for a long time. We like it; it brings such a sweet spirit. And as you hear the Christmas songs, I want you to think this Christmas season that means God with you—Emmanuel.
And he is announcing to Joseph, “Hey, you do not have to put her away. You do not have to practice the Old Testament law and have her killed.” Hey, hey, listen, it is the virgin. She is a virgin. You know Isaiah 7:14—it is probably the most prominent Old Testament book there was. And Joseph, you know, that is the virgin, and she is going to conceive this child. That is Emmanuel, God with you.
Think about it, young person. As you are in school and you struggle to be a good Christian and resemble what a Christian ought to be at school, and people give you a hard time, think about it: Christ, God, with you. Think about it. Somebody out there you struggle to pay your bills, and everybody is so happy, “You need to buy this for anyone,” and it is a tough time of year, if you think about that. This is God with you.
Think about it. You want to spend time with family members and relatives. Maybe your spouse, but you are divorced. Maybe you have a broken bond with relatives, and it is a time of year. Think about it: Christmas is with you. We should think about that.
This announcement comes about what Christmas is all about, and Gabriel, I believe it is, comes and says, “Hey Joseph, his name—it is the Old Testament prophecy—it is Emmanuel, God with…” Would you put your name in there? I want you to do it. Let us do it out loud if you would, please. I will say, “God with,” and would you put your name in there? I will say, “God with,” and would you put your name? Here we go: God with [Your Name].
That is why he came. God—not just a baby, not just a prophet, not just a great teacher—more than that. That was God with you. That is right. That is what Christmas is about for him. With all our burdens and pride, a million miles away, I made that world perfect, man. He has messed it up. He could have did that. We are the ones that messed it up, friend. I do not understand why we get bitter against God. He is perfect. He is doing this world good. He said, “It is very good.” We messed it up when we let Satan have control, and we took the sin he offered. And yet God said, “I will come down there in the midst of a sin-cursed world, and God will be with you.” Amen, God with you. That is what Christmas is about, friend: God with you.
I had worked many summers at a place called Sampson Metal and Machine in Lakeland, Florida. The owner’s name was Mr. Sampson, Philip Sampson. He was an older gentleman by then, and it was a huge factory. It was a multi-million dollar business every year, for the first big, amen, you know. And I went to Bible college just south of Chicago.
Mr. Sampson was going to go to Chicago for a metal trade show at the McCormick Place, a huge place. They would have all kinds of huge shows there and whatnot. How many of you have ever heard of the McCormick Place? Many of you have, you know, some of you have. And he was going to come there from that, and then Mr. Sampson called me. I do not know if it was my freshman or sophomore year or something; pretty early into it. And he said, “Paul, I want you to meet me at the McCormick Place. I want to spend some time with you.” That is what I thought: Wow, that is exactly what I thought. And he said, “Well, you worked in a lot of those factories up there in Chicago, whatnot, and maybe…” I thought, “Wow, Mr. Sampson wants to be with me. Man, I am somebody!” Then my roommate said, “You ain’t nothing, buddy.” You know what I say? You are right.
Hey, 10,000 times more than that—God. God, he called up. He is all about it. He wants to be with you. That is it. And Joseph, hey, his name should be called Emmanuel, God with [Your Name].
Just let that sink in.
Now, let me go a little bit. Father, in our day and time, you say, “How can God be with me?” Jesus, he lived for 33 years. Three days later, he rose again, and 40 days later, he ascended on high to be on the right hand of the Father. How can that happen?
Friend, there is this saying called the Spirit of Christ. We often call him the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Spirit of Truth, sometimes the Comforter, sometimes called the Guide. I have learned a new name. I love this about the Holy Spirit: sometimes he is called the Spirit of Grace.
You see, Jesus said—he told his apostles—“I am going to die, I am going to be crucified, and I am going to ascend.” And he said, “Look, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter, the Spirit, will not come. If I depart, I will send him unto you.” You see, when Christ came, that was God with us. And Jesus said, “When I depart, I will send Him.” That is God, part of the Godhead. It is God—the Spirit of Christ, one of his titles.
When I get saved, I accept Jesus as my only way to heaven. I remember as a boy riding home from church—I do not know if it was a Sunday night or Wednesday night—in the back seat of that car, God had been working in my heart. I went through a season in my life: Am I going to heaven or going to hell? I used to think at nighttime in my bed, if I were to die, would I wake up screaming in hell? Now, I think about that. Was I saved or not? I had made some decision, I was doing if I had made a decision or not, but I was not sure about that.
Boy, I remember that night after church, in the backseat of that car, as a boy, I knew what was going on. I understood, “Hey, I am a sinner, and Jesus paid my sin debt, and I must put my faith in what he did, accept him as my way to heaven.” And, boy, I called on him in the backseat of the car. I did not even tell anyone. When I said, “Jesus, would you save me? You said, ‘If I call, you will save me.’ You have to save me right now!” Something happened inside there.
Boy, I went home. I did not go to bed that night, lying in my bed thinking heaven or hell. If I were to die, I went home that night. I said, “Hey, it is all done. I am on my way to heaven.” Something happened inside. What was that? God with me. The Spirit of Christ, God Almighty, moved inside.
Like the Old Testament tabernacle, he said, “I want you to build my sanctuary because I want to dwell among you.” My body became the temple, the tabernacle of God. And he dwells in me and amongst me, and he lives inside me. If you are a born-again Christian, he lives inside of you. Why? Because Jesus came and he said, “If I depart, I will send him unto you.” That is the Spirit of Christ. And Christians, Christ followers, those that have accepted Jesus as your Savior, he sent God to live inside of them. It is amazing. My body, your body is a temple.
That is what the Bible means in 1 Corinthians 6:19: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” God living inside of you. He goes on, “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” He has purchased them.
See, here is a good thing about it: He moved inside. He does something. That is what Titus 3:5 says: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” Now, listen, he saved us by the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
How many, when God moves inside, he brings new life, new life? That is why—that is why when my dad got saved, and he went home that afternoon, I believe it was, and he asked my mom, he said, “Now, is that the Miller High Life?” She said, “No, not like that yet.” And Dad went back out, and he got the vehicle, and he rode down the road a little bit, and he took the bottle out from underneath his cigarettes. And he told me, because he did not want to be known as a literate—he said, “I drove over a bridge,” he said, “I tossed them out.” Now, he did not do that many, many times. What happened? God moved inside of him. That is what happened.
That is why when my mom got saved a year and a half before, I got convicted about her. And she said, “Hey, my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and I do not want to be a bad representation of God, and he is living inside of me.” And so her wrong kind of clothes—she built a fire out back, and she went and she burned them. I do not think the preacher preached a certain message; I have not heard that. But what happened? How did she know to do that? God got inside of her.
What happened? Christmas is all about God with us. How does that apply to me? That was 2,000 years ago. Oh, Jesus said, “If I depart, I will send him.” When I accept Jesus, all of a sudden God moves inside of me, and it brings life to my spirit. It was dead. Now I step behind my old flesh that I battle against. Something is going on inside of me. That is why I love it sometimes—we do not always know what is going on inside. We do, but we do not know. I love it sometimes. I love it sometimes watching someone praying as they used to be their savior, and when they get done, they smile. They say, “Wow, something is doing this thing.” I like that. What happened? God moved inside. He regenerates; he brings new life.
Can you still sin? How many of you—how many of you who are Christians—do you still sin? Yeah, unfortunately, both our hands are raised. Amen. It is like the little girl at church; they were questioning her. Was she really saved? She wanted to get baptized in that church. They said, “Hey, girl, did you get saved? Did you really ask Jesus to save you?” That girl said, “Oh, I did.” And they said, “Did anything change?” She said, “Oh, yes.” And they said, “Well, do you still sin? If you still sin, then what changed?” And she said, “Well, before, I always ran to sin. She said, ‘Now that I am saved, I run from sin, but it still catches me sometimes.’”
Something had changed inside of him. If you are truly saved, hey, listen, God Almighty begins to work. Can you sin? Yes, you can still sin, and you will. But when you sin, now God says, “Hey, that is not right. You are convicted.” You can continue in that sin, but there is something inside that says, “Uh-uh, uh-uh. You know better than that.”
The Holy Spirit does so many things living inside of us. He is our guide. Is it not nice? My wife has a new car, but it is new for us—pretty new. It has all the bells and whistles, and it has that GPS built in. Man, you want to go somewhere—Cracker Barrel, amen? Is that good preaching, or what? And you put it in, and it tells you where to go. Hey, we have a GPS inside of us. Yeah. That is what Psalm 23 says: “The Lord is my shepherd.” What? “I shall not want. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” It is a guide. He leads you. You do not have to go through this weary life trying to make all the decisions on your own. You have God inside of you that can give you directions. It is a wonderful thing. He will use the Word of God. He is our cleansing.
That is why he said over there in Titus 3:5, by regeneration, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, he can renew you; he washes you. Boy, it is a wonderful thing to go to the Holy Spirit of God and say, “Hey, sir, I am sitting here, forgive me, cleanse me, and would you scrub the walls of my heart?” The Holy Spirit, he can clean like no one else can. And the stain of sin—the… it will lead your heart to being prone to certain sin, and only the Spirit of God can wash away the stain of sin in your life. It makes you whiter than snow. Psalm 51. They say every snowflake has a little part of dirt in there; that is how the snowflake forms around it. That is why the Bible says in Psalm 51, “Whiter than snow,” only the Spirit of God. God living inside, and he can give you a pure heart like that.
The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit—it is amazing. When I am walking in the Spirit and I am filled with the Spirit like all ought to be, the Holy Spirit, he just brings the sweetness to everything: a calm and a reassurance of peace, a confidence. Nobody else can bring that. Even if you have the best mate in the world, spouse, the best kids in the world, best church family in the world, if you do not have the sweet peace and the sweetness of the Spirit of God, what else can bring that to you other than the Spirit of God living inside of you?
The Holy Spirit can bring it in the midst of enemies. That is why he says again in Psalm 23, the shepherd’s song there, “He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” We get caught up trying to make everything else just right so we can have peace. Friend, peace—when you have the Spirit of God living inside of you and flowing through and out of you, that is where peace comes. He can bring a peace of calmness like nobody else. That is God living inside of you. That is Emmanuel, God with us.
The Spirit of God can help you influence others for Christ, to make a testimony and see others trust Christ for their sake. But can I say this? We can—the voice, if you will—grieve the Spirit of God living inside of you. Christian, when you are saved, he will never leave you. He is there. But you can quieten that voice.
Now, here is the thing about it: that God living inside of you, he will never leave you. He will always be there for you. He will never leave you, never. He said he will seal you in the day of redemption over there in Hebrews. He said, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” But you can quiet God inside of you, often quieting him, ignoring him.
On my phone, I have a GPS. Has anybody ever gotten tired of that voice on there saying, you know, “Turn this way,” “Turn that way,” and make a U-turn? Anybody have that on theirs? Anybody ever just take their phone and throw it out the window, you know? Costs too much, amen? We cannot do that. I have muted mine. I turn that thing’s voice off, amen. Brother Fontainejo, he will do that. You can do that to the Spirit of God somewhat.
The Spirit of God, God with us living inside you, and yet you have quenched him. You have put him on mute. And we sometimes treat God like a Coke machine. Whenever you want a Coke, you put a couple quarters in there—nowadays, a couple of dollars in there—and you get a drink out. And whenever we need him, he is the Spirit of grace. But, friend, he is more than that. If I am continually walking in the Spirit, I continually dwell in the midst of me, and I have that joy.
But so often it takes a little while to get right with the Lord, and we do not listen to him. He says, “Hey, I want you to change that. And I want you to witness to that person. I want you to talk to them. I want you to say, ‘I am sorry there.’ I want you to be quiet there.” Whatever he says in your life, and we do not listen to him. And we grieve him. And then we turn around and we say, “Where is my peace at? Why have I lost my desire to live for God?” Someone mentioned in Sunday school this morning: sometimes churches become a drudgery, and the things that God gave us have no meaning in life. My prayer life is just, “Oh, hum.” Why? The Spirit of God has been muted. Now I have to go back and say, I have God with me living inside of me, and I have muted him somewhere along the line. Oh, he is a Spirit of grace. Go back and confess, and he is so gracious; he will forgive and cleanse.
It is God in you. Christmas time, Emmanuel, God with us. It was not for Jesus, we would never—we would never, ever, listen to this honestly—we would never, ever come close to being worthy of God’s Spirit inside of us. I did not know the Holy Spirit, God living inside of me. I have the Holy Spirit, and I have the privilege of God living inside of me because of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross of Calvary. And by Jesus, I have God living inside of me, and I can get things right in the Spirit of God, and he can flow through me. Why? Because of Christ coming at Christmas.
Now, let us change course for just a few minutes, and we are done. Why would God come down here in this sin-messed-up world? A couple of thoughts, and we are done. Number one: because he loves you. Galatians 2:20, that last part of the verse says, “Who loved us and gave himself for us.” Revelation chapter 1, verse number 5 says, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” First, because he loves us. Why? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” but that is himself also. God with us because he so loved.
Then let me add this in here—it is maybe just a different form of love in some ways, but I am trying to order where it might mean a little bit more—simply because God likes you. Now think about that for a minute. By that, I mean, he created you. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly…” So God—Tyler, come here for a second here with you, buddy. You want to be used, anyway, this morning. Tyler here. Tyler, I am sorry, Tyler. Leave it to the pastor to mess up the name, amen. I am good at it. God formed you. I mean, it is not a coincidence that he has the brown eyes that he has. God wanted a young man with brown eyes. God likes Tyler.
God wanted the boy that has hands. Let me say, put you in here, man. He has hands that are going to probably grow bigger than this hand for sure, amen, you know. I have short fingers, you know. God formed those fingers, every bit of them. God likes them. God wanted a young man with fingers just like his. His fingerprints are totally different than every person in this room, every person in the universe. God wanted some fingerprints like Tyler’s. God formed you. Now, we are to think about Tyler, but you put it toward you: everything about you, your personality, your emotions, your physical stature, your social being, how you interact with people. Yes, the devil and the sin-cursed world kind of want to mess all that up, but originally God wanted someone just like you. God loves you. He likes you. Nobody else in all the world is like you. And God said, “I want an individual just like that right there.” And God says, “I want to be with you.” That is what Christmas is all about. God formed every person just like he formed Tyler. He likes you. He likes old Tyler. He knows what he likes when he grows up and becomes a full-grown man, and he wanted a man like that. Thank you, Tyler. Would you—let us give him a hand.
A few more thoughts, and we are done. We are created for his pleasure. That is what Revelation 4:11 says. So, with that truth in mind, you can give God something nobody else can. In fact, we are made in his image and his likeness. You bear the image of God. Nobody else does. Now, that just kind of sounds trite. Many of you have heard that. Let me try a little bit more specific to you.
God, when he formed you, he did it in a unique way. You give his image—it is like a diamond. You ladies, you have that big three-carat diamond on your ring, right, on your finger there. We are not talking about the one out of the—no, I am joking with you. Yeah, and it gives off all the different glitter and shine. That is the way God’s creation is. I am talking about his human creation. You bear the image of God in a certain way, and you can give God something else can. You bear the image of God. And God says, “I love you. I like you. I wanted someone to bear my image, my likeness in a unique way like you do.”
And God said, “I want to thank you.” Tonight our choir will sing, and every one of them, you know, their voice—there are the altos and the sopranos and all those different things, and the bass and baritone, all those different things, you know—but every voice is a little different. They all blend together, and that is where God’s family ought to be. We all give God something unique that the other cannot give. And God says, “I want to be with you. You are unique. You are special.” Christmas time.
Joseph, you do not have to put away Mary. That is the Old Testament prophecy: “A virgin shall conceive, and he shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.”
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please?
You say, “Preacher, there was a time that I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I have God in me. It does not mean I am perfect. I messed up, but I know he convicts me. I am a born-again Christian. I am saved because of Jesus. I know I am on the way to heaven. I have settled that.” If that is you, with heads bowed and eyes closed: “Preacher, I know I am saved.” God bless you. Thank you so very much.
Maybe you are saved and you say, “I know God is living here, but honestly, I have quietened his voice. I do not hear him much.” He is still there, but you have quietened it. It was a good day for me when I learned that when I am just a little defeated, something is wrong—I have quenched the Spirit of God. It is a moment-by-moment thing. I need to go back and get things right.
But you say, “Preacher, I have quietened the voice, and I want to go back and get things right. I want to hear his voice again.” If that is you this morning, you have stepped behind the preacher—that is me, I have quietened the voice—I want to hear his voice. Can we get things right? That peace, that sweetness, only God with us can bring. Nothing else can bring it. I want to hear that voice again. Thank you for letting God work in your heart.
Maybe you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I do not know that I am a born-again Christian. I do not know that I have ever had God living inside. I have felt him convict me about getting saved. Now I felt that knock. I do not know that he has moved in. I do not know that I have accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. I am not sure that I am on the way to heaven.” Friend, I love to pray for you. The greatest decision you ever make is to be sure of your salvation and have God inside of you.
If that is you this morning, would you just lift your head up? “Preacher, I do not know that I am saved, that I am a child of God.” Anybody like that?
In just a moment, we will have an invitation time. Maybe you just want to come and say, “Thank you for living inside me. I want to hear your voice again.” Maybe you want to pray for someone else this Christmas season to get saved. There will be some men standing down front; they would love to counsel and help you to know for sure that God is in you and you are saved.
Would you please stand? We will have a word of prayer. We will not sing; just the instruments will play. Would you come? Just remind him: “Thank you for living inside of me. I want to hear that voice again.”
Father, thank you. It is amazing in your plan that you have made it where you live inside of us. I am humbled. I am overwhelmed. I cannot comprehend it, Lord, and I thank you. The Spirit of God, I yield to you. All we want is you flowing in and through us. Thank you for the peace, the joy, the comfort you bring. I pray, Father, that our people know that. Lord, for the one here not knowing for sure they are saved and you live inside them, let them settle it this morning. Father, we will thank you for what you do. Just let them pray. Amen.
Would you come as our instruments play? Just spend some time with them. “Thank you for living inside me. I want to hear your voice again.” That is the best thing you can do. It brings peace and joy; nothing else can bring it. That is right. Praise the Lord for young people just letting God work in their heart. Wonderful thing.
Would you just bow your heads right there? Would you just whisper, “Lord, thank you for living in me. Help me to hear your voice again”? Let him know that. Let him know that. I want to hear your voice again. God with us. I want it to be real. As you let him know that, I would like to hear a voice again. We will not be long.
Emmanuel means—would you say it?—that all Christmas season, when you see a manger scene, think about that: That is God with us. From the Christmas tree, it represents the Light of the World; that is God with us. Christmas gifts—think about the greatest gift there was: God with us. And sing the Christmas song. I want just stuck in your ears, Pastor saying, “God with us.” He said that one sentence a hundred times, and I hope it just rings in your ears: God with us. That is what Christmas is all about.
Original File: God With Us - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 12819