God With Us

Pastor Allan was ministering and from my notes I present his edited sermon. 

The Prophet Isaiah had many prophesies about Jesus from his birth to his death and they have all been fulfilled.

Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 

 

(Immanuel means God with us.)

God came in the Flesh to be with us on earth, and He continues to be WITH us and also IN us as we receive Him into our life.

Dig deeper into the scriptures and study the prophesies, and how they have been fulfilled. 

There is so much more about God and our relationship with him that we need to embrace.  It is not about religion, but about relationship.  We need to be aware of His presence daily as we go about our tasks of the day.   As we get ourselves into a position to receive, sometimes it may hurt as He changes and challenges us.  Physical therapy often hurts, but it gets better was we cooperate with the therapist.  Allow the Holy Spirit to use you and to confirm the things He has promised.   

Jesus no doubt worked in the carpenter shop and may have hit his thumb with a hammer a time or two.  He knew pain and suffering.  Jesus had difficulties and humiliation.

Understand you are not the only one with problems, but your troubles are not a challenge to God.  Be willing to share with others.  Be encouraged as you listen to the testimony of those who have found deliverance and realize that with God anything is possible.

Isaiah prophesied that Christ would be bruised for our iniquities and by his stripes we would be healed.

The physical and mental pain while Jesus hung on the cross was excruciating, but that is the reason He came to this earth, to become the sacrifice once and for all; for you and me. 

Our city is getting ready to change.  How we live and how we represent ourselves is the way people will relate to God. 

We must love as Jesus loved, and forgive as He forgave.  His cry was, “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.”

The people were waiting for the Messiah.  (God with us)

Isaiah 9:6: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 

Christmas has a lot of tradition and I don’t have a problem with Santa Clause, giving gifts, or decorating a tree.  Christmas is a time for families to gather and enjoy the fellowship of one another; but let us not forget to remind themselves that we are celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus.   Emmanuel - - God With us.

Because of the Resurrection of Jesus, we can now have God IN us as well. The Holy Spirit abides in us when we receive Jesus as our Lord.  We are not God, and we are not the judge, but we represent God in all of our actions.

It is important to realize that God sent His only begotten son to dwell among us to be with us and also to be IN us.

Jesus came to restore our relationship with the Father.  We were separated from God because of sin, but Jesus came to bring us back into the fold.

Thank you God for the Gift we celebrate at Christmas - - the babe in a manger.

Fast forward 33 years.  God continued to give by the sacrifice of Jesus to provide us with eternal life and a future home in heaven.  Then He gave us the gift of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to empower us to share the gospel and to walk a life worthy of Him.

God knows the frailty of our flesh but His Grace and His mercy continues to draw us to him when we fall.  He is ready to lift you us as you come to him in full surrender.

Those things of the past no longer are able to hold you in bondage.  Our role is to desire to continually be in His presence.  Remember you are the church and God is with you and God is IN you.