God Is With Us

Good Morning everyone. This Sunday is always a big event and I’m so glad that you are here. I always look forward to this time and meeting all of you. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jarren Rogers. I’m the Pastor of Daycare Families and Staff.

I know that you did not come here today to hear me talk, but as our kids are preparing to come out, I just wanted to take a few moments and share just a brief message with you. As you have noticed, the title of our program today is JOY. I think that during the Christmas season, Joy is the word on everyone’s lips. Joy to the world, Christmas cheer. The idea that this season is one filled with happiness and delight is widely accepted.

But I can’t help but think about that fact that so many of us are meeting the Holiday season with sorrow, with pain, with stress, with heartache. To some of us, the Christmas season means gifts we have to buy which results in bills we can’t pay. It means visiting family members that we can’t stand being around. It means being reminded that another Christmas is going by without that specific loved on in our life.

I think the fact that songs, and commercials, and people which all speak about the joy of Christmas makes us feel like we should put on a front. That we should pretend everything is okay. That we should act like we are filled with Holiday cheer, even though everything in our heart is broken and burdened.

I can’t promise that by the end of this sermon, for those of you who face the Christmas season with a loss of joy, that I can give you the secret ingredient for happiness. In fact, I would say it’s okay to be unhappy. Your feelings are valid, and I don’t want to belittle that by placing the band aid of the command to be joyful, over your broken heart. But this morning I want to give you a reason you have to be joyful. Really, it’s only one word.

Immanuel.

It means, God with us.

To me, the weight of the words is enormous. The implications, what it means to truly have God with us is astronomical.

It means that God, the Creator of the Universe, the one who formed me and you, the one who parted the Red Sea and spoke to Moses through the bush, the one who has the power to create galaxies and planets, came to be with us.

It’s mind blowing. Who are we, that the God of heaven and earth would want to come to the world? Who are we that God would want to take our form, the human form, to be with us? God with us.

As I thought about this, I thought about how special that I felt as a kid when I thought that Santa was going to come to my house. To me, the fact that Santa, this dude that travels to each and every house in the whole entire world, parked his sleigh on my roof, was amazing. The thought that Santa nibbled on my cookies and chugged my milk, that my mom bought from Jay C. What! That’s amazing. Just the implication that Santa came into my area, into my home, brought me so much wonder and joy.

And I think that Christmas, for all of us, should have the same effect. I think that it is easy for the Christmas story to lose its glimmer. It’s easy for it to become jaded and boring after so many Christmas’s. But my prayer this morning is that we together can bring ourselves back to the joy we felt when we thought Santa came into our house, the same joy that we will see presented here on stage for just a few moments. My prayer is that we can capture that joy as we come to the realization one again that we serve Immanuel, God with us!

I think that the name Immanuel, God with us, can give us joy for three reasons:

God meets us where we are

Think about it:Our God came to earth. The all-powerful all-knowing creator, humbled himself to take the most vulnerable, humble, form. A small, helpless baby, born in a stable, to a family on the run. That’s the God we serve. A God who meets the people right where they are.

God could have so easily been a God who sat on his throne far, far away from us, and simply wagged his finger at us when we sinned, but instead he took the form of a human. He humbled himself. Scripture tells us that Jesus came not to be served but to serve. Our God is a God with us, who met us right where we are.

And that’s still true today. Whether you’ve never had a relationship with God, or you have stepped away from following him, or you’ve known him for years and years, God is ready and willing to meet you right where you are.

He never stopped loving you, he’s never stopped caring for you, and he is ready to meet you right in the situation you are facing today.

We serve Immanuel, God with us, the God who meets us right where we are. That’s a reason for joy.

God is with us in the high’s and the low’s

But the beautiful thing about Immanuel. The beautiful thing about God with us, is that it wasn’t a singular event that happened two thousand years ago. Sure, Christ came as a baby and he was with us and walked on the earth and that’s something to celebrate.

But because Christ died, because he was resurrected and through the power of the Holy Spirit, our God is still with us today. No matter what you are going through, our God is still Immanuel. He is still with us.

When you walk through the darkest valley and you’re met with sorrow, heartbreak, and hurt. Our God is with you, even in the pit. He understands your sorrow. He knows your pain. He knows what it’s like to be betrayed. He understands what it means to feel anguish. He is right there with you.

That means that we can share our struggles. We can share our misery with him. We can tell Him how we feel with brutal honesty. If you feel betrayed tell Him. If you feel angry, tell Him. He is with you in the highest of highs and lowest of lows. There is no darkness that you will walk through that Jesus is not already there, greeting you with open arms.

We serve Immanuel, God with us. The God that is with us in the highs and lows. That’s a reason to find joy.

God is in us

Do you desire peace. Do you want the weight of stress and worry off your shoulder? Do you crave joy? Do you wish you knew the next step to take, the words to say? Do you want fulfillment and love?

Because we serve Immanuel, God with is, that means that God lives in us! When we accept Christ as our savior and invite him into our lives, we are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit means peace when it doesn’t make sense, wisdom in the most difficult situations, and fulfillment in the will of God.