 One Sunday school teacher was doing a lesson and she was doing a lesson and she asked this question of the kid She says take a give me an answer. What it is. She says it's gray It likes to climb on trees It's very small It has a furry tail and it eats nuts and the kid one kid roses and he says I know the answer has to be Jesus, but it does sound like a Squirrel So this is a season the reason for this season is Jesus We've been doing a series that is going to come to an end today. It's going to be Jesus series And next week we're going to start a new series that will be called new year new you We believe that Jesus is really the answer to all the fundamental issues of life And Jesus was born around this, uh, you know, we historically celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and our culture Just come on commemorates this season and this time and we're really really excited for that I'm going to share a few scriptures with us today and a little message on Jesus is God's present to us Or jesus is a manual which means god with us and I hope that it's going to be Relevant and applicable to us also and we're believing for god to do miracles today in our midst Because he's the god of miracles. Amen. Amen. If you have your bible We will read from Matthew chapter 1 verse 23 If you don't have a bible But you're using an app called you version or bible you can go there click on events And you will see the notes of this message there or there's a bible right in front of you By the way, it's our gift to you along with the wristband So you can take that as well But on the screen it says behold the virgin shall be with the child and bear a son And they shall call his name Immanuel which is translated God with us So we'll practice something when I say immanuel. I want you to say back to me god with us immanuel Immanuel Immanuel God with us amen. This is really what christmas is Christmas is not just god getting rid of our sins and giving us a free ticket to heaven Christmas is not getting jesus as a spare tire that when you die in case there is heaven in hell You go there and you miss hell christmas is a message of god With us. What does that mean? It will break that in just a moment As humans we were created by god In his image and his likeness, but we were created with the need For god That's why a lot of times preachers say things like there is a god-shaped hole inside of each human being That is longing for god and many times we fill that hole with other things with good things Sometimes we fill it with bad things. Sometimes we fill it with really really bad things But nevertheless that hole it can never be filled unless it's filled with god himself I want to take a look at the first verse And the first excuse me the first chapter of the bible the chapter of genesis The first chapter of the bible first genesis chapter 11 When we were created i want you to see this and god said Let earth bring forth grass The herb that yields seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind Who seed is in itself on the earth and verse 12 says the following and the earth brought forth grass I want you to see this The god didn't really create grass the herbs He spoke to the earth and he said to the earth let earth produce herbs and grass And then the earth responding to god's commandment started to do the work and produced herbs and trees And all of the things that we see today And why did god do it like that? Why did god not make the trees? But he told the earth to make the trees to show us a lesson and if my beautiful wife can bring a plant God created The earth and told the earth to produce the plants Why I want you to see a lesson here Because the plants came from the soil The plants they need the soil to live And without the soil these plants they died Right if they won't ladies you would still have your roses But you had to throw them away. Why because they died Anytime you disconnect the plant from its soil it Sees to be alive. It can still be green for a few days Maybe a week perhaps two three, but then afterwards it it withers and it dies Why because the bible says that the plants they came from the soil So let me tell you who created the plants the soil The soil created the plants and therefore the plants need the soil to live They don't go to soil and the weekends For two hours a day. They don't have devotions with the soil. They live in the soil They exist in the soil and without the soil they die. Are you with me? But I want you to see the second thing in Genesis chapter one if we can bring the stand In Genesis chapter one if we read down in verse 20 it says and God said Let the water waters abound with the abundance of living creatures And let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of heavens In verse 21 and God created the great sea creatures and if every living thing that me moves among them So I want you to see that secondly what happened is that God not only he spoke to the ground and says Make sure you produce the plants the plants came and then life came and the plants need the soil to live But God now speaks to the water And God says to the water I want you to produce the fish and the creatures that will live in the water and the bible says the water says Okay, and the water starts producing a living creatures that we call fish And so it's interesting a parallel that you see the fish cannot live without water The fish dies without water. Why because the fish came out of the water Therefore it needs the water to live plants cannot live without the soil because plants came out of the soil Therefore they need the soil to live Is everybody still with me and then God said I want you to see verse 26 Then God said let us make men in our image and our likeness So the same way God was saying let the earth make plants Let the waters make fish and God said let us make men in our image and our likeness So that the same way the plant depends on the soil the fish depends on the water Man will depend on me So if any wasn't here today, I want to let you know maybe you've gotten so maybe educated and so rich and so blessed That you think you don't need God you need God the same way the fish needs water and plants need soil You were created with the God shape hold inside of you that longs and yields and screams for God But many times what we do Is that we fill it with something else? I want to tell you something this this morning this christmas morning. You have a value You are valuable. The reason why is because you came from God It's like that story where the kid went to the father and said dad. Where do we come from? The father said well, we came from monkeys. It's just great The kid goes to the mother and says mom. Where do we come from mom says we came from God The kid was confused Went back to the mother and said mother dad says we came from monkeys. You say we came from God Mom says it's very simple. His family came from monkeys. Our family came from God Because God created us out of himself We already have value Whether we're rich poor Whatever race we have whatever legal status in united states we have Whatever our income right now is no matter how many debts or what sickness we have in our body Even if we don't have all body parts Even if we are crippled even if there is a problem in our mind We already have a value because we came from God You came through your parents, but you came from God That's why even if you never met your parents don't be don't blame them for it because God only used them to get you out But in reality he is the one that created you And because he created you he modeled to us in the first chapter of the book He modeled to us of what we really going to be longing for as humans on this earth We are always going to be drawn to God We can always be looking for that. Why because the way Plants need the soil and the fish needs water is the way humanity needs God But see what sin does is sin goes in And sin takes us out drugs pride and arrogance It takes us out of God It's interesting. I want you to notice a few things happen at the moment. I took this fish out of the water None of you got mad at the fish Everybody's feeling a little bit mad at me Right none of you like man that poor fish should have seen faster No, everyone there's two things two emotions are going through your body Even if you're like I don't care about all the service all the stuff and everything But in reality two emotions going through your body right now through your soul right now The first emotion is this feeling bad for the fish and number two Vlad what the heck are you doing? I want you to notice two things about God God loves you But he hates the sin God doesn't hate you God hates the hand that took you out of him God doesn't hate divorced people. God hates divorce God doesn't hate sinners. God hates sin But sometimes when you are in the hand of sin you feel like oh, it's me who God hates I want to let you know God doesn't hate you. God has feelings of love for you He just hates the sin that separates you from him because he knows you were created to live at him Can somebody say amen And I want to tell you something that's why christmas came What christmas is is that you were right here and god is right here And god is saying I want you to be with me See the interesting part is this goldfish right now that's kind of suffocating Struggling and going through a very very difficult time, but it's still alive. It's still right here That's how many people are today in this world. They have education But they're spiritually dying why because they're disconnected They have more degrees than a thermometer, but they're dying Because they're disconnected And they're living in sin, but in reality there's something in them longs for god That's why they go to clubs. That's why some people go to religion That's why some people will go into all kinds of things They will they will do even good works that they try to get to god But see the only thing that is more powerful than the sin that separates you from god is the love of god They can put you back in god Can somebody say amen Well, praise god I want you to notice another lesson Fish only had a limited amount of time Or else it would be too late So do you and I None of us in here Those of us who maybe today are disconnected from god Maybe you have this idea say you know what? Hey, if I just wait, you know what? I really next year is the time I'll give to god What would happen if I would have held this fish till next year You would have said no, let's put it back in right now That's exactly what god is looking at you and saying listen that sin is hurting you come back right now Don't wait next year might not come Tomorrow might be too late Relationship with god is why jesus came humanity is longing for the presence of god And we try to shove it in with so many other things But in reality it is god that we need and it is god at christmas They came to us and says i want to take you back Into my kingdom into my presence out of the hand of sin But I want you to see second thing is that not only We are longing for god. We're also looking for power We've read in genesis and I will read that one more time genesis chapter one and verse 26 Let us make men in our image according to our likeness as we've seen this means we came from god We need god the same way fish needs water and trees need soil Let us make men in our image and our likeness Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the things that are on The over the things on earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth I want you to see that from the beginning when god made us Not only god made us to live in his presence like this fish is in the water and plants are in soil God wants you to live in him to move in him and in him to have your being God doesn't want you to have him as a religion not have him as an insurance card Not have him as a spare tire Not have him as a something that you do just in case god wants you to live in him to move in him But also when you are in the presence of god, there's something else that's available from the beginning is god says dominion Is available to us and dominion was given to us meaning god from the beginning Not because we went to college and deserved it not because we did something good and earned it But god from the beginning gave us power over our circumstances and gave us power over the devil Now because we were disconnected from god not only we fell into the grip of sin But we also fell into the grip of powerlessness and ever since then humanity has always been searching and looking for power People go to witchcraft to control other people people will get angry and manipulate other people But in reality all of that comes from a desire planted by god for power People practice witchy boards mind control and so many other things Others just simply get drunk to numb things and to cause them to rise above the situations in life But we're all looking for power. Look at the most grossing films of 2017 from Wonder Woman to The one that just came out the star wars and the Strange things on netflix all the movies that are most grossing in our nation today are the ones that focus on power That's bigger than a human muscle or a human education. Why because not only the hollywood, but the whole humanity is searching for that We're going to school. We're trying to you know get connections so that we can get ahead so we can overcome We're looking for the greatest advancement of medicine so we can beat cancer tumor and arthritis Why because inside of a humanity that has been deposited a desire to live with power Unfortunately, we can't find that power many times because the power of medicine the power of education The power of connections the power of money all of that power is limited in the face of evil that we face in this world And therefore god in jesus is offering us something that i want you to see today What does it mean? God with us It's always really good to have the bible explain the bible Google cannot explain the bible the bible should explain the bible I don't like to look to tradition for to explain the bible or how i grew up to explain the bible If you want to know what the bible says ask what the bible says And bible will help you to explain the bible i want you to see something right now in Judges chapter 6 verse 13 And i'll read to you gideon said to him so the angel came to gideon gideon is hiding Actually, let's start with genesis 39. I'm sorry genesis 39 Joseph is locked up and sold by his brothers And the lord was with joseph And he was a successful man. So remember what christmas is god immanuel Immanuel So i want you to see what does that mean and the lord was with joseph And he was a religious man. He read his bible twice a day He paid his tithes He gave money to the salvation army when he went to walmart and people around him saw that he wasn't cursing He wasn't swearing and he wasn't cheating on his wife Is that what i said I want you to see what happened when god was with joseph And the lord was with joseph and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master The egyptian so doe joseph had god with him joseph still has some issues joseph was a slave But i want you to see this he was slave but was successful His master saw that the lord was with him and that the lord made all things he did prosper in his hand God's presence with him was so powerful that a guy his master was not a christian They didn't have a christian churches on the streets of egypt. They didn't have christian facebook programs They didn't have christian programming. They didn't have christianity nowhere There was just worshiping god ra which was pharaoh and this guy is noticing that that somebody the lord is with joseph Because see it's different than just you being with god when god is with you that are results When you are with god, it's a relationship When you are with god, it's a relationship when god is with you that are results When you are with god, you impress people but when god is with you you impact people See when you are with god, you experience his peace when god is with you you experience his power The lord was with joseph He still was accused. He still was tempted But he was not ignored He was different I want you to see judges what he says in judges about the lord being with us because remember what christmas is immanuel Immanuel What does it mean for joseph? it meant that god didn't protect him from the trials But in everything he rose above it because super was added to his natural and therefore his life was supernatural In judges, I want you to see that gideon said to him the hymn is an angel He says to him oh my lord If the lord is with us see the angel comes to gideon and says gideon god is with you and gideon wasn't a fool He knew what that meant He knew it didn't just mean that gideon is worshiping one god instead of many It he knew that this this this doesn't just mean that gideon is a morally good guy He knew if god is with you there has to be something there has to be evidence And the angel comes and says the lord is with you a mighty man of valor and gideon says hold off hold off Im not buying this if the lord is with us Why has all this happened to us and where are all his miracles? Meaning if I am with god I'll have a great relationship with him But if god is with me there will be power flowing through my life and gideon says You can't be telling me that god is with me if this stuff is not happening The only thing gideon missed is that the angel didn't tell that the lord is with them He only said the lord was with him And gideon is saying if the lord is with us the angel didn't say the lord was with them The lord says i am only with you gideon and because of that from now on gideon's life started to change Because gideon started to little go radical god started to use him with 300 guys It's almost like that movie 300 like without weapons without missiles without bombs without tanks and they conquered a vast army Which is 300 man with trumpets and with torches. Why because if the lord is with you listen, there will be evidence immanuel Immanuel Which means christmas is god not just saying come be with me pray read and fast and go to church give 10% Christmas is god saying i'll fill your heart And i want to be with you that there will be evidence that pharaohs will see that the portifars will see that The listen there will be changes in your life But let's let's jump into the new testament jesus Has a nicodemons who is a religious man Comes to him at night and if we can read from john chapter 3 This man the nicodemons a religious man came to jesus by the night He didn't want to get caught because it would not be good for his popularity poll if he would connect himself with jesus and he said to him rabbi We know you are a teacher from god for no man can do these signs That you do unless god is with him he's saying We are we are with god jesus. We're with god We sacrifice We give our ties we fast twice a week. We pray we don't sin. We don't curse We don't we don't sleep around with women that are not our wives. We are with god, but jesus God is with you Why because there are signs There is evidence that even religious people see There's some of you here today who came and your children are getting baptized But you actually are a very religious person you go to church You serve even god, but there's one thing you'll notice about your kids Maybe this church is a little bit too crazy a little bit local. Maybe like a little bit crazy people But there is one thing that you cannot debate is that your kid is not the same A lot of times parents are like, I don't like this thing that you go to church on friday It's like I was fine if you clubbed on friday, but go and go to church on friday You know, I don't like this is too crazy because people can't be passionate for god like this But honestly when god comes with the person Stuff changes And people see that you can't hide it from anybody Are you with me? So Immanuel What does it mean? miracles Changes Practically it does not mean your life will be easy. It just means god adds his super to your natural god comes and adds his turbo to your Come on. Give me give me a rhyme word lord. I'm just kidding God adds stuff to our life. I mean let's let's look at christmas the christmas story itself For those of us who we embrace christmas. We love this this season, but have you ever thought from a skeptical Human point of view. Have you looked at christmas from that point of view? A girl that's probably 14 or 15 years of age gets a visit from It was a gabriel Archangel, okay And he comes to her she gets pregnant after that and I heard stories of people getting pregnant when men visited to them And imagine she's going to Her fiance and says hey joseph. I just gotta tell you a story. I'm pregnant This is like really? Yes, I'm pregnant. Who's the father you won't believe it god Just like yeah heard that before What's his name? Well gabriel visited me which gabriel the one we went to school with No, no like from heaven. Yeah, they're all from heaven I mean imagine how bizarre you're pregnant, but there was no intimacy there and joseph already Breaks the engagement tears the the flyers for the wedding and he's gone Joseph is gone and he's sleeping in the night and god's angel comes to him and this wasn't just like a pizza dream This was so real that joseph wakes up and takes mary as his wife knowing He's not the father and believing she's carrying god Have you ever thought about that? A little girl carrying god That's crazy Insane that's what christmas is insane It's everything about christmas is not normal everything about christmas is not just good It's crazy It's supernatural Angels showing up there and there We see wisemen the scientists these guys should not be worshiping god They're supposed to be atheists and they're the ones that not just worshiping god. They're worshiping a baby That's insane crazy And they're bringing gifts and god comes and warns them during the night everything about christmas story is not natural It's god adding super to the natural and god is saying this is what christmas is god with us church Many times we've reduced christianity to something to the set of morals We reduce christianity to just simply come feel good. There is heaven Not sure whether there is but anything that's supernatural. We push it away. I want to tell you something everything about christian faith is not natural And therefore I declare over our life today This is god's gift for us during christmas saying i don't want to just feel you I want to change your life through my power and through my spirit If you're tormented by demons, I want to drive those demons out If there is a sickness that nobody else can help and medicine has tried their best and you've tried the exercise And you've tried the diet and you've tried the vitamins and and you see that you can't be to see sometimes There is evil stronger than our human abilities to overcome and that's where god comes with his power and says listen Let's beat that cancer together. Let's beat the arthritis together Let's beat the tuberculosis together if everybody dies at the age of 45 in your family goddess Let's beat the premature death together god with us That's why there is a lady that sits in this room who was colorblind all of her life and one day god She was always with god But there was a day when god stepped in into the situation and her eyes were open and she started to see colors There's another young lady who actually got baptized today who had cysts But god stepped in during one service and those cysts were vanished and they were cleared out God with us There's a young lady that's sitting among us who was abused and who was molested as a child and because of that Lesbianism came over her and she she she lived with it and and praised it and celebrated but deep inside She knew that's not who I am and one day god came in Instead of free and today she's discovering her femininity and today she's reaching out for the heights Immanuel Immanuel church Expect miracles in your life Don't take the final word of a prognosis on your health because immanuel is with us Don't take the final word just because you're going through bankruptcy or just because nobody in your family rose above Poverty don't take that that's not going to be your portion. Why because you're not just having salvation You having an immanuel means god says i am going to be with you you walk through the flood I will be with you. I'm not going to stop the flood, but he won't drown you You walk through the fire and no the flood is not going to vanish, but he won't kill you I am going to be with you josh you'll be of courage for i am the lord and i am with you christmas god's present on christmas Is god's presence You know what that presence is it's not just to give you peace Is to give you power And that power is to help you overcome whatever demons whatever challenges you're facing Well like presence sometimes We receive them But we don't open them And today i'm going to demonstrate A practical truth Of a spiritual lesson Judith I have a present for you Yes I want you to open it What is that? What is that? It's a key wow I said and I didn't even dress up and you're going to make me cry. Oh my god Judith Judith has been coming to church for some time and A lot of times and this is not to embarrass her but she came to church on the bike During winter during snow some people saw her riding a bike to church And then this christmas You know god I told Judith earlier this year that You will get a car god will bless you and a member of our church last sunday donated the vehicle they want to stay anonymous and That's exactly what happened and christmas Judith is that god gave us this promise And right now you're feeling great, but I hope you're not going to leave this car On the parking lot Are you serious? No, you're not gonna do that No, and i'm not i'm gonna use it To show up for prayer So you're not gonna use the bike no more to get around Well, sometimes with with good you ruin my illustration Oh, no, no, no a balance because I want to take care of my temple Only But you will get around with the car See the promise church that I just gave you that god is with us. It's a vehicle That can cause you can stand it. It's a vehicle that can take you from where you are to where you want to be But you know what many of us do we do what I just did I preached I opened it to you Man, this is great. God is with me awesome Put it back and you're going back home to live your life on the bike You get what you're saying This was up Yeah, you can't and so and we're going back to simple. They say well That's the way it is. I can't overcome this. Why I've tried God didn't give you a promise so you can cover it in a box posted on an instagram and simply say well, what a great god I got he gave me a gift God gave you a promise so you can open it And so you can use it Judith is not going to bring harm to the lady or to the man that gave her the car She actually will bring it harm if she will say I won't drive it because I'm not good enough See some of us in here say god's power cannot flow through me. You don't know what I've done God does he's god God just says you don't know who I am. I love you so much and I'm giving this and the best thing you can do for me Is to receive it and begin to live it Next Sunday, I'm going to start a series of how to take the god's promise And turn it into practical life That's for next Sunday When god gives us a gift Then it's time to use that gift for his glory Amen God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so much We're all longing for god's presence But we're all looking for god's power And christmas is god coming and saying Emmanuel Which means we can overcome Which means there's nothing comes our way That it cannot be overcome by god with us Can somebody say man church? Hi there If you're like me and you like to click on things go ahead and click right here And subscribe to our youtube channel in this way We'll be able to send the content to you directly And each week you'll stay updated with the things that we post. Thank you so much for watching and have a wonderful day