IMMANUEL : Salvation - Mike Saathoff

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

You know, while before you take your seats, before any of that, you know, as we think about this name that we worship in the name of Jesus, you know, this season that we're in, it's just so obvious.

It's almost become expected.

But, you know, when we get to come into a place like this, when we get to worship God, it should never just be expected that our worship goes up because it's Sunday.

No, it should never just be expected on that day.

It should be expected every day because we have breath in our body.

It should be expected every morning that we wake up.

And so I'm just constantly reminded that you know what by his grace, by his goodness, there is a name above every name.

There's a name that's above every trial, there's a name that's above every tribulation, there's a name that's above every test, there's a name that is above every bill that is knocking on our door.

And some of us, our bills have bills, amen.

But but we know that there is a name above it, all in that name is Jesus.

And so before we go any further, I just feel like we just need to pray in this moment before we take our seats because I don't know if you feel what I feel in this place, but it is that the name of Jesus conquers all.

Sometimes we have to set our expectation higher than what our limitations are.

And so let's just pray right now.

God, we love and we praise you, God.

Thank you for meeting us in this place, God.

Thank you for being with us, God.

Thank you for being holy.

Thank you for being worthy.

Thank you for being wonderful.

God, we have all these wonderful names for you, and you are deserving of each and every last one of them.

So, God, allow us, God, to have a heart, God, that is bursting with expectation of not not if you can, but but that you will.

Not if you will move some mountains, but that you will move mountains.

Not not if you will cause healing in our body, but that you will cause healing in our bodies.

Not if you will keep our minds right, but that you will keep our minds right.

So, God, we love you and we praise you.

We put your name above every name, above every doubt, above every issue, above every illness, above every situation.

We love you and we praise you.

And everybody said, Amen.

Awesome.

You all can take your seats.

Awesome, awesome.

Thank you, Ben.

Amazing.

I don't know about you, but it's almost as if like worship just seems to get better week in and week out.

You know, it's like we're we're adjusting in this place, and mind you, this is still very much temporary.

You at home?

This is still temporary.

This is not a permanent fixture for us.

We do um expect to be back, hopefully.

You know, all of us like, oh, when are we getting back?

When are we getting back?

But we don't know what back looks like or when back looks like, but we can assure you that soon um we will be able to get back and um and hopefully, you know.

I mean, we all know there's vaccine on the way.

Some people are like, I'm not getting that because they're gonna track me.

Um, we all have an iPhone, trust me, they have already tracked us.

They know exactly.

Have any of y'all had this thing where you like talk about something and then it just pops up on your phone?

Like, that is creepy.

Um, I'm gonna just like talk.

I need a million dollars in my bank account and let the government do that.

You know what I mean?

Hey, so um, what an amazing time.

I'm so excited to be here with you all today to be able to share the word of God.

And and um, you know, it's been a while since we've seen everybody.

I know Thanksgiving uh just happened, and we took that Sunday um off being in the physical location.

But how many of you all enjoyed church at home after Thanksgiving?

That was awesome with our our five for five, and we were able to hear from some of the greats here, you know, on staff, and we get to hear, as being on staff, we get to hear everybody um all the time sharing about God in different little um moments, whether we walk into somebody's office or whatever the case may be.

But it was so cool to be able to share and unpack that with everybody else.

And Pastor Megan brought something incredible and Nate and Vinny and Pastor Becca.

It was amazing what an awesome Sunday last week was.

Um, and of course, you know, I gotta say this, but none of you all look like Thanksgiving did you in.

Nobody looks like you're wobbling in here.

That's like a good thing.

I think we've conquered Thanksgiving this year, so if nothing else, 2020 helped out with us not being super fat for Thanksgiving.

At least maybe just me.

I'm like, yeah, I can fit in my jeans still.

Uh but you know what I am so excited to preach this particular message.

We are in a new series and we get to unpack this new series today.

As you can see, it looks a little bit like Christmas, a whole lot of like Christmas around here.

Maybe some of you all put up your Christmas tree on Halloween.

I get it, I don't blame you.

Um, but it is beginning to look a lot like a Christmas.

And so, you know, our series that we're going into for the rest of this year is Emmanuel, God with us.

Emmanuel, God with us.

And for some of us, that is to be expected, right?

It's Christmas time.

We're gonna talk about Christmas things, but our hope and our desire is that maybe we can unpack this in a way that you may not have ever experienced it before or heard it before.

And something that you can surely take away and use in your Monday through Saturday, not just a Sunday expression.

Emmanuel God with us.

And we have a scripture that's gonna that we're gonna unpack, and really that's gonna be our theme scripture for this particular series, and that is out of Isaiah 7.14, and it says, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

Now, if we were to sum up the Bible and what the Bible actually means in one sentence, one statement, I mean, I get it, that's like almost impossible to do.

But if we were to do it, what exactly would that be?

How would any one of us in this room be able to explain it, to kind of give that elevator speech?

And you know, we've got plenty of time coming from the lobby to the 11th floor to have an elevator speech about what the Bible actually means if we could sum it up in one phrase.

Well, some may argue, well, the Bible is simply a holy God desiring to be with his people, his creation, and all the extremes that it takes for him to actually get there.

Some could argue that, some could say that.

And you know, we how many of you all watch and partake in the Bible Project?

Anybody have looked or heard of the Bible Project?

It's an amazing thing.

And um, if you haven't heard it, I strongly advise you to either YouTube it or Google it.

But the Bible Project is so cool in the fact that I don't know about you, but I don't I don't need a whole lot of academics.

Like, give me the knowledge, like just tell it to me in layman's turn.

And I feel like the Bible Project does that perfectly.

It does it so perfectly that it has pictures, and I don't know about you, but my favorite books are picture books.

So uh it gives me a picture and I can actually see it and have all of the visual aids.

And here's what the Bible Project says if they could break it all down in the elevator speech, they actually put it this way: they said, the Bible is one story about God and his creation and how he is restoring his people and his creation through Jesus.

Now, that is powerful, and Jesus simply the name meaning for Jesus is salvation, and we know this.

We we can appreciate this, and man, what what an awesome God to really want to do whatever it takes to dwell with his people, whatever it takes to be with us, and that is what we want to unpack.

That is our desire.

It is this love story, right?

This love story that the Bible is.

We want to unpack that over the next few weeks about this story, and it's not just a Christmas story we want to unpack, it's it's God's story, it's it's our story that we want to unpack.

Now I'm gonna jump right into what the scripture context will be for today, and that's coming from Matthew.

So if you have your Bible, you can get it out.

We don't care if it glows or if it folds, it's all good in here.

Um, even you at home, you can pull it out, but we'll also have it on the screen for you, Matthew 1, 18 through 25, and it says this.

It says, This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.

His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.

But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, um, I don't know about y'all.

I'm an engaged man, and if my fiance came to me and said she was pregnant, um, right.

Um, I'm gonna be like, uh, impossible.

Um, we're gonna have problems.

This is what Joseph does.

This is amazing to me what Joseph does.

I was really shocked by this, really shocked by this.

Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly.

So he decided to break the engagement quietly.

Now I can tell you all, I know my temperament.

You all do not know my temperament.

If my fiance came to me and said she was pregnant, I don't think that it would be a quiet backing away.

I think it would be like, where is the highest mountaintop?

Everybody needs to know this is messed up.

So I'm just telling you, I don't know about you, but Joseph is not my spirit animal.

That's all that I'm trying to say.

He is not that.

It is amazing what he did.

And as he considered this, as he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

Joseph, son of David, the angel said, Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.

For the child within her, within her was not, was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

I want to pause right there because you know, sometimes, especially in church, and a lot of us guys, you know, we can look around the room and sometimes we always see a lot more women in the room than men in the room.

And I just want to let you know there is nothing demasculating about the word of God.

There is nothing demasculating about having a relationship with Jesus.

In fact, in this moment, while yes, the Holy Spirit put Jesus in Mary, a woman, there was still a charge over this man's life to name Jesus.

Now, how amazing is it?

It is so important to every man in this room to know your position in the home, to be able to speak life, to be able to speak things of truth into your home.

It is out of your mouth that your family needs to hear the goodness of God.

It's out of your mouth that your family needs to be encouraged.

It is for you to be able to name the goodness in your home.

That's just the pause, that's a freebie, you don't have to pay me.

It was a bonus.

There you go.

That came from the Holy Spirit, a to the men.

And here's what the Bible says.

And not only will she conceive a son, and you're to name him, for he what?

He will save his people from their sins.

He will save them from their sins.

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet.

Look, the virgin will conceive a child, she will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife, but he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born.

And Joseph named him Jesus.

So if I could sum up the Bible, it is simply God is with us.

One could derive that from the text very simply, and that's going to be my answer, and I'm sticking to it.

It's not A, B, or C, it's a writing.

Fill in the blank.

You know what I mean?

So God is with us.

And sometimes, it doesn't always look like He's with us, right?

Sometimes we don't always fill Him.

Sometimes it's a little bit tricky, it's a little bit hard because life has a way of just being life.

It's a little bit tricky when we don't see Him.

You know, it's it's funny because we all have, I'm pretty sure almost all of us have that drawer in the kitchen that has everything in it.

Stuff that when people come over, you don't even know, you're like, hey, you need to come get your stuff.

It was something, it's an earring, I don't even know what.

You just throw it in the drawer.

You have this drawer that has everything in it, from tape to sharp things to the straws from every fast food chain you went to, even those nasty napkins that you know you're never gonna use, but it's all in that drawer.

Pins that don't work, everything is in that drawer.

But we all have this drawer inside of us as well sometimes.

And this drawer at times is packed with anxiety, it's packed with fear, it's packed with doubt, it's it's packed with illness and chaos, confusion, and all kinds of things.

This drawer seems to be the catch-all drawer in our lives.

And and oftentimes we go to look for Jesus in this drawer and we can't find him because we're just stuck in the mess.

We're stuck filtering through all the junk and we cannot see that it's Jesus in the midst.

We can't feel him, we can't see him.

It can be messy, it can be very messy.

But here's what I want to pose to you, and I want to encourage you with this.

Even in the mess of all of that, God is still with you.

He is still with you.

And if you don't feel like he's with you, the evidence that you need is that you are still here.

That is all the evidence that you need to know that he's with you, is that you are still standing.

You may not be where you want to be, you may not have what you want to have, but the reality is you are here and you're standing, you're here and you're breathing, you're here, you have another opportunity to see the goodness of God be fulfilled in your life and in the life of others around you.

You are here.

And because you are here, and because you have this feeling and you know that he's with you, it gives you permission.

It gives you permission to have hope, it gives you permission to move forward in life because there's evidence that you are still standing, there's evidence that God is with you.

So today we want to unpack the clutter that we find in our lives, the clutter that we see, so that way maybe we can help us to really see that God is with us, and because God is with us, that means that we have we have some of things that are indicative of his character, which is which is simple.

It's salvation, peace, love, and hope.

We we have this, we have his attributes.

We begin to have those things because he is with us, and so that's what we want to unpack today.

And before we do, let's pray.

God, we love you and we praise you, God.

Thank you for being God and God alone.

So, God, open up our hearts and our and our minds, God, to be able to receive what it is that you want us to have today.

God, we came through these doors one way, but our prayer, our sincere prayer, is that we will exit another.

God, don't just preach this message to everybody in this seat, God, but even preach it to me, God.

I'm listening to hear what it is that you are trying to say.

And God, allow us to go forward, ever changed, never the same.

God, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You know, for the for the people of Israel at this time and as we see, they've always found themselves in oppressive situations.

Always.

And one of these things that they were holding on to as they are in these situations in life is that God promised them that he would send them a messiah.

And they would use that knowledge and knowing that God will someday send them a messiah who will save them, they use that as something that they can hold on to as hope.

This messiah would come to not only just redeem them, but to truly restore them, to rescue and restore them.

And that is something that I really want to talk about is the fact that he is coming to rescue and restore his people.

See, the Messiah gave the people of Israel hope.

He gave them the permission to hope again, to dream again.

And some of us in this room, we we need the extension of that, and sometimes to be reminded that we have that because he is simply with us.

So I want to talk about three things.

I have three points that I want to share.

I'm not normally a three-point preacher, but you know what?

Indulge me.

Let's do it today.

We'll we'll get in three points.

It's how the Lord gave it, it's how I want to give it.

And the first one is salvation rescues.

Salvation rescue.

So if you're taking notes, write it down.

Salvation rescues.

See, Jesus comes into our situations and he rescues us.

Now, it's funny because we see this even within the text with Mary and Joseph.

We see that even while he's in the womb, he's beginning the rescuing process.

What do you mean, Mike?

What do you mean by the rescuing process that he's even beginning in the womb?

His family, his, his, his mother Mary and and Joseph, they were they were going to be separated because this is an unusual situation that is taking place, but only Jesus can do what only Jesus can do, and he rescues them in this moment.

Because think about it.

Mary is in a predicament where what her portion should have been at this time would be shame.

But he rescues from that.

And then even Joseph, what he should have done in that moment, how many of us, come on, fellas, we would have gone into a pit of full rejection.

Like, man, what?

Like, I'm never gonna be with anybody at this point.

Like, how do I get with somebody and she ends up pregnant before we can even get married?

And that is like the ultimate form of rejection, and and how can he even move forward with that?

But Jesus is a rescuer.

In fact, Mark 4:39 says this, and he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still.

Mark 4:39

And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

It is Jesus, God with us, who can step up and cause peace to take place over every storm that is in our life.

And you know what is so amazing about this when I read it?

It's that it wasn't like he wasn't already on the boat with them.

He was on the boat with them and just stood up and woke up and said, Peace be still.

What am I saying?

I'm saying that he was with them.

I'm saying that the same God, the same Jesus who was with them and could calm the storm is the same Jesus who's with you, who will rescue you and calm you within your storm.

Calm those storms that come up because it's not a matter of if, it's only a matter of when those storms will rise up.

See, Jesus is a necessity, not an addition.

He is a necessity, not an addition.

What am I saying?

I'm saying, how many of y'all have, and now I'm saying this because I've been at a dealership a couple times.

How many of y'all have been to a car dealership, you're in the showroom, and you're sitting in the car, it smells nice, it looks nice, the lights are making everything look great, because that's a trick.

Everything looks really nice, the wheels are shiny, everything is gleaming.

You get in the car, you're like, man, this is exactly what I've been looking for.

And then the dealer comes, he sits right in the passenger seat as they do, but maybe not now because of COVID.

It's like outside the window, talking with a horn.

But it's like one of those things where you they're telling you, like everything you tell them, I like this feature in the car, I like that feature in the car, and they're like, Yeah, that's an addition, that's an addition.

What everything seems to be an addition, but there are some necessities.

You gotta have a steering wheel, you gotta have an engine, you gotta have tires.

This is Jesus.

Jesus is a necessity.

If we want to move forward in life, if we want to be able to go where he wants us to go, to do the things that he wants us to do, we've got to realize that he is a necessity, not an addition.

And that is the point I want to make right now is that he is a necessity, not an addition.

And and what do I mean by that?

I mean that even if he doesn't calm your storm by speaking it, he will always provide a way out.

He will always give you an escape route.

1 Corinthians 10 13 says, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

But with temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

That you may be able to endure it.

Aren't you glad that when you look over your life, you can see that he always got you out of situations that even you put yourself in?

Tell the truth, shame the devil.

Sometimes we put ourselves in situations, and then we try and be like, God, I need you to get me out of this.

And oftentimes, I don't know about you, but every single time he's gotten me out.

I don't know how he does what he does, but I'm so glad that he does what he does when he does what he does.

Amen.

It is amazing to me that God will find a way out for us.

He rescues us, he gives us that escape route.

And it's so critical because it may not be in a time.

Matter that we want, but he will always point the way out.

He'll always point for our rescue.

Because what he knows is if he can get to us out of some predicaments, well, that just means that we have time and a chance to continue to fill up, fulfill out our purpose.

See, there is purpose, there is destiny for us.

So of course, he's not gonna keep you ensnared and entangled with all the things of life and even situations that maybe you've gotten yourself into.

So not only does salvation rescue, but salvation restores.

Point number two, salvation restores.

As I said, life has a way of just dragging us through some very nightmare situations.

In fact, not only does life have a way of dragging us through nightmare situations, but the truth of the matter is, and I've said this many a time, and yeah, I said many a time, uh, trouble, we don't have to trouble trouble to trouble us.

We know this to be true.

Life can just happen.

You don't have to poke the bear, it just seems like it's just chasing us.

And if if you don't know it, we can look at 2020.

We can see that this pandemic that has been going on has affected and impacted every single one of us.

There's not one of us in this room that has not been impacted in some way by this pandemic.

Proof in point, we wear masks now.

That's not weird, to the point that we now have designer masks.

I promise you, they are getting better and better.

But I did see some with like some fringy things on there one day, and I was like, whoa, that's maybe I can get one.

I don't know.

I don't know how I would look, like I don't know how it would make me look.

But the pandemic actually impacted all of us and still is.

But here's what's so amazing.

Never, if you ask this question, has there ever been a time in history where the whole world has been changed by one person?

Because we all know the story with one man ate in a bat.

Now I don't know how true that is, but I'll go with it, I'll indulge you.

So it was one person.

So has there ever been one person in the history of our world who has caused such a radical shift and change that the whole world stopped in his tracks?

I would submit to you there is, and that is Jesus.

Jesus himself came into this world and began to shift the entire thing, the paradigm completely changed because he is a restorer, because he is a rescuer.

This is who Jesus is.

And I am reminded the that by the fact that salvation truly restores.

In fact, here's what it says in 1 Peter 5 and 10.

It says, and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

What are you saying?

I'm saying that in the midst of all hell breaking out, you better believe that God is going to use it not only to get you through it, but he's gonna use it to establish you, to get you where you need to be.

Because here's the thing if he will allow you to go through it, it's only because you are strong enough to endure it.

And don't ever forget that.

If you're wondering, God, I'm praying the same prayer every day that I need to come out of this, that you gotta get me out, that you gotta find a way.

What is he doing?

He is strengthening you, strengthening you.

It is strength training.

You can make it, you can do it, you can endure it.

Listen, you are stronger than you think you are.

Don't let anybody doubt you, don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

You are a lot stronger than you think you are.

How do I know this to be true without even knowing you?

It's simple because God is with you.

God is with you.

That is how I know you are stronger than you think you are.

See, what happens is in the midst of all of that that goes on, there are things and situations around us that may smell dead, look dead.

It's got that dead vibe.

But see, Jesus is the great restorer, he is restoring everything in and around us.

But here's the thing: it's not gonna be what we once knew it.

We should know this by now.

When the pandemic is over, with life will not return as it once was.

And some of us should ask the question, why should it?

Because we don't want it back again the way it was.

We want it better.

And that is what Jesus does.

He doesn't just take us back to our old ways, he doesn't just take us back to our old habits, but he makes it better.

He completely changes it, he revolutionizes it.

This is who he is, and this is what he does for us.

And here's how I know it.

2 Corinthians 5, 17 says this.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

See, with Jesus with us, with God with us, we are restored to him.

We are restored to God because of Jesus.

Salvation restores us, it has restored this relationship.

See, we serve a God who who greatly wants to dwell with us and wants us to dwell with him.

That relationship has gotten severed over time because of sin.

But Jesus comes in on the scene and he goes, Oh, I'm here to restore.

I'm here to bridge the gap.

I'm here to bring the family back together again.

This separation is something that only Jesus could restore.

Salvation in and of itself rescued us from the grips of death, and salvation has restored us back to the Father, and salvation is Jesus.

This is my third point.

Salvation is Jesus.

Again, Jesus is not a necessity.

Jesus is not an addition, rather, but he is a necessity.

We need him every step of the way.

Salvation is Jesus, and we need him at all times.

See, and the thing about it is he says, and here's what's so cool about him.

He says, Behold, I am with you always, even to the end.

Now, what does that mean?

What if we were to unpack that?

It means, listen, there is nothing that you can do.

There's no height that's too high, there's there's nothing too low, there's nothing too wide that can separate us from the love of God.

He is with us all the way to the end.

In fact, he stands at the end of our lives and looks to our beginning, only to champion us through every trial, through every tribulation, only to sit there and say, You got it, you can do it.

I don't know about you, but we all need a cheering team.

We all need somebody who can just tell us, come on, you can do it, you got it.

And here's the thing maybe you don't have friends right now who are telling you that you got it, you can do it.

And if you don't, you need to get in community to do so.

But surely there's somebody, and if you can't find that person, I'm gonna submit to you right now that Jesus is the one who is calling forth right now, telling you, come on, you can do it.

I'm gonna encourage you.

You got it, you can go all the way.

There's more for you.

Just keep going, just keep running the race that is in front of you.

Matthew 19, 24 through 26 says, again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved?

But Jesus looked at them and said, With man, this is impossible.

But with God, all things are possible.

See, we can't save ourselves.

We can't, we can't, we can't, we can't boost up ourselves all the time.

It is God who is promoting us.

See, if you were ever wondering if anybody is on your side, listen, promotion doesn't come from the east nor the west nor the south.

It comes from what the Bible says, old King James Version, like me, the high north.

In other words, it comes from God, it comes from him and him alone.

So you don't have to look to man, you don't have to sit there and try and butter up somebody next to you.

You have to sit here and keep your focus and your attention on Jesus, on the one who can make everything different.

Mind you, the table is set before us.

Who set it?

Jesus.

He went to go and prepare a place for not just me, but for every single one of us in this room.

And all of us have access to it now because he alone is the great restorer.

He alone is the one who prepared this table that we can sit with him and we can enjoy his company and that we can be one with him.

It was restored.

That was the design this whole time.

And there is a seat for you at his table.

At his table, there is a seat.

And see, and there are times when we can get our focus shifted off of Jesus and tend to keep our focus on what's in front of us, on the issues that are in front of us.

And mind you, I'm not saying that what's around you isn't real.

I'm not saying that you're not facing real challenges, but oftentimes we can magnify what is around us more than we magnify the God who is with us.

Yeah.

And the band can begin to come back up.

And I say that because, you know, I've been thinking about this.

I often have a thought about Mary and Martha.

Some of us know about Mary and Martha, but I often find myself feeling like either one of them, Mary or Martha.

There's times when I'm I'm like Mary, and there's times when I'm more like Martha.

And here's what it says, Luke 10, 41 to 42.

It says, but the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.

But one thing is necessary.

Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her.

When I read that, I sometimes, and even like now in my life, because there's a whole lot going on, I have to interject my name with Martha's and go, and then it would read more like this for me.

And sometimes we need to, maybe you need to do that.

Maybe you need to put your name in the place of Martha for where you are.

There's been times when I've sat here and looked and go, Yeah, I can hear God saying, Michael, Michael, you are anxious and troubled about many things, so many things.

But only one thing is necessary.

Mary chose the good portion which will not be taken away from her.

If we were to sit here and examine that and hear from the God who is with us, telling us that we we are focusing on so many things, like things that that we can't shift and change on our own, but we've got to put our focus on the one who rescues us, the one who has restored us.

We have to focus on the one who is our salvation, that is Jesus.

We have to focus in on him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I understand, I get it.

I understand that there are times when when we feel anxious, I understand that there are times when we doubt ourselves, I understand that they're very real things.

But when we focus on Jesus, when we allow him to be with us, when we allow him to be our portion, he said it, it cannot be taken away.

See, though the world is sometimes in chaos and upside down, the world cannot take away your salvation.

No politician can take away your relationship with Jesus.

The world cannot take it.

Why?

Because the world didn't give it in the first place, it could never be taken.

So I don't know who I'm speaking to in this room, but just know that if you're filled in this moment, yes, it's the holidays, but it's also 2020, and 2020 has beaten down on all of us.

But do understand that Emmanuel God with us, it means that salvation is with us, it means that that hope is with us, it means that that peace and love and all of that is with us.

It means Jesus Himself is with us, and so in the midst of all the turmoil and the in the midst of feeling the burden, in the midst of the heaviness, let me submit to you right now that it's Jesus who who we need to focus on.

It's Jesus who will come in and begin to shift and have a radical shift of our situation and change it, and change it completely.

He has the ability to do it.

All it takes is faith, all it takes is us believing.

See, the problem is we're looking for the signs, but the reality is seeing is not believing, believing is seeing.

And when we can understand that, then we can realize that our attention and our focus isn't on isn't on man's ability to save us.

No, man's ability can never save us.

It may help.

It's it's man's ability is the addition, God's ability is the necessity, and if we can get that in its proper place, and if we can keep Jesus in his proper place over our lives, everything changes.

As I was writing this message, God was just messing with me about the fact that that we are entering into this season and and so much has happened, and I started weeping and crying, thinking about Mary and Martha, because man, like Martha's busy doing everything, and Mary is sitting there at the feet of Jesus, just soaking in.

It may even have been something that she already heard before, but he was in the room, he was present, he was speaking, and and that was an opportunity where she said, I gotta hold on to everything that he says.

And I was weeping, crying a little bit about this because I couldn't help but wonder, man, we are all going through something, and some of it can seem like it's too hard for us to bear.

I was weeping because I could feel it.

I could feel the fact that that suicide is a real thing, and we don't want to talk about the the hurt that we feel and how real things are, but the reality is Jesus is the one who can hold us tight through all these moments, and not only will he hold us tight personally, but he'll send people around to us to to grip us, to hold us, to encourage us, to know that that we can do it, that we can make it, that we can endure it.

Because there is more that is expected for us.

The good portion is what he wants us to have.

That was always meant for us.

The good portion, not the works, not all of that, the good portion.

Who's the good portion?

What is the good portion?

Jesus is the good portion, Emmanuel.

God is with us, God is with you.

You leave here today, God is with you.

When you wake up tomorrow, God is with you.

When you are in target, listening to all the kids yell, grabbing toys, God is with you.

When you are when you're sitting there making the meals, God is with you.

When you're on the job and your boss is yelling for no reason, God is with you.

When when you're sitting there doubting yourself, trying to figure out if you'll be able to make bills be met, God is with you when you are in moments of struggle and you can't figure out when is change going to happen for me.

God is with you when you when you look over your life and you're just sitting there going, you know, everybody around me is getting what they want, and I have nothing that I absolutely want.

Just know that God is with you.

Know that you have the necessity, you have that first thing, you've got your first love back.

He is he is He is rescuing you from where you are and restoring you to where He is.

This is Jesus.

This is the God that we worship.

This is the God who we say name is above every name.

This is the God who we cry out, and He doesn't care what we look like, He doesn't care what mess we got ourselves into, because He is the one who comes right where we are.

Don't let anybody tell you or make you think that you are less than because you're not, because He is with you, which means you are seated in heavenly places with Him, which means that you have authority, which means that you are royalty, which means that you have been engrafted into the family.

You are more than what they ever could say about you.

Yeah.

And I'm done.

Um I'm done, but I do want to pray because it's just heavy on me.

I do want to pray, whatever you all are battling, and you don't have to come up here to the altar, the altar is right.

Make make the altar in your heart, that's where he wants it.

Make it in your heart.

In the band, you can even begin.

Um, you can even begin singing and and and going back into worship because I do just want to pray, and I want to make this a holy moment for all of us in this room.

Maybe some of us we know somebody who is dealing with something who is who is hurting and it's real, and they're questioning and wondering, is there any life that is left for me?

Put them on your mind because we're gonna pray for them.

And maybe you are that person in this room.

Put it on, put it, put it right there.

Some people may know you, but but here's the thing: I want to pray for you.

I don't even have to lay hands on you, I don't have to do any of that because God is already with you and He can change you from the inside out, and He can let you feel the warmth.

And maybe you're feeling it even now, but the warmth that's inside of you, knowing that He is with you, He is grabbing a hold of you, He's loving on you, even you at home, He's loving you, He's right there with you, and I just feel Him, even in this moment, encouraging you, telling you can go on.

The greatest gift you could ever want is Him, and He is available to you, He is all that you've ever could want, and He's more than you could ever need.

He is the lover of your soul, and He wants to be restored onto you.

He is right here in this room, and so before even if you don't know Him right now, I'm gonna pray for that as well.

If you don't even know Jesus, if you're wondering, man, I want to know Jesus because I want to know more about this one who can rescue me.

I want to know more about the one who can restore me, I want to know more about the one who is salvation, I'm gonna pray for you as well.

God, we just lift you up right now in this moment.

God, I pray for each and every man, woman, boy, and girl who just needs to know who you are, who just needs to know you as a savior, our Messiah.

God, I pray right now, God, that their relationship with you will open up and be like never before.

God, your word says that all we have to do to have that relationship is believe in our hearts that you are Lord and confess it with our mouth.

So, God, we believe in our heart and we confess with our mouth that you are the sovereign God of the universe, that you are the only one who can restore us, you are the only one who can rescue us.

And so, God, right now, all of us have a person on our mind who is dealing with deep depression and who's in a dark and dirty pit.

But God, we pray right now, we rebuke the hand of the enemy over their life, God, to let them know that there is purpose for their life, to let them know that they can go on.

So, God, as we keep them on our mind, as we speak their name and pray for them, God, we pray that you will begin to send ministering angels to them, God, that you will begin to speak to them, that you will begin to show them who you are.

God, we rebuke the heat of the enemy, for he comes not but to steal, kill, and destroy.

But everlasting life comes from you.

Everlasting life is Jesus, it is found only within you.

So, God, we lift up every name to you, every burden to you, and even for the people who are in here or watching under the sound of my voice.

God, I speak life and not death.

I come against every suicidal spirit right now in the name of Jesus, and I speak life.

I speak life to the fullness, God.

I speak life to the fullness, God.

Send joy to them, God, joy that the world didn't give and that the world can't take away, God.

Restore unto them, God, all of the years, all the toils, everything that has been taken away from them, God, restore it onto them even now, God, that they may be able to be able to help someone else, God, that they may be able to speak about what it is that you did in their life.

For how do we overcome the one?

How do we overcome the one of the enemy?

How do we do it?

By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

So, God, allow everyone, God, to have a testimony that you are good, that you are worthy, that you are sovereign, that you got us out of every pit because you rescued us and that you're restoring unto us everything that is due to us.

So, God, we love you and we praise you.

Come on, church, let's stand and let's worship the King of Kings and the Lord of the Lord.

Thanks again for listening.

We hope you enjoyed today's message.

We'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and for you and share it with your friends today.

If you'd like more content like this, or if you'd like to connect the content, celebration.