Finally, next Sunday, we will have the worship service for our Lord's birth!

When I visited a church for the first time, I remember still now the impression I got from the name of the church. It was Immanuel Christ Church. Knowing the meaning of the name Immanuel, God is with us, I just couldn't stop feeling excited.

This morning, I need to confess my stupid deed yesterday. I had a wedding to lead at 2:00 in the afternoon, at Kijima. But, on the way, I believe I heard God's voice, saying to me "There's no wedding for you to lead today. You should make a phone call to Kijima," however I ignored the voice! Arriving at Kijima, I found another pastor there already leading the service. At the time, I regretted having travelled all that way, it may have been a mistake on the part of the Kijima Hotel, but I could have avoided this had I only listened to the voice of God's Spirit! Even though I always try to encourage you to listen to God's voice, I, myself, have failed to do so. And, that is an embarrassment to me! This morning, while I am standing in front of you all, I am confessing this sin, and yet I want to continue encouraging you to listen to the voice of the Spirit!

Last week, I came acrossed a certain book that was full of beautiful brush-drawing illustrations, and poetry. In the book, I found a poem saying "Looking around, in every direction, God is here." And there were some cute angels next to these words. It moved me so much that, the next moment, I found myself on the phone, calling the poet. He was a Christian, though, who had not been to church for a long time. Interestingly enough, the Spirit was at work in him, even in this state, and had led him to publish this book! "God is always here, no matter where we are" -- how encouraging and exciting this is!

Isaiah 7:14. In the time of the Old Testament, this was the Israelite's faith in knowing God, that God was always with them. So when God did leave them, they felt tremendously discouraged. And they became weak among the Gentile nations!

As a matter of course, exactly the same thing applies to us: whenever we know God is with us, we are not helpless at all.

Upon receiving the birth of Christ, the promise of God, "Immanuel", was fulfilled. Mt.28:20. At the beginning, in the Old Testament, and at the end, in Matthew 28:20, God is with us. No matter where we are, God is there. Actually, right now, while we are collected together for worship this morning, God is here among us. Mt.18:19.

The message of Matthew 1 is that Christ is a Saviour as the God of Immanuel. In answering our prayers, God is Immanuel. In sending us into the world as a witness, our God is Immanuel. We often think and experience the hardness of making people believe in God. It is very good and proper for us to bring others to Jesus, but we feel the difficulty of doing so more and more! Why should this be? For, God is Immanuel, and He protects us and guides us with God's wings. We should be experiencing this Immanuel. Isaiah 8:8.

There is a certain christian organization, known here as M.O.L., the Mission Of Leprosy. A boy one day had become ill, and he found out later that his illness was leprosy. After discovering this, he considered committing suicide. He didn't have any purpose in his, and now he didn't have any hope at all. He began to think about dying more and more. The sicker he became, the more he wanted to die. But, one day, a lady, who had the same disease, visited his hospital room. As a witness of Jesus Christ, she told him about Immanuel. Though all the people around him may leave him because of his terrible disease, she said, he would never be alone. 'God,' she said, 'will always be here with you.' She shared with him the good news about Immanuel! Then he became a Christian, and in his life, he has been experiencing the God of Immanuel -- in salvation, and prayers and in spreading out the Gospel message! We also have this same God of Immanuel!

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
For another sermon see: Oita Evangelical Christ Church
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