December 14th, 2025
River of Faith Topical Sunday
God With Us - Matthew 1:18-25
Pastor Ray-Ann Dela Fuente
December 14, 2025
Memory Verse:
“And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.”
1 Samuel 16:23 NLT
Introduction:
Welcome to the River of Faith! Today we are just 11 days away from CHRISTmas and we can definitely feel the Christmas spirit in the air. All glory to God!
Where is God? Must be one of the most hard questions to answer. Depending on a person's beliefs or circumstances, you might have different opinions about this question. But where really is God? Can God be really with us? Let's see what the Bible says about God is with us.
Main Pointers:
“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. 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. 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 was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people 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 Immanuel, 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.”
Matthew 1:18-25 NLT
1. God's presence assures us that we will never be separated from Him.
A. One of the titles of Jesus was "Immanuel" which means "God is with us." When Jesus came into this world He fulfilled this in every literal sense. He showed us what Father is like and because of this we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from Him.
B. “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?”
John 14:9 NLT
C. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
2. God's presence empowers us to accomplish God's will.
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NLT
A. All throughout the Scriptures we can find that many victories were attained by Gods people because God's presence empowers them. The opposite happens when God's presence left them.
B. “Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him.”
Judges 16:20 NLT
3. God's presence overcomes the fears and worries in life.
“What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.”
Genesis 28:15-19 NLT
A. When we realize the awesomeness in the presence of the Lord all our fears and worries melts away. There's something in the presence of God that overcomes our anxieties and even the dissatisfaction in life.
B. “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.””
Hebrews 13:5 NLT
Conclusion:
Maybe we've had circumstances in life that made us doubt the presence of God. I hope that this message inspired us to seek the very presence of God in our lives. The Bible says that if we seek Him we will find Him and it is not hard to seek Him because God is with us. He can be in us when we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.
God With Us - Matthew 1:18-25
Pastor Ray-Ann Dela Fuente
December 14, 2025
Memory Verse:
“And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.”
1 Samuel 16:23 NLT
Introduction:
Welcome to the River of Faith! Today we are just 11 days away from CHRISTmas and we can definitely feel the Christmas spirit in the air. All glory to God!
Where is God? Must be one of the most hard questions to answer. Depending on a person's beliefs or circumstances, you might have different opinions about this question. But where really is God? Can God be really with us? Let's see what the Bible says about God is with us.
Main Pointers:
“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. 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. 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 was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people 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 Immanuel, 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.”
Matthew 1:18-25 NLT
1. God's presence assures us that we will never be separated from Him.
A. One of the titles of Jesus was "Immanuel" which means "God is with us." When Jesus came into this world He fulfilled this in every literal sense. He showed us what Father is like and because of this we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from Him.
B. “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?”
John 14:9 NLT
C. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
2. God's presence empowers us to accomplish God's will.
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NLT
A. All throughout the Scriptures we can find that many victories were attained by Gods people because God's presence empowers them. The opposite happens when God's presence left them.
B. “Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him.”
Judges 16:20 NLT
3. God's presence overcomes the fears and worries in life.
“What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.”
Genesis 28:15-19 NLT
A. When we realize the awesomeness in the presence of the Lord all our fears and worries melts away. There's something in the presence of God that overcomes our anxieties and even the dissatisfaction in life.
B. “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.””
Hebrews 13:5 NLT
Conclusion:
Maybe we've had circumstances in life that made us doubt the presence of God. I hope that this message inspired us to seek the very presence of God in our lives. The Bible says that if we seek Him we will find Him and it is not hard to seek Him because God is with us. He can be in us when we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.
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