Immanuel Week 3 - Pastor Cory Welch

Devotional

Day 1: Emmanuel: God’s Intent, Not Just a Title

Christmas can feel familiar and even a bit old, but Emmanuel is not seasonal nostalgia. Emmanuel is a sentence name—a declaration of God’s character and intent: God with us. It doesn’t just label Him; it reveals His heart toward you, right now. He draws near because nearness is who He is, not because a holiday invites Him. Receive His present-tense nearness today as reality, not memory [16:14].

Matthew 1:22–23: All this unfolded to complete what God promised—A virgin would carry a child and bear a son, and His name would declare the truth: God Himself has come to be with us.

Reflection: Where in your day today do you most treat God like a memory, and what simple phrase could you speak there—“You are with me, Emmanuel”—to welcome His present nearness?

Day 2: From Eden to Exodus: God Pursues Presence

From the first pages of Scripture, God moves toward people. After the first sin, He walked in the garden, pursuing the ones who were hiding. Later He told His people to build a sanctuary so He could live right in their midst. He promised Moses His personal presence and chose a dwelling among His people. The thread is unbroken: He wants to be with people—including those who feel ashamed, uncertain, or unworthy [18:00].

Exodus 25:8: Have them make a holy dwelling for Me, so I can live right among them in the center of their life together.

Reflection: Think of one place you feel tempted to hide from God—what would welcoming Him look like there this week, even if it’s as small as a whispered prayer when the shame surfaces?

Day 3: Emmanuel Everywhere: His Spirit Dwells in You

December makes it obvious—lights, songs, and signs everywhere—but Emmanuel isn’t confined to a season. If you belong to Jesus, His Spirit makes you a living temple; His presence goes with you into stores, offices, kitchens, and hospital rooms. That means your ordinary moments are sacred meeting places with God. The One who knows you better than you know yourself is closer than your own thoughts. Let today’s errands and emails become invitations to notice and respond to Him [22:10].

1 Corinthians 3:16: Don’t you realize you are God’s sanctuary and that His Spirit has taken up residence within you?

Reflection: Choose one routine you’ll do today (opening your laptop, starting the car, making coffee). What brief cue could you attach to it to remember, “Emmanuel, You are here”?

Day 4: With Us in Fear, Fire, and Tears

God does not withdraw from the floodwaters, the fires, or the heartbreak; He walks with you through them. His Word tells the fearful “Do not be afraid”—not because your situation is simple, but because He is present. He draws near to the brokenhearted and rescues the crushed in spirit. You are not alone in the diagnosis, the interview, the grief, or the long night of parenting. Name the place of pain and confess out loud: Emmanuel is here with me [26:39].

Isaiah 43:2: When you wade through deep waters, I will be beside you; when rivers rise, they won’t sweep you away; when you face the flames, you won’t be consumed, because I am there.

Reflection: What fear or grief is loudest right now, and what small practice—like a steady breath prayer, “With me, not against me”—could you carry into that moment this week?

Day 5: Always Emmanuel: From Manger to Forever

The Baby in the manger grew to promise, “I am with you always,” and He keeps that promise by giving His Spirit to be with and in His people. From Matthew’s opening to Revelation’s finale, the story returns to this center: God dwelling with humanity. Holidays end and decorations get boxed up, but His presence does not pack up. You can step into the coming year with an Emmanuel-centered life, recognizing Him in every place and season. Ask Him to shape your rhythms so that “God with us” becomes the atmosphere of your days [30:48].

Matthew 28:20: As you go, make disciples—and remember this: I Myself am with you every single day, right up to the end of the age.

Reflection: What one specific rhythm will you adopt in the next month to practice His presence—a midday alarm to pause and pray, evening examen, or a Scripture card by your workspace—and when will you start?

Sermon Summary

Christmas traditions can be a gift that anchor us, but they can also slip into “old.” I wanted to bring Christmas into the present by taking Emmanuel—God with us—out of the realm of nostalgia and into everyday life. Emmanuel isn’t just a seasonal title; it’s a sentence-name that declares the very intent and character of God: to be with us. From the garden where God walked toward Adam and Eve after their sin, to the tabernacle in the wilderness, to the personal promise to Moses, God has always pressed near. He still does. The thread runs from Genesis through Jesus’ birth all the way to Revelation’s promise that God will dwell with His people forever.

Emmanuel is present tense. He is everywhere. And He is always. For those who belong to Jesus, His Spirit literally indwells us; we are God’s temple. That means His nearness is not confined to church services or the month of December. It extends to kitchen tables, hospital rooms, and sleepless nights. Voices from church history bear witness: Tozer reminds us He is nearer than we are to ourselves; Spurgeon, who battled deep depression, insists God is with us in every infirmity; Bonhoeffer reframes poverty, darkness, and abandonment with the richness of God’s companionship; Corrie Ten Boom declares there is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still. Scripture anchors the same truth: He is with us in flood and fire, in fear and heartbreak.

This presence isn’t theory; it’s power to live faithfully. Elisabeth Elliot could return to the very people who killed her husband because she trusted the promise God had actually made: not to answer every why, but to go with us. Jesus seals that promise—“I am with you always”—and makes it permanent by sending the Spirit to dwell in us. The decorations will come down; Emmanuel remains. So as we approach a new year, the invitation is simple and strong: live an Emmanuel-centered life. Recognize His presence moment by moment, in every place, and respond—through trust, obedience, worship, baptism, communion, and prayer. He has come to be with us, and He still is.

Key Takeaways

1. Emmanuel is present tense today God’s nearness is not a memory; it is His enduring intent. Emmanuel is a declaration of God’s character and posture toward us, not a label we dust off in December. When we treat His presence as current reality, faith steps out of nostalgia and into a living relationship. He wants to be with you now. [16:14]
2. The presence thread spans Scripture From Eden to the tabernacle to the church and on to the new creation, God’s desire is to dwell with His people. This is the story the Bible tells—not a ladder up to God, but God with us and within us. Reading Scripture through this lens turns rules into relationship and history into invitation. The arc bends toward God’s with-ness. [30:48]
3. You are God’s temple everywhere If you are in Christ, the Spirit dwells in you; you carry the presence of God into every room you enter. That raises the dignity of ordinary moments and the seriousness of our choices. It also means there is no “off” switch to grace—help is near at hand, not far off. Ordinary places become sacred because He is there. [22:10]
4. His with-ness steadies suffering and fear God does not promise to remove every flood or flame, but He pledges Himself within them. Fear loosens when we trust the Someone who is near more than the something we face. Heartbreak does not have the last word because His presence holds us where answers won’t. The promise is not explanations, but accompaniment. [26:15]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:32] - Kids lead worship and Christmas week
[07:42] - Traditions anchor us, but feel old
[09:07] - Emmanuel: still with us
[11:08] - Angel’s word: Emmanuel, God with us
[12:48] - Emmanuel as a sentence-name
[14:23] - Names declare identity (story)
[16:50] - Presence from Eden to Exodus
[22:10] - You are God’s temple—everywhere
[23:48] - Voices on God’s nearness
[26:15] - Promises for fear and sorrow
[27:50] - Elisabeth Elliot’s costly obedience
[29:35] - With you always; Spirit given
[30:48] - Revelation: God dwelling with us
[32:48] - Make the new year Emmanuel-centered
[36:06] - Respond: baptism, communion, prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Matthew 1:22–23
- 1 Corinthians 3:16
- Matthew 28:20

Observation questions

In Matthew 1:22–23, whose words are being fulfilled, and what two clarifications does Matthew give about the child’s name and its meaning?
According to 1 Corinthians 3:16, what are believers called, and where does God’s Spirit dwell?
In Matthew 28:20, how long does Jesus promise to be with His followers, and what is the scope of that promise?
Which “sentence-names” for God were mentioned, and what do they declare about who He is? [13:05]

Interpretation questions

If God’s goal is “that I may dwell in their midst,” how does that change reading the Bible as presence, not just rules? What shifts when faith is anchored in God’s nearness rather than performance? [18:00]
If believers are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), what makes ordinary places (homes, workplaces, schools) sacred? How should this raise both the dignity of daily life and the seriousness of daily choices?
Jesus says, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). How does that promise speak to fear, especially when circumstances don’t change? [26:39]
“We don’t have to beg—just recognize He’s here.” What habits or beliefs help a person recognize God’s presence? What habits or beliefs get in the way? [26:00]

Application questions

Think of one “everyday place” you’ll be this week (kitchen table, hospital room, commute, classroom). If God goes with you there, what will you do differently in that space? [27:21]
Where do you feel “underwater” or afraid right now? What would it look like to respond to God’s with-ness in that specific situation—one concrete step you can take this week? [26:15]
The decorations come down, but Emmanuel remains. What simple daily practice will help you carry this into January (e.g., a 1-minute pause at lunch to whisper, “You are with me,” or writing “Emmanuel” on your calendar)? [31:41]
Which response is your next step of obedience: trust in a hard decision, confessing sin, reconciling with someone, baptism, communion, or asking for prayer? What will you do and when? [36:06]
Consider the example of costly obedience. What risky or counterintuitive act of obedience are you sensing God nudging you toward because He is with you? What would taking the first step look like? [28:34]
Which line resonates most with your current season—Tozer (God nearer than we are to ourselves), Spurgeon (with us in infirmity), Bonhoeffer (light in darkness), or Corrie Ten Boom (no pit so deep)? Why that one, and how will you live from it this week? [23:48]
What “Emmanuel cue” could help you recognize His presence during the day (phone alarm titled “God with us,” a note on your steering wheel, a doorway prayer)? Share yours and try it this week. [09:07]

Sermon Clips

You may never have heard of this before, but Emmanuel is what you might call a sentence name. And you might be familiar with some of these. Let me give you some examples. Some sentence names for God are like El Shaddai. You may have heard of that before. El Shaddai means God is almighty. Maybe you've heard of Jehovah Rapha. That's a sentence name for God, which means the Lord who heals. There's Jehovah Jireh. That's a really, you know, more popular one that you might have heard of. And that's the Lord will provide. And Emmanuel is a sentence name like that, which means God is or God with us. [00:12:49] (42 seconds) #GodWithUsName

Emmanuel is still with us, is present tense, and is everywhere. Emmanuel is everywhere. You know, this time of year, you can't walk 10 feet without, like, being bombarded with Christmas. I was noticing this just driving down the road last night. Just how, like, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, house, that's our house. You know, you drive by the church, and there's a huge purple sign. Like, it's just Christmas is, if you know, you know. If you're driven past year at night, it's just, it's huge. Christmas is, Emmanuel, you know, it's everywhere. [00:20:11] (29 seconds) #EmmanuelEverywhereNow

Emmanuel is everywhere because if you can confess Jesus as Lord, he is in you and with you everywhere you go. What does that mean practically? It means that the overwhelming feeling you get at Christmastime, when you have that aha, that remembrance of the meaning of Christmas, how Jesus, you know, came in the flesh as the Son of God to be with us, to live a perfect life, to die on the cross, and to rise again. And we celebrate that for a month or more, and everything around us is changing. The practical implication of this is that that reality is true, not just in December, but every day of your life. [00:22:18] (42 seconds) #ChristmasTruthAllYear

God is not only present in sacred spaces. God is not only present at church. He's not only present as Emmanuel at Christmas. Emmanuel is present in hospital rooms. Emmanuel is around kitchen tables. Emmanuel is there at funerals and during job interviews and in the middle of parenting exhaustion and with you in your loneliness. One person I didn't quote earlier who might be one of the most inspiring examples of this is of Elizabeth Elliot. Maybe you've heard of her. Maybe you know her story. She might best exemplify how understanding the pervasive nature of Emmanuel, God with us, can change the way you make decisions and live your life. [00:27:10] (40 seconds) #PresenceInEveryPlace

If you don't know her story, her husband, Jim Elliot, as a young man, was in Ecuador ministering to natives and sharing the gospel with them and they murdered him for it. And then Elizabeth goes on to live the rest of her life and inspired many by her faith and her writings and her obedience. But it was this fact that God was with her, Emmanuel with her, that propelled her to do the unthinkable, to return to Ecuador, to the very people who killed her husband, and live among them and share the exact same truth that got her husband killed. [00:27:50] (32 seconds) #PresenceFueledCourage

You know, of all the places and people you could turn to this Christmas and every day going forward, he is the only one who will be there always. Emmanuel is present tense. Emmanuel is everywhere. And Emmanuel is always. You know, at Christmas, we like to read a lot from Matthew chapter 1, from Luke chapter 2. But just as we have shown that Emmanuel was there from the very beginning of Genesis, in the beginning of the book, you've got to know that he doesn't plan on changing any time soon. He will be Emmanuel always. [00:28:43] (33 seconds) #AlwaysEmmanuel

You know, if you've got that, if you're one of those people that has the foreboding feeling that like Christmas is almost over. If you're one of those people that like December 1st, you like carry this like a little bit of depression because it's like, you know, Christmas is going to end at some point. You know, if you're already dreading December 26th. Remember that though the decorations might get put away, he will always stay. [00:31:25] (22 seconds) #BeyondDecember

``The best gift at Christmas was obviously how Emmanuel became flesh in the form of the baby Jesus. That's why we celebrate specifically at Christmas. But don't let it stop you from realizing that Emmanuel is present tense. He still wants to be with you today. Emmanuel is everywhere in all your places. And I don't mean just here physically. I mean wherever you are. You know what I mean? And Emmanuel is always. Emmanuel never ends. He will be that way through the end of time forever. [00:31:47] (37 seconds) #EmmanuelIsHere

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