All month long we are talking about the presence of God, not the presence that you will give and receive at Christmas time, but the power of God's presence being with us every single day. The name given to him at Christmas time, really from the prophet Isaiah and Isaiah 7:14, a verse that reads, Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Emmanuel. That very name of God, God with us. We're taking a look at it all month long. And, and how it applies to us, not only during Christmas season, but ultimately in every season. And in week one of our series, we studied how God is with us in obscurity. That with God, even small moments become significant. And that when you feel overlooked or overwhelmed or overcome. You can take comfort in the fact that God is with you. Well, today, We're gonna talk about how God is with us in our battles. Now, in preparation for this series was looking for stories that go along with the messages. And I came across this story that I'm gonna read the direct quote of the headline because it's just great. It's better than what I could make up. The headline of the new story is this. MMA trained fighter or MMA trained pastor restrained man who broke into church with an ax on Thanksgiving morning. Uh Being also trained as an MMA fighter, um. OK, it's not true, but you didn't have to laugh, so. Instantly, as soon as I said that. But no, I, I'm definitely not trained in in fighting, but I can just picture one that this pastor who's been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Just walking into his church early Thanksgiving morning, just a few days after having given out about 130 different Thanksgiving meals and and gifts to families in the community. He walks into this church to be greeted by a man who broke in through a window with an ax. Now, I wonder in that moment. Did he think to himself? In the name of Jesus, it's go time. Right? Pastors are supposed to be gentle and lowly. And so I'm just wondering as a pastor, how often you get to use your training as a fighter. But God had other plans that day. And then I think about, imagine putting yourself in the mindset of the robber. Right? It had to be almost a little bit like the Home Alone situation, right? Like you had robbers, trained thieves, OK? They were going to break into a house, easy snatch and grab, lo and behold, to be met with all those booby traps and obstacles from a child, right? Like, here he is, OK, he could pick any church. And the church he breaks into happens to be pastored by an MMA fighter. And so the pastor in Jesus' name, uh, subdued the assailant and just held him pinned down while calling 911 and waiting for the cops to arrive. Now, That's a great story. Uh, but the reason I share is because well we might not be fending off someone with an ax this Christmas season, uh, I, I bet every single person in this room or watching along online. Is entering the season in some type of battle. Right, something. They just Really weighs on your shoulders. Right, it's racing through your mind, maybe gives you an uneasy gut. Maybe there is a physical ailment or health scare that you need to fight. Maybe there's a financial burden. That you're wrestling with. Maybe there's a relational tension. Something that maybe you caused by actions, or maybe you're facing the ripple effects of the choices of somebody else. What I know is that I love to come in and worship God. But I also know. That just being human is tough. And that we all have our battles that we face today. I'm reminded of a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. Given on April 23, 1910 in Paris, France, very well-known speech entitled Citizenship in a Republic. And in this speech, he shared this quote that has been repeated and echoed over the last 100 years. And he said these words, he says, it is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, or who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. Today's message is for the man or the woman in the arena. It's a lot easier to sit on the sidelines and to criticize or to compare. We live in a day and age, especially in social media. And posting and trolling and sharing and videos. Or it's very easy to judge from the outside. It's much more difficult to stand on the inside. And so rather than focusing on those who criticize, or those who compare today's message are for those who fight. Who those who create. Who are in the tension, in the trial, in the struggle right now, today's message is for you. is that God is with us in our battles. If you're taking notes, I encourage you to write this down, that courage is not a feeling. It's a focus. Courage is not a feeling, it's a focus. You see, By default, we don't wake up. Courageous. I mean, there are days maybe we wake up and we're excited for something. But if we're being honest with ourselves, I think there's more days where the alarm goes off, you check your phone and you go, nope, and set it back down, right? Or you wake up and you're just like, whew. It's gonna be a tough one. And so, if you're in a struggle or in a fight, I want you to take the name of God, Emmanuel, God with us. And we're gonna look today through several stories and this theme throughout Scripture. About how God is fighting for us, and God is fighting with us. And that the promise of Christmas is the presence of Christ. And we can take that into our daily lives and our daily battles. So it's not about feeling something, it's about it's about focusing on the presence of God. And so we're gonna go back to the book of Joshua. And and see where the same promise that was given at Christmas was also given to one of God's warriors. Now, who was Joshua? Joshua was his name in Hebrews, Yeshua, actually the same where we kind of the same route where we get Jesus today, to be honest, he's a foreshadow of Jesus. The name means the Lord saves. He was an assistant of Moses. So Moses, one of the greatest leaders of all time, leads the people of Israel out of captivity. The sea splits, the Egyptian army is destroyed, and so they're gonna enter the promised land. Moses sends 12 spies into the promised land that's currently occupied. By others. 12 spies come back, to give a positive report. One of those two is Joshua. He says, we can do this, and nobody listens to him. And so as a consequence, the people of Israel end up wandering the desert for 40 years. But yet through that time in the desert, Moses continues to lead. Has a moment on Mount Sinai where God gives him the 10 Commandments and Joshua is there. Has a meeting with God, an attentive meeting and worships with God, and Joshua is there. They pray for God to provide for the people, and manna from heaven, bread from heaven comes down and feeds and sustains the people, and the people don't even understand what is coming to them, and that's actually the meaning of the word manna. It's it's translated as what is it? But here is this leader, Moses leads the people out of captivity, leads them through the wilderness. God provides the 10 Commandments, God provides sustenance and foods, gets to the end of the wilderness, gets to the edge of the promised land, and he passes away. And now Joshua is called to step up and the lead. Now he had been in war with Moses, he'd been his assistant, he had worshiped with him. He was there on the mountain. But the last time he gave a command, the last time he spoke up before a nation, everyone ignored him. And now he's got to follow Moses and lead roughly a million people. Into the promised land. When Joshua 11 through 5, says Joshua, it's your turn to lead. And he's afraid. And in verse 6, we see this first offering of the command to be strong and courageous. He's reminded to remember the promise that I gave Moses the same promise. And then in verses 7 and 8, he gets told again to be strong and very courageous, to remember the precepts of God. He says to obey the word, to meditate on it day and night, and to do what it says and only then will you be truly successful. In life And then we get to the 3rd iteration. See, in the Bible, when something is repeated 3 times, there's intentionality, there is purpose. And almost strengthens the intensity of it. See, they didn't have like good, better, best. They didn't add like ER and then EST to the end of words. They would repeat it. If if they repeat it twice, right? It's like stronger, but if they repeat it three times, it's strongest. That's why when you see angels singing in scripture, holy, holy holy is the Lord. They're not just saying that he is holy, they're saying that he is the holiest of holy things that ever was or where ever will be. And so Joshua gets told, be strong and courageous. Remember the promises of God. Then he says, be strong and courageous. Remember the precepts of God. And what we're gonna see today is that in that last verse, one of my personal favorite verses in all of Scripture, he gets that command again and he says to remember the promises of God. Here Joshua 1:9 says, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is wherever you go. Now notice this command comes in 4. Depositions if you will. Be strong Be courageous. Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed. Now, I want us to think about what are the scripture assumptions in this verse, meaning, When God gives an answer to something, typically there is a question that precedes the answer, right? If you tell your kids to go clean your room, what are you also telling your kids? Your room is a mess. If you have to tell your kids, stop talking, what are they currently doing? Talking right like over and over again. Right? When your wife says, you never listen to me, and I respond with, what was that? Not really. OK. I'm always listening, always listening to me. I love you. When Scripture says something, don't just take it for what it says. Understand the context in which it is written or spoken. So take those 4 commands and put yourself in the position of Joshua. Feeling unqualified, overwhelmed, given the charge to lead a million people into the promised land to fight the battles that were to come. And yet here we have this picture. Number one, be strong. Well, if he's commanded to be strong, what does that mean? It means that he's weak. Be courageous. If he's commanded to be courageous, what does that mean? He said he was discouraged or cowardly. Yeah Do not be frightened. What does that mean? I mean she was afraid Do not be dismayed or depressed or downtrodden. What does that mean? He was depressed, he was down. Now, in a weird way, this comforts me because Joshua is seen as one of the greatest military leaders of all time in world history, with what he was able to do. That's outside of a biblical context. That's just at a historical military context to be able to enter and win battle after battle after battle with some farmers, bakers and candlestick makers, OK? Like he's going in and he's winning these wars, right? It's one of the greatest military moves of all time, but in this verse we see that he is weak. That he's cowardly. That he's frightened and that he's depressed. And that comforts me because I've actually felt those emotions before. And what I love about courage is courage is not a feeling, it's a focus. Why do I? Because God won't command you to do something that you can't choose to do. He doesn't say feel courageous, don't feel scared. He doesn't say feel better. He says in your weakness, In your cowardice, in your frightened state, in your depressed state to choose strength and courage. Why? Because I'm giving it to you. You are not the fuel to your own vehicle, that the power of God comes to live and dwell inside of you, that I'm gonna give you the courage. And instead of looking back and seeing all the things that Joshua didn't do. I think God reminded Joshua of all the things that God has done. Because When you take Joshua's story and you trace it back. To all the things that Moses did. And you realize that Joshua was there for all of those. The reason Joshua was able to flip the switch. To be strong and be courageous because he realized it wasn't about Moses, it's about what God did through Moses, that same God. The same promise, the same precepts, and the same presence was now with him. When you look back on those 40 years of challenges in the wilderness, what we realize is that a faith that is tested is a faith that can be trusted. And even more so today, we have story after story after story of people in scripture. Who felt weak Who felt cowardly, who felt afraid, who felt depressed, and God comes in and says, focus on me. Joshua in the very next verse. Rallied the troops and said, get ready. Get ready. Because we're gonna go and take the land that God has promised to us. Now, the promised land itself, some would say there's a connection to like eternity, right? Makes sense, you believe Jesus going to the promised land. The only challenge with that is to realize that the battles. For the believers were actually after they entered the promised land. And if you believe in Jesus and you make it to heaven, and at the end, we're all said and done, you're not, you're not still fighting in heaven. You're already, you're already victory at that point. But where I think this applies to us today. I that is a physical story. That also represents a spiritual reality. I say that because here in 2 weeks, we're gonna talk about how God is with us on our mission. Because he uses the same verbiage. In the great commission in Matthew 28, to go and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. And do not be dismayed. Why? Because I am with you. So the promise of God, the precepts of God, the presence of God all come together to give us the power, the strength to fight the battles, and what happens is, is that when you become a Christian, it's not that the battles go away, but rather you receive the power to now have victory in those battles. Sometimes we get this wrong perception in our lives that when we put our faith out there, when we take a step of faith that life's gonna get easier, and many times it gets harder. For those that have been in the faith for a while, you've probably had stories where you said, you know what, I'm gonna commit to God, and then the next day something goes wrong. Or it gets more difficult, or you, or you're generous, and then something happens financially and you're like, wait, what God, what just happened there? Or you forgive and then somebody hurts you. And it's not because the Christian life is just meant to be played, uh, playing a harp on a fluffy cloud. But rather, God has called you into a battle. But in that battle, he says, I will fight for you. I will be with you. You will have my promise, you will have the precepts, you will have story after story after story, and most importantly, I'm gonna give you my presence and the power to overcome. So when we acknowledge the battles that we're in, it gives us the courage because we could choose it. Why? Because we're focused. On his presence, not our problems. We're focused on his purpose and not our pain. You don't need the world to be right around you. When you have eternal forgiveness inside of you. That you have all you need. But this story isn't just in Joshua, we see it all throughout Scripture. Going back to the Christmas story, put yourself in Mary's shoes for a second. Teen girl Say, hey, You're gonna give birth to the savior. Like if I'm guessing there's some moms in the room that have some mom pressure, right? The mom guilt going on. Right? Where you see online and. You know, someone posts like, oh, we did this craft together, and it's like, like, I'm just trying to get my kids' shoes on, you know what I mean? And if you work, you want to be at home, and if you're at home, you like, but I'm also called to work and there's this tension, right? And you have all this pressure. Imagine the pressure Mary felt. Hey, Mary, I know you've never been a mom before. You're gonna raise God. And so he was she was afraid. But what changes in her focus? How, what, what switch gets flipped? To make her strong and courageous. It's the presence of God. She's afraid. She hears about family. Zachariah, Elizabeth are gonna give birth to a child as well, and be John the Baptist leading the way for Jesus coming down, cousin there. And so she's afraid, and the angel says these words here in Luke chapter 1 verse 3738, he says, for nothing will be impossible with God. And now notice the response of Mary. Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed. God, if you're with me. Anything's possible. That's her focus. The Christmas story itself. Think about the shepherd field. Luke chapter 2, verse 9 to 11. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with what? Great courage. No, the first response was fear. OK, fear. Angel said to them, fear not, you know, fear not is one of the most common. Commands in scripture, at least 365 times in scripture or more. God says, fear not. Why should they fear not? It says, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. What is this good news? Why is there great joy? For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Fear not. Why? Because Jesus is here. Jesus is here. Courage is not a feeling, it's a focus. If, if God commanded it, we can choose it. And it's not, it's not minimizing the problem, it's maximizing our God. That's the thing, like you don't have to minimize your problem. You just have to understand how big our God really is. Same prophet who Predicted the name Emmanuel also wrote these words in Isaiah 41:10 says, fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. You see the same themes coming over and over and over. Why? Because it's one of the deepest, most core battles we face as Christians. 2 Timothy 1:7, For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. When you think about the power that comes from the mindset of understanding that God defeated death itself. We said this last week, but I say it again this week. If you believe that God created the world and that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the 3rd day, then anything is possible. That from nothing can come everything. That death isn't the end. That he has the power for life and meaning and he's saying that same power I'm giving to you. And not only is he giving us power in our minds, but he's given love in our hearts. Some of us have been working our whole lives for a certain person in our life to say I love you. And Jesus comes right out of the gate with it. That you are fully loved right now. Power in our minds, love in our hearts. And then courage, wait, self-control. That doesn't seem like on the same wavelength, does it? Right? Like picture like Braveheart speech, blue paint uh face paint, right? God's gonna give us power and love. And moral boundaries. Like, wait, what? Like, why, why is self-control put in with power and love? That seems kind of odd, right? Unless you understand that your greatest battle in life is gonna be with whom? Yourself. And so whatever you're struggling with, understand that you can experience victory in the life. Yes, it might take therapy, yes, it might take group, yes, it's gonna take some work in your life because you act your way or get a habit into a way, but understand that God's grace is deeper than anything you've battled and that God does not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control with the power of God in our minds, the love of God in our hearts, and the self-control that works through our hands that in our lives we can experience victory. Amen. Paul and and Colossians is praying for the church in Colossus. He prays this. He's praying in verse 1011 chapter 1. He says, pray so that to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God. Now notice verse 11 here, being strengthened. Mean that God's the one strengthening you with what power? With all power, according to his glorious might, the same power that created the world, the same power that empowered Mary to give virgin birth there to Jesus, God with the same power that conquered death itself is available to you and to me. For all endurance and patience with joy. That we are in a battle, but we are not in a battle alone. In fact, in another letter, the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 6. He says, and finally, Finally, church, be strong. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. The first step, church is to acknowledge that we are in a battle. You cannot have a conversation with somebody in your community or turn on the television, or streaming platform, or social media and and and not see the fact that we are surrounded by darkness. But that should not discourage us, rather, that should embolden us because I've read the end and light winds. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. And it's time for us to rise up, to stand up, that the battles that you're facing, you might feel weak and cowardly and frightened and depressed. Guess what? So did Joshua. So did Mary at one point. So did so many biblical characters over and over and over again, and yet we see time and time again, even in our brokenness in our shortcomings and our failings that when we were faithless, God remained faithful, that when we were broken, God comes in and blesses, that when we sin, God. Forgives, and he died on the cross, taking the ultimate payment for your sins and for mine, and rising again on the 3rd day, so that we can sit on the sidelines? No, so that we can engage our culture with the good news of the gospel that the Christmas story is a story of victory in battle. Hebrews 10:39 says, we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed. But those who have faith and preserve their souls. Hm. Courage is not a feeling, it's a focus. If God's given you the command. God's given you the choice. That means we can choose it. This is personal for me in that. Uh I've shared with some of you that I have like 5 verses or so that I say to myself pretty much every day, like morning declarations of the promises of God. One of those is Joshua 1:9, God is with me. And I've said that for the last 8 to 10 years, pretty much every day. And it's changed my thinking. I remember distinctly It was, it was like maybe August, September time frame, 2018. Church was launching in October, October 7th, 2018. It's about a month, month and a half before. We had some major decisions to make. We needed major funding. We need, we needed staff, we needed resources. We pretty much needed everything. And I had this freak out moment. And I'm, I'm not, I. I'm not great at the whole prayer closet thing. I'm too like scatterbrained and get distracted. Right? Like, like, dear heavenly Father, oh, what's that? OK. So that's me. So, so I actually pray like walking about nature, I'll go out, like, just get out, instead of getting close I go big. Does that make sense? So I'm literally out in the desert between Joemax and Pinnacle Peak, just out, and I was out walking and it's monsoon season. So it wasn't the smartest decision. And there was clear sky, and I'm praying and I'm like wrestling with God, right? Like I'm just like, God. I thought you told me to do this thing. And now I don't know, but it's kind of too late, right? And a storm rolls in And I'm thinking should have brought an umbrella. Cause at this point, I'm a little too far out from the house. I remember praying to God like, God, do you even hear me? And the storm clouds above me, they were just like, just like. Deep Thunder lightning, you know what I mean? And it was in that moment that they're in the desert, no one around. It got almost like tapped me on the shoulder, like it was big and then it was small at the same time. And it's almost like You see that power in that storm. You don't think I'm gonna bring that power into my church? And right then in my pocket, my phone buzzed and it was a huge answer to prayer. And I was like, OK, got it. You're with me. Let's go. So you're, you're sitting in a church service. I'm sitting in an answer to prayer. And reminder, that's why I can so passionately say. God is with you. He's with us. So I want you to think and ask 3 questions this morning. Number 1, What battles are you facing? What's the prayer request that keeps circling back into your mind, that's that's racing in your head, that's weighing on your shoulders, that's that's pressing on your heart or in your gut? What's the battle you're facing right now? Second question is, then where is your focus right now? Don't minimize the pain and the problem and the issues, but have you maximized the very acknowledge the power and the presence and the promise of God? And the third thing then is then how can you walk in strength and courage this week? Because when Joshua received it, Let the people in the promised land. What battle do you need to head into this week? That you need to focus on the courage that comes from the presence of God with you, Emmanuel. Let's go time Church. God is with us. Who has God called you to be? What does God called you to be to do? Be strong and courageous this week. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed. God is with you at the end of the age. Let's pray dear heaven Father, you truly are good. God, this power that we passionately talk about today only comes when we place our faith in you. For those in this room that have never received you, God, I pray that they would admit that they have sinned. That they would believe that you are Lord and Savior. That we commit our lives to you, that you are the only way to heaven. We ask that you forgive our sins. And give us eternity, God. We ask your Holy Spirit to dwell into our hearts. That your name here at Christmas, God with us, would come into our lives. And that we would acknowledge that you are with us in our battles. Help us to be strong and courageous today. And your sons that we pray, amen.