SUNDAY SERMON BY PASTOR RAJESH MATHEW, 24 DEC 2023 

Galatians 4:4- 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born[a] of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons

• The entire world is celebrating Christmas. The Middle East is celebrating Christmas most amazingly. Though not everybody knows surely about the date we do know that God came down to earth. While the entire world is celebrating the birth of the Saviour, how much more is the church?! 

WHAT ARE WE CELEBRATING?

1. We are celebrating God’s love for MAN 

We are celebrating the love of God. The love that God has for man.

John 3:16- the golden verse- That God so loved the world that HE gave His only Son to die for us that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

• God loves us so much that He gave His only Son for us. Men love us when they see something in us that is good. But God saw nothing good in us yet loved us and demonstrated this love by giving us His Only Son to die for us on the Cross.

2. We are celebrating the GIFT OF GOD

2 Corinthians 9:15- Thank God for this INDESCRIBABLE GIFT.

The Book of Romans says, if He did not withhold His only son, will HE not also give us ALL things together with Him? 

• Therefore, if you have loved and believed in this Son, will He not give you everything? Will He not give you favour, blessing, anointing, wisdom and healing? He will give it all to you. Declare- “I will receive the goodness of God over my life because I love and believe in the Son whom HE sent” 

3. GOD’s UNSPEAKABLE JOY towards His people 

• Joy beyond explanation. I had read long back that even before John was sent to the Island of Patmos, he was put in burning oil, and even in that burning situation, John was rejoicing in the Lord and he was indicating to King Nero that certain sides of his body weren’t burnt yet. What an indescribable joy.

Maybe 2023 did not go as you had planned, but If the Holy Spirit releases the indescribable joy into your life, you will not be able to describe it. there will be a deep joy of the Holy Spirit inside of you. Praise God! 

1 Peter 1:8-8 whom having not [a]seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

• Some of you need to receive a dose of this joy! Do not be grumpy. May the Holy Spirit release that indescribable joy into your heart. Only God can give you that Joy.
• Our strength is in the joy of the Lord. This morning, decide to rejoice in the Holy Spirit! There are no grumpy faces in this Christian life.
• You need to rejoice. No matter what you are yet to see in your life, you need to still rejoice. You may not have got your job, maybe your daughter is not yet married, maybe your skin problem hasn’t left you, but you still need to rejoice because of God’s gift to mankind.
• Don’t work against anybody else’s life. You may feel like you are drowning but God can pull you out and place you on a sure foundation, give you a new song in your heart and preserve you unto eternity.

May things that escalate your joy come into your life in 2024! 

As a child, I used to wait for the morning of 25th December- the day of Christmas and I used to feel sad when the sun went down on the 25th of December. But as a child of God, our joy doesn’t end with the day but our joy is for eternity. Let your children rejoice in your home. Let there be joy in your home.

4. We are celebrating GOD’S PEACE towards man 

Isaiah 9:6-7- or unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

He is the prince of peace. Knowing Christ is Knowing peace. He is the prince of peace. Avoiding Christ is embracing crisis. But if you possess Christ, you have peace. 

• Some people cannot sleep well at nights because they are worried and anxious about many things, May the peace of God be released into your hearts. 
• There is a word that is used in English- the peace that does not make sense. I had read somewhere. A person who doesn’t fear God or have faith in God is highly disturbed on his death bed but the one who trusts in Jesus, enjoys deep peace when it is time to leave their earthly abode. Today may you be filled with the peace of God. 
• Jesus brought peace between man and God. That is what we are celebrating. May there be peace. 

5. We are celebrating GOD’S PRESENCE with Man. 

Jesus’s name is Immanuel which means God with us. If Jesus is with us, God’s presence is with us. Where the Presence of God is, the Jordan parts into two. Where the presence is, the Jericho walls crumble, diseases flee, and miracles happen where the Presence of Jesus is. The demons flee and bondages break where Jesus’s presence is.

The Holy Spirit gave me a Word- This will be a supernatural season. If you read about the Christmas time in the Bible, everything was supernatural.

• There were supernatural movements
• Joseph’s family was in Nazareth- But they moved to Bethlehem. Though they made the move because of a new law, it was in fulfilment of God’s prophecy. Either through new laws, policies or political developments, God will make you move to places that are in line with His will for you, your family, your children and your business.

You will make new journeys, supernatural journeys will arise, and God’s works will be revealed there.

• The wise men moved from the east. There was a movement. They saw a star and they moved and followed it for two years. What was that star? It was an angel of the Lord. It would appear and disappear. This star moved (usually stars don’t move). It is not astrology. 

It is not about studying the movement of the sun, moon and stars but behind this was an angel. The angel came to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds. Therefore, I believe that what appeared to the wise men was an angel. The angel left at Herod’s palace. The angel of the Lord/GOD’s presence will leave when you enter places that you are not supposed to.

May you have angelic encounters this season. 

2. The month of divine and supernatural interventions.

• The angels came and intervened. It was supernatural. Elizabeth was old but she had a supernatural pregnancy. Mary was young but she had a supernatural delivery. • It is a season of supernatural fruitfulness. It may be something that you may have been doing for years but there has been no growth, no freshness or increase. May the Lord step into that and make it fruitful.
• Elizabeth and Zecharias may have related as husband and wife but there is in fruit. Maybe you have been doing all things right, you have been praying, you have been trying but there has been no change, no increase.

The season of fruitlessness is over! 

• Mary is a virgin, she is inexperienced. But even there, there will be fruitfulness. You may be inexperienced but God will make you supernaturally fruitful.

I have the testimony of a couple; the boy is from Mangalore and the girl is from Kerala. They moved to Canada and rose to high levels in the Andrew Womack ministry. What would take people 12 -15 years to raise to their level, they rose in just one year of their moving. It was God’s Fruitfulness upon them.

• This morning it is not your experience or your knowledge, it is the favour of the Lord. His favour is revealed over your life. May there be miracle babies in Jesus' Name. 

3. It is also a season of supernatural messages.

Luke 1:13-14- But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; 

• Supernatural answers to prayers! Whatever prayers you prayed in 2023, will be answered in 2024. Take it and receive it! 
• Don’t be afraid, the angel said. Zecharias had been praying for years. But when it was the right time, the angel came and said, don’t be afraid, the answer to your prayer is coming.

Luke 1:21-30- The Angel came and told Mary, you have found favour with God.

• Don’t be afraid. You have found favour with God. You are on God’s side. God is focusing on you. God's eyes are on you. The spotlight is on you. 

In this season, I have found favour with God! FAVOUR 

God’s favour is coming upon a child by the name of Reshma. God is picking you in His hands and taking you all across nations and whatever you do, there will be a 100-fold fruit. 

• When favour comes, a turnaround happens. There will be a sudden turnaround. In the moment that the devil rejoices that you have lost, just then the Lord shall bring about a turnaround by His Favour. For example, Australia was playing a match against some country and it had lost almost all its wickets and had thought it was over, they were losing. But suddenly one player comes and thrashes single-handedly and suddenly there is a shift and the team unexpectedly wins!

Heaven is releasing such a favour upon your life that where you thought you were failing; God's favour will turn around things and make you win. 

THE ANOINTING OF MAXIMUM  THAT MEANS GOD SENDING YOU HIS FAVOUR TO PUSH YOU TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL ATTAINABLE, BOTH SPIRITUALLY AND MATERIALLY. Maximum glory, maximum miracles, maximum blessings, in Jesus Name. You have a car that can drive at 200 kmph speed but you are only driving at 20 kmph. Some of your Christian life is like that. God has placed within you an engine that can drive up to the speed of 200 kmph but you  are only driving at 20. May that change this morning in Jesus' name. Mathew 13:9- 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty  or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”  • God starts at 100 and then comes down to 60 and 30. But we start with 30 and 60. God says, I will give you 100 and if you can’t get hold of that, you can take claim for 60 or 30. The beginning is the maximum. The beginning of this year is 100. The beginning is the beginning of the maximum. God is releasing such a favour upon some of you.

Let Him who has ears let him hear. Not to go in minimum or less but in maximum. The Holy Spirit said your every meeting will be like a crusade! 

• Get ready Cornerstone church. Every small meeting will see 100-fold fruit. The highest level attainable. May that unfold in your life in Jesus name.
• God will lift us maximum. God will bless us maximum. Let your life move from minus to plus. Not just to adjust and manage life somehow. But by his favour and anointing may you be moved into a maximum realm.
• Imagine you bought a good car in 2000. Those days it was a good car. After 20 years you are still adjusting and moving with that car. You are washing it, cleaning it, changing the seat covers. You are just adjusting to this car. If you are happy with that adjusting, then it's fine. But if you start to feel restless and want to come out and move to the next level, you need to get out by faith and say I am coming out of this limitation and getting into the maximum that God has for me. There will be a heavenly anointing to bring grace to multiply upon your life. 

GOD WILL GIVE YOU A SIGN 

Luke 2:12- 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger 

• God will give you a sign. It may seem like a small sign, but God is the One who does great things. What you see is a small baby, a small sign appointed to change the destiny of mankind, beckoning great things. 
• In the Old Testament, we see that God gave His people big signs, and the nations knew that the Lord was God. God did 10 major signs in Egypt for the Israelites. He gave supernatural victories. 
• This verse says it is a small sign. This baby was supposed to have been born in a palace, but the Lord gives a small sign—a baby in a manger, among cattle. 
• When I was reading the Word last week, I came across a person by name Barzillai, 90 years old, who loved David. He carefully protected and took care of David when his enemies were pursuing him. After David became the king, he asked Barzillai to come and stay with him in the palace. We can see that in 2 Samuel 19.

2 Samuel 19:37- Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. 

• Barzilai says, let Chimham come instead of me. David had many palaces. One among them was the house where David grew up, Jesse’s house, which later became a palace and this palace was given to Chimham. Chimham got David’s palace. Jesus, who was born the Son of David. That palace became like a hotel.
• In Jeremiah 41, the Word says that Chimham made this palace into a hotel/ inn. This was the same inn which Mary and Joseph came and knocked at when it was time for Jesus to be born. This Inn belonged to David and rightfully to Jesus, the Son of David, but there was no space in the Inn for Him. When they were refused a place there, they went to a manager.
• Jesus became poor for my sake so that I may become rich. If you do not open up your house for Jesus, HE will manifest His glory through other houses. This was a small sign. Jesus was lying there in a manger; the Saviour was born. 

God will give you a sign for your breakthrough this Christmas season. Sometimes, this sign may look very small.

Elijah saw a cloud of the size of a hand. Small but since he was a man of prayer he knew that behind this small sign was a big rain. A big blessing was coming his way. A cloud the size of your palm was going to bring rain for the entire nation and the poverty and famine of that nation was going to change. Trees and plants were going to grow. A small sign will bring a big sound of the rushing rain. A praying Elijah could see it.

You are only seeing a small sign but behind that, a maximum blessing is coming. In a joyless atmosphere, Jesus is lying who was going to bring joy to the whole world. 

• Luke 2 says that Jesus was going to bring joy and glad tidings to all. 
• Joseph may have been burdened. His pregnant wife was in a manger and his child was lying among cows.

This is a Word for some of you- Some of you are burdened that you are not able to provide for your children or give them what they desire. But God is saying that behind this small sign is a breakthrough. You will be able to do for your children what they need. Heavens are taking over the issue of your children. God will act  for them and provide for them.

Mathew 2:6- Bethlehem was the smallest town where Jesus was born. 

That was the town from where prophets arose. Kings arose from there. Whatever you thought was very small will bring you a great breakthrough. Despise not the days of small beginnings. In this season, God will take you and your children to the maximum. That is where Jesus was born. 

• When we were born again did somebody rejoice for you? No. They would have mocked you, removed you from social functions, viewed you very differently, made fun of you, and said that you were born again due to foreign funds. Even when Jesus was born, nobody rejoiced. It was a joyless atmosphere. Maybe you were belittled for deciding to serve Jesus, but such are the people that the Lord used to make prophets and servants of God who are being used powerfully the world over today. God will make you increase and bless you.
• Don’t make fun of a small jack fruit seed. It will bring forth a big jack fruit. • Mustard seed is the least of the seeds but it can grow into the largest tree and is likened to the kingdom of God.
• A little yeast is small but it can ferment the entire dough. The Kingdom of God is like that.

God is saying it may be a small sign but if you understand the revelation, you will see it bring maximum into your life. 

• Small stones of David brought him great victories. The small thing that

A simple humble young girl was chosen by Jesus to bring Him forth into the world. She just gave in to Him and surrendered to him. Would you give yourself to Jesus? Here am I Lord. Be it unto me according to your Word. Will you do that? If you do that, the seasons of your life will change. 

The seasons will change and the heavens will take your issue up. 

Mary and Joseph’s family life

1) Joseph, being righteous thought “I would slowly divorce her without anybody knowing”. But angels descended and intervened into their family life.

• God will intervene. The Devil destroyed the family in the Garden of Eden but Jesus came ot build families. Declare, my family shall be built by the Lord.
• Don’t compare your family with others. My family will be blessed by the Lord and the heavens will resolve the issues of my family. I won’t try and draw parallels with other families.

Promise of protection and deliverance just in time

2) Angel said, Herod is looking for this child, take another route, go to Egypt. Joseph escaped. God intervened and protected that child. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand. All around people may be attacked but God will send you deliverance in your family. There was a difference between Egypt and Goshen. The angel of death crossed over 

Goshen. The Blood of Jesus is your Protection. 

• When there was crying and sounds of death of the firstborns. If the child was to be killed the next day, deliverance came just the previous day. 

This is a prophetic word- the destruction that will come to you tomorrow, God will deliver you and free you from it today! Just a day before that problem, God will send you wisdom and deliverance one day before.

• Peter’s head was planned to be cut off the next day but the previous day the angel came and rescued Him.

Whatever is being fashioned to cut off your head in 2024, God is releasing you and delivering you from it on Dec 31st. 

• Supernatural interventions- God will send you help the previous day. That that as a prophetic declaration. God has seen the problem of your future and has planned deliverance for you. Glory to God.
• Mary went to Elizabeth’s house. She said the mother of my saviour is here. Blessed are you among women. If you are carrying Jesus, this will be your story. All your neighbours, family and friends will say blessed are you. Humble yourself and give yourself to Jesus. Surrender to the will of God. Say this and do this with all your heart.
• Remove every bitterness from your heart. Only Jesus in your heart. Only the love of Jesus in your heart. If someone pelts a stone at you, throw back a flower at them.