🙌 Celebrate Jehovah Jireh

The God who sees 👁️ and the God who provides 🕊️.

We celebrate His faithfulness and provision.

2025 Vision: Engage with God + Engage our Faith

• We are going after the:
• Detached 🙃
• Drifted 🌊
• Those Who Don’t Know ❓

I want to start with a question that echoes from stadiums in Louisiana. Growing up in 

Louisiana, every Sunday we would hear this everywhere we went. “Who Dat?”

If you’ve ever watched the New Orleans Saints, you know the chant:

“Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?”

It’s bold.

It’s confident.

It’s defiant.

It’s a way of saying, “Be careful… you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

That’s exactly what Isaiah is doing in Isaiah 9. God’s people were surrounded by 

darkness—military threats, political instability, and spiritual confusion. And right in the 

middle of that darkness, God announces: WHO DAT! (not a question but a statement)

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I’m coming.”

But here’s the twist—they expected a warrior…

God sent a baby.

They expected a conqueror…

God sent a servant.

They expected a throne…

God sent a cross.

So today our question is not just “Who Dat?”

But Do you recognize Him when He shows up?

A CHILD WITH GOVERNMENT SHOULDERS

Isaiah 9:6–7 (NASB95): 6. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7. There will be no end to the increase of His government or  of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and  forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

A CHILD… with government on His shoulders.

At this time Israel was falling apart. Armies pressing in. Leaders corrupt. People fearful. But God said, “I’m not sending another political alliance—I’m sending a child, and this child carries more authority on His shoulders than all the  nations of the earth.”

And then Isaiah shocks the world:

This child is called Mighty God.

Hebrew: ’El Gibbôr — God the Warrior, God the Champion.

Who Dat?

It’s God wrapped in flesh.

MIGHTY GOD — THE WARRIOR BEHIND THE BABY

That Hebrew phrase ’El Gibbôr is not small.

’El = God Himself.

Gibbôr = mighty hero, warrior-champion.

The same title appears again in Isaiah 10:21 where it refers unmistakably to Yahweh.

Isaiah is saying:

“This baby… is Yahweh in human skin.”

Not just a good teacher.

Not just a miracle worker.

Not just a religious symbol.

He is the Mighty God who fights for His people.

ILLUSTRATION — BLACK PANTHER BIRTHDAY

Let me take you into my home for a moment. For my son’s 8th birthday, he got a Black Panther costume. You should’ve seen him. Chest out. Shoulders back. Walked through the house like he was guarding Wakanda. In that suit… he believed he could do anything. Defeat any enemy. Save the day. Be the hero.

And you know what?

Kids naturally believe in greatness. They believe they’re meant for something big. But as we get older… life hits us. Disappointment hits us. Bills hit us. Religion sometimes tames us. Suddenly we stop expecting anything mighty from God. We settle for spiritual survival instead of spiritual victory.

But the Mighty God says,

“Don’t shrink your faith down to match your circumstances. Lift your eyes to match My  character.”

THE MESSIAH THEY EXPECTED — THE HERO THEY DESIGNED

In Jesus’ day, Israel expected a Messiah— a political liberator, a military hero, someone to overthrow Rome.

They wanted a Savior who fit their preferences: Flashy. Obvious. Impressive. Dominant.

But God said:

“My ways are not your ways” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

So instead of coming in a war chariot…He came in a feeding trough. Instead of rubbing shoulders in palaces… He walked with fishermen and the poor. Instead of building armies… He healed the broken. Instead of storming Rome… He stormed the human heart. God sent the hero they needed, not the hero they designed.

THE PATH THEY OVERLOOKED — THE WAY OF THE CROSS

Isaiah didn’t only speak of a Mighty God.

He also spoke of a Suffering Servant:

Isaiah 53:5 (NASB95): “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…”

The Mighty God became the suffering servant.

Think about that:

The strongest One became weak.

The highest became low.

The eternal entered time.

The Creator stepped into creation.

God’s greatest victory doesn’t begin by crushing His enemies, It begins by carrying their sins.

He conquers death by dying.

He defeats the grave from the inside.

No one saw that coming.

MIS-SEEING JESUS — STILL LOOKING FOR THE WRONG HERO

People still do this today. They missed Him then and we still miss Him today. Some want Jesus to be only a prosperity superhero.

Fix my money.

Fix my job.

Fix my comfort.

Others want Him to be a political mascot.

Vote like me.

Think like me.

Agree with my side.

But if we only want a Jesus who props up our preferences—

We’ll miss the Mighty God who came to overthrow our sin, not just our circumstances. Jesus is not here to be your accessory. He’s here to be your King.

JESUS IS NOT STILL ON THE CROSS

Some people keep Jesus mentally stuck on the cross— a symbol of suffering, a reminder of guilt. But church…The cross is central, but it is not final.

Matthew 28:6 (NASB95): “He is not here, for He has risen…”

He died on Friday.

He rested on Saturday.

But on Sunday morning…

The Mighty God breathed again.

If the Jesus in your imagination never moved from the cross to the empty tomb… You’re praying to a memory instead of worshiping a living Savior.

WHO DAT ON THE CROSS? — THE HIDDEN HERO REVEALED

Picture Calvary.

Crowds shouting.

Mocking.

Laughing.

“Who is this?” they said.

“If you’re the Son of God, come down!” (Matthew 27:40).

They saw weakness.

Heaven saw war.

Colossians 2:15 (NASB95): “He disarmed the rulers and authorities…”

On that cross…

He was breaking chains you couldn’t see.

He was crushing the serpent’s head.

He was canceling sin’s record.

When He looked least like a hero…

He was doing His mightiest work.

Maybe that’s happening in your life too.

Your weakest season may be the battleground where God is doing His strongest work.

WHO DAT OUT THE GRAVE? — THE CHAMPION NO ONE CAN BEAT

Then came the third day.

Jesus walked out of the grave and declared: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18 NASB95).

Who Dat?

It’s the One death couldn’t hold.

The One hell couldn’t stop.

The One sin couldn’t defeat.

Isaiah said, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”

That government began breaking into the world the moment the stone rolled away.

And if death is defeated—Then addiction doesn’t have the last word.

Shame doesn’t have the last word.

Fear doesn’t have the last word.

Your past doesn’t have the last word.

Jesus, the Mighty God, does.

THREE ANGLES OF “MIGHTY” — WHAT HIS HEROISM MEANS FOR YOU

1. Mighty to Save

Hebrews 7:25 (NASB95): “He is able to save forever those who draw near…”

No sin is too deep.

No past is too dark.

No life is too broken.

If He conquered death, He can rescue you.

2. Mighty to Sustain

Colossians 1:17 (NASB95): “In Him all things hold together.”

If the government rests on His shoulders,

your life is not too heavy for His hands.

3. Mighty to Send

Acts 1:8 (NASB95): “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”

The Mighty God turns ordinary people

into bold, Spirit-empowered witnesses.

KIDS AND CALLING — LETTING THE MIGHTY GOD SHAPE YOUR IDENTITY

Let’s go back to my son in that Black Panther suit.

When did you stop believing God could use you like that?

When did you stop believing He could do mighty things through you?

“Mighty God” doesn’t make you mighty—It makes Him mighty in you. The world needs adults who still believe like children. The next generation needs us to point them not to fictional heroes, but to a living Savior who calls them into His Kingdom, His mission.

WHO DAT TO YOU? — CALLING FOR A RESPONSE

Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16:15 (NASB95): “But who do you say that I am?”

That’s the question today.

Who Dat to you?

If you’re far from God…

It’s time to turn.

Time to repent.

Time to trust the Mighty God who died and rose for you.

He carried the government on His shoulders.

He can carry your life in His hands.

If you’re a believer…

Stop living with a small Jesus.

Stop worshiping a safe Jesus.

Stop praying like He’s still on the cross.

He’s alive.

He’s reigning.

He’s mighty.

Live like you belong to the risen King