Revealing What Happens To Us When We Behold Our God

Captain Rob Westwood-Payne

Who Are You? • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Taking time to behold our God, acknowledging his grandeur and beauty, develops our familiarity with the one whom we are called to reflect.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction (5m)

What do you see when you look at a piece of art?

Slide: The Washing of Feet - Sieger Koder

Brengle - what do you see?

Park West Gallery in Michigan suggest 8 tips to view art like an expert:

Spend time with art.

Determine the Basics - its medium, artist, when created, genre, scale and format, framing, lighting.

Notice your eye movements - many artists draw your eye to a particular element (missing head? reflection in water?)

Do some homework. If a piece catches your eye, Google search, read Exhibition catalogue, speak to art team - could be about style, artist, medium.

How do you feel?

Find your likes and dislikes. Art is subjective, so key factors in better understanding it.

Draw on your memory (you know this story, how water reflects, etc.).

Figure out the meaning. Allegory, tells a story, realistic, or free from any associations.

Now, what do you see when you behold God?

Maybe Gallery’s suggestions can help here:

Spend time with God.

Determine the Basics.

Notice your eye movements - what does God draw your eye to?

Do some homework. Read about him in God’s word. Study with other believers.

How do you feel?

Explanation (5m)

Paul prays that we will behold God in this way

Ephesians 1:16–18 NLT

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

Grow in Your Knowledge of God

Know to fullest extent the blessing you have received from God.

The power to understand. That you would experience God. Behold God in all his fullness in Christ. Complete knowledge of his will. Keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

This growth in knowledge is indispensable to our holiness/spiritual growth/maturity

Faith, relationship with God is organic.

Knowledge Paul prays for is one of experience - what we behold in our hearts, more than our head knowledge of the truths about God. Paul wants us to know God in relationship. It’s about knowing not knowledge. Depth not breadth. Not that we know of God but that we actually know God.

The greatest tragedy I see as a pastor is Christians who have simply given up getting to know God more

Don’t need to do Daily Devotional - I don’t have time to get to know God any better.

Don’t need to join a Growth Group. Studied Bible years ago. Nothing and no-one can add to my knowledge of God.

Those new songs we sing? Those lyrics have nothing to teach me about God and my relationship with him.

How sad! Why? Because if not growing, going forward, then dying, going backwards.

If we want to continue to grow in holiness, then it is vital that we spend time with him

Prayers turn from monologue to dialogue. Observe him in creation around us. Read and study his Word alone and together to learn about the relationship between God and his people, shift gaze from B&W picture we have of him to see how truly great he is.

This knowledge of God/getting to know God is impossible without his divine revelation

HS is agent of revelation. He helps us get to know God intimately.

We are in constant need of the HS shining God’s light of revelation into our lives. If not, it will be replaced by this world’s darkness.

Application (5m)

How can we continue to get to know God better?

Spend time with him.

Do you really know God, or do you just know about him?

Are you neglecting your relationship with God? Refusing to spend time with him in worship, prayer, Bible study, and fellowship.

When we do it will change our lives:

Come to see that God is the creator of every blessing we enjoy.

We see that our identity is in Christ. We are no longer identified with the old fallen humanity.

We now have a personal knowledge of God, the forgiveness of our sins, and the indwelling of HS.

You and I are a child of God. That’s our identity. Let’s behold him as we worship, pray, and study together. Let’s get to know him even better and deepen our relationship with our Creator.

Next Steps

Song - Who You Say I Am

Who You Say I Am

Verse 1

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Chorus 1

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Verse 2

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

Chorus 2

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Bridge

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

Tag

(Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan

CCLI Song #7102401

CCLI Licence No.135015

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