IT: Foundations What we believe: God

Good morning and welcome

I pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were off all week from school but were very busy as Logan and Claire got married last night. What a beautiful and wonderful evening it was celebrating their love for Jesus and each other

As we continue through our It sermon series I pray God is opening your eyes to your ministry

What He has called you to do

Sitting in the pew is not it

coming to church is important to God so it must be important to you but you dont come to church to earn grace but because of the grace God freely gives you in Christ Jesus

God has created works for you to do

i pray you are seeking and listening and doing as God reveals those works to you

This morning we continue with our foundational beliefs here at CCC.

to truly lock shields together we must know what we believe

now we will not always agree on every point and as long as it is not Gospel....doctrine…Jesus and Jesus alone it is okay

Romans 14 tells us exactly that

Spend some time there this week and see what God has for you

God

What do we at CCC believe about God

Who is He?

What does He want and expect?

how do we please and honor Him?

We will dive into scripture to look at these questions this morning

Lets Pray

I believe when talking about God we must have a scriptural perspective

now I cant touch on all aspects of God this morning for a few reasons

first I dont know them all and wont know them all until Jesus returns or I am promoted to heaven

second there isnt enough time.....it would take eternity to expound upon all that God is!!!!

So today, as is my custom, I will bring to you what God brought to me this week

First I believe you must know God’s heart and true desire

2 Peter 3:9

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“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

That is God’s heart....all come to Him through repentance

ALL

Everyone He created

All people

God wants all to come to repentance

As a Christian you and I must wholeheartedly desire that as well

Notice God is longsuffering

patient

God willingly chooses to put up with you and me

why

because He loves us and wants us to come to repentance

Imagine.....if you can.....God looking down at His creation and all that we have ruined and destroyed

We are a hot mess

we are always driving the struggle bus

running around down here chasing sin

chasing us

chasing the world

we deserve to be destroyed and sent to hell because of our sin

YET God chooses to suffer long because He desires all to come to repentance

ALL!!!!!

You must get this and look at all scripture through this perspective because that is God’s perspective!!!!

Now some like the jews of old or the pharisees and Sadducees are excited right now because you hear what I just said and think

God covers me so I can do what I want when I want to do it because God desires repentance so I am good

Nope

That is dead wrong

God does desire all to come to repentance.....what is repentance....dying to sin…dying to self…dying to the world....turning wholeheartedly to God and God alone

You see another aspect of God we must understand is

God is holy

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1 Peter 1:13–16

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“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

God is holy

God never condones sin

God never overlooks sin

God never justifies sin.....

it is just how I am

you should have seen me before Jesus

God never accepts sin

NEVER

God is holy

His heart is for all to come to repentance but He is Holy

God cant even look upon sin

Matthew 27:46

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And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

At the moment Jesus became your sin and my sin and the sin of the whole world God looked away from Him for the first and only time in eternity

Why

because God is holy

God hates sin

God refuses to look at sin

If God looked away form Jesus…His only perfect Son because of your sin and my sin then you and I dont stand a chance without Jesus!!!!!!

God is holy

you and I as Christians then must strive to be holy as well

I think we miss this in today’s church

you are comfortable

i am comfortable

when we sin, in the physical world nothing really happens

sure if we break laws there may be some consequences for that

sure if we hurt people and relationships there are some consequences for that

but for the most part our society, unfortunately many Christians included, that just justify the action, give a half hearted apology usually followed with a defense of the action and move on

I am sorry but that is what I felt

I am sorry but you made me mad

I am sorry but I had no choice

That is not it

Sin destroys

Sin steals

Sin kills

You can NEVER be comfortable with sin

I loved almost every part of last night.....If I am being honest however I was not looking forward to the reception.....I was looking forward to seeing Logan and Claire be celebrated

I was looking forward to spending time with people I love

I was looking forward to the taco bar!!!!!!

I was looking forward to the kids having fun and running around

all of those things were great

watching Claire dance with Logan and then her dad was just fantastic

my heart melted watching Logan and Melody during the mother son dance

Most of it was awesome but I was never comfortable.....why

the music

the drinking

God hit me with just how comfortable we are with the world and sin

He also hit me with this

I am 48 years old, probably have lived about half of my life here on earth

As I was sitting and watching and listening to God HE showed me even though He has done some great things

Logan is the best part of me and he and Claire and Claires family, my new family are such blessings and all good gifts come from God

God, despite me, has done some great things in my life

and He showed me many other things and then said I did all of that when you were serving you and serving the world and being comfortable with sin now imagine what I will do in the second half of your life if you truly surrender and serve Me and Me alone!

God’s wrath is real

Without Jesus you will go to hell when you die

period

end of story

Jesus is the only way to the Father and salvation

then once saved through the Holy Spirit and scriptures you strive to be holy.....how....obedience

Part of that obedience is fully rejecting all sin!!!!!

God is limitless

He has no beginning and no end

He has no boundaries....not even bound by time and space

You and I…even satan are bound by time and space…meaning we can only be in one place at one time

God is not

You and I only know what we know

God knows all

You and I are very limited in our power

God is all powerful

I want to look at these aspects of God and what we at CCC believe about God

1. All-Knowing

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God is all knowing

He knows everything even those thoughts or deeds or sins you think you are hiding from God

He Knows

Psalm 139:4

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“For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.”

God knows every word

God knows every thought

God knows every belief

Even the stuff you think you are hiding HE KNOWS

How does God know all things....He sees all things

Hebrews 4:13

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“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

All things are naked and open to God

He sees all so He knows all

You cant hide anything from Him....but it goes beyond that

You are seen

you are loved

God sees everything about you

He created you

He knows you but beyond that He sees you

You are never alone

God knows all

sees all

He knows you struggles

your heartaches

your loneliness

your depression

your anxiety

He sees it

He knows it

He wants to take it

Not only does He see it and know it but He thinks about you

Jeremiah 29:11

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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

God thinks about you

let that sink in for a moment

God Almighty

the creator of the universe

God thinks about YOU!!!

Not only does He think about you but He has plans for you

Peaceful plans

not evil plans

plans to give you an expected end

Does that mean a plan for your death…well yes He has that and He knows exactly how and when you will die but that is not what He is talking about here

Plans for your futures

God knows your future and has plans

that should 1. humble you and 2. fill you with peace and hope!!!!

Praise God He is all knowing

2. All-Powerful

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God is the creator of all

God has no enemies that He hasnt fully defeated

God controls all

He allows free will…you and I must choose who we serve God or ourselves and satan and sin but God is fully in control

There is no power or force stronger or more powerful than our God

Psalm 147:4–5

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“He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.”

Notice these powers and aspects of God are not isolated but intertwined

All working together and part of each other

God knows the number of the starts

all stars throughout all galaxies

Wow

He doesnt just know the number but He calls them by their name!!!!! Jesus didnt die for the stars He died for you....so how much more important to our wonderful....loving....powerful God are you!!!!!

Isaiah 55:11

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“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

God’s Word is so powerful it never returns void

You and I through the Holy Spirit are to study and learn and know God’s scriptures and even more important than that we are to DO God’s scriptures

That is the least you can do

Some treat it like their 10 minutes in the morning is the super bowl and all is perfect because they spent 10 minutes in the scriptures

No God says the scriptures must consume you

you are to be a living sacrifice....in fact He says that is your reasonable service....the minimum

Sure God could impart every bit of His Word into your mind at salvation but He doesnt because He wants you to crave His Word

He wants you to need His Word

He wants you to stop at nothing to get His Word

Why

there are way too many reasons to list here but one of the main reasons is God’s Word is powerful

Look at what He says in scriptures

His Word will not return void

IT will accomplish what He pleases

Notice it doesnt say version

It doesnt say KJV only or ESV only or NIV only or Messianic translations or just the Torah or just the new testament No

HIS WORD

ALL OF HIS WORD

None of it returns void

Should we be careful of translations

Absolutely they were done by men and women so there will be issues but can a translation limit God’s power

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!

Matthew 6:33

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“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Seek God first and He moves

Doesnt matter what we do or what version we are reading because the Holy Spirit teaches us not the version

The other thing you must take from this verse is seeking GOD’S kingdom not your interpretation of that kingdom

not your understanding of that kingdom

God’s kingdom

that kingdom is that none should perish but all come to repentance and Jesus and Jesus alone

God’s will is going to be done

God’s Word will not return void

God is not limited by mans shortcomings or even evil attempts to destroy

God is all powerful

3. All-Present

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This is truly mind blowing

There are 8 billion people on planet earth right now

God is present with all of them at the same time

It is estimated that there have been 117 billion people who have lived on earth

God was and is present with all of them

Did you just hear that boom....that was your finite head blowing up!!!!

God is all present

Proverbs 15:3

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“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good.”

In every place

beholding everything

not just there but knowing

It goes beyond knowing

John 1:14

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“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Word made flesh

Jesus…dwelt among us

Jesus

God in the flesh

God’s Living Word came and lived with creation!!!!!!

That is an amazing thought....one we dont truly grasp and probably never will fully grasp until we get promoted home or Jesus returns

God with YOU

God with ME

Revelation 21:3

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“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

tabernacle of God with man.....JESUS!!!!!

Dwelling with us…God’s people…Christians

....not by blood

…not God’s people by keeping the law

.....not God’s people by tradition

....not God’s people by church membership or attendance or giving or works

.....not God’s people because we strive to keep the Torah or any other scriptures for that matter

God’s people by JESUS!!!!!

We strive to keep the scriptures and be obedient not because we want to gain Jesus but because of Jesus and what He did

Jesus Himself said if you love Me keep My commandments....obedience is a must for Christians not to gain anything but because through Jesus you have everything

He is present with us at all times

You and I are the tabernacle....that means God lives in us in the Holy Spirit

Living in you

Present with you always

How wonderful or convicting, depends on who you are serving, that is for you and me!!!!

God is all things to all people

He knows all

He is everywhere

He is all powerful

What a might God we serve!!!!!

I hope that you have listened to God and His scriptures this morning

God is very real

God is very holy

God’s wrath is very real and will be poured out when it is time

The only thing that can stop you from being fully destroyed by God’s wrath is Jesus

It is because of God’s great love for us that He sent Jesus to this earth to be rejected by those He came to save

beaten

spat upon

false accused

handed over to the Romans to be tortured

willingly climbing upon a cross, the lowest way to be executed, willingly become our sin…willingly experience God looking away from Him for the only time in eternity because of that sin

all to offer us a chance through His blood covering our sin and in fact cleansing us from our sin

He did that for you because God’s heart is none should perish but all come to repentance

where are you

Maybe you are here today and dont know Jesus therefore you are God’s enemy because of your sin....

Come Jesus awaits to set you free this morning

Maybe you realized you have been selling God short

Maybe you realized today that you have been serving you not God

Maybe you realized today that you are not putting God where He belongs

Whatever you need to bring to Jesus now is the time

Invitation