Untitled Sermon (2)

Life’s Goal: Know God

Philippians 3:5–11

Introduction

What is your new year’s resolution? May I recommend one? I resolve to know God more.

I would like to share with you this message - Life’s Goal: Knowing God

You go to church, you read the Bible, you participate in small groups—but do you truly know God? God gives every Christian the tools for an active relationship with Him, but many don’t yet experience His presence in their daily lives. Dr. Tony Evans understands that the only way to deeply know God is to make seeking Him your life’s greatest purpose. In The Power of Knowing God, he shares how you can prioritize God over all else—and how doing so will transform you from the inside out. (The Power of Knowing God by Tony Evans).

Getting to know God could be the single most important issue in the Christian's life. (The Joy of Knowing God by Richard L. Strauss)

Journey 101 Knowing God is one component of Journey 101: Knowing, Loving, Serving God. Each of the three separate, interactive six-week courses utilizes a group teaching format with a leader and a video presenter combined with small group table breakouts. This Leader Guide contains six session guides on Knowing God, plus leader helps for conducting a successful study. (Journey 101: Knowing God Leader Guide)

My dear friend, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, is one of the most outstanding, creative preachers of our time. In The Anatomy of God, he has given us a creative, biblical treasure that will not only capture our minds, but will also move our hearts toward a God whose heart is moved toward us. Reading this book will compel you to love God more deeply and to worship Him more fully!

—Dr. Crawford W. Loritts, Jr.

Speaker, Author, Radio Host

Associate Director, Campus Crusade for Christ

In The Anatomy of God, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer reveals from Scripture just how completely and fantastically our great God and Savior loves and cares for us, illuminating facets of His being that many believers have no doubt never considered.

—Dr. Bill Bright

Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ

1. Anatomically Speaking - The Anatomy of God: Knowing God for Who He Really Is

2. To See You Smile: The Face of God

3. He Watches Me: The Eyes of God

4. From Your Lips: The Ears of God

5. Waiting to Inhale: The Nose of God

6. A Word from the Wise: The Mouth of God

7. Power toward Purpose: The Hand of God

8. The Giver: The Hand of God

9. The Potter: The Hand of God

10. Beloved Pursuit: The Heart of God

...The person and personality of the One by whom and in whom we exist, we have arrived where we began: with the heart of God. It is, after all, the heart of God that desires to be known and moves heaven and earth to reveal Himself to us.

When we speak of the heart, various images come to mind. We speak of the heart in very interesting terms, usually emotional ones. We seldom—sometimes, but seldom—think about the heart in terms of the physical organ that beats in our chests. Maybe we do during a physical checkup, but for the most part we use it more often to refer to our sentiments, affections, and passions. It typically expresses how we’re feeling.

The heart is the center of our desire, the seat of our will. To speak of a heart issue is to address something that goes to the very core of who you are. The Bible says a man is “as he thinketh in his heart” (Proverbs 23:7). Thinking is usually associated with the mind, but the writer of that proverb said that the real you thinks with your heart. Paul said it is with the heart that a man believes unto righteousness. He then went on to say that confession is made with the mouth unto salvation, but Jesus told the Pharisees that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. (See Romans 10:10; Matthew 12:34.)

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The Word of God tells us that the person who believes that there is no God, who rejects the existence and personhood of God, is a fool. I’d call him a big fool, but the Bible just calls him a fool. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, meaning with our whole will and being. The psalmist prayed, “Let the words of my mouth”—but he didn’t stop there; he also said, “and the meditation of my heart” be acceptable in God’s sight because the heart is the center of who we are mentally, morally, and spiritually. (See Psalm 19:14.)

Scripture employs various ideas using the heart. You consider in your heart. You know in your heart. You remember in your heart. A person having a special place in the heart speaks to your devotion to him or her. When you give your heart to someone, it means you love that person. You don’t reach inside your chest cavity and grab a big, bloody hunk of cardiac tissue and offer it up to a person; it’s a statement about your emotions.

The heart is the resting place for your joy and your courage. Pain comes into your heart. Desire, despair, sorrow, and fear all reside in your heart. In John 14 Jesus told the disciples that they shouldn’t be troubled in their hearts at His leaving.