Who is God 9.18.22

Who is God? Sunday, September 18, 2022 Good morning and welcome to Lake Erie Church. **Congratulations to Michelle Lewis for her leadership of our Senior POWER ministry and this weekend. You are doing a great job with your team and we are very proud of you. You were given a handout for today's message and through the duration of this message series, you will receive notes that you can follow and make your own notes. (If you don't write down what God says to you-you won't remember it. Not what I say but what God says.) Today, we begin a four week series designed to help all of us grow in our knowledge of God and matters of faith. I continue to be concerned at how little we know about God-for example, how many of us really know what it means to worship God-we clap and sing but do we truly know who we are worshipping? Do we understand why worship so important to our faith journey? Let's begin with a series of questions I've pondered about our LEC family... 1. If someone were to stop you at work or in your neighborhood and ask you to explain salvation to them...could you? 2. Could you explain what sin is to a person who had never gone to church or read a Bible. Do you know why God hates it? How would you start that conversation? I have an assistant today for the beginning of my message. Adelyn Rzeszutek is the middle daughter of Caleb and Michelle. She's 7 years old, 1st grade at Lakeshore Primary School in Conneaut. * Adelyn, who is God? * Do you pray to God? * What kinds of things do you say to God when you pray? * What exciting things is Pastor Naomi teaching about God in kids church? If I wanted to know what LEC believed I would not necessarily ask Sandy Bayless or Sister Wilson or even Charles Mullins. If you want to know what LEC really believes about God you ask Adelyn Rzeszutek-because what we believe is what we are teaching our children. I am concerned about the challenges we have at LEC in securing teachers for Adelyn...what does it say about LEC that so few people are interested, burdened or passionate about teaching our children about God? Do generations matter? On a day when we are honoring seniors... * Shelley (stand) remembers the investment, teaching and training of Betty Mullins, Dolly Tyree, Candy Nichols, Stella Lengyl and Michelle Lewis (they were Shelley's youth pastor) and others. How could they know they were training their future pastor's wife! Let's stop and pray for Adelyn and the other children who assembled now in the rooms and for Pastor Naomi and her team. Thank you Adelyn! There is a Biblical and spiritual illiteracy in America that we have never known. * According to Pew Research, only two-thirds of persons (50-up) say they believe in the biblical God * 49% of adults (30s--40s) believe in the God of the Bible * Only 43% (under 30) believe in the God of the Bible. * Only 20% of Americans of all ages believe the Bible is the literal word of God (down from 24% in 2017) * In 1984, (38 years ago) 40% of all adults in the US believed the Bible was the literal Word of God. * 29% of adults say the Bible is a collection of "fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man." * According to Gallup polling 25% of adults (30 and under) identify their faith as "atheist," "agnostic" or "nothing in particular." (one per page) This is the time to teach, disciple and engage our sons and daughters, to reach a world that does not know God, or Jesus Christ in personal ways. They know the God they hear about on the news or from others-but they do not know Him for themselves. By God's grace I come this morning to declare to you that God is and that He created everything that is and it was good. It is my hope in these series of messages you will discover Him for yourself and encounter the love of God. Paul's prayer is my prayer... (Ephesians 3:14-19) For this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father. It is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name. I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself. There is no question bigger than whether an all-powerful God exists. The question we must come to grips with is whether God is simply a human construct or a divine concept? If God does not exist, then life holds no divine purpose. We are each free to live as we choose. But if He does exist, then it is appropriate to attempt to discover who He is, what He is like, and if and how He can be known. (same page) We begin with a series of questions- Does God Exist And If So, How Do We Know? * God exists and we know this because He said it. (Psalm 90:1-2) Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God, (Job 38:4 ESV) Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. * God exists because the Bible declares the eternal existence of God. (Romans 1:20 ESV) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. * God exists because He is Creator of all that is. (Revelation 4:11 ESV) Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Isaiah 40:26 ESV) Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Hebrews 11:3 ESV) By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Psalms 19:1-2) The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. (Hebrews 1:3) He sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. (use your judgement on the points and reference verses-if one can fit on the same page with the point-do it) Scientists estimate there are at least 18 physical laws that work in harmony for our planet to sustain complex life. Some of these include the laws of gravity, thermodynamics, and electromagnetic forces. Consider the force that hold atoms together. Our universe if so fine-tuned that the tiny hydrogen atoms that work to convert matter must give up no more and no less than 0.6 to 0.8 percent of their mass to create energy! There are dozens of similar exacting standards that must be met. It's impossible that this world was created by chance! * The Personal Experience o Those who struggle the most with the existence of a loving God are often those who have suffered personal injustices that seem to prove there is no one beyond this world who cares for us. * "How could a loving God allow my child to die?" * "Why did my mother have to get cancer?" * "Couldn't God have stopped that hurricane from destroying our city?" o We struggle to believe in a who does not fit our circumstances and so some conclude He doesn't exist or at least for them God is irrelevant. If God Does Exist, Then Where Did God Come From? * The truth about God's origin is that He has existed for all time and eternity. o No one created God, nor did He spontaneously appear on the scene. * The difference between believers and those who are skeptics/atheists has to do with faith. (Hebrews 11:6 ESV) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. * The most ardent skeptics insist God is a figment of man's imagination and they use the origins of God as an argument against Christianity. o Their theory is, if God can't rationally be explained, He mustn't exist. o Agnostic Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great, suggests that all religion teaches hatred of unbelievers and feeds the onslaughts found in the worst of extremist groups from the past and present. Clearly his view of God is not founded in the Bible. Jesus spoke to this skepticism in reference to the wind... (John 3:8) The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit. * In other words, God always existed and while we don't have the ability to comprehend that, by faith we take God at his Word that He is existentially an eternal being who has always existed. * Scripture assumes the existence of God. * Scripture teaches that God is self-existent. (one per page) (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Exodus 3:13-15) If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, they will ask me, What is his name? Then what should I tell them? God replied to Moses, I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations. Conclusion: In the beginning as God created this world, His desire for relationship with mankind is seen in his intentional "walk with Adam in the cool of the garden"-the visual of two friends walking and conversing-such a personal relationship with the God who names the stars and whom the Bible says this earth (our planet) is the footstool where He rests His feet. But the truth is God wants to know you and He invites you to know Him. How can I know God? Your Challenge this week... * Read your Bible and look for Him-He loves to reveal Himself * Raise your sensitivity to the many things around that point to God By faith we choose Him...and He even gives us the faith you need to do that!