CPAC sermon 10 August 2008 Practicing the Presence of God
John 5:31-40
If I was to ask each one of you if you want to go deeper with God
I would expect you to simply say,
“Yes I do want to go deeper with God”.
Going deeper with God must lie at the heart of every Christian’s walk.
Our priority focus at CPAC over the next 18 months is to go deeper with God and to build our relationship with Him.
The consequence of going deeper with God is like tossing a pebble into a large pond – the ripples begin at the centre and continue outwards affecting a greater area of the pond in a seemingly unlimited way.
The pattern on this nautilus shell has the same affect, with the spirals moving unceasingly outwards.
God is at the heart of this movement.
The spiralling
indicates an ongoing unceasing journey,
indicates growth,
indicates connectedness.
We are connected to God,
connected to others on the journey,
and we can invite still others to join us on that journey.
So referring once more to this small gift card (more available for those who missed out last week), our key priority over the next 18 months is to
build and deepen our relationship with God,
with others here at CPAC,
and with the wider community.
If I were to ask you, “What do YOU mean by the term “going deeper”?” I would expect to get some different responses.
Going deeper with God might mean,
wanting to hear God’s voice more clearly
having a more fruitful prayer life
wanting to feel a growing closeness and presence to God
wanting more knowledge of the Bible and understanding what God
is saying about Himself and about us
wanting to grow in confidence and help others commit their lives to God
wanting to work with God to help people replace apathy with desire and passion for more of God, and so , and so on…
Understand that God’s Spirit is always moving to draw you to Himself in new ways.
How do you take your own walk with God to a deeper level
especially when depth looks different to different people?
I believe the answer lies in entering into God’s presence.
Yet what does such a lofty sounding act really look like on a Monday morning or on a Wednesday afternoon when the dust of life is gritty on our faces?
We know that
without God’s presence a Bible study is simply a gathering of people
offering knowledge, but not life
without God’s presence a prayer time is simply a recital of wants and desires
without God’s presence, our Sunday worship can become nothing but a meaningless routine
I find it hard to imagine God’s presence in something like this – listen to this…
from the Dom Post July 2008… “Sunbathers wishing to attend a Sunday service without the bother of getting dressed have been given the chance to try an inflatable church on a beach on the Italian
Here’s a trap that we too easily fall into :
Being in God’s presence is not a means to an end, it is the end itself.
There is nothing that can compare to “being present”.
Let me explain it like this – the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Bejing…fantastic to watch on TV, BUT…. one really had to be present to experience and appreciate it fully!
No matter how much we read the bible, go to church, pray, and so on, in the end God calls us into His presence. He yearns to be with us and us with Him.
It is there, in God’s presence, that we find refreshment for our soul.
It is there we find the true meaning of love.
It is there we find our deepest longings fulfilled.
That is why
“O Lord, my heart is restless until it rests in you”.
What helps us come into God’s presence then?
We find the clues to this deeper level of knowing God sprinkled through Scripture.…
“Let us come before Him with thanksgiving…” (Psalm 95:2)
“Come before His presence singing with joy…" (Psalm 100:2)
Congreg read :
“Come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16)
and Psalm 36:7,8 - when we are hungry and thirsty our first stop must be God – not alcohol, not drugs, not anger taking it out on those closest to us, not our job, not sex, not food, not shopping…
God knows the deep yearnings of our hearts.
He knows we will be hungry and thirsty from the journey.
It is God Himself who puts the desire in our hearts for something that will have true and lasting value.
Then He offers the answer to that longing…He offers us Himself and His presence.
He tells us to feast on and enjoy His abundance.
Feasting on His abundance simply means responding to the greatness of God, being in His presence.
Feasting on His abundance means looking beyond the hardship of the moment to the power and majesty of God.
He meets us with His strength in the middle of the storms of life.
In God’s presence, feed your soul with the knowledge that …
He is the wisdom you need. 1 Corinthians 1:24,25
He is faithful always. Deuteronomy 7:9
He is your strength. Isaiah 12:2
He is your restorer. Psalm 23:3
He is your resting place. Matthew 11: 28,29
He is your refuge from the storm. 2 Samuel 22:2,3
He is Almighty! 2 Corinthians 6:18
Ponder these things.
Let the reality of who God is settle over your soul and wash off any dust of discouragement.
Lay the truth of His character over your circumstances.
As you let your thoughts dwell on the greatness of God, and allow yourself to be taken into His presence thankfulness will begin to come to the surface.
Boldness will come again as you remember you are invited to come to Him.
Singing with joy will result, because your eyes of faith see the hope He brings to your heart.
Go deeper with God by entering into His presence.
The longing of your heart will be satisfied there.
In fact we cannot NOT live our lives in the presence of God.
CS Lewis (Letters to Maolcolm : Chiefly on Prayer) : “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito”.
Look for God sightings in your day!
In The God Hunt by Karen Mains she suggests that practicing the presnce of God is like going on a “God hunt”. It is a way we keep our soul awake to God. God can jump out at us anytime and say, “Boo! Here I am!” … like Adam and Eve in the
French monk Brother Lawrence – he maintained a continuous conversation with God through the day regardless of what he was doing…
Above all, understand that practicing the presence is more about personal relationship than strategy.
It is about staying connected to God, connected to Christ…to bring healing, hope and life to ourselves, and ultimately to others who we encourage to get connected to Christ.
It is about building and deepening our relationship with God….
Amen
