1st Wednesday - KNOW GOD
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. —John 10:10 (KJV)
There is a VAST difference between knowing
Everything you do can be “spending time with God” if He is invited to be a part of it and you stay aware of His presence.
Book: Practicing the Presence of God, written in the 17th century by Brother Lawrence, a humble cook in a French monastery.
The key to friendship with God, he said, is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do.
God’s perfect plan, His idea for you is Constant Communion - That is the Key to truly knowing God.
In the Garden of Eden, worship was not an event to attend, but a perpetual attitude; Adam and Eve were in constant communion with God.
We don’t
We exist to KNOW GOD and HELP OTHERS KNOW GOD TOO!
It is easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects—education, buildings, missions, holding services … the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him. —C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity
KNOWING GOD IS THE
Constant Communion!
You can learn about God, and hear about God, and even attend a church building without truly KNOWING GOD!
The greatest privilege that you and I have in this life is to KNOW GOD, be in constant communion and have a relationship with Him!
Love is the Answer!
Jesus loves you, more than you can even understand with your human brain and human emotions.
A. Surrender to the LOVE OF GOD
GOD DID HIS PART - God became a man and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins….OUR PART is to choose to believe Him, trust Him and SURRENDER TO HIS LOVE!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8 (NASB)
True, sacrificial love is put into action without any guarantee that the love will be acknowledged or returned.
True LOVE has more to do with the
So many people in our culture just want God to “LEAVE THEM ALONE” - and in His mercy,
He keeps reaching to them…because being away from God is the very essence of what Hell (outer darkness) will be like!
So today we can (REPENT)
If you want to KNOW GOD and have a relationship with Him, you must first surrender to His love.
B. BAPTISM
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:3-4
The reason that we are baptized in Jesus’ name is that we are being baptized into Jesus.
We are taking on his name, similar to the way a woman takes on her husband’s name.
We are saying that we belong to Jesus and we are identifying with Him in His death and burial.
Jesus is the one who died for us and He is the one whom Christians were buried with.
1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Being baptized in the Name of Jesus is a covenant, it is entering into a relationship with Jesus and taking on His name.
It should take place as soon as you have repented and turned away from sin to EMBRACE the love of Jesus in your life.
It is how we become a NEW CREATION, the past is gone and we now are able to begin a brand new life and dynamic with Jesus, our past is gone, forgiven, and washed away…but wait, there’s more!
God promises to fill you with His Spirit (the Gift of the Holy Ghost).
This can happen after you have repented and embraced the Love of God in your life…sometimes it happens before baptism in water, other times it happens afterward - either way, it is the power of God that comes inside you to help you KNOW GOD as He knows you!
- MOST TIMES, people come to begin to “KNOW GOD” or start this relationship
when they experience His love during our Weekend Services.
(It can happen anywhere/anytime, but it is most likely to happen right here in the presence of God).
That is why our Sunday Services are so important.
We want to make them so inviting that you will want to bring your friends who are far from God to attend with you.
This is what our Sunday at 11AM service will be all about in 2024.
If you are like me…I spent a lot of time in church growing up learning about God…but not really KNOWING GOD!
There came a day in my life when I had to come to KNOW GOD for myself, and that meant putting aside my masks and just being honest with myself and with God.
If you don’t KNOW JESUS, why not start that process today! Embrace His Love that you feel right now…
NEXT STEPS
When I married my wife, I didn’t just stop talking to her…or trying to make her feel special.
We talk and communicate very regularly about everything…we have to if we want to keep our relationship moving in the right direction.
Here is a little secret about communion with God and building that relationship: PRAYING is communicating with God!
Through prayer, we can know God more. It’s not just us talking, but allowing Him to speak to us through His Word as well as many other ways.
If we are praying and reading His Word combined, we will grow in our relationship even faster.
How so? Because we will be made aware of how we please Him, and how much He loves and blesses us!
If you are communicating with God on a very regular basis, and you are enjoying that relationship,
You will naturally hang out with the right people.
You will want to be around others who will encourage your relationship with God! Not those who are constantly trying to tear it down.
AVOID THE EX’S. Don’t keep putting yourself in a position to get pulled away from God.
Make attending and serving at weekend services a priority, get connected with small groups and those you serve with on the dream team …
hang out with people who love God and are moving towards Him daily.
WHAT CAN STOP THE CHURCH?
We want everyone we come in contact with to have a chance to KNOW GOD!
- This is why we go on mission trips…so we can help people everywhere KNOW GOD!
- This is why we have various events and big services … so we can help our community KNOW GOD!
- It is why we plant churches…so that other communities surrounding us will have the chance to KNOW GOD!
- Why does our church have a coffee shop right next door? So that we can have an opportunity to help people KNOW GOD over a cup of coffee, and the profit that comes in through the coffee shop can help us to give more to missions so that people everywhere have a better chance to KNOW GOD!
KNOW GOD, not just know about Him. Having a close relationship and becoming more like Him daily.
Would the people who have come to KNOW GOD (at this church) have had a chance to KNOW GOD if this church wasn’t here?
MAYBE, but who knows? This church is perfectly designed for people to have a chance to KNOW GOD!
We are the church…it is not a building…PEOPLE most often come to KNOW GOD through the lives and testimony of other PEOPLE!
WHAT CAN STOP THE CHURCH and OTHERS IN OUR COMMUNITY FROM KNOWING GOD?
- Hell can’t stop it.
- The devil can’t stop it.
- The economy can’t stop it.
- Government can’t stop the church.
The only thing that stops the church from knowing God and helping others know God is…
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. —Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)20 If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. —1 John 4:20 (NASB - New American Standard Bible)
The reason communion with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ is so important is that it reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
We remember His great love for us, and helps us be more willing to forgive and love each other.
So it not only brings us into communion with God, but with each other.
The scripture gives us the best way to resolve issues in Matthew 18:15-17.
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. —Matthew 18:15-17 - King James Version
Step 1: GO TELL THAT PERSON THE FAULT - if it is resolved there…and it usually can be…then GREAT!
Step 2: TAKE A FEW PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY WITH YOU AND TRY TO RESOLVE IT. (If that doesn’t work, then…)
Step 3: TAKE IT TO THE CHURCH (Leadership). If there can’t be a resolution…then the person is to be in a sense PUT OUT OF THE CHURCH because they are not being Christ-Like in the matter!
This is the scriptural way to handle issues between us. If this is not being done, we shouldn’t think of ourselves as “Christians” because we are not being Christ Like and forgiving one another.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. —Ephesians 4:29-32 (King James Version)
So what the devil tries hardest to do…is keep us from being in COMMUNION with each other…because then we won’t be in COMMUNION with God!
The devil has divided many churches and has separated many people from this church and from their relationships with God…because the simple principle for resolving conflicts that we just read…was not being followed.
Time is to short, we need to make things right.
Don’t let a fault, or even a perceived fault separate you and another believer.
If we have the Spirit of God, we need to be able to work things out, forgive and love.
That is how this world around us will know that we are different and there is hope for them…
When they see how we LOVE and FORGIVE each other!
KNOWING GOD has everything to do with our RELATIONSHIPS!
Let’s get our relationships right…so we and those around us can be in constant communion with Jesus!
Communion:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. —1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NKJV - New King James Version)