Who is God

9/09/07

Good morning,

   Before we get started let’s all stand and hold the hand of the person next to you, as we bow our heads ask God to open your mind this morning and cleanse your thoughts of all the things that has happened to you this week, we want to focus on God and God only today we want to hear from Him today, we want to learn from Him, so I will give you a few minutes to talk with your Savior and then I’ll end in prayer. “Let’s worship Him together”

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Now I hope you are ready to take a journey with me. When I 1st sat down to write this sermon, I knew God wanted me to write about, How to encounter God, and as I studied and wrote God started telling me that the reason people do not encounter God today or the church does not encounter Him today is that we do not even know who God is any more. Beloved let me tell you God has taken me on a journey this week and it has not stopped. I’m not in control of this but if it goes like I think it will this will be a series of sermons, starting off with:

Who is God?

What is worship?

Feeling Gods power.

Are we living for God?

An encounter with God.

  I know that’s a lot but I feel God really wants us to know who He is. I order to feel His power or have an encounter we must know HIM, He wants us to know Him, Live for Him, worship Him, to have a relationship with Him, so turn with me if you will please Gen 1:1

The Creation

     1     In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

     2     The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

     3     Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

     4     God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

     5     God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And  there was evening and there was morning, one day.

     6     Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

     7     God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

     8     God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

     9     Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let  the dry land appear”; and it was so.

     10     God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

     11     Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after  their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.

     12     The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

     13     There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

     14     Then God said, “Let there be lights in the  expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for  signs and for  seasons and for days and years;

     15     and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

     16     God made the two great lights, the  greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

     17      God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

     18     and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

     19     There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

     20     Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

     21     God created  the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

     22     God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

     23     There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

     24     Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.

     25     God made the  beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

     26     Then God said, “Let  Us make  man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them  rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

     27     God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him;  male and female He created them

Just reading that chapter gives me chills.

 God wants us to know that he created the Heavens and the earth. The earth was with out form and void. I want each of you to hold up your hands and try as hard as you can to make something out of nothing. Go ahead I’ll give you a few minutes. While you trying I want to read to you something I found and probably why God does not reveal Himself as much today

Yahoo news by Will Dunham

 Wed Sept 5

A collision 160 million years ago of two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter sent many big rock chunks hurtling toward Earth, including the one that zapped the dinosaurs, scientists say.

Their research offered an explanation for the cause of one of the most momentous events in the history of life on Earth - a 10-kilometre wide meteorite striking Mexico's Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago.

That catastrophe eliminated the dinosaurs, which had flourished for about 165 million years, and many other life forms, and paved the way for mammals to dominate the Earth and the eventual rise of humankind, many scientists believe.

         That last paragraph says

Was humanity inevitable? Or is humanity just something that happened to arise because of this sequence of events that took place at just the right time. It's hard to say."

 To even think that we must be out of our minds, And most of us say that it’s ridiculous to even think such a thing. But reality is most of the world reads this stuff and believes every word.

 Most of the world believes the earth was created by the big bang theory. Explain the theory then explain what a theory is.

 Speculation; a doctrine or scheme of things: it has no evidence of its truth. (American Dictionary—Noah Webster 1828

Do you know that every word in this book (bible) is 100% true? If you believe in God, If you’re a Christian you must believe it, Let me give you some proof if you need some, Archaeologist today use the bible to find lost cities or artifacts, because when not if but when the bible says it. It’s fact; even some scientists have even been saved trying to disprove the bible. The power and majesty of God is awesome.

Are you ready to teach who God is know, my blood is pumping and I ready to go?

What you think of God what do you think He is? Or what is He to you?

1.   Some of us see Him as a God of Convenience: meaning we don’t really know if He is even there but it makes us feel better when we pray to Him.

2.  What about a emergency God: we only go to Him when things get really bad or if we need or want something real bad.

3.  Or the God of Sunday’s and sometime Wednesday nights: we punch our God card when we go to church and think we have done Him a favor by going.

4.  The tradition or Holiday God: We have always gone to church and we get presents on Christmas.

5.  The always on my mind God: He consumes my every thought and He walks and talks with me daily.

Did you see yourself in anywhere? If so my prayer is that God speaks to your heart today. Let’s find out His name 1st. turn with me to:

Exodus 3:10-14

   10     “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

     11     But Moses said to God, “aWho am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

     12     And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt,  you shall worship God at this mountain.”

     13     Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

     14     God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

When Moses met God on the Mountain, He had no Idea who God was, but he knew he had to approach God with caution. Because of Gods awesome nature Moses acknowledged Him by taking off his sandals. He knew he was on Holy ground.

  What do we do to get ready to meet God?

 I’m not saying you should come to church barefoot, but if you did that’s fine with me.

   But when God commanded Moses to go and free His people Moses acted like and gave all these different excuses. But even though we do not have faith in our own ability God Does. Why? Because He knows our ability, He created us and all of our abilities. God will never call you to do anything you can not handle.

  Then Moses asked God His name and God said “I AM WHO I AM”

  The power in that name is beyond our on imagination. The reason God called His people out of Egypt (which translates to sin in the OT GREEK) WAS He wanted them to worship Him. For time sake I can’t read the entire story but I urge you to read The Exodus. (The exit). The only true God wants to be honored and feared, He tells Moses In

Exodus 14:17-18

    17    As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

     18     “Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

God split the sea and lead over 6 million Israelites on dry land and then closed it back on pharaohs army. And all knew that He was Lord.

 When Moses received the 10 Commandments on the mountain, when he came back down all his hair was white. The awesome majesty and power of God is so bright and wonderful we can not even fathom it or even look upon it.

Most Hebrews will not even spell or pronounce the name of God because it is so Holy, But we have some other names of God: Gen 14:18-20” the God most high”  Gen 16:13  “God who sees me”

   Gen 17:1 “God almighty” Gen 21:33: Eternal God”

And Yahweh which is the Holy name of God meaning the Lord, Yahweh is closely translated to “I AM WHO I AM” OR I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE”

        But God can not be limited to any one nature. He is what He is, Gods nature does not change. He is the same God worshiped by earlier generations (The God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob) and generations yet to come.

 God says: This is my name forever, the name by which I AM remembered from generation to generation.

 So why doesn’t God show Himself today like he did back then. Beloved listen we do not know Him, we do not fear Him,

Proverbs 9:10

10     The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

 We need wisdom and understanding of the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

 I firmly believe God wants to show Himself to us He just wants us to get to know him better to form a relationship with Him. I’m talking about do we want HIM to speak to us, do we come to church wanting or needing to know Him or do we just come. How many minutes a day do we spend in prayer?  Add it up when you get home, it might bring tears to your eyes.  God created us to worship Him, God created us to praise Him and to honor His name in everything we do. We have what we have because the almighty God wills us to. Do we give Him the Glory or do we praise ourselves?

Isa 41: 13

 13     “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,

Who says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.’

 I want to close with this

 Psalm 47:2

2     For the Lord Most High is to be feared,

A great King over all the earth.

 I want you to know Fear is knowledge, the knowledge of knowing the consequences for your actions. We should Fear the God you gives us our very next breath.

Matthew 10:28

 28     “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather  fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 So as I end this today, I want to know, you need to know, do you know God? Do you know the lord of the universe? Before we even heard about Him, He knew us. He wants to love you and give you eternal life. God is a God of Love, He loves each of us so much John writes

John 3:16

16     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

If God is speaking to your heart and know that you know that you need to know Him today, or if your looking for a good Godly church to call home and find people who will love and except you then you need to come today. God dose not promise tomorrow so why wait you come today, Come and take my hand and I’ll pray with you or if you just need prayer I’m right here. The alter is open, God is calling can you hear Him. You Come.

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