Getting Reaquainted With the Almighty

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Getting Reaquainted With the Almighty</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id363.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Getting Reacquainted With the Almighty ("><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Getting Reacquainted with the Almighty" </B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, March 2, 2003am</B></div> <bR> <div>      "There is an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged the little fellow to jump into his arms. `I'll catch you,' the father said confidently. After a lot of coaxing, the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears. `Let that be a lesson,' he said sternly. `Don't ever trust anyone.'" (Bernie May, Learning to Trust, Multnomah Press, 1985, p. 4).</div> <div>      Contrast that to this story. "One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, `Hey Dad! Catch me!' I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled `Hey Dad!' I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk. When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: `Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???'  He responded with remarkable calmness: `Sure...because you're my Dad.' His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. " (Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel). </div> <div>      Some people see their relationship with God illustrated in the first story. God has let them down, and can no longer be trusted. Others see God illustrated in the second story. He is reliable and trustworthy because he is our Father. We all face problems, trouble, and uncertainty (nationally, regionally, and personally). Is God big enough? Is he reliable? Can he be trusted in our trials? Here are some examples: impending war, and having loved ones in the conflict; the upstate NY "economic disaster area," the loss of your job or a personal financial squeeze; relationship troubles; the loss of loved ones; pressure at work; uncertainty about your future; concern for the kingdom of God and morality in your life and in our land. Is the God you worship big enough to handle these things?</div> <div>      Here are two lessons from <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Gen+1:1-23" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Genesis 1:1-23</U></A> (days one through five of creation). Genesis is from the pen of Moses (as writer or compiler). He sought to reacquaint people of faith (Israel) with who their God is and how powerful he is. They were about ready to go into the land God had promised them. They were going to face nations who worshiped other gods and who seemed strong and powerful and dangerous. They needed to remember who their God was. We too need to be reacquainted with our God and his power.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. God can be trusted with difficult circumstances, because he is all-powerful.</B></div> <div>      God created order out of chaos (vs. 2, earth was not yet prepared for humankind's existence - it was <I>unformed</I> and <I>unfilled</I>). Moses links creation to one week like we experience weeks of seven days. </div> <div>      The pattern is simple: "God said `let there be . . .' and there was . . ." Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command." Psalm 33:6-9 says, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.  Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."</div> <div>      Note the correspondence of days 1-3 to days 4-6: <I>Formed</I> - light (day 1); water and sky (day 2); and dry land (day 3); <I>Filled</I> - sun, moon and stars (day 4); birds and fish (day 5); land animals and humans (day 6).</div> <div>      In case all of this sounds impossible, remember this: God can do miracles. He has the ability to do anything he chooses. What does a miracle look like scientifically (e.g., water into wine, feeding of 5000, the resurrection)? We must find ourselves saying, "How did that happen? I don't know! God just did it!" God is able to suspend natural laws, because he created them in the first place. Genesis answers the "who," the "what," and the "why," but not the "how" and "when." There is <I>mystery</I> in the <I>miracles</I> of God. Keep in mind that science is limited, is based on certain assumptions, and is thus not entirely objective. Findings are interpreted in a variety of ways. Medical knowledge from 1903 is not want you want today, because discoverys have been made that cause scienticists to rethink their prior assumptions. What we know from Genesis is that God created the world. It did not happen by "happy accident." But the mystery in the miracle remains, and that is okay.</div> <div>      One application from this truth is that we can have faith in God during difficult circumstances. God can bring order out of the chaos of our lives. He may fix the circumstance or may give strength to endure the circumstance. Either way, we can trust him. A second application is this: we must be dependent on God even when we feel strong. This calls for humility. No matter how strong and "in control" we feel, we are still dependent on the Creator-God.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. God alone is to be worshiped and obeyed.</B></div> <div>      There are a variety of "religious options" today  (pagan rituals, Wicca, Satanism, Islam, Buddhism, atheism, etc.). Genesis 1 argues against all religious options except the worship of the one true God, the God of creation. We cannot worship other gods . The pagan nations surrounding the Israelites worshiped the gods of the things that God created (sun, moon, stars, ocean, etc.). We cannot worship creation. God is not his creation, he is distinct from it. We don't worship or thank "mother nature." Note in <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Gen+1:3" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>verse 3</U></A> that God is the ultimate source of light, and <I>he</I> is to be worshiped, not the sun.</div> <div>      One application is this: God alone is to be worshiped and obeyed. Worship is for him and about him, not for and about us! Second, God cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to our lives. It is not that God is out there somewhere, who makes no difference to your life. He is your Creator. As such you have the obligation and privilege of worshiping him. Failure to worship the true God is as much idolatry as actively worshiping another god. </div> <bR> <div>      Psalm 8:3-4 says,  "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,  what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Looking up at stars on a clear night, we have the feeling of being very small. We are small to people on an airplane. How much smaller are we in relation to the universe? But God knows us and cares for us. God created this for us, and he blessed it and called it good. And he intended for us to enjoy him. If you do not have a relationship with the God of the universe, believe in him and trust in him today. He sent his Son Jesus to die for your sins, and he offers you forgiveness and an eternal relationship with himself.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2003, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>