Experiencing God's Reassuring Presence in Our Lives
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Simply refuse to dwell on problems. They're going to come your way, as sure as eggs. Something is going to come your way. Just refuse to let them occupy your thinking. Because soon as you start thinking about them, trying to work them out, trying to fix them, you're hooked. And Satan can have his way and can tear you down. Instead, up your focus in God. Put on your spiritual armour, as described in Ephesians 6, and trust God. Trust God is protecting you and coming to your help. I like this little phrase. There is no hole so deep that God's ladder cannot reach." [31:06]
2. "You may feel God has forgotten you. But nothing could be further from the truth. Biblical history, as we've very briefly outlined, and personal experience, outlines the depths, the lengths and the depths God has gone to be with you. God is with us, whether we feel it or not. And indeed, the storms of life don't deny the presence of God. Rather, they give you opportunity to prove his faithfulness." [31:57]
3. "We see God in our Christian friends. I have a prayer partner called Helen who epitomises Christ to me. We've been meeting every Wednesday for 46 years. We remember the years because our children were six. And every week we used to take it in times to go to each other's house. But because I don't drive anymore, she comes to me and she drives all the way from Berwick just to see me in Blackburn South. So she is Christ to me." [27:37]
4. "Friends here and online, if you believe that Jesus became a real man and paid the price for your sins, it's okay. You can sleep in peace because God is with you. Oh, the reassurance of God's presence." [14:42]
5. "We feel God when we spend time alone with Jesus. Find some quiet time, and I know people that are working, oh, that you probably don't, don't find quite as much time as I do these days, but just find a little bit of time and just sit and say nothing. Certainly, get your prayers out there first, but then spend a little bit of time saying nothing so God can get a word in. And if you do that often enough, you will get to know his voice." [21:46]
### Quotes for Members
1. "I want to talk a little bit about the history of God's presence this morning, because it's going to add weight to what I say later, the point I make later. But God's presence is bookended in the Bible. It begins with Adam and Eve in Genesis, where God created a people to be with him, in relationship with him. He wanted to have a relationship with people. And at the end, he's seen creation. He's created a new heaven and a new earth, so he can live with his people forever. And of course, in the middle, there are just so many stories in both the Old and the New Testament describing how God loves his people and promises to be with them." [02:57]
2. "Well, while still traveling to the promised land, the people came to Mount Sinai, where God called Moses to ascend the mountain. Now, the people didn't want to go anywhere near the mountain, because it was smoking. It was firing. It was scary. But God asked Moses to come up the mountain. And among other things, he gave him the 10 commandments. And he said, if you obey my voice and keep my commandments, you will be my treasured possession forever. Isn't that a nice way of referring to his people?" [06:18]
3. "And someone lent me a little car to do my parish visits and when I went to get petrol, the man filling up the car said to me, or told me somebody had been in to pay half my bill. Well, can you imagine the relief? A week later, the owner's son came out and he said, I can't believe this. I've never believed in the man upstairs. And of course I knew he was talking about God. But he said, somebody else has been in and paid off the remainder of your bill. You can't tell me that God was not revealing himself to the owner's son and providing him with the money. And that was exciting for me at the same time. It was a large bill and I had it paid fully, I believe, by God's intervention." [26:46]
4. "I want to suggest some ways to experience God's closeness more fully. I mean, who among us doesn't want to be closer to God? Well, first, we need to pray often. And I think that goes without saying. Talk to God about everything. And if there's some things that are just too difficult for you to solve, just lay them at God's feet so he can deal with them in his own time. Second, be thankful. Even in the bad times, be thankful. If you've already lifted this, laid it at God's feet, he has heard your prayer. We need to be confident of this. God hears us when we pray. And he is working on our request, even if it's taking a little while." [29:18]
5. "God loves His world so much that He wrote Himself into the story. God became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. Here was God coming as the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, an exact representation of God himself. Ultimately, as we know, Jesus died for us and in doing so paid the price for our sins. He's already paid the price for our sins, that we might be restored to a relationship with the Father." [12:51]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Simply refuse to dwell on problems. They're going to come your way, as sure as eggs. Something is going to come your way. Just refuse to let them occupy your thinking. Because soon as you start thinking about them, trying to work them out, trying to fix them, you're hooked. And Satan can have his way and can tear you down. Instead, up your focus in God. Put on your spiritual armour, as described in Ephesians 6, and trust God. Trust God is protecting you and coming to your help. I like this little phrase. There is no hole so deep that God's ladder cannot reach." [31:06]
2. "You may feel God has forgotten you. But nothing could be further from the truth. Biblical history, as we've very briefly outlined, and personal experience, outlines the depths, the lengths and the depths God has gone to be with you. God is with us, whether we feel it or not. And indeed, the storms of life don't deny the presence of God. Rather, they give you opportunity to prove his faithfulness." [31:57]
3. "We see God in our Christian friends. I have a prayer partner called Helen who epitomises Christ to me. We've been meeting every Wednesday for 46 years. We remember the years because our children were six. And every week we used to take it in times to go to each other's house. But because I don't drive anymore, she comes to me and she drives all the way from Berwick just to see me in Blackburn South. So she is Christ to me." [27:37]
4. "Friends here and online, if you believe that Jesus became a real man and paid the price for your sins, it's okay. You can sleep in peace because God is with you. Oh, the reassurance of God's presence." [14:42]
5. "We feel God when we spend time alone with Jesus. Find some quiet time, and I know people that are working, oh, that you probably don't, don't find quite as much time as I do these days, but just find a little bit of time and just sit and say nothing. Certainly, get your prayers out there first, but then spend a little bit of time saying nothing so God can get a word in. And if you do that often enough, you will get to know his voice." [21:46]
### Quotes for Members
1. "I want to talk a little bit about the history of God's presence this morning, because it's going to add weight to what I say later, the point I make later. But God's presence is bookended in the Bible. It begins with Adam and Eve in Genesis, where God created a people to be with him, in relationship with him. He wanted to have a relationship with people. And at the end, he's seen creation. He's created a new heaven and a new earth, so he can live with his people forever. And of course, in the middle, there are just so many stories in both the Old and the New Testament describing how God loves his people and promises to be with them." [02:57]
2. "Well, while still traveling to the promised land, the people came to Mount Sinai, where God called Moses to ascend the mountain. Now, the people didn't want to go anywhere near the mountain, because it was smoking. It was firing. It was scary. But God asked Moses to come up the mountain. And among other things, he gave him the 10 commandments. And he said, if you obey my voice and keep my commandments, you will be my treasured possession forever. Isn't that a nice way of referring to his people?" [06:18]
3. "And someone lent me a little car to do my parish visits and when I went to get petrol, the man filling up the car said to me, or told me somebody had been in to pay half my bill. Well, can you imagine the relief? A week later, the owner's son came out and he said, I can't believe this. I've never believed in the man upstairs. And of course I knew he was talking about God. But he said, somebody else has been in and paid off the remainder of your bill. You can't tell me that God was not revealing himself to the owner's son and providing him with the money. And that was exciting for me at the same time. It was a large bill and I had it paid fully, I believe, by God's intervention." [26:46]
4. "I want to suggest some ways to experience God's closeness more fully. I mean, who among us doesn't want to be closer to God? Well, first, we need to pray often. And I think that goes without saying. Talk to God about everything. And if there's some things that are just too difficult for you to solve, just lay them at God's feet so he can deal with them in his own time. Second, be thankful. Even in the bad times, be thankful. If you've already lifted this, laid it at God's feet, he has heard your prayer. We need to be confident of this. God hears us when we pray. And he is working on our request, even if it's taking a little while." [29:18]
5. "God loves His world so much that He wrote Himself into the story. God became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. Here was God coming as the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, an exact representation of God himself. Ultimately, as we know, Jesus died for us and in doing so paid the price for our sins. He's already paid the price for our sins, that we might be restored to a relationship with the Father." [12:51]
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