Beyond "Is There A God"
At Journey Church we’re getting ready to kick off a new sermon series called “The God Questions.” This Sunday, we’ll be looking at the specific quesion, “Is There a God?” Obviously, as a pastor, I’ll be arguing that the answer is a resounding, “Yes!” Yet, in addition, I’m hoping to communicate that God not only EXISTS, but that we can actually encounter and experience this almighty, powerful God. Think about that last sentence for a minute. For many of us, this is revolutionary to think that we can move beyond simply knowing facts about God.
I know that there have been plenty of times in my life when I’ve analytically believed in God’s existence without giving him all-out permission to invade and possess my life. In these cases, I became not much different from the demons in hell (see James 2:19). Obviously, the Bible makes the case that faith in God is not simply a mental belief in God’s existence… Genuine faith in God results in actions and obedience.
Annie Dillard illustrates the point that too many times we believe in God without really BELIEVING in God.
“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.
It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return” (Batterson, quoting Annie Dillard, Pp. 119-120).
Wow! I’m praying that this Sunday we won’t just hear a sermon about God’s existence, but that we will encounter this God that we are talking about.
I know that there have been plenty of times in my life when I’ve analytically believed in God’s existence without giving him all-out permission to invade and possess my life. In these cases, I became not much different from the demons in hell (see James 2:19). Obviously, the Bible makes the case that faith in God is not simply a mental belief in God’s existence… Genuine faith in God results in actions and obedience.
Annie Dillard illustrates the point that too many times we believe in God without really BELIEVING in God.
“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.
It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return” (Batterson, quoting Annie Dillard, Pp. 119-120).
Wow! I’m praying that this Sunday we won’t just hear a sermon about God’s existence, but that we will encounter this God that we are talking about.
Comments
ben
hey how do i sign up to get notified of new posts to your blog? or do i just have to check back?