Making Contact with God

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. . ."
Ecclesiastes 5:1

The main message of the Bible is not to prove that God exists. The existence and reality of God is taken for granted. It is held to be common knowledge.

"Only the fool says in his heart that there is no God" (Psalm 14:1).

"Ever since the creation of the world God's invisible nature and reality, that is, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made (Romans 1:20).

No, the main message of the Bible is that we can know this God intimately.

That is, personally and profoundly. And that by knowing Him in this way we can get a singular perspective on our lives and experience salvation.

"And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent" -- (John 17:3).

This intimate relationship and fellowship with God is based on a number of assumptions that the Bible takes for granted:

That God is a Person and can be personally present.
That God wants to be known personally and makes Himself available to be known in this way.
That God is omnipresent so that everyone can know Him at any given time simultaneously.
And that we can identify and meet the necessary conditions for knowing Him: for example,
- that we want to experience His presence;
- that we are capable of knowing when and if God is present; and
- that we use the means of grace made available by God through which we may know Him.

Now you may say -- some will `certainly` say -- is this personal experience of God really necessary?

Isn't it enough to be guided by our traditions, by the power of great ideas, by our own moral energy? Won't we get as much out of our religious faith this way as by seeking a personal and ongoing existential experience of God? Won't the church be as meaningful, dynamic and effective this way as by pursuing God's presence?

The Biblical answer is "No"!

Fire, to be fire, must burn! Love, to be love, must be experienced!
Water, to quench one's thirst, must be taken internally!

We cannot expect to have a strong faith unless Christ is within us!

The church cannot make a difference in the world unless the glory of God is within her!

... CONTINUED

Making Contact with God, PART TWO : Experiencing God in Worship
Making Contact with God, Part Three : Experiencing God in the Word
Making Contact with God, Part Four : Experiencing God in our Daily Walk

Copies of Cultivating God's Presence may be obtained from Dr. Churchill by sending
a cheque or money order for $9.95 plus $2.50 shipping and handling, to

Dr. Allen D. Churchill
Senior Minister
Dominion-Chalmers United Church
355 Cooper Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K2P 0G8

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