Today we begin a new major teaching series for Sunday mornings.

• If you were ever asked to write down a few headlines about what we believe is Christ-followers, I wonder what you would choose to include … or exclude?
• (Some of you will have done this exercise in your small groups last week)

Series is called twelve Tweets – because the Apostle’s creed can be divided into 12 statements, each of less than 140 characters – a tweet.

In about 390AD a group of Christian leaders got together in Milan to settle on a way of understanding what we believe using a collection of pithy sayings.

• That was the origin of the Apostles Creed which Christians have been using ever since to remind them of the great truths of the gospel.
• At first sight some of these statements appear very basic, however when you sit down to think about them they each open up the enormous depths of the faith and have day-to-day relevance that impacts our lifestyle.

These phrases set Christianity apart from every other faith stream and define our DNA as followers of Jesus.

Social Media:

To join the conversation on twitter use the hashtag #twelvetweets.

• (explain Twitter)

 

I want to be Biblical as well as practical in this series of talks

E.g. Marathon Race at Olympics – There are two types of people

• there are people who spectate. They watch from the sidelines and comment on the race

• then there are the runners. The people get out there, do it, and get that incredible thrill of crossing the finish line, hopefully in a personal best time, if not a world-beating time.
• I want us to be runners, actually living out the consequences being in Christ

 

Tweet No 1 “I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth”

Many people think God is

absent

He just isn’t there – in fact he isn’t anywhere.

The consequence tends to be that something man-made – often mankind itself – takes the place of God in our lives.

• But Psalm 14:1 “the fool says in his heart ‘there is no God’” And there are some very eminent ‘fools’ around.

But anyone who claims God doesn’t exist and isn’t here is immediately at the mercy of a Christ-follower who says ‘I know him’ >>>

irrelevant

These are the people who say “I can get along quite well in life without God”, “I’m OK, I can cope”

• But can I probe a bit and ask the question “Who gave you the capacity / ability to cope with life?”

• and what happens when tragedy comes along that is beyond your coping skills?

This is how some of us discover God to be real for the first time: we hit a crisis

• business crisis, relationship crisis, family crisis, financial crisis
• and we have no idea which way to turn.

Personally I wouldn’t wish such a crisis on anybody, but in His grace, God can use the really dire things in life to draw us to him – and it’s at that point we discover He is a source of comfort, resilience and personal strength.

unnecessary

These people will argue (roughly) that science and philosophy have explained (or at least are potentially able to explain) all I need to know about reality.

But this is a dangerous argument

• I only need to find one thing that can’t be explained by the scientific world-view and my hypothesis falls flat on its face!

We’re expected to believe that ‘Every effect has a cause’, but that idea only works up to a point.

What about love? – can’t put that is test tube to analyse it causally –

• and come up with a fully satisfying explanation in terms of what causes lead to which effects!

A text book (written with highly atheistic presuppositions) once described a kiss as

“the approach of two pairs of lips with reciprocal transmission of micro-organisms and carbon dioxide” (Watson)

you try saying that to someone you love very much!

within you

Some people will say ‘If you want to find God then go on an inner search”

• Examine yourself! Get in touch with your feelings”
• Now I believe that knowing ourselves and being aware of our feelings is a good thing,
• but the God-Is-Within-You protagonists take it one step further – if God exists, you’ll find him from an inner quest, not an outward conversation or investigation. God is within you

But if God is within Ian Richard White, he is a very small God indeed.

• nowhere near strong enough to satisfy the deepest cravings of the human heart.
• And the fact that unsatisfied cravings exist means that God can’t truly be within you, otherwise he would have satisfied them!

 

The trouble with talking about God is we tend to start using some very long words!

• Even the word ‘theology’ is scary for some people
• but all it means is ‘logic about God’
• so if you can say anything logical about God, you’re doing theology!

Let me introduce (or remind you) of several long word concepts that we going to find vital – and all of them have knotty questions surrounding them

omniscience – There is nothing He doesn’t know

BUT if he knows everything, does he know what the outcome of my temptations are going to be?

• And if he does, is free will truly free any more?

Some theologians will tell you that God chooses to limit his omniscience in order to preserve our freewill and dignity.

Omnipresence – There is nowhere He isn’t

[quoted from Wikipedia on omnipresence]

God is actively present in a different way in every event in history as provident guide of human affairs (Psalm 48:7)

• God is in a special way attentively present to those who call upon his name, intercede for others, who adore God, who petition, who pray earnestly for forgiveness (Matthew 18:19, Acts 17:27)
• God is judicially present in moral awareness, through conscience (Psalm 48:1-2, Romans 1:20)
• God is bodily present in the incarnation of his Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:14, Colossians 2:9)
• God is mystically present in the communion and in baptism, and through these means of grace in the church, the body of Christ (Ephesians 2:12, John 6:56)
• God is sacredly present and becomes known in special places where God chooses to meet us, places that become set apart by the faithful remembering community (1 Corinthians 11:23-29) where it may be said: “Truly the Lord is in this place” (Genesis 28:16, Matthew 18:20)”

… and all of these within the framework of scripture – because God is always consistent with His word.

omnipotent – God is able to do anything

There is no power greater than God’s!

BUT – we need to dig into this a little

What ‘omnipotence’ sounds like is this

• If I ask the question ‘Can God do X’ the answer is always going to be ‘yes’.
• But some things God cannot do – e.g. Can God eradicate himself? – answer no because then he would no longer be God

In the Bible

2 Tim 2:12-13

12 … If we disown him, he will also disown us;

13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

So a better way on understand this is that God can do anything he chooses to do – and must act in a way that is consistent with his character.

 

This is an important and vital question. The dilemma of the agnostic or the unbeliever: “if there isn’t a God then nothing really matters. Life has no ultimate meaning and purpose.”

• on the other hand if there is a God then what He has said to us is of ultimate importance.

 

I was once having lunch with some men

• discussion flowing freely
• began to talk about religion in general – I made some comment about the Lord (I forget what it was)
• one of my friends sagely put his head on one side “Oh! you can’t believe in God these days”
• And why not? What makes “these days” different from any other days?
• man is still, essentially the same >>>

And yet for many people who would not give God so much as a second thought He is an essential ‘back stop’ if all else fails!

When a real crisis strikes – something life threatening

• drowning, serious illness, business going under
• something I can’t control in my life – something that brings me fear

many people will say to themselves, with real honesty, “O God, if you’re there, get me out of this and I’ll give my life to you / I’ll go to church”, or some other promise

• If that’s you, God takes you very seriously indeed and is about to do something very precious in your life.

Whether or not God is real and personal is the greatest question that we ever face.

Can I prove that God is real?

We can at least try. But the trouble with philosophical proofs are rather sterile –

• They rest heavily on abstract logic –
• and they often try to convince someone against their own personal judgement

‘Convince a man against his will

he’s of the same opinion still’

This ‘proving’ process misses the essential fact that God is a real person

Can I prove that Rosi exists?

• Do I need to?
• Isn’t it far more meaningful to get on with deepening our relationship and enjoy life together!

The Bible assumes God is real and doesn’t even attempt to argue it

 

Today we tend to assume our view of the material world is all there is, and then see how God fits into this scheme of things.

• But in Biblical terms, that’s putting the cart before the horse.
• the Bible assumes God is real and then observes how well everything else fits in.

 

There is no need to be worried by the idea of assumptions – we assume things every day.

• We assume electricity.
• electricity was around before we were able to harness it and use it
• since then the process of physics has been to harness and understand electricity and use it for our benefit.
• build up a picture of how it works – and even now there are many questions unanswered.

 

That’s how the Bible sees God. He’s just there ! (He’s here!)

• and we do our best to understand Him – allow Him to speak to us – get to know him
• that’s why the Christian life is such an exciting process of discovery.

We’re building up a personal picture of how he works

So: There’s nothing irrational about assuming things and testing them out in practise – we do it all the time.

 

Where do we see God?

If you were to ask me “How do I know that God is real?” What makes me so confident, I’d look in three directions

Creation

Psalms 19 1. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Universal admiration

There is an almost universal admiration of the world around us – Nature speaks volumes!

• sunset, astronomy, beauty of a plant

It’s interesting how naturalists who would have no time for God (as such) speak of nature as if it is a wonderful and complex being

• they even personify nature in their writings – esp on TV programs

E.g. David Bellamy Crawling through the undergrowth “This is the way nature decided it should be”

Specific investigation

If there is a general sense of wonder, there is also Specific investigation

Some people mistakenly think science has disproved, or at least knocked big holes, in Christian faith.

If science is used as it was intended to be used, that can’t be so!

• a scientist is not trying to disprove Christianity – or any other faith come to that
• what he/she is trying to do, is take an objective view of the world as it is in order to understand and model how it functions.

Sir Isaac Newton used to talk about “Thinking God’s thoughts after him”. Science without wonder is a sterile exercise!

E.g. Radio Mic

• vibrating 863MHz – didn’t happen by chance
• now look at your own hand – infinitely more complex – the more we know about the human body the more there is to know

Could this have happened by chance?

Tell me, if you like, that this is logically possible, but don’t let’s kid ourselves that it’s what the evidence suggests!

Conscience

E.g. Alarm clock – to wake you up –

Conscience is God’s moral alarm clock

• Conscience is God’s gentle, but powerful way of reaching our hearts when we don’t want to listen to him

Acts “to an unknown God”

People today worship a God they don’t know

There is an increasing awareness of spiritual reality,

• but much muddled thinking about what spirituality really means
• Many people will admit to praying to – they don’t know who – when in trouble – something within their conscience tells them ‘there might be a God who is there somewhere
• “O God if you’re there then help me!”
• And then have the shock of their lives when something happens that convinces them that He is!

Christ

That will be next week’s tweet >>>

But this leads on to the another question that naturally follows – is my god worthy of worship? What is he like?

WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

Isaiah 40 – selection

Isaiah 40:9. You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

Here is a herald – proclaiming “Here is your God “, announcing the arrival of God / telling us what he’s like. This is their equivalent of our broadcasting – stand on a high place and shout!

So what is he like?

He is personal – your God

Christianity is fundamentally not a code of ethics – it’s a relationship with a person.

you will never know the reality of Christian faith until you relate to God as a person!

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

So God is powerful >>>

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

So God is gentle >>>

12. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

So God is majestically big >>>

• see the comparisons in this verse! >>>

13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counsellor?

14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?

So God is wise >>>

18. To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?

So God is incomparable >>

19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

See how sarcastic Isaiah is about the value of our man made gods!

he fashions it out of steel and paints it with metallic paint >>>

Now what’s the Lord like in comparison?!

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

So God is greater than international politics

• International negotiations are like chats between kids in the school playground compared to his wisdom and stature!

 

Recap and Pray