(outline for Sunday evening January 4)
Psalm 139: 7-12
Central idea: There is no place you can be where God is not present and attentive.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:7-12 NIV
Introduction:
1. Why we need a new understanding of the presence of God:
§ To keep Christians from living secular lives.
§ To avoid compartmentalizing Christianity.
§ To enable us to perceive God’s presence cognitively and emotively.
2. What do we mean by the presence of God?
- God’s personal awareness of us…our joy and our pain, our burdens and our blessings.
- God’s redemptive activity in our lives.
- God’s actions through us as the body of Christ.
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." --Brother Lawrence
Outline:
1. Affirm God’s presence in all places at all times.
2. Acknowledge God’s interaction in all things.
3. Enjoy God’s presence at all times.
4. Draw strength from God’s presence in all circumstances.
5. Serve with God’s purpose as your ultimate objective.
The most excellent method of going to God is that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing people but purely for the love of God. –Brother Lawrence
Summary: You have the opportunity to live with the assurance and the companionship of God’s presence in all seasons.
For more on Practicing the Presence or on Brother Lawrence, check out the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practice_of_the_Presence_of_God
