God the Father Almighty,
Notes
Transcript
Mission and Vision
Open your hymnal to page 8. We are going to read the Apostles’ Creed together
Tell the story of John Wesley and the Moravians
Traveling to US to be a missionary
Storm
Moravians were singing
Wesley questioned his assurance
Though he was a pastor and a theologian…he didn’t know God the Father Almighty
Today the world is in a panic. People are living in fear that this virus is the end of the world.
I’m not knocking any precautions people are taking to practice social distancing or to keep themselves from catching any virus
But it is a tell tale sign that people don’t know God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth
So we are going to dive into what we are truly saying that we believe when we say that I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth
Let’s break down this statement
I believe
Personal statement
To believe is not just to acknowledge but to have faith in
To fully trust
to rest in
In
not “that”… But “In”
My belief is found in something
Faith is only as strong as what it is found in
Belief for belief’s sake is worthless
SO our belief doesn’t come from inside ourselves or from wisdom or logic… but our belief is IN something that matters
James tells us that even the demons believe that there is a God… but they shudder. Meaning that their belief causes action. They respond out of a belief
Now they are not believing IN God but simply believing That God is who he says he is
God
Everyone believes in a god
Whatever you serve, and bow down to… is your god
Some people’s god is money, power, intellect, self-sufficiency, self, superiority...
Even athiests have lifted up creation… science and discovery of the natural world… as their god
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
The issue is not if people believe in a god, it’s that our God is specific
Say specific
God the Father
I want to stop for a brief second to give a disclaimer
If you had a bad father that was not God’s perfect plan
Sin damages relationships
God is the perfect father
God is spirit therefore he is not male nor female.
there are scriptures where God is described using feminine characteristics
Matthew23:37 - Gather you like a mother Hen
- Like nursing mother comforts her children, I will comfort you
ETC
However scripture uses the term Father to describe God. So we have to dive into why that is
it’s not just because of patriarchy. It’s not just a bunch of Men sitting around writting history and saying that God can’t be female.
There are some aspects of God’s relationship with his children that reflects a father’s relationship more than a mother’s relationship
Fatherhood
Personal
Authoritative
Protects
Leads
Provides
Teaches/disciples
Disciplines
Where we get our name and our identity
God the Father Almighty
El Shaddai
We need to truly believe in this today more than ever
Almighty is all powerful. Omnipotent
There is nothing that God cannot do
He has ALL power
How would it change your life today if you truly could believe that there is a God who is your father who is also almighty?
Dad as superhero
One day we realize that our earthly parents are human
God is almighty
Maker of heaven and earth
God is not a creation… he is the creator
Everything that is, had to come to be
But there has to be a place where everything started. God is the prime mover. The first the foremost.
I don’t care if you believe in theistic evolution, old earth, young earth… Those are things we are not going to debate today
What is something that we have to agree on is that GOD did it
He is the creator
Not only does he have all power, but it wasn’t like he assumed it or was given power. He just is all powerful
What does that mean for us today
There is nothing outside the control of God the father almighty
He created everything and nothing created him
he cannot be contained, controlled, diminished, nor will his power ever fail him
He is our father
God is supremely immense and intensely personal
he is the God of everything yet through Jesus we get to call him our Father
He is God
he is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should change his mind
He is not corruptable, he doesn’t forget, he will not fail.
What we need today in the midst of Coronavirus, drought, war, famine, politics, stock markets.... we need to truly understand and believe
have full faith and resting on who God is
And know that he loves you, he knows you, he sees you, he is for you, and he can never fail
That doesn’t always mean that the answer is health and wealth, but it does mean that as the creater of heaven and earth, that when you are called home…he will carry you to be with him as your father eternal.
Respond
Pray