Participants:
Series Code: SCS
Program Code: SCS000010
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00:33 Chapter 10, A Knowledge of God.
00:38 Hello and welcome, Today we will be looking at 00:40 how to get to know God. In a saving confident 00:43 relationship. In John 17:3 it tells us that to know 00:47 God is eternal life. This means that eternal life 00:50 is wrapped up in an intimate relationship with God 00:53 But, before we study such an important topic, 00:57 we should never do so without first praying. 00:59 And, so I'm gonna ask Caitlin, if she can 01:01 lead us in a word of prayer. 01:03 Let's bow our heads. Dear heavenly Father, thank you 01:07 for your creation and thank you for the lessons 01:10 that you show us through nature. Jesus you have made 01:15 everything with your own hands. From the stars and 01:19 the mountains all way down to the tiny little 01:21 hummingbird. We can see your perfect design. 01:28 And God, you care for everything and sustain 01:31 everything that you have created. Thank you for 01:34 the promise that although you are the God of the 01:36 whole Universe. That at the same time you care 01:40 for the wants of the little brown sparrow. 01:43 And, no matter who I am or what I've done, 01:46 that you are watching over me. Thank you for this 01:51 eternal life, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 01:58 The Bible says in John 17:3 that this is eternal 02:01 life, that they might know thee, the only true God, 02:05 and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. But, you might be 02:08 asking how do I get to know a God that I can't see. 02:12 The simple quick answer is that we get to know God, 02:16 through studying what he has created and through 02:18 reading the Bible. So it's true, we can't see God 02:21 face-to-face, at least not right now, but we can 02:24 get to know him through his written word and his 02:27 created works. In fact by looking at nature through 02:31 the right glasses, we can get a pretty good idea of 02:33 what God is like. The Bible often uses 02:36 illustrations from nature to help us understand 02:39 God. For example the universe is a pretty big 02:44 place and God runs it off, but at the same time 02:48 the Bible says, that not even a sparrow worth only half 02:52 a penny can fall to the ground without your 02:55 Father knowing it. And the very hairs 02:58 you head are all numbered. So, don't be afraid you 03:01 are more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows. 03:05 So, Jesus says, that God becomes visible to us. 03:09 When we examine the way he cares for the sparrows. 03:12 See God cares about what happens in your life. 03:15 And he is not going to let anything happen that 03:17 won't work out for your eternal good. 03:20 This thought should relieve most of the daily 03:22 stresses that many of us go through. And that's just what 03:26 God is like, he wants to lift our burdens. And believe 03:30 me, He is big enough to do it. 04:33 Why Should I Feel Discouraged, 04:41 Why Should The Shadows Come, 04:49 Why Should My Heart Be Lonely, 04:56 And Long For Heaven And Home, 05:04 When Jesus Is My Portion? 05:12 My Constant Friend Is He: 05:20 His Eye Is On The Sparrow, 05:28 And I Know He Watches Me; 05:36 His Eye Is On The Sparrow, 05:44 And I Know He Watches Me. 05:52 I Sing Because I'm Happy, 05:57 I Sing Because I'm Free, 06:02 For His Eye Is On The Sparrow, 06:08 And I Know He Watches Me. 06:21 Whenever I Am Tempted, 06:28 Whenever Clouds Arise, 06:37 When Songs Give Place To Sighing, 06:45 When Hope Within me Dies, 06:52 I Draw more Closer To Him, 07:00 From Care He Sets Me Free; 07:07 his Eye Is On The Sparrow, 07:15 And I Know He Watches Me; 07:22 his Eye Is On The Sparrow, 07:30 And I Know He Watches Me. 07:43 I Sing Because I'm Happy, 07:51 I Sing Because I'm Free, 07:56 For His Eye Is On The Sparrow, 08:03 And I Know He Watches Me. 08:31 Caitlin that song "His eyes on the sparrow" 08:34 I wanna tell you that God spoke to me directly 08:37 through your voice singing that song once. 08:39 I was in my office and the orchestra was 08:42 recording and you were singing and I was asking 08:45 God, has my life really made a difference? And 08:49 through that song, his eyes on the sparrow, 08:52 it was like God was speaking directly to me 08:54 and I thought if God has blessed me so much, 08:57 how has he blessed the one who has been singing 08:59 it, and so I wanted to ask you how have you been 09:01 blessed by singing that song? 09:03 Well it's just so encouraging to me to know 09:06 that God is watching everything, like if he cares 09:10 for the little brown sparrow, how much more 09:12 valuable am I to him. He cares about me personally 09:16 and just knowing that he is control of everything, 09:20 and that He sees what I'm going through personally, 09:23 frees from all care. Like, how important is for 09:26 me to remember this I don't even have to worry. 09:28 Yeah, in that song you sing those words I sing 09:31 because I'm happy, and who better to think of, 09:34 then Ceri as someone who's life is joyful and 09:38 happy. And I hope you don't mine me saying 09:40 that but what makes you so happy Ceri? 09:42 Kind of a big question, what it started when I was younger 09:46 I had to start there anyway. I, well I guess you can say I 09:49 was a good kid, but I don't know if I call 09:51 myself a Godly kid, I did what was right and I 09:55 had high standards. But, I knew I was missing 09:58 something like I saw my mom every morning, she 10:00 had to spend about an hour with God and there was 10:03 a driving force that made her obey God and really 10:08 be a Christian that I knew I didn't have and I 10:12 wanted it, there are many people in my life like 10:15 this and I wanted it and so at night I'd prayed Lord 10:19 please, I really want this like I want that whatever 10:23 is that my mom has. I just want that relationship 10:26 with you, I don't know how to get it though; I 10:30 just was begging and begging him more, please 10:32 give us to me. And if you show me I'll tell other 10:34 people, I just want to know, yeah, and I had a 10:37 big headboard on my bed, it was my great 10:40 grandfather's bed and I felt like my prayers of 10:42 hours bounce off of that, but I continued to pray 10:44 and I prayed and prayed no matter how much I 10:47 felt like it wasn't reaching heaven. It was later 10:50 that year I went to academy and at academy 10:52 they taught me that spending that half an hour 10:55 with God is important, and they set aside time for 10:57 us, and so I started with a book just that showed 11:02 Christ's life and who he was. And that's really 11:05 like I saw who he was and why we should love 11:08 him so much and I, that love just came out and now 11:12 like it's just like everyday I get to spend time with 11:14 my best friend, yeah and it's awesome! Yeah. 11:17 Yeah, so you have a saving relationship with God 11:20 and it brings joy to your life. 11:22 Yeah, totally, yeah thanks for sharing that 11:25 I can see that, okay. 11:28 God's been trying to communicate with us, 11:30 ever since our forefathers Adam and Eve. 11:32 Shut themselves away from heaven through sin. 11:35 He wants us to know him and one of the most 11:38 powerful methods he's used throughout history has been 11:41 the written word of God, the Bible. 11:43 In the Bible we see how God relates to defective 11:45 people like you and me, and as we behold 11:49 his patience and forgiveness towards 11:51 characters like King David and the Apostle Peter. 11:54 We've realized that he is someone we can 11:56 trust. God described himself to Moses with 12:00 these words in Exodus 34:6 and 7, the Lord God 12:05 merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding 12:09 in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for 12:12 thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression, 12:15 and sin. I just wanna encourage you to take 12:18 time to get to know God through his word. 13:18 Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world, 13:28 They resound with God's own heart 13:33 Oh, let the Ancient words impart. 13:41 Words of Life, Words of Hope 13:45 Give us strength, help us cope 13:50 In this world, where'er we roam 13:55 Ancient words will guide us Home. 14:02 Ancient words ever true 14:07 Changing me, and changing you. 14:12 We have come with open hearts 14:16 Oh let the ancient words impart. 14:29 Holy words of our Faith Handed down to this age. 14:38 Came to us through sacrifice 14:42 Oh heed the faithful words of Christ. 14:47 Martyr's blood stains each page 14:52 they have died for this faith, hear them cry 14:59 through the years oh heed these words and hold them dear, 15:06 Ancient words ever true 15:11 Changing me, and changing you. 15:15 We have come with open hearts 15:20 Oh let the ancient words impart. 15:28 Ancient words ever true 15:34 Changing me, and changing you. 15:39 Everyday our hearts renew, oh cleanse and 15:46 change us through and through. 15:53 We have come with open hearts 15:59 Oh let the ancient words impart. 16:06 We have come with open hearts 16:15 Oh let the ancient words impart. 16:46 There has never been a book so hated and yet so 16:50 so loved as the Bible. Thousands of people 16:53 have given their whole lives for a book. Now tell me what 16:56 would possess a man to do such an unthinkable 17:00 thing, but in this book are words of comfort, 17:06 words of hope, words of strength, words of life, 17:11 the very words of Jesus Christ. Now, if man is to 17:16 find this life, this precious life, eternal life, he will 17:20 find them in these ancient words, the Bible, 17:23 which leads us to our heavenly Father. 17:27 You're right Matthew those ancient words they 17:30 give us a knowledge of God. David, I have a 17:33 question for you, how did you get to know God, 17:35 was it through the ancient words of the 17:37 Bible or how did it work in your life? 17:40 Well I grew up as a Christian. Recalling how 17:43 Ceri said, I was the good boy but not the Godly 17:47 boy. And, when I would be talking to a friend or a 17:50 relative it was great until the conversation 17:53 started to get a little bit like too preachy 17:55 a little bit about God and all that and then, 17:59 okay I have to admit it that I will find it repulsive. 18:01 I just didn't want to talk about those type of 18:03 conversations, those were just not my thing. 18:06 And back then, I did not know that I needed 18:09 a relationship with God, but then when I came 18:12 to Fountain View, I could see in the students, 18:16 in the staff and like this close in a relationship 18:19 with God and that's when I knew that he was real, 18:22 It wasn't a fairytale, like it wasn't 18:24 impossible to achieve and then during my junior 18:28 year, I started to feel like this is spiritual 18:30 emptiness, like this hole in my heart. 18:33 And I just didn't know how to fill it up, and then 18:36 later I started to realize, you know what? 18:39 I just don't know God and I haven't had that close 18:42 connection with God and I really want to do that. 18:45 I really want to become, to be good friend with 18:47 him. And then I start asking God you know I 18:50 I want you to make it real for me, I want you to show me, 18:54 was is to be with, to be with you. Then one 18:56 morning I was reading the book 18:58 "Steps to Christ' my devotions, then it says 19:01 many are the ways in which God is seeking to 19:03 make Himself known to us and bring us into 19:06 communion with Him. So, I just thought that God 19:09 is actually leading me through this, I could go to 19:12 towards him. He really wants to get to know me 19:15 and I kept reading and it says, God speaks to 19:17 us through His providential workings and through 19:19 the influence of His Spirit upon the heart. 19:22 So I was like, you know what God, you definitely 19:24 want to get to know me, you really want 19:26 to get know me, and that's just amazing, because 19:29 like I still struggle with this, I still struggle with 19:32 pray before I go to bed, I still struggle with 19:35 reading my devotions still. But, the amazing thing 19:38 is that he's still calling me. And so he still wants 19:41 to get to know me and that just really blows my 19:43 mind. Amen, okay David so, would it be safe to 19:47 say the you grew up as a Christian and you really 19:53 didn't have a hungering and thirsting. You didn't even 19:56 know that you needed God and you saw it real 20:01 in the lives of other Christians. And when you 20:04 saw that it drove you to the Bible, yeah, yeah. 20:08 Yeah, because of that points like He actually 20:11 made himself real to me. Yeah. And so daily you 20:15 started to read the Bible and it became a real 20:18 relationship that you needed like breathing, 20:21 like eating every single day. Thank you, 20:23 David for sharing your story with us, it's really 20:27 meaningful to see that God has changed 20:29 you through his word and through the Holy Spirit 20:32 in our life. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Amen. 20:36 There is one more secret to knowing God, and 20:38 that is, we need to have help interpreting what 20:42 nature and the Bible say about him. Because of sin 20:46 our perceptions of God are not always accurate. 20:49 But he is provided a way for us to see things in their 20:52 true light. In John 16:13 the Apostle says, 20:56 'when he, the spirit of truth has come he will 20:59 guide you unto all truth. When acquainting yourself 21:02 with God, either through nature or the Bible, you 21:05 do well to pray for God's Holy Spirit to guide 21:08 you into truth. So, make this your rule, I will never 21:12 attempt to study about God in the Bible or in 21:15 nature without first praying. 21:20 Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; 21:33 Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move; 21:46 Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, 21:59 And make me love Thee as I ought to love. 22:14 Hast Thou not bid us love thee, God and King? 22:27 All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind. 22:40 I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling. 22:53 O let me seek Thee, and O let me find. 23:08 Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh; 23:20 Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear. 23:33 To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh, 23:45 Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer. 24:05 You know, I was thinking about what David said, 24:07 and how that he didn't really know that he needed Christ. 24:10 We are pretty helpless if we don't know that we need Christ. 24:14 or that we don't even know what our true needs are. 24:15 That's why when I wake up in the morning I really 24:18 try to remember, God, please reveal yourself to me, 24:22 teach me how to love you, teach me to have a passion 24:27 for what's right and how to detest evil. 24:29 When I want to learn a skill, I need a teacher to help me, 24:34 show me how to learn it. Well, I was thinking 24:38 God should be our ultimate teacher and ask him every day, 24:41 will you be my teacher. Yes! 24:43 In Mathew chapter 7, it talks about, Jesus' 24:47 is talking there about a very sad experience 24:50 he says that when he comes there will be many, 24:52 many people who will come to him and say I knew you, 24:54 I knew you, I knew you, and he replies to them 24:57 I'm sorry but I don't know you, and looking at 25:00 that and thinking to myself, now is it possible 25:04 for me to think that I know someone but they 25:07 actually don't know me. And in James 2:19 25:10 it says that the devils they believe in God, they 25:13 know God but they fear and tremble. 25:14 So they don't have a saving knowledge of God. 25:17 And we don't want to get to the end and God 25:21 turn to us and say I don't know you. To have God 25:25 know us means we have an intimate relationship 25:27 with him, we let him into our lives. And I can see 25:30 in your life Matthew that you have let God into 25:33 your life that you know him and he knows you, 25:35 how have you gotten that that's a real relationship. 25:38 Well, boy where to start, growing up my parents 25:43 always were trying to lead me to Christ and to 25:46 do what was right. I just threw it back in their 25:49 face, I just tried to ignore them 25:50 and I didn't want to have 25:52 anything to do with it. And I was really involved 25:54 in things that just really bring me down. 25:56 I was really, really into video games, 25:58 for example. I played video games like you wouldn't 26:01 believe and the thing was I was really, really, 26:04 really good and that was why I loved it so much, 26:06 because I was so good I would play like 26:08 10 to 12 hours in one day. These aren't just 26:11 like little kids games? No, these are games 26:13 where your, like shooting or blowing people up 26:14 It's very violent. It's very violent. 26:17 And then I was really involved in watching 26:19 movies with lots of you know language, violence, 26:22 sex and all the stuff and but over time I just 26:30 these things were not satisfying. They were 26:32 pleasurable for a time but really overall they just did 26:35 not satisfy me completely. And I wanted to have 26:41 something that I saw in people's life that I didn't 26:45 have, my parents change people's life and I saw that 26:47 they had a real walk with God and I'm like God 26:49 is real and if you bring such a joy into somebody's 26:53 life. I want that, I really want that, and 26:56 being here at Fountain View Academy has really 27:00 shown me and taught so much about, 27:03 who Christ is really all about, and when I really 27:06 came here to this school I wanted to really do 27:09 what was right. And God says, if you really want 27:11 to get to know me, you need to sacrifice and give 27:13 up these things of the World. I said Lord no, 27:15 I cant give up these things, 27:17 I'm good at these things and I love 27:18 these things and done this so much but, 27:21 he says no you have to trust me and over just 27:23 fighting this for so long. I finally just said that's 27:28 enough and I just got rid of it. And I could 27:31 remember just coming to a friend of mine in tears 27:34 and I had these CDs and they were torn 27:37 apart and I just said you could have them. 27:38 'Cause he was the person that 27:40 was encouraging me to give these things 27:41 up. And ever since then my life has never, 27:44 never been the same, it hasn't and 27:47 it's only by God's grace. 27:48 Amen. Amen. And it makes me think of freedom is 27:53 not found in the things that we own, but it is 27:56 in the power to do what is right. Amen, Amen 27:58 you know in Jeremiah 29:13 it tells us that 28:02 if you seek God you will find him, if you seek for 28:05 him with all heart and all of you have told me 28:08 about how you've been seeking God with all 28:10 your heart and you have found him and you 28:13 continue to seek him everyday. Lets close with 28:15 a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we 28:19 thank you that you give us a desire to want to 28:21 know you and you give us that saving relationship. 28:24 Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to lead us 28:26 and into all truth, in Jesus name, Amen, Amen. 28:33 Steps to Christ in Song is a 13 part series 28:36 from Fountain View Productions. Designed to be 28:39 easy non-threatening way to 28:41 share the good news about Jesus Christ 28:43 with friends, relatives and co-workers. 28:45 Order your copies now by calling 1-877-490-4141 or 28:52 visit us online at www.fountainviewproductions.com. 28:57 Steps to Christ in Song is also available at your local 29:02 ABC Christian Book Store. |
Revised 2014-12-17