Where is God?

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This summer (2011), I was asked to preach at the Water Street Church of Christ in Charlotte, TN. Below is the schedule published in the church bulletin followed by complete sketches of the sermons.

Where Is God?

 

Sunday Class

Seeing God’s Glorious Presence

Exodus 33:17-20; 34:5-9

Sunday Morning

Seeing God’s Glorious Hope

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 1:4-28

Sunday Night

Seeing God’s Glorious Future

Scripture Reading: Exodus 40:34-38; Ezekiel 43:1-5

Monday Night

Seeing God’s Glorious Son

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-14

Tuesday Night

Seeing God’s Glorious Ministry

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Wednesday Night

Seeing God’s Glorious Creation

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:26-2:3

Additionally, I provided the following suggestions to the worship leader.

Schedule Welcome Texts Suggested Songs
Sunday Class Ps 97:1-6 On Zion’s Glorious Summit
Sunday Morning Isa 6:1-3 Holy, Holy, Holy
Sunday Night Ps 24 O Worship the King
Monday Night Isa 60:1-3 Worthy Art Thou
Tuesday Night Isa 40:3-5 We Will Glorify
Wednesday Night Ps 145:10-13 How Great Thou Art

Theme Song: I Stand in Awe

Sermon sketches

The following sermon sketches indicate the primary episodes contained in my sermon plots. I have given the first few lines of each episode, followed by the last lines of each episode.  

Sunday Class: Seeing God’s Glorious Presence

Exodus 33:17-20; 34:5-9

Focus Statement: God’s presence signifies God’s steadfast love and forgiveness.

Function Statement: To encourage people to behold God’s forgiveness.

  1. Abilene is not known for its hills, much less for its mountains.
  2. God often displays power and presence on mountains. At Sinai, there is a seismic display of a tsunami of volcanic power. … The awesome entry of the heavenly holy mystery into human existence is often described in Scripture as the glory of the Lord.
  3. So what happened? You know the story. The golden calf happened. … Moses intercedes for the people and experiences a rare moment with God in the cleft of the rock, God’s glory, God’s goodness, passes by.
  4. The story on the mountain of God contains a new word for us. God’s statement of self-disclosure is given in the moment when God is most deeply offended and Israel is most profoundly in jeopardy. God’s self-disclosure is not only about God’s character but God’s intention. … God intends more than delivering a people from slavery, but to usher his people into his divine presence. There, God will be their God.

 

Sunday Morning: Seeing God’s Glorious Hope

Ezekiel 1:4-28

Focus Statement: God dwells with God’s people during their darkest hours.

Function Statement: To offer hope to folks in despair.

  1. The philosopher Dorothy once said, “There is no place like home.” My parents’ farm is such a place for me. … There is no place like home, especially if you know the pain of those who have lost their home.
  2. Loss of place haunts many. We all know places where God’s glory is not present, where God’s presence is hidden. A rootless place that is forgotten and forsaken. … Is God silent? Why has God hidden his face from us? Why have we lost our place?
  3. The loss of place is a devastating experience. Israel knew such loss of place in what is known as “Babylonian Captivity.” … Is there any hope in exile? If you lose your place, your bearings, what can you expect from God?
  4. But in spite of hopelessness, the possibility of God’s glory exists. And that is where we find Ezekiel. A displaced priest with no temple to serve. … Can you see the glory of the Lord? It may seem like just the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, in fact, you might not recognize it at all, but know and believe God is present in your exilic moments.

Sunday Night: Seeing God’s Glorious Future

Exodus 40:34-38; Ezekiel 43:1-5

 

Focus Statement: God dwells with God’s people.

Function Statement: To focus people’s eyes upon God’s intended future.

 

  1. Have you ever heard of the TEGO Affect? An acronym for “The Eyes Glaze Over.” Building the tabernacle texts often create TEGO. … When our eyes behold where God lives, God’s grace is exemplified by God’s presence among us.
  2. Remember, we left Ezekiel in a vision of the Glory of God in Babylon. God not only let Ezekiel see a vision of God’s glory, but a vision of God’s new temple. … God’s new temple is an image of God’s future for his people. A future that we share.
  3. And among us, “The Lord is There” too.

 

Monday Night: Seeing God’s Glorious Son

John 1:1-14

Focus Statement: God’s present activity among us is seen in Jesus.

Function Statement: To exhort people to believe and embrace life.

  1. Gen 1:1 “In the beginning was God.” Genesis assumes God does not have to be introduced. … The Bible is the book about God. God does not need to be introduced. God is the primary actor in the story.
  2. But as the story of God unfolds, God shows up less and less. … And the people waited and longed for God to show up again.
  3. That silence is why John’s words are so stunning. In the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John, God is the primary actor again. … And God’s glory set up tent in our midst. God once again breaks the silence and tabernacled with us.
  4. Why did Jesus come to earth? John tells us, “So that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). But not everyone could see and hear God in him and only a few saw, experienced, and believed. … And all those born of God will have life, a new life, an abundant life, and a spiritual life. Or as John most likely would say, “eternal life.”

 

Tuesday Night: Seeing God’s Glorious Ministry

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Focus Statement: God’s glory is realized when the church serves others.

Function Statement: To challenge folk to live transformed lives for the sake of the world.

  1. “Where is the glory?” Much of contemporary church life does not appear glorious. … Such disappointments undermine our own confidence that God is at work in the context of the church. It is enough to cause us all to lose heart.
  2. If only we could see the kind of glory that is described in the “mountaintop” experience of Sinai! Moses had a glorious ministry. … Moses’ ministry was glorious. But Paul says he knows about an even greater glory, a glory that will not pass away.
  3. Despite the appearances, Paul’s ministry is even more glorious than that of Moses. … Despite the appearances, we have seen the glory in the face of Jesus Christ: we see transformation taking place wherever we see a cup of water given in his name, a people who sacrifice themselves for the poor; a people who care for their own bereaved, hospitality shown to a stranger.
  4. And those of us who believe, see the glory of the Lord fully in Jesus. The vision of God in Jesus Christ is inescapably transformative. … “Do not lose heart!” —That’s the call of the gospel.

 

Wednesday Night: Seeing God’s Glorious Creation

Genesis 1:26-2:3

Focus Statement: God partners with people to do his good work.

Function Statement: To call people to an ongoing life of service to the glory of God.

  1. The New Seven Wonders of the World list was established by the largest international poll in 2007. Currently there is a new poll by the same private company for the purposes of establishing the Seven Wonders of the Natural World by July of 2009.
  2. Most of these lists focus upon human achievements. When God created the heavens and the earth, God said, this is good. But God’s creative activity was not completed in Genesis. … We are called to achieve, to work with God’s creative purposes in the world.
  3. For God intended that through our co-participation in the rhythm of creation, work and rest, the beauty of creation would flourish. … There is no morning or evening as we participate in the rhythm of our creative work and Sabbath. And this is the vision God has called you to see and to engage. You are called to create and to enjoy.