This line from the sermon sums up the main points Pastor Glenn made tonight. God understands that we are human, and that it’s helpful for Him to reach us in different ways to really get his point across.
I often feel closest to God when I am appreciating the things he has made a hike on a beautiful spring day, babies, the abilities of the human body and all of the unique people he created. As Glenn said, “Man can’t open their eyes without being compelled to see God.”
God also speaks to us through his word. While I can see him in the things he has made, I sometimes find it more challenging to fully believe all of God’s words. In this sermon, I was relieved to hear that even in ancient times, people would ask: does God speak reliably? In 2 Peter 1.16, Peter assures us,
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
An eyewitness account! And yet I still have doubts? These doubts are compounded when I’m surrounded by so many people who don’t share my faith and by a culture that is full of messages of self-salvation. Glenn described this as “forces at work to break your hold on Christ.”
However, there is hope! Glenn pointed out that God seeks out men and women who hide. Just after the sermon, when Pastor Mike was introducing communion, he reiterated “Christianity isn’t about how well we can hold on to Christ, it’s about how well he can hold on to us.” And God has a pretty good hold on us!
While I don’t really feel as though I’m hiding from God (although there are areas of my life I could be better about opening up to him), I can see that God has sought me out. God has drawn me into Christian community, surrounded me with believers, and sent his only son to reassure me that he can sympathize with my human experience. These are some of the many things God has done for me. Not only did he send his only son, Jesus, to the earth, that his son died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. Thankfully, in Glenn’s words, Resurrection was the assurance of God’s acceptance of Jesus’ payment for our sins.
The charge at the end of the sermon, to think about “What words are you hearing? What words are shaping your life and directing you?” has challenged me to think about those questions, and has reinforced the need to be filling myself with the word of God daily. And when I fall short of that, which I inevitably will, I am relieved to know that he is holding on to me.
