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GOD'S PRESENCE 

At the beginning of your sermon, pass out golf balls to everyone in the audience. Ask them to examine the ball closely, squeeze it, smell it, feel the dimples on it, and notice the variety of colors of balls people received, and the different brand names printed on the balls. 

Now ask everyone to remove their right shoe, place the ball in the shoe, and put their shoe back on their foot. Then ask, "When you tried to put your foot in your shoe, did you notice the golf ball?" 

People will say, "Yes, of course." 

Then ask, "Suppose for some reason you decided to keep the ball in your shoe, do you ever think you would reach a point where you wouldn't notice it? Could you ever get used to the ball?" 

Most people will nod their heads while others will say, "No." 

Ask, "If we could never get used to a golf ball in our shoe, how on earth can we get used to the presence of the God of the universe in our soul?" 

Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Mark Tabb 

Ezekiel 36:24-27 NIV "'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
 
 

GOD, PRESENCE OF 

Two weeks after the massive undersea earthquakes off Indonesia that triggered massive tidal waves, the Earth was still vibrating.The Australian National University said gravity meters housed in the Mount Stromio Observatory near Canberra have detected an ongoing vibration that could last several more weeks. 

Earth Sciences researcher Herb McQueen said, "These are not the things that are going to throw you off your chair, but they are things that the kinds of instruments that are in place around the world can now routinely measure."McQueen said the reverberations were similar to the ringing of a bell, but without producing sound.He added that the current oscillation was fading, but equated to about a millimeter of vertical motion. 

Immediately following the quake, McQueen says the oscillation was in the 20 to 30 centimeter range, roughly equivalent to the oscillations generated in the Earth by movements of the sun and moon.McQueen added, "This particular earthquake, because it was 10 times larger than most of the recent large earthquakes is continuing to reverberate. We can still see a steady signal of the Earth vibrating as a result of the earthquake two weeks later. From what it looks like, it appears it will probably continue to oscillate for several more weeks." 

Just after the quake U.S. scientists said the quake may have permanently accelerated the earth's rotation and caused the planet to wobble.Geophysicists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory theorized the quake caused a shift of mass towards the Earth's center causing the planet to spin three millionths of a second faster, and tilting the earth's axis by about 2.5 centimeters. 

—Associated Press, Earth Still ringing Two weeks after Tsunami Quake, January 9, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell. 

The power of this earthquake and the massiveness of its destruction are unprecedented in recent memory.Certainly my first response to it has been to pray for the people involved and to give to help them.My second response has been to marvel at Nature's power and what it says about the Majesty of our Creator. 

Psalm 68:8 (NASB) "The earth quaked; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel." 

GOD’S PRESENCE 

The Church of the Reflections has a unique distinction. The small chapel is the only church in the world located in a theme park. The church is located in the Old West section of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. 

Though the small wooden structure looks right at home, it was built long before Walter Knott dreamed of a theme park. The sanctuary was built in 1876 as a Baptist Church during California’s Gold Rush days. In 1955, Knott rescued the church from demolition. Some historians believe Knott saved the church because one of his relatives had once ministered there. When he built his park, Knott had the church taken apart piece by piece and rebuilt near his original berry stand in the park. He said, he wanted a place of worship for his employees. Knott even attended the church until his death several years ago. 

The Church of the Reflections attracts has 60 members and attracts abut 50 worshippers each week. Any park-goer is welcome to attend services, but visitors are asked to call ahead and sign in and out of the park. The congregation has a pew dedicated to first-timers. 

Henry and Geni Duron, aged 84, are regular members. They have made the trip to Buena Park for years because they have family nearby. They say they don’t mind walking through the park to get to the church. They call the small church their spiritual home. Henry adds, “ It’s a nice walk. Very Safe.” 

—The Orange County Register, The Knott’s faithful, by Amy Wilson, Monday, April 14, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell. 

This small church inside Knotts Berry Farm is a reminder that the Lord can be found anywhere and anytime by those who seek Him. 

Jeremiah 29:13 NASB “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

A seven year old boy in Utah stole his father’s car keys and fled from the house to get away. Police received reports of a child driving recklessly and tried to apprehend him but they never caught him because he ditched the car and ran into a house. When his father confronted him he said the reason was he didn’t want to go to church that morning.

--http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/29/ap6712311.html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

I toggle between being amused and terrified as I reflect on this story. It has a Dennis the Menace feel to it, so I chuckle a bit as I think about it, but on the other extreme, it terrifies me for a couple of reasons.  For one, I don’t want to share the road with a seven year old driver, but on another level I fear for his future. I hope running for church doesn’t mean he is running from God’s Presence. If it doesn’t, I’m concerned why the two things aren’t synonyms.

Jonah 1:3 (NLT) But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction in order to get away from the LORD. He went down to the seacoast, to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping that by going away to the west he could escape from the LORD. 

 “You need to just go home and get on with your life,” the doctor said, “your husband is not going to recover.”  Barbara was devastated.  She couldn’t believe it would end this way.  Barbara and Jimmy were married in September of 1945, the same month World War II ended.  Jimmy hadn’t come back from the war in one piece; he lost a leg and took on some shrapnel that the doctors were unable to remove.  But now, he’d slipped into a catatonic state.  He wasn’t unconscious, but he wasn’t all there either—he was non responsive.  The doctors in Albuquerque thought he had a brain tumor, so they shipped him off to Denver where he could get the treatment he needed.  Barbara had already farmed the kids out to relatives so she could go with him, hoping against hope that they could treat him.  They’d ruled out a tumor, but they didn’t know what the problem was.  All they knew was that the probability for recovery was slight and that Barbara would be better off if she moved on.  Her mother-in-law agreed.  “Go ahead and divorce Jimmy, and I’ll bring him home with me,” she said.

 Barbara couldn’t do it.  Part of the reason is that fifteen years before she’d stood before God and His witnesses and promised to stay married to Jimmy in “sickness and in health.”  But it was more than that.  It was more than doing the right thing.  Barbara trusted in God.   She had hope that God would make things right.   As she weighed her options, she remembered the way God comforted during Jimmy’s first day at the hospital. 

 As she was walking out of the VA hospital in Albuquerque, she sensed God saying to her, “The rest of your life is going to be different.”  When Barbara told her Mother-in-law about it, she said, “Oh, you’re just being pessimistic, everything is going to be fine.”  That night, she lay in her empty bed in her empty house and cried out to her God from her empty soul.  A passage of scripture from Isaiah came to her mind, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”   Instinctively, Barbara lifted her right hand, with her elbow against the mattress and drifted off to sleep.  “He held my hand all night,” Barbara says, “I could feel the warmth of His hand in mine.”

 Barbara didn’t know the future; she just knew that her life would never be the same and that God would be with her.  For over a year, Jimmy stayed in Denver and Barbara stayed in the palm of God’s hand. The rest of Barbara’s life was different, just as God told her the first day Jimmy was in the hospital.  God gave her the serenity to accept what she couldn’t change.  She couldn’t change Jimmy’s situation, and God gave her the peace she needed to get through the trial.  He also gave her the courage to do what she could—she remained faithful to her husband and trusted in God.  He didn’t fail her.  She was never alone.  And neither was Jimmy.  Jimmy’s awakening came during a chapel service at the VA Hospital in Denver as the patients sang Pickett’s hymn, “Never Alone.”  This hymn, based upon the promise of scripture that says “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”  had run through Jimmy’s mind over and over while he was still in the darkness.  Now, he was singing it, in the light, with everyone else, “No, never alone, no never alone,/  He promised never to leave me,/ He’ll claim me for His own; / No, never alone, no never alone./ He promised never to leave me,/ Never to leave me alone.”

  Last year they celebrated their 60th year together by renewing their vows for the third time.  They’d done it once at the 25th anniversary, the second time at their 50th and the third time at their 60th.  They’re not alone.  Not just because they’re together, but because God was good to His word and was with them through their trial. 

--Soul Shaping: Disciplines that Conform us into Christ’s Image by Jim L. Wilson, p. 56-58 Go to http://www.lifeway.com/e1/shop/?id=005137993 for more information.

Psalm 23:1-6 (KJV) “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.   (2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.   (3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.   (4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.   (5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.   (6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” 

--Comet’s death by Sun Photographed for First Time, http://news.yahoo.com/comets-death-sun-photographed-first-time-174602662.html ; July 13, 2011, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

This comet is a picture of what would happen to us if we tried to approach God in our own strength. The only way to approach Him is through His Son, Jesus.
 
1 Timothy 6:16 (CEV) Only God lives forever! And he lives in light that no one can come near. No human has ever seen God or ever can see him. God will be honored, and his power will last forever. Amen.