Practicing God's Presence

The Practice of the Presence of God is a well known book by Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk. Our sermon series for November is not based on his book, but shares a common theme. We must regularly practice being in God’s presence. 

Anything we want to do well requires practice. It would be ridiculous to assume you could pick up a musical instrument and in just a few tries be able to play proficiently. Unfortunately, we don’t think of spiritual skills in the same way. Although some people may be more adept at certain spiritual disciplines in the same way some are more adept at musical talents or other skills, everyone requires practice to achieve their best. 

Our emphasis is to get practical. We’ve taught on many of these topics often, but this month we hope to not only communicate the ideas but also encourage and give examples of ways to implement these disciplines. We hope to find ways to engage in some of these skills during the services, as well as ways to incorporate them into our lives. Spiritual growth—like physical, intellectual, or emotional growth—is gradual. At times we may experience a growth spurt, but normally it is so gradual it can go unnoticed. We’ve all experienced seeing a niece or nephew or the child of a friend after several years and exclaiming, “Wow, how they’ve grown!” In the same way, we may not notice the small incremental growth in ourselves and those around us, but God is faithful as we give attention to the things that feed our souls. 

We will explore prayer, hearing God’s voice, worship, prophetic ministry, soaking (a.k.a. contemplative prayer), and fasting. This entire year has been about developing our spirituality. We started out with Joy Wins and Emotionally Healthy Communities. With the onset of the pandemic, we delved into the book of James to learn from the first century church’s experience with Living Exiled. This was followed with the Perseverance character studies and the Fear Not series. The S.O.U.L. Search really drilled it down to teach us a new way to measure and communicate where we are spiritually. 

Our hope is that this series on practical ways to practice God’s presence will further develop our spiritual health. In this year of extended stress and trials of dealing with all of the unknowns of the pandemic, election, racial tensions, economic challenges, etc., it is good to know that we can continue to prosper in our spiritual maturity. In fact, the outward challenges are some of the best motivators of growing inwardly. Let’s all “up our game” in growing closer to God.

Outreach

One of the primary objectives of Christianity is to make God’s name famous in our circle of influence, pointing everyone we can to the true King, Jesus. We have the answers to the questions that burden the heart of the unbeliever: Is there a God? If so, who is he? Does my life matter? YES! His name is Jesus! And YES!

Christians are God’s mouthpieces and get to share in the call to declare God’s truth and love to the world. We have been commissioned and equipped to do so! Commissioned in Matthew 28 when Jesus told his followers to “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations…”; and equipped with the Holy Spirit inside of us. 

God declared this truth through the prophet Isaiah to the ignorant who carried around idols and prayed to gods that could not save them:

“There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear, They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.  Isaiah 45:21-24

Outreach is focused time spent pursuing those outside of our immediate family and church family circles. Time spent reaching that outer ring of people keeps us from living an overly selfish, me-focused life. Don’t get me wrong, we shouldn’t neglect the former in pursuit of the latter. Taking care of ourselves and investing time with other believers is key. But, if it stops there, we miss the point. 

At New Day Nichols and Vandalia we deeply value both the people already in the family of Christ as well as those who may not know Him yet. We consider how we can impact those around us by making connections in the community and with the neighbors who pass our buildings each week. Our Nichols campus is holding a Candy Trail on Oct. 31st for this very purpose. We look forward to continuing to reach Cass county and the Nichols and Vine neighborhoods in 2021.

At New Day we will never give up this pursuit we’ve been called to and equipped for knowing our impact will be exponentially greater when we work together to make God’s name famous!

S.O.U.L. Search Questions

Our goal for the community groups is to provide an opportunity for everyone to have connections with others that are primarily focussed on meeting spiritual needs. It is difficult to form that type of relationship at Sunday services, and even more difficult in our current situation. 

The Bible is clear that we are to care for one another. Philippians 2:2-4 says, “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” But how can we facilitate this with a diversity of people—some that are brand-new to the faith or to our church, and others who have been around for years or decades? 

When I shared the S.O.U.L. acronym as a tool to review how we are doing spiritually, I mentioned that in our small groups, and when used at church, our answers should be brief. Learning how to respond in a meaningful but also appropriate and brief way is a skill that needs to be learned. In most groups there are about 8 to 12 people. Our goal is to make the groups sustainable by limiting the time to one hour (1 ½ if a meal is served). This hour is to be divided into a third discussing a sermon highlight, a third sharing where we are spiritually, and a third in group prayer. This time limit means each person will only have a couple of minutes in each segment. 

This is not meant to limit depth or more lengthy discussions and relationship building. Rather it is meant to “prime the pump” and enable those who may be unfamiliar, or uncomfortable, sharing spiritually in a group. As the groups develop relationships and maturity, there will be opportunities for follow-up outside of the group setting that would allow for more in-depth ministry. But we want to maintain a safe atmosphere where people can share at the level they are comfortable with and not fear being obligated to divulge more. 

Over time, these simple questions with brief answers will build a regular spiritual checkup and create a community that is praying for one another and available for one another as we all journey together in the Kingdom. 

I encourage you to develop a habit of daily evaluating if you are moving away from God, stuck, or moving toward God in your relationship with Scripture, Others, Upward, and Life. And then let’s learn together how to share this with each other as a way to maintain a community in pursuit of spiritual growth. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

Jump in the River

The presence of God is like a river. Ezekiel 47 paints a picture of the river of God flowing out of the temple, and transforming the Dead Sea from a lifeless body of water into a sea that is teeming with fish. Fishermen come running because there are so many. The borders of the sea flourish with every kind of fruit tree. These trees flourish so much that they bear fruit year-round. 

This river is available to each of us. We can receive the life and fruitfulness that the river brings by drawing close to Jesus in worship, in prayer, through studying the Bible, and any time that we turn our attention to God. Jesus says in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” The river is inside of us and brings fruitfulness to everything that it touches!

Are there places in your life that you want to be more fruitful? Do you want a greater sense of peace in the craziness of life? Do you want to walk in abundant joy even in difficult circumstances? Do you want to love people better? Anywhere you want to see life, abundance, and fruitfulness, invite the presence of God!

New Day is a river church. We pursue the presence of God every Sunday morning. This is a great opportunity to jump in the river. But it’s just the beginning. We don’t need to go far to encounter the presence of God. We can do it just by turning our attention to the Lord and inviting Him to flow into our lives every day.