COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY AND DAILY STUDIES BASED UPON OUR PREACHING SERIES AT COMMUNITY CHURCH PUTNEY)
You can listen to all the messages at
There is nothing we know of that’s everywhere. The biggest
things like oceans have all have a shore. Even the universe is considered by
many to be finite and expanding. God is a bit like big things we know; but He’s
also infinite so He’s also nothing like anything we know of – He’s infinitely
more!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR GOD TO BE
OMNIPRESENT?
Earlier we looked at how God
is eternal, that is His infinity in time; omnipresence is God’s infinity in
relation to space.
Ø What does Psalm 139:7-10 say about God’s presence with us?
'God does not have size or
spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being,
yet God acts differently in different places.’ (Wayne Grudem)
God
is not like butter spread too thinly on some of the bread. He’s fully present
in all possible places in the material and spiritual realms. However, God being
everywhere does not mean He acts the same everywhere:
Ø
Heavenly throne-room. How is God’s presence different in the
context of Revelation 4:1-6 than say your sitting room on a normal day?
Ø
The temple. What does 2 Chronicles 7:2 say about the power of
God’s presence on this special occasion?
Ø
The body of Christ. In the church He can be present in such a way
that one has to be reminded that He’s here (1 Cor. 3:16). At other times His
manifestation can overwhelm us (Acts 4:31)
Ø
Christians who sin. What does Ephesians 4:30 say about how sin affects
our experience of God’s presence?
Ø
In Hell. Revelation 14:10 shows that God is fully present in
hell in a different way to how He is in all other places.
LET’S RESPOND TO WHO GOD IS
Ø
What does Psalm 23:1-4 say about God’s
presence with us?
Ø
What does God’s omnipresence teach us about
the power of prayer when we can’t get to a place or person in need?
Ø
Read Matthew 6:3-4 and 6:6. How does this help
us to have a good attitude, particularly when our efforts have gone unseen and un-praised?
Ø
Jesus’
wants to be a comfort to you. Pray for one another that the Spirit would come
in a special way.
GOING DEEPER PERSONAL DAILY STUDIES
‘Omnipresence
means that God is everywhere present with His whole being at all times’
(Charles Ryrie)
Monday: Where can I go from your Spirit?
Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where
can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are
there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the
wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand
will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
God is
with you no matter where you go or are experiencing. ‘Right hand’ speaks of
God’s great strength keeping a hold on you. Who or what can prise God’s fingers
apart?
As
Jesus promises us,
Matthew
28:20 “And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Tuesday: Jonah ran from the Lord
Jonah 1:1-3 The
word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of
Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before
me.”
But Jonah ran away from
the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where
he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and
sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. (Also read the whole of chapter
1)
‘Jonah ran away from
the Lord’. God is everywhere, Jonah knew this but He still fled. Running from
God can take on many forms – refusing to do His will through fear, pride,
laziness etc. It can be choosing to throw our faith away. Are you running from
God in any part of your Life? Spend some time in thought and prayer about this.
Wednesday: Jonah prayed in his distress
Jonah 2:1-2 From inside
the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I
called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the
dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry…” (Also
read the whole of chapter 2)
Jonah has
fled from God in disobedience but God is always with Him. God was with Jonah in
the fish. In our place of darkness, maybe created by our own sin, God is right
there, ready to listen to your prayers.
Thursday: Everywhere but is also personal
Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and
how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on
them the destruction he had threatened. (Also read the whole chapter)
The mystery of God is
that He is everywhere, seeing and knowing everything before it happens, and yet
He still acts in a relational fashion. We read ‘When God saw…he relented’. God
is present in a special way where He sees repentance and faith.
Friday: God is already there, but we must go
also!
Jonah 4:11 But the Lord said…
should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which
there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their
right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Also read the whole of
chapter 4)
If
God was already present in Nineveh, why did He even need Jonah to go and
preach? We can often wish that God would act without us, and becoming
discouraged when He is not doing more whilst, all the time, we are running from
God’s call for us to act. God is everywhere. This is not an encouragement to
passivity. This is a truth to inspire acts of faith because God is with us!
Saturday: The Lord who is there
Ezekiel
48:35
“And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”
One of the names of God
comes from Ezekiel’s prophecy, given to a people in exile, prisoners of a
foreign power is “the Lord is
there.” Christians are now God’s temple; the Spirit is
poured out from heaven, He is with us, He is Jehovah Shammah ‘The Lord who is there’ right where you are.
What an
opportunity we have to worship and pray to such a wonderful king.
Let’s remember,
as we come together as a church on Sundays, in Community Groups and other
settings, that God is with us as we meet in Jesus name. Every time Christians
are together is an open invitation to meet ‘the Lord is there’. Jesus said,
Matthew 18:20 “For
where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
God is always there, He’s with you now.
But He is present in a special way when we come in faith, through our only
Saviour, Jesus.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout
the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
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