God comes near: Experience His presence

New Apostolic Church USA

God comes near: Experience His presence

September 2024

The sermon theme for September is about seeking and recognizing the presence of God in our lives, how God comes near to us. Perhaps, like Jacob, we have suddenly realized, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it" (Genesis 28:16). When we come to such an awareness, we must also then understand that God was there from the beginning; He always was there and always will be.

Each Sunday will open our eyes to realizing God's presence...

•By experiencing Him, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.

•By preparing ourselves, like Elijah, to see God in the unexpected, in the silence.

•By allowing God's presence to be a life-changing experience, like it was for Zacchaeus.

•By looking back at our lives and remembering God's promised nearness, like Joshua.

•By finding God's presence in His messengers and those who proclaim His will and strengthen us.

As God comes near to us, let us also proclaim as Jacob did, "How awesome is this place!" (Genesis 28:17)

He is Here!

In December we anticipated the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, in January, we can proclaim that He is here! Each sermon this month will dwell on aspects of the presence of Christ in our lives. Our New Year will begin with the Chief Apostle's 2025 theme for year: It's time to do good! The second sermon will illustrate how God is revealed through Jesus Christ. The third sermon of January will focus our attention on knowing Christ through His teaching. The last Sunday sermon will walk us through the presence of Christ in the sacraments, and how we can respond to them. The midweek sermon will illuminate how the light of Christ permeates our lives.

He is coming!

Advent - a time of waiting and anticipation: "In Advent... it's the waiting that's hard, the in-between of divine promise and its fulfillment. Most of us find ourselves dangling in this hiatus, which in the interval may seem a waste of time... But the longer we wait... the more joyful our expectancy. With such motivation, we can wait as we sense that God is indeed with us, and at work within us, as He was with Mary as the Child within her grew." From "God is in the Manger" In this month of waiting, we will celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ - the King, the Son of God, the Giver of Mercy, the long awaited Messiah, the Immanuel, or "God with us," and the Christ, who will return to establish His kingdom. May you feel in your preparations, the wonder of Jesus' coming and lead your congregation into experiencing the presence of "God with us" on Christmas Day.

Thank God

This prayer of David continues to inspire our Season of Thanksgiving: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and glory, the victory and majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name (1 Chronicles 29:11-13). In the month of October, we contemplated the works of God in the past, present, and immediate future: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Now, in November, we turn our eyes to the events of our eternal future and express our thanksgiving to God for what He will do, as we continue awaiting Christ's return. Thank God: for His salvation for both the living and the dead, for His promised return as we continue readying ourselves, for His mercy as the kind Judge, for His care revealed in the continuing rhythms of this creation and His promise of the new creation, and for His time, a gift that we receive from His hand.