Your Life with God begins with Presence
In the beginning...
‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’
These are the first words of the Bible - Genesis 1:1.
It all begins with God.
God created the world, and everything in it. The story of everything we know is God’s story. Each of us is created by God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
These are the first lines of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-5). They describe Jesus, the Son of God, who became man. Who lived, died and rose again for our sake.
The first part of Your Life with God is Presence.
As we create the framework around Your Life with God, we’re starting with Presence, Calling, and Ritual.
Presence is the big ‘why’.
It’s become popular to talk about our ‘why’: what is the core meaning in our lives, in our work, in our relationships.
The ‘why’ of the life of the world is the Presence of God.
How do we understand God’s Presence? It’s not an academic exercise. Oh, it can be! Sometimes we argue over who God is, whether or not God even exists.
With Presence, we start by letting God speak for Godself: through Scripture, sacrament, revelation, nature, creation.
The very world is proof of God‘s presence. And God‘s Word through the Bible has spoken to us from millennia. In between there have been countless occasions that God has directly spoken or acted in our lives.
Including an ultimately, Jesus born as God‘s son, a person who healed and taught and lived and died and rose again. And still reaches out in real time today.
How? We’re focusing on 4 major categories of how God has done so throughout human history:
Scripture - the Bible. God’s word, speaking to us today. Also, God’s Word, alive in the person of Jesus.
Sacrament - God’s Real Presence, with us in the Eucharist (Communion, the Lord’s Supper) and Baptism especially. The presence of the Holy Spirit.
Revelation - Experiencing God’s voice, God’s presence or action directly; dreams of God; miracles, visions, messages.
Creation - The world that God has created: animals, nature, beauty.
With physical fitness, it starts with ‘why’ - self-improvement and discovery.
Spiritual fitness begins with the ultimate ‘why’ - God created the world, and everything in it. God created YOU - unique and beautiful and in God’s image. We begin with the wonder, gratitude, and joy of Presence.
