LIVING IN HIS PRESENCE | 26TH JAN | SUE BAKER

oh you're all looking fine this morning

T your NE and say you look

fine you look fine

Aon what a privilege it is to be in the

house of the Lord so just as a brief

I've just come back from Festival

1 really I had to sleep in a

tent my gosh I was traumatized I had to

go and find some gum boots cuzz I don't

own gum boots but I had to wear gum

boots there you who do you how do you do

that

anyway I know Joy Bells why why because

I said yes to something in a moment of

weakness I tell you hey this morning I

want

to help us

out I want to help us move I want to be

a voice for God that you might hear

him

here so if you got a hearing aids it's

all good because we want God to stir you

here this morning that's what he wants

to do he wants to talk to the core of

your being this morning the title for my

sermon is living in his presence and you

know we've been hearing over the last

few weeks about the love of God about

how God loves and who he is and that all

encompassing love that he has and my

thinking around that is do don't

wouldn't you want to live there don't

you want to live there and then you know

holy spirit says to me well actually

love that is supposed to be where you

live so living inside of that love and

living inside of that presence and it's

so easy for us to

forget but let me tell you something

this morning about this house

about this church

toim it is mandated it has a residing

res great residing Grace upon it for the

presence of

God

prayer presence and Mission the presence

of God dwells here when we when when

these people when our worship teams

stand up on the stage and they present

this platform of worship God comes and

enthrones himself on that worship

presence we have it it's there it's on

tap we don't have to beg God to come he

wants to come he is here he sits he

abides he dwells here he wants to be in

your presence as much as we ought to

desire to be in his presence God wants

to be with us because he loves

us and there is a a Grace upon this

house that as Sons and Daughters of this

house we need to receive wholeheartedly

and choose to live in that we are

designed to carry the presence of God so

when we

worship people are healed when we

worship we're starting there at the

beginning the notice has a little bit

hard

but when we worship people are healed

people are restored marriages are

shifted relationships are improved you

grow God reveals himself to you when we

worship let us not neglect this as our

an act of our our our worship to God is

to worship Him in spirit and Truth to

engage with his presence in such a way

you know as it as if it's the last

time there is a residing Grace you need

to say that to each other on this

house for the presence of God to be

manif manifest because he dwells here

there is a call and a promise on this

house to carry and express and

experience the presence of God if you're

not sure whether you've ever experienced

the presence of God let me tell you you

just have to come and sit here and you

will you have this

morning it's happened and you may not

even understand that but let me tell you

you are in the presence of God right

now there's no escaping it because he

loves you he will pursue you he will

pursue you because we love him he will

abide he responds to our longing for his

presence he feels that he sees that and

he goes oh I'm going there I'm there I'm

in I want to be there in this house that

happens um hang just let me organize my

tech because I'm so technos

servy

power so I want to talk about three

things sorry yeah I do that folks apolog

apologies in advance I talk what's in my

head so sometimes it just drops out

sorry um so okay so today we're going to

talk about living in the presence of God

through relationship through Revelation

and through

reflection this morning okay

so our walk with God is not a religious

one well it is religious there are some

aspects of this of of our faith that is

religious okay the religious practice

but let me tell you the core of it the

essence of it and if you're not

connected to God in this way then I I'm

I'm saying I'm encouraging you this

morning to get connected through

relationship we need to have

relationship with God and you know what

I think constantly every day we test the

relationships around us so you know the

first thing in the morning do not make

coffee in my presence at 6 o' in the

morning on a noisy coffee machine

because the presence you will receive

when I walk out of my room is not going

to be a good

one do not even have a conversation with

me I had to go and get a cup of tea this

morning before when when I was in the

crowd because it was like oh this is

very overwhelming there's lots of people

there looking at me and I have to talk

and make

sense we're testing always testing the

relationship and people know don't talk

to Sushi hasn't had a cup of tea yet you

know when I was teaching that was the

same thing people became expert cupet

tea makers because and the best one was

Tara Greenway she was the best cup of

tea maker ever and she always made sure

I had my cup of tea because that's what

woke me up and made me human in the

morning just like coffee at 6 o'clock in

the morning makes Pastor Aaron and

Nathan Miller human I just I don't

understand it

anyway relationship we're

continuously testing our relationships

when you're a young person that's one of

the most important things in your world

are your relationships the people around

you the friends you keep The Company You

Keep who likes you who doesn't like you

are you cool enough are you linked

enough are you connected enough these

things are always being tested they go

you go on your way to school you're

thinking about who's going to be there

when I get there and my friends going to

be in the spot the place that we meet

are they going to be there are the Bros

going to be there at the game tonight

Who's going to turn up and am I going to

like

them all about relationships we're

always testing trying to prove trying to

see let's have a look at

Romans and and talk about our

relationship with God because Romans

Romans 8:15

8:15 and 16 the spirit you received does

not make you slaves so that you live in

fear again

rather the spirit you received bought

about your adoption to

sunship and by him we cry Abba Father

let that sing in for a

minute my Father in Heaven has adopted

me he's brought me in by the Spirit he

has brought me in as a son or a

daughter you're no longer slaves we're

not slaves to the things that are around

us to fear to sin to shame when we come

into Christ when we come into God to

we're not no longer slaves to the lies

of the enemy because the lies of the

enemy concerning relationship will will

tell you you are not good enough the

lies of the enemy will tell you you

don't fit there the lies of the the

enemy will tell you nobody's welcomed

you and if you have to wait till next

month you know it's okay we'll welcome

you then nobody's welcomed me in this

church nobody spoke to me in this church

the lies of and so so no I don't have

relationship there the enemy is forever

lying to us about our

fitness not just our he's always lying

to me about that telling me I have to

get fit he's always saying to me you

need to get f i

Liar

Liar but he's always talking to us and

and and and pestering us about whether

or not we fit whether or not we

belong and and God is saying this I have

adopted you I have taken you in you are

mine my name is on you you are W I am

with you and I am for you I am your

father so call out to me and the spirit

you receive does not make you slaves

again but he has brought about adoption

of sunship come on now by faith we

receive that we believe it and we

install it into the core of our being

listen with the core of your being this

morning that you are adopted into God's

family you are his and he is yours and

there is

nothing

nothing that can separate you from that

love neither height nor depth nor wi nor

anything Pastor Aon said the other day

except accept

yourself so you can listen to the enemy

who's telling you lies about whether

about your Fitness or you can listen to

God and believe his word that you've

been adopted that means you've got

access you have access now I know I've

told this story before but it's

something that really that when I think

about God God my father my heavenly

father I go to this place I go to this

story and it's about my dad

so he he was a farmer a

shepherd and you know so we'd all get

home from school on the bus we lived out

of town on a farm and we could hear the

Land Rover from about half a k away you

could hear it and depending on who you

were you would jump up because the idea

was that you got to the gate first so

that you could see Dad first first of

all or so that you could drive the Land

Rover down the Road on his lap because

you know that's how we all Learned to

Drive was on This Land Rover and so we'd

get up we'd run we you know my brother

used to ankle tap

us on the gravel road driver yeah it was

mean and just to so he could get to the

gate first and we'd get to that gate and

we'd clamber over it we'd fight to get

there and it always worked out you know

he'd just come around the corner and

there he was and we has children were

there to see him because we loved him

because we wanted to see him and surely

this is the nature of relationship not

only when you come to the house of the

Lord but when you wake up in the morning

when your eyes open that you want to see

your father that you want to be with him

and then when he would come he would get

out of the Land Rover he'd let the dogs

off the back they'd run around the

paddock and then we'd sit on the back

doorstep with him when we'd pull off his

boots and his socks and we would just

sit there a while and sometimes there

was chatter sometimes we'd be telling

tales on each other sometimes we would

just sit

quiet and just be with him and the

presence of God is as simple as that

father I am longing for you I am longing

to see your face I am longing to be with

you I'm longing to be in your space I

and you're

allowed you're allowed that because you

are a child of God because you are a son

of the Living God you are allowed to be

in that space it's your right it's the

privilege that you have as a Son of God

to sit on the doorstep and take his

boots off oh not God's boots my dads

take his boots off and

sit and laugh and talk and be human and

tell tales on yourself and others and

just sit and listen for him and listen

for his voice and he often didn't talk

my father didn't talk much my mother was

the gas

bag my father didn't talk much but you

know what when when he did we all leaned

in because whatever he had to say he

wasn't a very funny man he was quite a

serious person anyway I digress being

with your dad on the back doorstep and

you know what some people don't have

that relationship with a parent there

are some people who have suffered at the

hands of their fathers but let me tell

you this that there is a father who is

in heaven your Creator God who's longing

to be with you to sit on the back

doorstep with you to have you clamber

over the gate to be with him to have you

outstretch your arms and extend yourself

to be where he is because he loves you

and he look look when Dad I Reon when

dad used to see our little faces come oh

no they went all

when when dad used to see our faces

coming at him I I don't know I'm not a

father but that must have delighted

him your fathers in the house must know

that when your child looks and he sees

you and he wants you and you know he

wants you and he'll make his way to you

relationship there is an intimacy that

comes with the call to

relationship there is a place of being

and a way of being as you young people

God is calling you to a place of

intimacy in him to come near to him to

draw near to him to need him in your

life to know him to walk with him to run

with him to fall down know that when you

fall down he is there and when you stand

up he is there and when you're spinning

out he's there when you're anxious he is

there and when you're calm he is there

there is a level of intimacy and knowing

that no matter what you're doing or how

you're doing it cuz come sometimes we

don't do it well he is

there and that he will not leave you he

will not turn his back away from you he

will not ignore you and you know what if

you're struggling this morning to

believe that let me tell you God is not

a man that he would

lie he is a speaker of Truth and this is

the truth you are children we are

children of the of the Lord born of the

Spirit Washed by the blood of the Lamb

of Jesus Christ and our father is the

king of Heaven the Alpha and Omega the

King of Kings and the Lord of lords

that's our inheritance that's you it

doesn't matter how long you've been on

this journey or how short a time you've

been here this is true for you it's as

true for you as the person who's been on

the road for 50 years in a moment in an

instant when we receive Christ as our as

our father father when we when we

receive the the Salvation through Christ

Jesus in an instant

relationship even before that yet while

we were still sinners Christ died for us

there was

relationship he is the Creator God there

is relationship he formed you in your

mother's womb there is relationship he

sent Christ to die for you before you

were even thought about there is

relationship ship because this is a

relational God and to be in that

relationship is to be in his presence to

be in that relationship is to be found

in the fullness of joy to be in that

relationship as a place where you can

know because you know because you know

you are

loved this relationship gives us

boldness to approach God as Abba Father

so I wonder if this week that your

prayers become not timid but you step

boldly into

prayer that you um you pray audacious

prayers that you when you step into the

presence of God for prayer that you come

as a child of the king knowing for well

that this is your place he is your God

and he is here for

you and then the spirit testifies with

your spirit it means that you walk

differently as a child of God when his

Spirit testifies with you you will walk

differently you'll talk differently and

you'll live fearlessly ly step into your

week let me encourage you step into this

week step into today like you own it

because your daddy owns it all he is our

father and you know let's long for his

presence let's desire that long for

relationship with him and you know maybe

you're here this morning in relationship

with God your go Rel your relationship

with God is a bit

meere I've got to say this and I'm sorry

if I embarrass you Lisa but I looked

over my shoulders this morning and I

watched Lisa worshiping and I swear it

was just her and

God it was just her and God and she's

like singing her song to the Lord

singing her song to her father and

surely this is how we come when we're in

relationship with God surely this is

what happens when we are in relationship

with God being in his presence is

easy okay let's talk quickly about the

power of re

ration um so the scripture

here or two a couple of them

so God of our Lord Jesus Christ the

father of Glory may give you a spirit of

wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge

of him that's his heart he wants us to

be in his presence so we can know him so

he can we he can revealed himself to you

and then in second uh in First

Corinthians however as it is written

what no eye has seen nor ear heard and

no human mind has conceived the things

that God has prepared for those who love

him he loves us he has prepared these

things for us it is the

truth these are the things God has

revealed to us by his Spirit the spirit

searches all things even the Deep things

of God this is about relationship with

the Holy Spirit this is about walking in

the spirit and in a way that will

transform your world transform the way

you see yourself transform the way you

pray transform the way you you you seek

after things and the things you seek

after you won't you you when you're in

relationship with the Holy Spirit when

he's bringing Revelation to you you will

know that this is not some vague sort of

mystical thing that happens Revelation

but this is the spirit of God opening

your eyes

and pulling back the

curtain and showing you his plans his

purpose his heart when God reveals

himself through the Holy Spirit it can

change the trajectory of your

life if you are willing to receive it

yeah revelation will take you where

intellect cannot you can be the brainest

person on the planet you can have the a

truckload of theology in your background

but unless unless your heart is given

over to the spirit of the Living

God then you cannot know him you can to

a level but at depth the depth of God

and who can out deep

God who can out wide God none of us

there is always something to be revealed

there is always something to know and to

hunger after his presence is to hunger

after the revelation of who he is

The Knowing of who he is when we seek

that when we search it out he will come

to us because no eye has seen nor ear

Hood you you know if you're a bit of a a

nol in in the spiritual real think

again because there are things we

haven't seen or heard or know and God is

saying come and taste and see and know

me and I will show

you um God wants us to engage and

there's the Greek word I just you know I

like words

and and I'm going to please Lord let me

pronounce this right EPO epocal calyps

apocalypsis which means Revelation so

it's when when when God unveils

something the root word of that is

calyps which is when the enemy in terms

this is often referred to with him this

word is used when he veils things he

hides things from us so his plan is that

we don't know his plan is that we don't

understand God in a full measure his

plan is that we're okay to just work in

the status quo to just go along to Bob

along and just be but not really knowing

much go God's plan he wants to reveal he

wants us to be in the state of

Revelation all the time because you know

what when you parents when you're in a

state of

Revelation your children inherit that

they see that they see him more clearly

because he's shining through you're

reflecting him you're demonstrating him

when they hear you and the way you talk

about God because you have revelation of

him they hear that and it goes into

their knowing it becomes a part of their

knowledge bank and they will grow in it

as they grow in Christ so it's important

that you as parents as Leaders as

teachers we must be in this place of God

of Desiring Revelation from God of

Desiring him to reveal himself and to

show himself to us

um oh excuse me

drink my dad used to drink his tea like

this and then tell us not to do

that you you weren't allowed to drink

your tea like that oh no I've gone to

sleep I knew that would

happen Okay so we're just going to roll

with

it anyway God told me this morning I had

to relax so I'm going to do that I'm

just going to

relax okay so what does revelation do

for us what does this kind of knowledge

what does this kind of state do for us

it enables us it allows us to walk this

walk that we're called to it gives us

confidence you know what you know when a

child is love day because there this

over I've asked this question at work a

lot this week how do you know a child is

loved what are things that you can see

that tell you that a child in your

classroom is loved and the first thing

for most people is

confidence you are loved come

confidently and boldly before the throne

of grace come com come quickly and

comfortably into the presence of of God

don't delay don't hesitate you know cuz

you you when you first fall in love you

just want to be by that person you know

like and moon around and do all that

sort of stuff and you just want to be

near probably not Pastor

Aaron no sorry Pastor Aon I'll take that

back re one sorry Sarah sorry

Sarah sa not SAU okay so stop

digging all right so we want we come

confidently you come confidently into

him and you step confidently into your

world you own this planet man you own

this planet and that presence is yours

to carry wherever you go into every

situation that you are in it's yours to

carry you take it with you when you

start things when you finish things when

you muck them up when you're successful

them when you have victories when you

have faults and flaws and things you

can't get over get into the presence of

God and he will enable you to go through

he will enable you to walk through let

it be a hunger that's in you and he will

reveal Mysteries to you because this

whole thing with Revelation is it's

Progressive you know God doesn't reveal

himself or all in one go even he said to

his disciples you know you're not ready

yet for me to tell you who I am in full

measure but after I'm gone when the Holy

Spirit will come and he will reveal to

you the things that you are not yet

ready to receive and this ought to be

part of our longing that there is but

wait there's

more but wait there's more and we wait

for more and we Hunger for More because

maybe we're not ready right now to

receive the full measure of God you know

sometimes our lives are a bit messy and

we don't think straight we don't hear

straight we don't understand straight

it's a bit wonky and God will take time

with us and he will bring us in and he

will teach us and lead us to

truth and then

reflection and I love this piece of

scripture and I've been going over and

over and it's from the message version

and let me read it to you so it's Romans

12 so here's what I want you to

do love it God help God helping you of

course you can't do this on your own

take your

everyday ordinary life you're sleeping

you're eating you're going to work and

you're walking around life that life the

life you walk around in the things that

you do every day the brushing of your

teeth

the finding of your

teeth the cleaning of your house or the

waiting through the mess in your house

all these everyday things you're

sleeping you're eating going to work and

walking around life and place it before

God as an

offering he's not looking for something

unblemished come now in this

context he's not looking for something

unblemish he's looking for

you he's not looking for something that

is perfect he is looking for

you he is seeking out your heart your

mind your soul not your

Perfection so when it's when it's a

struggle when it's hard when you think

there's no way I even look Christian so

that's it for me and that's what

happened

that what that's what the enemy does he

shuts off the revelation of God and his

redeeming power his healing Grace his

restorative nature he shuts that off he

blinkers us from it and we can't see we

can't hear we can't know it so we stop

and we sit at I'm not good

enough God continues to call and call

because he loves us and nothing can

separate us from his love so we're going

to take this ordinary

life and place it before God as an

offering embracing what God does for you

is the best

thing the best thing you can do for him

for

him great benefits for us but his

longing is to be with us yeah don't

become a so well adjusted person to the

the culture that you are in to the world

around you don't become so much like

that that you're comfortable and you

need not have revelation of God because

yeah your world is sweet you understand

it you get it you fit you're adjusted

but rather to fit

in see this is

small

aha

um

sorry embracing what God does for you is

the best thing you can do for him don't

become so well adjusted to your culture

that you fit into it without even

thinking and how many of us find

ourselves in that position where we're

just in life and we're just doing life

and the presence of God is not really a

factor in that and yet his heart's cry

is that it is all in all for you that

your longing the priority of your life

is to be in his presence to dwell in his

presence and to not be afraid to be in

his presence whether you're wounded or

sore you're you're you're wrong you're

right his presence is a place you belong

that's his longing for

you um instead fix your attention on God

you'll be changed from the inside out

readily recognize that he want what he

wants from you and quickly respond to it

there is action to take here when you

come to the house of the Lord this

morning quickly respond to the presence

of God that is here so that you get the

full

hit huh so that you do the your best

work while you're here so that you

accomplish the best for him while you're

in his presence and with with other

believers so that you can be the best

version of you as a worshipper of Christ

as a youth leader as someone who

inspires other as a parent as a

grandparent as a friend as a shoulder to

lean on as a counselor be the best

version of you when you are in the

presence of God because that's where the

best version of you is found you can you

can have every self-help thing under the

planet and it it may never get

you where the presence of God will the

presence because the presence of God

will transform you readily recognize

that he wants you what he wants from you

and quickly respond to it unlike the

culture around you always dragging you

down because that happens he life does

this to us and I'm not saying that life

is bad because life is jolly good who's

glad to be alive I'm glad to be alive

yeah um unlike the cons dragging you

down to its level of immaturity and this

is what this is about let's grow

up in the presence of of god let's grow

up our

children you know I'm confident today

that those babies that have gone to

Children's Ministry this this morning

have encountered God that they have been

in the presence of God that their

teachers have prepared space and when

our young people come to youth they are

in the presence of God and when we're in

this house we are in the presence of God

there's no getting away from it he is

here he wants us and God brings the best

out in you and develops a well formed

maturity in you we need to grow as human

beings it's in our DNA to grow and to

mature to go from strength to strength

so I'm going to ask you today if the

presence of God eludes

you if the presence of God is something

that feels often distant from

you if the presence of God is something

that you have to work to get and and and

I think when we we

are you know coming to know this it it

it does take some work you do have to

put some things into place to help you

understand oh this is the presence of

God but I've learned that no matter

where I am or what I'm doing no matter

how ugly or great it is how great or

terrible it is he's

there and I just sometimes have to turn

aside to know

that and I want to encourage you this

morning if you're in that place where

there is a veil where you feel like

you've come to the the end of the

revelation of who God is really in your

life because you can't come to the end

of that who God is that I want to to

encourage you when we finish the service

today that you come for

prayer and that you let us pray with you

and bring release over you

today and encourage you in your Most

Holy Faith that we that we come together

in agreement with the holy spirit that

this is for for you the presence of God

is for you and it's here and

now so I have there's a word all right

so this word is

fragility and I'm I'm speaking to

whoever so there is somebody here

actually a few people here who have been

unwell and that unwellness

has created a Frailty not fragility

Frailty in you

and you suffer because you think when am

I ever going to get well when am I ever

going to be whole a lot of the stuff is

and I mean this in a in a you know it's

in your head it's not made I'm not

saying it's made up it's in your mind in

the area of your mind where you just

think you're never going to get well I'm

never going to get over this and so you

you be you've become frail in your

spirit and the presence of God is

weakened by that Frailty

let me tell you so I want to invite you

to come maybe we could get somebody up

on the

keys

thanks I want to invite you to come so

we can pray for you and pray that thing

off you it's a veil it's a veil that the

enemy has put on

you and the other thing is

Shame Shame Shame kills shame destroys

you've mucked up you've got a

relationship wrong you've done something

to people or people have done something

to you and it's brought shame over your

life and it's sat sits there like a veil

over you God wants to relieve you of

that today would you give it would you

be brave enough to hand that over to him

that he might heal you and set you

free and then there are those people in

this room today who have gone you've

you've run well God and you've done

things but you keep hitting this wall

and you know when we're singing come on

my soul don't you don't you get shy on

me you've got a lion inside of you

honestly that's my Anthem I'm always

telling myself don't you get shy stop it

because it's a lie and it's a veil and

it keeps you from the presence of God

and it's naughty to be like that because

you know what God wants to use us God

wants to use us he wants to use us and

he there is not one person in this room

that is

insignificant that somebody else is

better then and can do it better than

you you're going you're going to think

that all through your life Teenage let

me tell you that you're going to think

that all through your life the adults

will attest to that we always think

there's somebody who can do this better

but God is saying no I'm choosing you

I'm calling you into my presence I'm

calling you to this task I am steering

I'm asking you to open your mouth and

tell

prophetically don't you get shy and

don't you give up there's a lion in

you and that lion has to equate to the

hunger of the presence of God God is

calling us up into his presence take

hold of that take hold of that have you

ever heard a l ground I mean some people

probably have I was in South Africa once

and I was in this Gully and we were at

this park and this lion

roared and I tell you I've never been so

scared or of or being so hysterical

because I was there with a group of some

of our Marty M there's a few mares here

and you know what all the men ran for

the

trees literally they ran and left us

girls in the valy going what where where

is that what is that it took us a while

to work out sometimes the Roaring you

don't even know where it's coming from

and it's got you confused and it's got

you up a tree and God is going count

come

down because I want to use you to

Roar not to be afraid of the

Roar so this morning if this is you

let's just stand stand together and I'm

going to

pray if you've lost your

Roar if you if you're feeling

frail let me tell you I talked to two

ladies this morning The Golden

Girls and they are of a good age that

was polite they're of a good age and

they are not

frail they're

lionesses they're hungry for the

presence of God and they hunger for it

but if you're frail because you've been

unwell because you've you've been in

distress because there's been so much

for so long it's built of Frailty in and

you and let's give that to God this

morning let's come into His presence and

and ask him to release us ask us him to

enable us because no more he's put the

Line in the Sand today no

more this far and no further enemy

because I am in the presence of my king

my God has called me in as a son father

this morning we stand and we agree that

your presence is the best place to be

that your presence is the place where I

will see you and know you that your

presence is the place where I will get

free the Pres your presence is the place

where your word will fill my mouth and I

will go out and I will Minister and I

will attach myself to the Mandate on

this house to produce the presence of

the Living God in a sustained and real

way in the lives of people and in this

community and in this nation God this

morning I pray over our household I pray

over us and over our pastors this

morning God that you would continue this

and increase the measure God we call for

more this morning we call for more we

step out from behind the curtain Lord

and we ask that you come and you touch

us and soak us in your presence that we

might know because we know because we

know that you are our God in Jesus name

I pray amen