======================================================================== (CLIP) WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE GOD by Lee Dodd ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the danger Christians face in losing sight of God amidst the wonders of His Word, urging believers to cultivate a personal relationship with God. It highlights the Apostle Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 for the church to have the strength to comprehend the surpassing love of Christ, emphasizing the experiential aspect of this love. The sermon warns against seeking emotional fulfillment from earthly things rather than from the presence and love of God, stressing the importance of regularly experiencing the love of Christ to avoid spiritual danger. Duration: 3:49 Topics: "Cultivating a Relationship with God", "Experiencing the Love of Christ" Scripture References: Ephesians 3:16, Romans 5:5, Galatians 2:20, Psalm 42:1, 1 John 4:16, Philippians 3:8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the danger Christians face in losing sight of God amidst the wonders of His Word, urging believers to cultivate a personal relationship with God. It highlights the Apostle Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 for the church to have the strength to comprehend the surpassing love of Christ, emphasizing the experiential aspect of this love. The sermon warns against seeking emotional fulfillment from earthly things rather than from the presence and love of God, stressing the importance of regularly experiencing the love of Christ to avoid spiritual danger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.W. Tozer warns in saying, we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word. We have almost forgotten that God is a person and as such can be relationally cultivated as any person can be. In Ephesians 3, we have the Apostle Paul telling the church that he is praying for them that what? They would have the strength to know, to comprehend, to grasp, to understand, to acknowledge the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Surpasses knowledge. Yes, it is a love to be experienced as much as it is a love to be understood. So please, brethren, do not fear what you should not live without. John Flavel, the English Puritan, speaking of Romans 5.5, he said this, ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer's soul and they promote the believer's sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration. And the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heartwarming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not as he ought from the Spirit of God. He goes on to say, the soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones. The believer then is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting of the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior's presence. That is quite the statement and warning. Did you hear him? When was the last time, brothers and sisters, that you laid there in bed at night and your thoughts began to muse upon the love of Jesus Christ for you? And you began to think, as Paul was thinking in Galatians 2.20, that that's My Savior who loved me and gave Himself for me. And there, in the dark of the night, you began to be stirred. You got a little emotional. And you began to be overwhelmed at the notion, why me, God? Why me? And there you lay, relishing, delighting in the love of Jesus Christ for you. When was the last time? ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/Kmx72_JRm3o.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/lee-dodd/clip-we-need-to-experience-god/ ========================================================================