Distorted Images of God

[00:00:00] So over the next five weeks, actually four weeks, we want to answer the question, how can I know if God exists? [00:00:07] Does he exist? [00:00:08] And how can I know for sure? [00:00:11] The nature of reality most often is based on what we can prove with our senses, what we can see, touch, hear, taste or smell. [00:00:19] When it comes to God, that can prove to be kind of difficult. [00:00:23] The Bible declares that he's invisible, that he cannot be seen, that he cannot be touched, that we cannot hear his audible voice. [00:00:31] The apostle John in his Gospel records an encounter that Jesus had with the disciple Thomas, who actually has been known as Doubting Thomas. And Thomas refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. [00:00:43] In verse 25 of chapter 20, Thomas says to the other disciples, unless I seal the nail marks in Jesus hands and put my finger where the needles were and put my hand in his side, I will not believe. [00:00:54] And Thomas is no different than you and I. [00:00:57] We want evidence that can prove to us that God exists. [00:01:01] Well, Jesus appears to Thomas, who allows him to see and touch the evidence of his crucifixion, the wounds on his hands and side. And Thomas then professes his faith in Jesus. In verse 29, he says, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed potentially. Jesus is speaking about you and I. [00:01:22] We don't have the luxury of Jesus standing before us tonight. [00:01:26] So how do we come to find answers to our questions? Does God exist? And if he does exist, what is he like? [00:01:35] If he truly is real, then what does he expect from me? [00:01:39] We're going to answer those questions tonight and we're going to answer those questions through this series. But before we do these specific questions, we need to answer a few others, like what are my current beliefs about God? [00:01:52] How did I arrive at those beliefs? [00:01:56] How did I come to believe what I believe? [00:01:59] And how do I know if what I believe is true? [00:02:03] The title of tonight's message is Distorted Images of God. [00:02:08] And we all set out with a set of presuppositions and paradigms about God that we, we assume are fact based. [00:02:17] But honestly, they're seldom tested. [00:02:21] At times they're illogical and in some cases they're blatant falsehoods. [00:02:26] Faith can't turn a falsehood into truth. [00:02:29] Belief about God is not a blind belief in the unbelievable. It's meant to be a rational belief based on a preponderance of evidence. [00:02:37] And there are three things that can get in the way of a right view of God. [00:02:42] And the first one is pride. [00:02:45] I don't need God. [00:02:47] People who need God are weak. They need them for a crutch, and I don't need that. [00:02:53] The second is autonomy. I don't want to be accountable to a higher power. [00:02:57] I want to live like I want to live, and I want to do what I want to do. [00:03:02] And then a third reason is pain and loss. And that could be from personal trauma, suffering, loss. Or it can be what is seen out in the world and all the evil and the pain and suffering. And we look at God and we say, he must not be trustworthy. [00:03:19] I remember years ago speaking with a woman who had trusted Christ as her savior. Decades prior to our conversation. [00:03:25] She knew she was forgiven by Christ, and yet she struggled with insecure feelings, doubting that God was really for her and that he could be trusted with her life. [00:03:36] I began to detect that she was in a difficult time, seeing God as a father who loved her. [00:03:42] So I asked her, have you ever seen God as your loving heavenly Father and yourself as his precious and beloved daughter? [00:03:48] She said, no, I don't see God that way. [00:03:52] And she didn't see herself as a beloved child either. [00:03:56] She felt as if her past experiences told her neither were true. [00:04:01] Author A.W. tozier, in his book Knowledge of the Holy States, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. [00:04:09] And then he goes on and says, all the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and all at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God, that He is what he is like. [00:04:23] And what we as moral beings must do about Him. [00:04:27] What a person thinks about the existence of God and what he is like shapes their identity in their sense of self. [00:04:34] It shapes their values, their choices and their actions. [00:04:37] It has a direct impact on what they perceive as the meaning and purpose of life. And it impacts all of our relationships, our marriages, our families, our friendships, how we raise our kids. [00:04:49] When our ideas of God are distorted, I would suggest that we also can move away from our mental image of God. [00:04:57] Much of our thoughts about God depends on our source material. [00:05:00] Is it credible? Is it reliable? [00:05:04] Last fall, I had a couple of young men who were Mormons knock on my door, and I welcomed them in. [00:05:11] I've always had a respect for these young men who are on mission for their church. [00:05:15] They are transplanted from their homes and their families. They're moved to another state. They put them in an apartment with another guy they don't even know. [00:05:23] And for a year they are supposed to be all about the mission. All about learning and growing in their faith and sharing their faith with others. [00:05:31] These young men are always kind of clean cut. They're well spoken, they're respectful, they seem to have moral values and they're serious about their faith. [00:05:41] I think there's much to admire about them. [00:05:44] I always begin our conversation with finding out more about their story and their interest and their family. [00:05:51] I'm always up front with them when I talk with them. And I'm a pastor. [00:05:55] And this first encounter with these two gentlemen, I probably spent two hours with them and I became known as the guy to go for a great conversation. [00:06:06] And how do I know that? [00:06:07] Because the next time a couple Mormon guys knocked on my door, I answered. And they said, hey, are you Jim? [00:06:16] Over the course of several months, I had four different encounters with six different young men. [00:06:21] And so I decided I better bone up on the Mormon faith a little more to kind of, you know, feel like I knew what I was talking about. [00:06:29] And I found out a couple of things. The first thing is that the Mormon faith has multiple sources that include the Book of Mormon, the Bible, a volume titled Doctrines and Covenants, which is a collection of modern day revelations given to Joseph Smith and subsequent to every church president after. And there's finally the Pearl of Great price, which includes 13 articles of faith written by Joseph Smith. So they bring all four of these sources together to establish their faith. [00:06:57] So I did some research on all of them, and what I found is that they contradicted each other. [00:07:06] So when we were sitting down and talking, I challenged them on this fact and I pointed out several contradictions and then asked, how is it that the four sources you believe are inspired by God can actually contradict one another? [00:07:21] Well, the one man, after we kind of dialogue over that for a while, he says, I don't care about these contradictions. [00:07:28] I know what I've believed all my life, what I have experienced and what I feel. There's nothing you can say to convince me that I'm wrong in what I believe. [00:07:38] He was very sincere in his beliefs. [00:07:42] And I've heard that said that God doesn't care about what religion a person is just as long as that person is sincere. [00:07:49] But, you know, all of us sitting here could probably remember three or four times in our past that we sincerely believed something and we knew we were right. [00:07:59] And then we look back and we were sincerely wrong. [00:08:06] Our concept of God can develop as the God of our own making. [00:08:11] We can also use multiple sources to mold and shape our faith, such as, you know, family upbringing, what Our parents have told us about God and religious traditions that have formed in our life and maybe a bit from our friends that we respect. And then of course, we get some things from the Internet and we kind of bring that into our beliefs and with maybe a little bit from our limited knowledge of the Bible, you know, picked it up a couple times, read a few things here and there. [00:08:34] Then we kind of craft a God that makes sense to us. A God that we can kind of tame and control. A God where we can believe he exists, but doesn't demand much of us so that we can still live the life the way we want to live and call our own shots. [00:08:49] He's a God who gives us what we want while turning a blind eye to our sin. [00:08:56] You know, and there's some faiths out there that, that teach that God is kind of like a Santa Claus, you know, that cheerful, lovable, jelly belly guy who brings wonderful gifts all the time. [00:09:07] He determines, of course, if you're naughty or nice. But as it turns out, the vast majority are determined to be nice. [00:09:13] And so we make our list of wants and expect him to come through. And the challenging thing when believing God is like this is that when he doesn't come through, it kind of begins to shatter our faith. [00:09:25] Another is a vending machine God. You know, we, we have a need. We step up to the machine, we make our choice and pull the lever and we get what we've asked for. [00:09:34] Our adobe and grandfather God, you know, the God who provides all that is good, gives into our wants and desires, turns a blind eye to our bad behavior, gives another treat or snack, you know, appearance punish and grandparents spoil. And I know that full well because I have six grandchildren. [00:09:57] We want a God who gives us what we want while turning a blind eye to our bad behavior like a spoiled child. I, I don't need a God who gives me everything I want because so much of what I want would not be good for me. [00:10:13] Here's the big idea of the message. [00:10:17] You can make a God into what you want him to be, but in the end, if he's not the God who is, then it really doesn't matter much because he's a figment of your imagination. [00:10:27] You can make a God into what you want him to be, but in the end, if it's not God who is, then it really doesn't matter because you're chasing after a God who doesn't exist. [00:10:44] We can also create a God that is constructed through life's disappointments. We can end up with a Distorted image of God that results from our pain and our suffering and loss. [00:10:54] Depending on what has happened to us, we can see God as kind of the God of impossible expectations. [00:10:59] A God with a never ending list of rules and regulations, do's and don'ts that you can never live up to, so why even try? [00:11:07] Or the emotionally distant God, a God who is stoic. He exists but isn't involved in our lives. He. He really doesn't care about your feelings or emotions, so you kind of hide them and keep them to yourself. [00:11:17] God can't be trusted with that kind of stuff. [00:11:20] It could be the disinterested God. A God that knows about you, your life and what you're going through, who doesn't seem to care. [00:11:27] It's just not important enough to garner his attention. [00:11:31] Or it could be the abuse of God. A God who is judgmental and is harsh, even cruel with his punishment, who seems to find some kind of pleasure in your suffering. [00:11:41] It could be the unreliable God, or the God who abandons the God who during your greatest trial is nowhere to be found. [00:11:48] He's got better and more important things to do, like running the universe. [00:11:54] We can use our painful life experiences to craft our image of what we believe God is like. [00:12:00] And as for me, as a young man at the age of 23, I was empty and lost and directionless. My father, being mentally ill, was really incapable of a father son relationship. [00:12:15] Most days he was distant, aloof, and he would punish out of anger and sometimes out of rage. And that left a father wound. [00:12:24] And I had a lot of anger and bitterness towards him. [00:12:29] I grew up to believe that God, our heavenly Father, was just like my human father. So at about the age of 15, I stopped going to church altogether. [00:12:37] And through my pain I developed a distorted image of God. And I tried to numb my pain through drugs and alcohol. [00:12:46] I attempted to fill the void in my heart with girls and sports and partying. And my college roommates and I every weekend would go out to the bars and, you know, we'd get drunk and we'd try to pick up women. [00:12:58] But one evening I told the college roommates to go out in the bars without me. You know, I just was tired of that empty way of life. [00:13:05] With nothing else to do. I turned on the TV and I started channel surfing. And I landed on a Christian station where a man was just starting to talk about Jesus. [00:13:15] How he was God who loved me and who died on the cross for my sin, and that he took the punishment I deserve in my place. [00:13:22] And if I believed he was God and asked him to forgive me and receive him into my heart as my Savior. [00:13:28] He would forgive me and give me his gift of eternal life. [00:13:33] And so that night in the living room of my condominium, I knelt on the floor before the television. I prayed with that man on tv. And I trusted Christ as my Savior. And that was February 16, 1982. [00:13:45] And immediately, great peace overwhelmed me. The void I experienced every day as if it was a tangible physical pain, was gone. I was set free from cigarette smoking and doing drugs and getting drunk. And God freed my language from the use of profanity. I used to, you know, cuss like a sailor. [00:14:03] He led me on a path of forgiving my father and learning to honor him. And he gave me a new identity as his beloved child and a new purpose in life to serve him. And I've been a pastor now for close to 32 years. [00:14:15] And life has had plenty of pain and disappointments and loss. But he's been right there with me every step of the way. And I just can't imagine going through life with all the pain and the suffering and the brokenness and the heartache and the loss without him. [00:14:33] He helped me to grieve my losses in a redemptive way and to not hold them to bitterness, but to forgive and submitting to him, bringing the kind of good for my suffering that allows me to help other people. [00:14:49] And towards the end of my life, my dad's life, God gave me a special gift because he trusted Christ as his Savior. And the last few months of my dad's life, I would go over to the house maybe a couple times a week, and I'd help him undress and get him in the shower. And I'd scrub his back and help him get dressed again. And we sit in the master bedroom and we talk. And he had expressed his regrets on how he wished he was a better husband and better father and expressed his love for my mom and for the kids, for me, and that he was proud of the man that I'd become. [00:15:24] It took 59 years for my dad and I to finally have a father son relationship, to communicate at that level. [00:15:33] And my heart still grieves over the loss of relationship that every son should have with his father. [00:15:38] But I get to experience. [00:15:40] I got to experience it for the last three months. And for that I'm very thankful. [00:15:46] I wonder how many here tonight have suffered with a distorted image of God because of past trauma or pain or loss maybe connected to your father. [00:15:56] Our parents, especially our dads, are These bigger than life figures, the one we look to to protect us and provide for us and to love us unconditionally and to be there and to never leave. And when they fail us, it cuts to the very depth of our heart and soul. [00:16:10] And sometimes our beliefs about God have developed from our pain and disappointments of life. And without realizing it, we can transpose our view of our earthly father or mother onto what we believe God the Father is like. [00:16:25] If that sounds like you, I encourage you to sign up for the Recovery from Distorted Image study that we're going to be starting next month. [00:16:33] You can do that out on the welcome table. [00:16:37] A struggle for each of us is the battle within ourselves over what kind of God we think we want and the God we actually need. [00:16:45] When we judge God as one who falls short of our expectations, we're really saying, God, I think you should operate more like I would. I think you should handle things more like I would. If I was God, I would do it like this. [00:16:59] And we have the arrogance to believe that we as finite beings know better than an infinite God. [00:17:05] And many people who do a horrible job of managing their lives somehow think they could do better managing the universe. [00:17:13] Do you really want a God fashioned in your image and likeness? [00:17:17] The God who acts and behaves and responds like you? [00:17:22] And I know many of you here tonight. [00:17:25] There are some pastors here, there are some ministry leaders. [00:17:28] There are some really quality men and women with high moral values. They're good husbands, they're good wives, they're good fathers and mothers. They're good grandparents. And you know, most people think I'm a pretty decent guy, except don't talk to Lisa for too long. [00:17:45] But you know, as I think about it, it's like, please God, don't be like me. [00:17:50] Don't be fickle and inconsistent like me. Don't be weak and frail and insecure like me. Don't be selfish and self centered like me. [00:17:58] Don't be limited in your knowledge and understanding like me. Don't compromise your values like me. Don't conditionally love like I tend to do. Don't hold records of wrong and find it hard to forgive like I do. [00:18:11] Even the best human beings, you know, struggle and fall short in many of those things I just mentioned. [00:18:19] I need a God who's smarter than me, who's wiser than me, who's holy, more pure and sinless and righteous and just than me. I need a God who's more powerful than me, more gracious and merciful and forgiving and kind than me can love more deeply and unconditionally than I can. [00:18:34] I need a God who knows me inside and out, who knows what is best for me even when it hurts, who knows the ugliest parts of me and still loves, accepts and wants me in his family. [00:18:44] I need a God who doesn't turn a blind eye to my sin, but who disciplines me as a loving heavenly Father would to save me from future devastating consequences. [00:18:53] I need a God who can actually diagnose what's wrong with me and do something about it to save me from the worst parts of myself, preventing me from hurting others like I naturally can do. [00:19:05] I need a God who can transform hearts, who can transform lives, who can cast out fears and anxiety and tear down strongholds Listen with me to what some of the verses in the Bible say about what the God of the Bible is like. [00:19:23] Exodus 34:6 says, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. [00:19:30] Numbers 23:19 says, God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? [00:19:40] 1st Samuel 2:2 says, There is no one holy like the Lord. Psalm 34:18 says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed Spirit. Psalm 103:13 says, As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who revere him. [00:19:57] Lamentations 3:22 and 23 says, because of the Lord's great love, we're not consumed first. Compassions never fail they are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. [00:20:07] Isaiah 63 says, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty the whole earth is full of his glory. [00:20:13] Hebrews 13:5 says, Never will I leave you never will I forsake you. [00:20:19] First John 4:7 through 10 says, that love comes from God because God is love, and this is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. [00:20:32] And then finally John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. [00:20:43] This is the whole point of the Gospel. [00:20:46] The God of the Bible is not like the best of humanity put together in one person. God is transcendent. He's otherworldly. He's exalted above you and me. He's holy, perfectly pure and righteous and just Heaven. He cannot sin, he cannot lie, he cannot break his Promises. [00:21:02] He's all powerful, all knowing and all wise. He's absolute perfection. And yet he's approachable through Jesus Christ, His Son. [00:21:09] Are you kidding me? [00:21:10] A God this big, this powerful, this holy, is approachable. That should amaze each and every one of us. [00:21:21] I don't know about you, but if there was a God like that, not only would I seek to know him, but I'd follow him and I'd entrust my life to Him. [00:21:34] If there's a God and that's what he's like. [00:21:38] Why would a person ever want to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders? [00:21:43] Life's just too darn hard, full of struggles and stresses and pressures and responsibilities and worries and fears and trials and losses to try to handle that all alone, without God. [00:21:58] In John 17, Jesus, just prior to his crucifixion, prays that the Father would be glorified through his upcoming sacrifice. Then he prays for his disciple and all the disciples who would follow him through the centuries. And it's kind of cool to read John 17 because he's actually praying for us. [00:22:15] And as Jesus prays, he reveals that eternal life can be found in him, in him alone. [00:22:20] But it's just not a free ticket to heaven. [00:22:23] It's an unending relationship with God that begins the moment you trust Christ as your savior. [00:22:30] In John 17:3 it says, now this is eternal life, that I may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. [00:22:37] And that word know there in the Greek language in the New Testament is similar to the Hebrew language in the Old Testament. [00:22:45] In Genesis 4:1 it says Adam laid with his wife, or Adam knew his wife Eve and she became pregnant and he gave birth to a son. [00:22:54] So what we see here that in both cases, in both languages, to know results in life giving intimacy that's found through relationship. [00:23:03] According to the Bible, eternal life begins the moment a person trusts Christ as their Savior. And through your faith in Christ, that's just not believing about him, but faith in him, you enter a never ending relationship with God. [00:23:15] Knowing God is not just knowing a bunch of things about him, it's about having faith in Him. It's resting your life fully in Him. [00:23:29] Knowing God is to enter a life transforming relational intimacy with him. Where you know and are known, where you love and are loved, where you he is a your heavenly Father and you are his precious and beloved child. [00:23:43] And in this sense it's no different than a close relationship. You have a friendship or a marriage. [00:23:50] Could you imagine husband if you Spent your life with your wife, but never exploring who she really was, Never spent the time to get to know what she was like, to know her true heart, her passions, desires and interests. [00:24:04] I've been married to my wife Lisa for 37 years, and I still don't know everything about her. [00:24:11] And I'm surprised, after counting our dating and engagement almost 40 years, that I still find out new things about her that surprise me. [00:24:22] Well, imagine what it's like trying to know an infant in God. [00:24:27] It's like he wants to know you through relationship, but you have to pursue him in relationship to get to know him for who he is, what his desires are, what his likes are, what his preferences are, what what he wants of your life, what his will is. [00:24:43] The last 44 years of my life have been a journey to get to know God for who he truly is. [00:24:48] And he set me free from those distorted images that I once had. [00:24:53] Knowing him has produced a life like I never dreamed of. [00:24:56] He's been my source of peace and joy and security and comfort in the storms of life. [00:25:02] He's become my life's meaning and purpose, the fulfillment of living for someone and something bigger than self, bigger than the American dream, even bigger than living for my wonderful wife, my three sons and my six grandkids. [00:25:17] If there really is a God, then it's vitally important to get to know who he is, what he's like, and what he expects of you. [00:25:28] Jeremiah 29:13 14 says, you will seek Me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I'll be found by you, declares the Lord. [00:25:38] Hebrews 11:6 says, and without faith, it's impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must first believe he exists, and then he rewards those who earnestly seek Him. [00:25:51] I hope some prayers are that you'll stick around for a few weeks, if not a few months, and join us on a journey of discovery. A discovery of God. [00:26:02] I know right now you just can't take my word for it, and you shouldn't. [00:26:07] But in the weeks ahead, let's see if together we can find answers to questions like, is God real? [00:26:14] What's the evidence? [00:26:16] If he exists, what does he like, and what does he expect from me? And you know, I wouldn't want to go through my entire life making up my own answers to those questions, because the answers have repercussions, not only in this life, but in the life to come. [00:26:33] For those reasons, I would not want to be sincerely wrong about my beliefs concerning God. [00:26:41] So, to close tonight, let me Give you an idea of where we're heading. [00:26:47] Let's turn to Psalm 19. [00:26:50] You can look that up on your phone or if you've got your Bible with you. [00:27:00] And for the final four weeks, we're going to be focusing on Psalm 19. [00:27:06] So let's read Psalm 19:1:6 together. [00:27:10] The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they pour forth knowledge. [00:27:18] They have no speech, they use no words, no sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out into all the earth, Their words to the ends of the world. [00:27:25] In the heavens, God has pitched a tent for the sun, as like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. [00:27:32] It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other. Nothing is deprived of its warmth. [00:27:39] So this is going to be our focus next week. And what it is is that God has revealed himself through the physical universe. [00:27:46] And we're going to see, and we're going to take a closer look at the reality of it. That in what I see is that science and Christianity are not enemies. [00:27:56] They're partners. [00:28:00] Then Psalm 19, 7, 11. The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. [00:28:10] The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. [00:28:14] The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. [00:28:19] They're more precious than gold, and much pure gold. They're sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. [00:28:24] By them your servant is warned, and keeping them there is great reward. [00:28:28] So this is the second theme in two weeks where God has revealed himself through his word, the Bible. [00:28:36] So next week we're going to take a look at how God's revealed himself through creation. We're going to take a look at how God has revealed himself through the Bible, and then Psalm 19, 12 and 13. [00:28:47] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins. May they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. [00:28:58] This is the next theme in the series where God has revealed himself through our moral conscience, through the fact that innate to all of us is an understanding of the good and bad and the right and the wrong. [00:29:09] And in that, that reveals God's existence. [00:29:13] And then the final week of our series. How can I know God exists is found in the final verse, verse 14. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. [00:29:27] And the final week of the series is that God has revealed Himself through His Son at the four gospels in the New Testament of Jesus life reveal more clearly than anything else who God is. Because Jesus was God in the flesh. [00:29:44] Let me just tell you tonight that God invites you to come with your questions and your doubts, your confusion and the problems you have with him. He already knows. [00:29:53] He just wants you to bring them to Him. [00:29:56] The Bible's full of characters who are written within the text of the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, of those who were confused of what God was doing and crying out, God, why have you forgotten me? Where are you at? And and not believing that God was there and he wasn't showing himself to be real. And that's what I love about the Bible, is because the Bible aren't all these perfect people. These are true stories about men and women, characters who had doubts, who were confused about what God was doing, who struggled in their faith. [00:30:29] If you're living in their shoes tonight, Jesus just has a few words for you in Matthew 11:20, 30. [00:30:37] Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. [00:30:41] Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. [00:30:52] There's a reason why these words can be trusted, that Jesus really does truly understand and care. [00:31:02] I believe this because of the words he uttered from the cross in the darkest hour of his life. That moment when he was taking the full punishment and judgment upon himself for your and my sins. He said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [00:31:19] He understands, he knows he suffered and he knows what we're going through and he wants to meet you in that place and show you how real he can be. [00:31:33] I must believe that each of you are here tonight because at times like me, you have doubts, questions, even problems with God. [00:31:39] Let's explore them together. I mean, why not? [00:31:43] What do you have to lose really? Only a couple hours of maybe watching TV program on Wednesday night. [00:31:50] It's my belief that if you hang in there long enough, you'll find that Christianity will answer your questions and your longings better than anything else.