Is God Real? Series

[This sermon is contributed by Hal Seed of New Song Church in Oceanside, California and of www.PastorMentor.com. Hal is the author of numerous books including The God Questions and The Bible Questions. If you are interested in The Bible Questions Church-wide Campaign, please visit and watch Hal’s video at www.PastorMentor.com.]

Author’s notes:

1) This message requires props: a Pepsi can, a banana, and a hula-hoop. I recommend you give every attendee a banana on the way in the door. It adds to the realness of the message.

2) Each of the phrases in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS was made into a PowerPoint slide.

Good morning everybody!

I want to welcome all of you who have joined us for this series called, “The God Questions.” Over these next 6 weeks we’re going to provide you with some real answers about the central questions people ask about God. These answers will be simple, straightforward, based on facts and logic, packaged in a form you can take with you. I think this series will be very helpful for all of us and I’m looking forward to the mental and spiritual muscles we’re going to put on as a result of it.

So, pull out your message notes and let’s get to work on the God questions.

Of course, the first question and great question is, “IS GOD REAL?” Because if the answer to that question is, “no,” then there’s really not much sense in asking any other questions about Him, is there?

OPEN A BIBLE TO PSALM 19, ON PAGE 541.

This is a poem, a song lyric written by King David of Israel, around 1000 B.C. David may have lived a long time ago, but he was one of the smartest men who ever lived. He was a victorious general, a king who led his country to economic prosperity, he moved his country from the stone age to the bronze age. He was an innovator. And a man’s man.

David writes this – would you read it out loud with me?

THE HEAVENS DECLARED THE GLORY OF GOD; THE SKIES PROCLAIM THE WORK OF HIS HANDS. PSALM 19:1

If you continue reading, he continues on the same thread. What he’s saying is, “Look around you. The universe is stocked with pointers to the existence of God.

But if it’s any encouragement to you, I want to say that EVERYONE WONDERS ABOUT GOD FROM TIME TO TIME. IT’S THE NATURE OF FAITH.

See, the Bible says, WHAT IS FAITH?... IT IS THE EXISTENCE OF THINGS WE CANNOT YET SEE. HEBREWS 11:1

If we could see it, it wouldn’t be faith.

All of life is built on faith.

You put money in the stock marketing, expressing faith that you won’t get burned. You join a company, expressing faith that they’ll pay you every month. You get married, believing you’ll live happily ever after. You got up this morning, believing that there would be enough air to breathe for you to make it through the day.

There are no guarantees in life, only expressions of faith.

But that doesn’t mean that we have to express faith blindly. We invest in the market after reading a company’s prospectus. We accept a job after interviewing the boss. We get married after meeting our intended’s family. We believe they’ll be enough air to breathe because there was enough air yesterday and the day before and the day before that.

Our faith is based on reasoning and facts and prior experience.

God set it up that way.

Which is why He says, “Look at the stars.” The heavens declare the glory of God. They are telling you that God is real.

How?

Well, pointer number 1 to the existence of God is,

1. THE EXISTENCE OF “STUFF.”

See, stuff not only happens, stuff exists. Which creates a huge problem for the atheist.

Because if nothing exists, then we don’t have to explain it. But the minute we acknowledge that something is real, then we have to come up with an explanation for it.

The universe exists. It’s real. We live in it. We see it, hear it, feel it, and breathe its air.

We did all this stuff we feel, hear, breath, smell come from?

Here’s principle we all understand intuitively:

THE NATURE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT:

FOR EVERY EFFECT, THERE HAS TO BE A CAUSE.

I’m wearing a watch. How did that get there? I put it on my wrist this morning. It says, “M-O-V-A-D-O” on it. How did those little letters get there? Someone must have inscribed them on it.

Cause, and effect. For every effect, every thing, there has to be something that caused it.

Now, here’s a second pointer.

2. THE NATURE OF “STUFF.”

Or, more specifically, the nature of the universe. The universe is a huge, complex, marvelously well-ordered place. Since it existence, you have to explain where it came from.