Summary: This is the first in a series of dialog based sermons based on A W Tozers book "The Knowledge of The Holy". It is in outline form and is intended for a contemporary dialog series or even a small group setting.

The Knowledge of God

Pt 1 - A Right Concept of God

Romans 1:18-25

Over the next several weeks I want to share with you the content of one of the best books that I read during my Sabbatical. Most of you know that I am an avid reader of the books of AW Tozer. Two of his books stand out to me as some of the best and most fruitful works of Christian writing of the last 100 years. The Pursuit of God is one - the other is the one I want to share with you - The Knowledge of the Holy. I won’t be reading the book to you I do however want to share with you the concepts that I find so powerful. During this series I want to open a seires of dialogs about who God is and what He is like that I hope will deepen our understanding of the one we worship.

Tonight I want to talk with you about having a right concept of God. Two quotes I would share with you to think about.

• The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.

• Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?” and goes on from there. “

Look at this passage in Romans - how does Paul make the case for Tozer’s assertion in the first quote?

What are some of the corrupted views of God that the church has maintained?

What happens to us as we leave a right view of God to follow some corrupted view?

In looking at the second quote - In what ways has the churches concept of God become corrupted today?

If I said that any concept of God short of who He really is has become at it’s heart idolatry, how would this be supported by Pauls letter to Rome and played out in our society today?

How do you think the following is true?

“Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence.”

“Only after an ordeal of painful self probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.”