Sermon Notes: "I Will Go With You" Isaiah 43.1-7

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." Is. 43.2

God's promises to the OT nation of Israel about bringing them back from Babylonian captivity were words of comfort. And though the context of this verse has a historical focus the promises are not at all different in nature to the ones offered to the church today and you as a Christian.

When life and living comes at you ("waters, rivers and fire") the presence of the Almighty is an uncomparable resource. Using Isaiah's thoughts we are surely correct in saying that God's people are assured His continual presence regardless the situation because He "created" us (He gave us new life), He "redeemed" us at Calvary and "summons us" by name from the book of life.

A Rock Legend's Journey

Eric Clapton, famed musician, writes of his "rock bottom" moment in rehab when fell to his knees in surrender to God:

"I was in complete despair. In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that."

His song Presence of the Lord includes the lyric:
I have finally found a place to live
Just like I never could before
And I know I don't have much to give
But soon I'll open any door.
Everybody knows the secret,
Everybody knows the score.
I have finally found a place to live
In the presence of the Lord.

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LIFEWAY EXPLORE THE BIBLE RESOURCE

Lesson Title: "Jerusalem: Facing Conflict" - Acts 15:1-35 (July 27)

Biblical Truth: When Christians face conflict, they need to resolve it in ways that will strengthen their churches and their relationship with one another.

Helpful lesson resources can be found at:

http://www.founders.org/ss/explore/

Send along your questions and/or helpful insights that came from your studies.

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Recommended Readings

FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE LEFT BEHIND by Roger Snow
Snow confronts the trendy popularity of the Left Behind series and demonstrates that there was already a guide through the end times issues? In Fifty Ways the author presents Revelation as written in a distinctive Old Testament pattern. Exodus and Revelation both begin with tribulation and end in wedding vows. In both books a dragon lurks waiting to eat the Messiah child. In both books, a woman flies away on eagles wings to live in a new promised land. Reading Fifty Ways to Leave Left Behind will challenge your end times ideas. Check it out at many online book stores.

You think Islamic Jihadists are the result of economic pressures and national identities? Think again. Islamic Jihadists reject the Western paradigm of national identities and democractic concepts. For them the war of terror is a war of civilizations. For the Jihdists coexistance with the West is impossible. Rather, the West must submit to a global caliphate and the return of a Islam civilization much like that of the former Ottoman Empire.