Bulletin 45- More about God

- Stuart Dunstan

Greetings to everyone. Before beginning now we will pay respects to the Elders, past and present of the indigenous people, the first people who lived here and worshiped this land and its creatures.
The words from Saint John: 'Be still and know that I am God' are framed in the Moore Cottage. They are amongst the most significant words in the bible.

They tell us how to begin to understand God, the great mystery in life. Otherwise we are isolated from higher wisdom and from where God's call comes from.That is within ourselves.Religion, that is the primeval instinct that God planted in us, has layers of understanding for both the young and the mature persons, many layers of which we may not be aware. By analogy it is somewhat like an onion which has several layers that can be peeled off. With the onion none of these layers are more important or less important, they all contribute to the whole vegetable. And so it is with layers in our spiritual life. Only we can make the choice of attuning with God, or not making sufficient effort, often because of a belief that introspection is somehow wrong, but it's not. Atheists and Agnostics usually take longer to understand and meanwhile many people may take some time to listen to the still voice within, that is to find ways to communicate adequately, yet God still attends to everyone's worldly needs.Humans have been made in the image of God, spiritually and emotionally, and with intellellect.

We his children have no idea of God's enduring patience and love for all of us. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, that is found in the book of Revelations, also written for the churches by Saint John during his internment by the Romans on the island of Patmos. We are often puzzled concerning God's love and mercies and do not understand His management, especially when much violence, wars, cruelty and suffering are allowed in the world, but we learn to forgive people's unrighteous behaviour and try to correct our own.The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, 'For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The prophets, our saviour Jesus Christ and the apostles were all given various missions to respond to the evils in the world and to open opportunities for all of us to advance then and now, And the bible still keeps us informed and guided to do what is right. Christians are called upon in whatever circumstances to respond to the teachings and to help people to understand.