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 It's my pleasure to start off this new series this morning, which, as Sonia already said,

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 is based on the book The Christian Atheist. I've got it here, so if anyone ever fancies

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 reading it, that's what it looks like. It's written by a guy called Craig Groeschel, who

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 is basically writing from his personal experience of going on a journey to discovering God a bit

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 deeper than he really thought initially. It's basically talking about when you believe in God,

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 but dot, dot, dot, it continues with lots of other examples. So this is assuming that you have some

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 sort of thought or understanding or faith perhaps in God. That's kind of our basis. So just as a side

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 note, if you feel like, no, that's not me, I'd love to talk to you afterwards. Hold on to your

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 horses, keep listening, and let's chat over a coffee or grab someone else and let's continue your

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 thoughts and your conversations. So when you believe in God but stuff gets in the way, or when you

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 believe in God but there are stumbling blocks that hinder your belief, or when you believe in God but

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 you live as if he doesn't really exist, he's just distant. So what are we really exploring? Well,

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 we're looking at what is our real understanding of who God is and what difference does that make in

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 our lives? Every day, our everyday living. So as Sonia said, today we're really exploring it.

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 When you believe in God but you don't really know him, what's the difference there of those two things?

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 Well, some of you might know that I've been coming to this church since about June, end of June.

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 You might know a bit about me. You may not know much about me at all. You probably don't know that I really

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 like rugby. It might come as a surprise to you, but I love it. I really love it. In fact, I enjoy watching it

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 and I also enjoy playing it. I'm in a little rugby team at college. You might also not know that when the

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 Rugby World Cup is on. I get all excited and I particularly like to remind people that there's

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 an England women's rugby team as well and they're really good. They do really well. What I particularly

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 like to remind people, and John will know, probably gets a bit annoying, but I know two of their players,

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 which is pretty cool. I don't just know them. I actually went to school with them. Two of the

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 England rugby team players in the women's team and I even played rugby with them. That's my little

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 claim to fame. People probably get quite bored of it when the rugby is on. So I know two of the rugby

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 players. That might mean that, yes, I'll watch their matches. I'll support them. I'll cheer them on.

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 But when I say I know them, do I really know them? I might know what position they play or

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 how many tries they've scored that season, but I probably couldn't tell you what makes them laugh

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 or even perhaps what struggles they've had that year. And I probably also, they probably couldn't tell

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 you much about me either. They might not know what's gone on for me this year. They probably don't know

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 I come to this church. So it turns out that although I might claim to say I know them, I don't really

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 know the two women on the rugby team that much. There's not much of an investment in that acquaintance that

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 I have. I probably won't even send them a Christmas card. I'm sure perhaps you might have a similar

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 story of someone you know, someone maybe you've bumped into, an encounter, someone you might say,

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 oh yes, I know of them. But you might not know them that well. Perhaps even a politician or a political

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 party that you believe in, you'll vote for, but you probably don't know what they're having for dinner

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 that night. So why is this so important? Well, it's one thing to say that we believe in someone or that we've had

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 an encounter with someone. But to actually know someone is a much deeper encounter, a much deeper relationship

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 than just an acquaintance. So what about God then? Do we believe in God? What comes to mind when you think

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 of God, when I say the word God? Is he a big old bearded man? Some guy floating up in the sky? Some distant

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 power in space that makes things happen occasionally?

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 Or perhaps you might refer to him as the guy upstairs or the boss man? Maybe.

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 If that's the case, I'd love to suggest that actually there's a whole lot more to him than you might know

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 already. The book of James says actually even the demons believe in God. But what about for us?

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 what difference does that make for us? In the passage in Matthew that we've just read, it actually

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 encourages those who believe in God to go deeper, to know him intimately. Jesus says, ask and it will be

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 given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. This is a pretty big invitation

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 to come and know a bit deeper the God of heaven and earth, the creator of the world, and to know the

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 goodness that he has for us who believe. So as we ask, when we seek, when we knock, there might actually

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 be different names that we come to understand of God. You might already call God different names like,

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 for example, God as comforter, if you found him to comfort you in times of trouble. Or perhaps for you,

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 God is saviour when you know that Jesus paid the price for your sins.

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 Or maybe you might know God as healer when he's come in your time of brokenness and restored you.

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 Or maybe you know God as friend when you felt alone and had him by your side.

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 Whatever name you might call God, whatever you choose to associate him with, we can be remembered,

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 reminded that our God is a good God. He doesn't hide. He doesn't hide up in the heavens. He's not

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 distant. He's here with us. He cares and he's present. His spirit is with us.

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 And moving among us. So this invitation we hear in Matthew to come, ask, seek, knock,

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 it's saying come closer and see the goodness of God. See the good gifts that he has for you to

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 discover. It's an open invitation at any time. You won't miss it on one chance and that'll be it.

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 You can keep on going, keep on discovering. He's saying, hey, come on, come and get to know me.

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 I'm here. I want to get to know you.

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 So what's stopping us? What's stopping us moving from believing to really knowing God?

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 In this book, he suggests that people can often feel like they don't deserve God, even though this

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 invitation is here. People might say, oh, he's too busy for me. He's too busy worrying with more

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 important things in the world. Or I wouldn't want to seem selfish. Maybe that's quite a British approach.

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 I don't want to intrude on what God's got to do with the world. I mean, maybe these are quite fair

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 enough thoughts. But if we know God, then maybe we will know that he's quite capable of all of those

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 things. He's quite capable of knowing each one of us completely inside and out.

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 But maybe we do find ourselves doubting these things. And if so, I would love to encourage you to

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 go to Psalm 139, 139. It's such a great psalm where it speaks into our identity in God. It speaks into

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 how much God knows us. He knows us inside and out. He knew us before we were even born, before we were

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 even a thought in our parents' minds. He even knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows

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 you're coming and you're going. The psalmist who wrote Psalm 139 finishes off by saying,

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 search me, O God, and know my heart. They've come to this conclusion of, you know me.

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 Come and know me more. Let me know you. Let me discover you. It's a close relationship and it's

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 a partnership that is coming and going. It's like a conversation. You might have also noticed when

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 Tina read the passage, there's this analogy that Jesus uses of a father and a son, this parental

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 relationship that seems pretty intimate and quite trusting as well. There's something beautiful

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 about the childlike faith. There are no inhibitions of asking. Perhaps you who have had children will

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 know that when kids want something, they'll ask, they'll say, can I have it? I want it. I see that. I

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 want it. And people, I mean, I can't speak from experience, but I certainly know that adults who

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 have that care for children, they want to give the good things, the things that are best for them.

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 Okay, that might not be the sweet that they're asking for, but you might want to pour out your

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 love and your care for that child. And so Jesus is saying, God, our perfect heavenly father, however

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 your earthly father understanding might be, God is the perfect one full of goodness. How much more is he

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 going to give good gifts to you? You who are adopted into his family? You who are known by him?

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 So should we not more be childlike in our understanding, our faith, our approach to knowing God?

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 Jesus is saying, come on, just do it, just ask. Have those inhibitions just wiped away. Don't even worry

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 about them. Come and ask and discover more about me. After all, our perfect father is giving good gifts

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 to his children. He's giving comfort and support. He's giving healing. He's giving wholeness.

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 He's giving love. So as I begin to conclude, let's not just claim to believe in God or to live our lives

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 like Jesus, but let's actually do what Jesus did and be with the father. A bit like earlier, we had that

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 moment of stillness just to kind of realign ourselves again with where we're at, finding God again,

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 perhaps. Let's spend that time getting to know our heavenly father. Jesus spent his time pouring out his

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 heart in times of trouble, in times of need, and even in times of thanksgiving, he would retreat away

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 from the people and spend time with his father. So let's let go of our inhibitions, our worries and our doubts,

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 perhaps even our selfish pride of needing to ask for help. And let's come close to the father. Come close

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 and really know him. Let him into your life. Whilst we remember that our God is a good God. And he invites you

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 to come and know him to come and know his goodness more.

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