Today, I want to tell you some things about God and what He is like. These are sometimes referred to as the attributes of God. Again, my daughter, Miss Catherine, is going to help me by recording what I would like to tell you. God loves us very much, doesn't He? and he is so good to us. So for a few minutes, let's think about God, about who he is, what he is like, okay? So where can we go to find out about God? Yes, we can go to the Bible, of course. After all, God gave us the Bible, didn't he? And the Bible tells us a lot about God. Now, God didn't pick up a pencil and write the Bible with his own hand, did he? No. But God showed some men what to write, and they wrote it down. Yes, God inspired those men by either actually telling them what to write, or else by guiding them to write what God wanted them to write. So the Bible is the Word of God. God wrote the Bible by having men write what he wanted them to write. And the Bible that you and I have now says the same things that it said thousands of years ago when it was first written. We know that because we have some very old copies of the Bible from thousands of years ago. And they say the same thing that my own Bible or your own Bible say today. So what does the Bible say about God? Well, the Bible tells us that the Lord God is the only, only God. There aren't bunches of gods, are there? No, there is only one God, and he is alive, and he loves us very much. And the Bible tells us that God is three persons. Yes, and these three persons are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons, but they are all three completely agreed in everything. These three persons are one God. That is called the Trinity. Tri means three. Three that are united. I can't really explain this, but it is sort of like you might see some water, and the water could be ice and liquid, watery, and steam. But they are all free water, aren't they? Or it's sort of like saying that there is a family with a father, the mother, and a child. Three people in the family, but still one family. But while there is lots of water and there are many families, there is only one God. So nothing else is exactly like God. But I hope this helps you a little. We've talked about this more another time. So there is only one God who is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And these three persons love each other. In fact, the Bible says that God is love. And God loves us very much. What else does the Bible tell us about God? It tells us that God has always been God. God didn't begin as we begin when we are born. God didn't one day start being God. No, God has always been. And God has always been God. And God will always be God. God will never have an end. Wow, that's amazing too, isn't it? Something that helps me understand this a little better is a circle. When you look at a circle, there is no beginning and no end to the circle, is there? Of course, God isn't a circle. He is God. He is what we call eternal. Eternal means forever. God forever always was God, and God will forever always be God. Yes, God is eternally God. But what else does the Bible tell us about God? Well, God has great power. He can do anything. He is all-powerful. And God knows everything. He is all-knowing. And the Bible tells us that by using his great power, God made everything. In fact, we can see the power of God by just looking around us and seeing the plants and animals and ocean and the sun, moon, and stars that he made. Yes, God made the whole world and everything in the world, and God made the sky and everything in the sky. But what did God make them out of? Why, God made them all out of nothing. Yes, God used his great power and just spoke, said the words, and their things were. And by using his great power, God made the first plants, making them so that they had seeds in them that could grow into more plants like themselves. And God made animals and birds and fish and bugs, making them so that they could have baby animals and birds and fish and bugs like themselves. And by using his great power and using the dust he had already made, God made Adam. And God made it so there could be baby people. Now you may well say, hey, people make all sorts of things, too. People make buildings and cars and airplanes. Yes, that is true. People do make things, lots of different things. But do they make them out of nothing? No. When people build things, people use things that God had already made. For instance, buildings are often made out of wood, aren't they? But where did the wood come from? Yes, wood comes from trees. And who made the trees? That's right, God made the trees. Remember, God made trees to have seeds which would sprout to grow more trees. And cars are made from metal like iron. But where did the iron come from? Yes, iron is in the ground where God put it, and men have to dig it up in order to use it. Okay, so the Lord God is the only God, and God was always God, and God will always be God, and God made everything. So it seems to me that we could easily say that everything on earth or in the sky belongs to God. Everything is His, isn't it? We might say that the Lord God is the King who rules over everything. So that would mean that we should live our lives the way that King God wants us to live. To do what He says, shouldn't we? But how do we know what God wants us to do? That's right. God tells us that in the Bible. In the Bible, God tells us not only what we should do, but he also tells us what we should not do. And the Bible tells us that God is very, very good. All good. And God wants us to be good. And again, we can be good by doing what God tells us to do in the Bible, and by not doing what he tells us not to do. Now, we can try very hard to obey what God says for us to do or not to do, but sometimes we all disobey God, don't we? We might tell just a little lie, but that is disobeying God. Or when a child disobeys his parents, even just a little, that is also disobeying God. I don't want to disobey God, but sometimes I do. Your parents sometimes disobey God, and so does your pastor. Everyone disobeys the Lord God at some time or another. And these times when we disobey God are called sins. Sin is disobeying God. But again, the Bible tells us that God is love and that the Lord God loves us very, very much. And God loves us so much that he wants us someday to be able to be with him where he is. That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? To be with the all-powerful, loving God. but there can't be any sins around God where he is. Oh dear, what can we do about that? We'd have to get rid of our sins in some way, wouldn't we? But how can we get rid of our sins? Well, God, who can do anything, can get rid of our sins for us. Hooray! But how does he do that, get rid of our sins? Why, God the Father had God the Son come down to Earth. Huh? God came to Earth? Yes! Remember the Christmas story in the Bible? It tells us that God the Father sent God the Son to Earth, where, by the power of God the Holy Spirit, God the Son became a human, Jesus, and was born as a baby. I'm sure you remember that, don't you? Yes, the Christmas story in the Bible tells when Jesus came down to earth and was born. And that means that Jesus is God the Son as well as a human, right? Yes. And Jesus never, ever sinned. And when the baby Jesus grew up to be a man, he taught people about God, and about heaven, and about what they should do. But some bad people didn't like this, so they made it so that Jesus, the Son of God, was put on a cross. And there on the cross, Jesus died. But what those bad people didn't know was that God had a plan, and this was part of God's plan. Yes, God knew, because God knows everything, and he had already planned this. And years before, God had told his prophets about this, and these prophets had written it down in the Old Testament part of the Bible before it all happened. We can read it there in our own Bible. You see, the reason that God the Son, Jesus, had come to earth was so that he could die for our sins. He had no sins of his own, but we all have sins. And Jesus died for our sins. Why? Because he loves us so very much. and wanted to make a way for us to be able to be with him someday. But did Jesus stay dead? No, of course not. Three days later, Jesus was alive again, was resurrected, which we remember especially at Easter time. God, who had made everything, can do wonderful miracles, can't he? And after Jesus was alive again, lots of people saw Jesus alive before he went back up to heaven. And Jesus, God the Son, is still alive in heaven. So how can we be with Jesus, with God, someday? Yes, God tells us in the Bible that if we trust in the Lord Jesus to forgive our sins, He will. Then our sins will be forgiven and we'll be right with God. Then someday we can be with God forever. Isn't that so loving and good of God? Now, what was it that we were first thinking about today? Yes, we wanted to think about God and to learn more about who God is, and I hope we have. So what have we learned about God? We've learned that God is someone who has always been God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He will always be God. He is the only God, and He is all-good and all-powerful, and He knows everything. He is the creator of everything, everywhere, and He has plans for us, and He loves us very, very much. And someday we can be with the Lord God by just trusting in Him. And also, the Bible tells us that someday the Lord Jesus will come back to earth and make everything perfect with no sin anymore, and we will be with God forever. Won't that be wonderful?