Starting With God by looking at all of those things that we construct for ourselves to replace God or to divert our attention away from Him. The Bible has a word for those things: idols. Idols can even be things that make us think that God approves of what we’re doing when we know deep down that He doesn’t. We are invited to cast away all of those things and to focus and trust in God alone for all of our needs and strength. It’s very easy to say it. But can we actually do it?

This week we are looking at intimacy with God. At the foot of Mount Sinai God spoke to His people who he had guided out of slavery in Egypt. They were so afraid that none of them wanted to go up the mountain and seek true intimacy with Him, they rejected God’s true purpose for them because of fear. We now, through Jesus, receive that same invitation to experience the fullness of God. Will we accept or will we – like the Israelites – be content with holding God at arm’s length?

“Starting with God” Episode two, looking at the story from Genesis where Jacob wrestles with God. Until this point Jacob has tried to fit God into his own worldview, mold God into what he thinks God should be. It’s only when God reaches deep and humbles Jacob that he sees the error of his ways and learns to surrender. How often do we act the same?

We begin a new series focusing on re‑setting our relationship with God. In the introduction, Chris uses the image of a jigsaw puzzle—yet not one where Jesus is the final piece we simply drop into place. Instead, Jesus is the central piece around which the whole picture is re-formed. The ‘hole’ we sense in our lives isn’t a Jesus‑sized gap we can fit Him into; it’s a reminder that our entire lives need to be re‑shaped around Him.