Today’s message is the first of several in which I ask the simple question, “Why?” “Why Do You Believe In God?” You may wonder, “Why would a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ propose such a question?” Well, let me ask you, “Have you ever thought about that question?” What if someone - some stranger, friend, or relative - asked you that question How would you answer? I want to share a story I read recently. I don’t know if this is a true story, but I have read often refer to a child of some well known preacher, televangelist, or megachurch pastor that has turned away from God. I do not know if the man in our story was either of those, but he was a pastor. His son had been in church since he was a baby. He professed to be saved at one point. He was considered by many in the church his dad pastored to be a “good Christian.” Yet, one day he said to his preacher father, “Dad, I have decided I am an atheist.” His father was stunned! How could this be? His dad finally said, “We taught him what to believe, but we never shared the why of believing it." Folks, WE ARE LOSING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE!!! Fewer and fewer are choosing to accept Christ at a young age and serve Him all their lives. (The longer a child goes without being saved, the less likely it is that he/she will ever be saved.) And of those who do give their hearts and lives to Jesus at a young age, many will abandon Him and their service of Him in their late teens and beyond. (We have seen it.) Some of this is the fault of parents! A WORD OF WARNING TO FATHERS: A child is not just Mom’s responsibility! In fact, Dad, that child is one of YOUR greatest responsibilities! Ephesians 6:4: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Proverbs 29:15: “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” What would you do if a child, a grandchild, a great-grandchild, a nephew, or a niece came home from college one day and announced, “I am an atheist?” We who are older grew up in a time when most of those in our and our parents’ circle of friends, at the very least, believed in God. But we live in a time when people (and especially our youth) are being taught to QUESTION EVERYTHING . . . in the music they listen to, in the movies and TV shows they watch, and even in the video games they play. Satan has a target on our young people, and he has done and is doing a job on young believers today. They are his primary target. So, what are you going to say when a child, or a teenager, or a young adult, or someone else asks, “Why do you believe in God?” This morning I want to share why I not only believe in God, but why I KNOW He is!

I. I KNOW GOD IS REAL BECAUSE OF THE COSMOS.

II. I KNOW GOD IS REAL BECAUSE OF THE CREATION.

III. I KNOW GOD IS REAL BECAUSE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (OR CONSCIENCE).

IV. I KNOW GOD IS BECAUSE HE DWELLS WITHIN ME.