Welcome to Gospel and Life. The Bible teaches us that while God is infinite, he is also intimate.

In other words, it's possible for us to draw near to him. But what does it actually look like to draw near to God?

Today on Gospel and Life, Tim Keller is teaching about what it means to experience God in a way that is personal and intimate.

The passage on which the teaching is based is printed in your bulletin.

It's a nice long passage and it should be where you are if you've been singing. You haven't been singing. It's on page 19.

Genesis chapter 15 verses 1 to 21.

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.

Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. You're very great reward.

But Abram said, O sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eleazar of Damascus?

And Abram said, you've given me no children. And Abram said, you've given me no children. So a servant in my household will be my heir.

Then the word of the Lord came to him. This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.

He took him outside and said, look up at the heavens and count the stars. If indeed you can count them. Then he said to them,

so shall your offspring be. Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.

He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the earth of the Caldys to give you this land to take possession of it.

But Abram said, O sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?

So the Lord said to him, bring me a heifer, a goat, a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.

Abram brought all these to him, cut them into and arranged the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Then the Lord said to him, no for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years.

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers and peace and be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.

And when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

...