moral compass or creator of the universe?

I decided to run some errands after dinner tonight and as I made a right turn out of my street towards the West I found myself staring directly into the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a long time. The sun was just touching the horizon and was the biggest round fiery orange ball I've ever seen. I wondered to myself if its possible for the sun to be bigger on certain days then others. I shrugged it off for a google search later and sat back and smiled in amazement at God's creation.

I'm realizing more and more lately a tragic downfall of American Christianity is the fact that God is no longer depicted as the creator of the universe but more or less a moral compass by which we guide our lives. I've found myself in more then one conversation in recent weeks which i was so discouraged by my realization that people i used to look to for guidance, and sometimes still do, weren't in fact the on fire Christians I thought they were, but rather good people with good morals and good intentions.

This is a struggle of mine. Add it too my list of frustrations with American Christianity I suppose. Regardless I'm sick of stuffy churches filled with good people. God never intended for us to keep him in a box with a steeple. My heart yearns for these people to see that God doesn't care about all these rules and regulations. To open their eyes to the fact that he created the universe and each of us. That we weren't created to live comfortable little lives, constantly pushing to get ahead and have better things. We were created to have a relationship with this Creator and to let him work and move through us. If we would just stop asking God to "bless" this or that, and realize he already HAS blessed us; and start thanking him for the opportunities he has given us. My how things would be different.

It saddens my heart to know that close friends, even family of mine don't "get" this. That in the end I'm not sure if they have this relationship with their creator or instead have this moral compass which is deeply lacking something...