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Intro

• God in a box
  • We tend to put God in a box. We limit what he can do and who he is. We create imaginary boundaries for God. But, God is too big for our limitations.
  • Often the reason we put God in a box is out of fear of losing control. As long as we can “control” God we can “control” how much we surrender to him and how much we let him into our lives.
  • God cannot be bound! What we need to do is realize this and allow God to be God!

• God wants us to be with Him in constant relationship with him
  • Last series (”You are here”) we asked the question, “Where does God want you to be?”. One answer to that question is that God wants us to be in relationship with Him.

• This involves getting to know God for who He truly is
  • In any relationship, if we want to go deep we have come to know the other person for who they really are, not just who we think they are. That is the goal of this series - to come to know God for who He really is.

Our prayer scripture for this series: Ephesians 1:17

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

Trinity & God the Father

• God exists in Three “persons” the Trinity – tri-unity
  • God exists as Father, Spiri, and Son - all at the same time; completely unified yet distinctive.
  • Confusing? 1+1+1=1
  • The concept of the Trinity is enough to drive us crazy, yet we are not trying to “understand” but to “know” the Trinity. To know God as He exists as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

Augustine - “Anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing their salvation, and anyone who tries to understand the Trinity is in danger of losing their mind!”

We want to meet God and come to know Him through this series, not in an academic sense but in a relational sense – Father, Spirit, Son

Dysfunctional Views of God

As we seek to meet and know God it is important to identify and let go of some of the many misconceptions we have of God.

Some of these dysfunctional views include:

• Cosmic sheriff - God is just waiting to “bust” us.

• Personal butler - God is there to cater to our every whim and desire

• Old man in the sky - God is disconnected, distant, and oblivious to the things of our lives. God is just “up there” watching us.

• Distant demanding parent - God is like a parent who never shows us affection or care, but is demanding and strict.

God the Father

What does it mean that God is our Father? What does this tell us of God and of the relationship he wants with us?

The fact that God is called “Father” reveals to us His relational nature – he is God the Father, not God “the boss” or God “the neighbor-down-the-street-that-we-never-talk-to”. God is relational and personal and he desires a personal relationship.

Jesus called God “Father” and we see this continuing into the early church - “grace and peace to you from God our Father”. And God wants to be our Father.

1 John 3:1-2

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Of the dysfunctional views of God mentioned, which do you relate to most and why?
a) Cosmic sheriff
b) Personal butler
c) Old man in the sky
d) Distant demanding parent
2. What are some ways that a dysfunctional view of God could affect the way that you:
a) pray
b) approach God
c) tell others about God
d) live your daily life

3. How do our images of earthly parents influence the way we see and relate to God?

4. Why do you think that God is called “Father”?

5. Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. What characteristic of God the Father is mentioned here? Have you experienced this side of God in your life?

6. Read Hebrews 12:7-10. What characteristic of God the Father is mentioned here? Have you experienced this side of God in your life?