God the Father

Session 1 Notes

Please print these notes and keep them in your Greenhouse binder

God the Father

  • Read "Session 1: God the Father" found on pp. 9-12 of Christianity 101: An Introduction to Faith by Jeren Rowell
  • Where is God? God resides in a dimension that Christians refer to as heaven. Heaven is an alternate dimension that exists alongside the physical universe in which we live. While these dimensions are distinctly different, they regularly intersect and overlap. When this happens, we encounter God and God's heavenly kingdom.
  • What is God up to in this world? When heaven and earth overlap, we can see God at work in this world in many different ways. God's work primarily involves healing/restoring spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical brokenness. The main way God accomplishes this restoration is through members of the human race who are willing to join God in this mission.
  • Watch this video by the Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/heaven-and-earth/ (7 minutes)


Summary and Discussion Questions

WHO IS GOD?

"God's very nature burst forth into the creation of all that is as an expression of God's relational nature...The holy community of love is the energy from which all of creation comes into existence and is sustained...If the nature of God is to be understood in terms of the holy love that is offered and received within this relational intimacy, then the gospel takes on joyous and hopeful life. Why? Because we hear good news that we are invited into this circle of holy love that restores, heals, transforms, and renews." (p.10, emphasis mine)

  • God is the Creator of all that is
  • God is a unified community of love (a.k.a. the trinity)
  • God is holy (a.k.a. the quintessential nature of God that distinguishes God from everything else in existence. Holiness is the incredibly beautiful divine love that is shared amongst the 3 persons of the trinity and then poured out on creation, restoring, healing, transforming and renewing all that it touches. For more on this see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz5pKsqeE5k )

Discussion Questions:

  • Growing up, who did you understand God to be? How would you have described God?
  • Do the descriptions listed above resonate with your current understanding of God? Are there any you struggle to see or understand?


WHERE IS GOD? WHAT IS GOD UP TO IN THIS WORLD?

The Bible Project video explains that the union of heaven (i.e. God's space, which is filled with his presence, goodness, justice, and beauty) and earth (i.e. our space, which is filled with sin, injustice, and ugliness) is what the story of the Bible is all about. The Bible begins by describing the way God designed earth to be fully united with heaven, but it quickly tells the tragic tale of how the two became separated. Thankfully, the story immediately turns to describing the incredibly costly lengths that God went to in order to reunite them once again. It ends by promising that heaven and earth will exist in perfect unity again one day.  

Discussion Questions:

  • How does this description of heaven (i.e. God's space) line up with your understanding of heaven?
  • What do you think about the idea of heaven and earth overlapping?
  • What do you think this might say about God's desire to reveal himself to us? Is our current experience of God the way he originally intended it to be?


HOW DO WE KNOW GOD?

"Jesus Christ reveals God to us. The Bible and the life of the church, inspired and empowered by the Spirit, tell us this glad story. The Bible also suggests that we can know God to some degree through God's creation." (p.11, emphasis mine)

Discussion Questions:

  • Are you aware of a time when you have encountered Jesus, by the power of the Spirit? If so, what did that encounter reveal to you about God? How does that align with the descriptions of God above?
  • Have you ever read one of the four books in the Bible that tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus (i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)? If so, how did it impact your understanding of God?
  • In what ways have you seen the church accurately embody the story of Jesus? In what ways have you seen them fail to do so?
  • Can you identify an experience where God revealed Godself to you through creation?


"I BELIEVE IN GOD"

"We acknowledge and believe that each of us can enjoy a personal relationship with God through Jesus by the gift of the Holy Spirit... [However] None of us are authorized to construct independent or personal theologies [(what we believe about God, the world, and salvation)], but we come together under the power of the Spirit, in mutual submission, to discern what God is saying to us as the people of God...this is why Christian discipleship, education, and nurture are so important." (p. 12, emphasis mine)

  • Believing in God is BOTH personal and communal. Neither one is disposable.
  • Discerning what to believe about God, the world, and salvation must be done with other members of the people of God. When left on our own in isolation, we tend to create a god made in our own image, embracing the parts of God that look like us and rejecting the parts that don't.

Discussion Questions:

  • At this point in your life, would you say that you believe in God (specifically, the deity that has been been described in this lesson)?
  • If not, why not?
  • If so, which dynamic are you most tempted to dispose of in your faith? Personal or Communal?
  • When has God revealed something about Godself to you through your interactions with other members of the people of God? (i.e. a sermon, a song, a conversation, a book, etc.)


Additional Resources:

Complete and Continue