Jesus Believed that God is Relational
Small Group Questions from Jan. 7th
- Belief drives our actions. Did you have any funny, false beliefs when you where younger that made you act in unreasonable, funny ways. (Example: I was certain there was a shark in the lake, so I would only swim in the shallow areas near the shore.)
- Sometimes, we need to have our fundamentally core beliefs challenged in order to change our actions. What kind of example comes to mind, personally or otherwise? (i.e….Our American way has reinforced that you just need to work hard, and that plays out in how we treat folks who are poor.)
- What’s the difference between believing IN Jesus and believing LIKE Jesus?
- Many of us hold some common metaphors of God that are incomplete or incorrect. Explain what it means for God to be like the following: lifeguard, military commander, and vending machine
- What notions of God have you experienced or observed?
- What are the implications of having a belief system that includes one of these?
- Read and discuss some or all of the following passages:
- John 12.49-50
- Luke 11.2
- John 17.26
- Mark 14.36
- Galatians 4.6
- Ephesians 1.17
- For Jesus, the best way to communicate the most intimate relationship he could, was God as Abba, Father. He then tells us to do the same. This was a revolutionary core belief.
- What does it mean for God to be a Father?
- Is it challenging for you to think of God as Daddy (i.e. Abba)? Why or why not?
- Jesus’s relationship with the Father is trusting, present, active, and experiential.
- Which of these is easiest for you?
- Which is the most challenging to accept and experience?
- Jesus fostered this belief/relationship often in quiet, remote spaces. What do we do with this notion that Jesus, the very Son of God, spent so much alone with the Father in prayer? How does this challenge you?
