Overview

Week 1 // God is God - Matt Carvel

Week 2 // God is Trinity - Simon Brading

Week 3 // God the Father - Max White

Week 4 // God the Son - Ruth Davenport

Week 5 // God the Holy Spirit - Rachel Fellingham

Week 6 // God my Strength - Ben Watson

Week 1 // God is God

John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Introduction:
We tend to think of life with us at the centre but the Bible starts with ‘In the beginning God…’’
It starts with Him, because everything, ultimately, starts with God
Being God means that, by definition, he is set apart from us - Isaiah 55:8-9
There is no way for humans to know and understand God by ourselves
Imagine Harry Potter trying to get to know JK. Rowling - how does he know she is there? How can he communicate with her?

Point 1:
We can only know God because he has chosen to reveal himself to us
We can know that there is a creator by looking at creation (Romans 1:19) - Explains why almost every society has been spiritual in some way
Amazingly, God has chosen to reveal himself in a personal way too!
We can get to know God through Jesus, as it is said in Matthew 11:27

Point 2:
Even though we can know God through Jesus (with the Spirit’s help), it is impossible for us, as humans, to completely know and understand God
These are called the ‘incommunicable’ attributes of God - God is eternal, but we have a beginning and an end - God is unchangeable, but we are forever changing (young - old, awake - asleep) - God is omnipresent, but we are always in one place
A lot of these are explaining what God is NOT, so it can be very hard to comprehend what God IS
All of these are difficult for us to grasp but bring us closer to God in wonder and encourage worship

Point 3:
There are also other ‘communicable’ attributes of God too
It is easier to see these as we experience them ourselves
God is: Good, Just, Faithful, Gracious
We need to be careful because God isn’t just a really good version of the things that we experience - all of these things that we feel are a reflection of God and His creation
God is God and we are not!
God became like us so we can know him personally - GOOD NEWS

Conclusion:
God deserves worship
Those of us who know Him personally, worship Him wholeheartedly and joyfully!


Questions:

1. Is God like us or not like us?
2. Can you name some ‘incommunicable’ attributes of God (e.g. unchangeable)
3. How can we know God?
4. Can you name some some communicable attributes of God (e.g. faithful)
5. How has God revealed himself to you?
6. What are your favourite things in nature or space?
7. How can you see God in things He has created?

Week Two // God is Trinity

Introduction
Last week we looked at how God is God.
He is set apart from us (That’s what being holy is!)
One way God is different to us is Him existing as three persons in one!

Point 1:
Because God exists as three persons yet one God is difficult for us to grasp, we are prone to emphasise one at the expense of the other. For example we tend to think of God as essentially three Gods, and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are independent from each other. But this is not the case. Father, Son and Spirit are each fully God. All the attributes of God are true for each person.
God as three Persons is perhaps more obvious in the New Testament of the Bible where we have the incarnation of Jesus. Jesus’ baptism, for example, clearly displays each member acting simultaneously (Matt 3:16-17).

Point 2:
But God did not become Trinity in order to be born among us, He has always been so. The very first page of the Bible speaks of this plurality and unity within God. “Let us make man in our image” (Gen 1:26).
We can therefore summarise this amazing truth with these three sentences:
God is three persons
Each person is fully God
There is One God

Point 3:
Even though the Trinity is very difficult for us to grasp - in one sense impossible actually - it is still VERY good news for us. That’s because this plurality and unity within God is integral to another summarising statement about God: God is love.
This could not be said of a god who is one person, in any meaningful way. How can one person love? Who would they love? Love, by definition, is something expressed between persons.
The wonderful news of God is that eternally, Father, Son and Spirit have existed not statically, but dynamically in loving community. In fact, Creation is an overflow of this love, an extension of this community of love. What a thing!
God is Trinity is another way of saying God is love. The dynamic of Father, Son and Spirit is tricky for us intellectually, but it is wonderful news for our hearts!

Point 4:
It also helps us to understand Jesus more. We teach that Jesus is fully man AND fully God - but he prays to God, and talks about how after he leaves the earth the Holy Spirit will come. That is because Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, the son, who ALWAYS was the Son, loving the Father and the Holy Spirit, BECAME a man. If he wasn’t God, he doesn’t have the power to forgive sins. If he wasn’t a man, he couldn’t have died to set us free.
When we become Christians, we get caught up, in Jesus, in the eternal loving relationship in the Trinity. And whilst that is difficult to understand, it is also pretty much the best news ever.
Ephesians 2:4-7- 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.


Questions:

1. How do you understand the Trinity ?
2. Do you believe that they are all one God?
3. How are members of the Trinity different from each other?
4. How can the Trinity help you walk out your faith?
5. How can you love others in your communities?

Week 3 // God the Father

Introduction:
As we last learned - God is three in one - Father, Son, Holy Spirit
It is important to not separate God into three persons, God is one, there are different things we can learn about god through focussing on each one individually

Point 1:
When Jesus’ disciples ask him how they should pray, he teaches them to call God ‘Father’ (Matthew 6:6-9).
Jesus talks about how the Father is unseen - but he sees what is done in secret - He will reward your actions even if they are not seen by anyone.
The Father knows your needs before you ask them - How does this compare to your parents? - Parents often know what they’re baby needs without them doing anything!
‘This is how you should pray “Our Father in heaven…” - Although Jesus IS God, here in Matthew it says how he teaches the disciples to call God Father

Point 2:
God has always been Father. He is the reason that the human race has Fathers - Ephesians 3:14-15 - 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, God has eternally loved His Son.
Through Jesus, we get to be adopted into God’s Family and call God Father, knowing that we get to share in the blessings of the Son of God
We can enjoy that love has that existed in God forever

Point 3:
Sometimes our experience of our own earthly Fathers (Good, Bad or nonexistent), can affect how we see God the Father
This can be because of what our Fathers are/ are not or because of what God the Father is
However Good or Bad our own Fathers have been, THE Father is ultimate!

Conclusion:
Even if our earthly Father has let us down or been great to us it is important to understand that God the Father is infinitely better than both!
We can know that we always have a Father in God who loves us


Questions:

1. Who is God the Father and why is that Good News for us?
2. Do you believe God is a father to you?
3. What characteristics does God the Father have and how can they help you connect with Him in your daily life?
4. When was there a time that God showed you He was your Father?
5. How might seeing God as a Father affect how you pray?
6. How might it affect how you treat other Christians?

Week 4 // God the Son

Introduction:
Hebrews 1:1- 4 - In this passage the writer is explaining that Jesus is not just another Angel, to a group of Christians that are in danger of believing the people preaching that to them
The question of who exactly God the Son is, who Jesus is, is an important question.
It is easy to slip into the wrong understanding of the nature of God and God the son.
Who is the Son of God? Who is Jesus?

Point 1:
The Son is the WORD of God - Hebrews 1:2
John 1:1-2 - In the Beginning was the Word…
Jesus is God’s perfect Word and will!
He is God and by looking at him we can learn what God is like and what God wants to do.
‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ - When people meet you do they tell you that you look like your parents? - You could say that is you have met me you may have an idea of who my dad is. - Just like Jesus

Point 2:
The Son was WITH God in the beginning (the Father and the Son are different) and the Word was God (God is one).
John 1:3 (ESV) says: “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
And Colossians 1:16 says: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
It can be difficult to get your head around (difficult for me too!)
If we all completely understood God, he wouldn’t be God - We are not on the same level as God
But knowing that Jesus the Son was with God in the beginning, and was the way all things came into being, helps us understand the power of Jesus which can also help us understand how Jesus is strong enough to save us and unify us with God who is set apart


Point 3:
The second person of the Trinity is the Son of God.
We know him as Jesus - because he came to earth and became human (while being God too) to save us from our sins
So it’s through the Son, Jesus, that our sins which would separate us from God, can be wiped away! As a human being, Jesus was the substitute that we needed to take our place and be punished for the sins which we would have been punished for
Jesus being a human also means God is actually able to empathise with us because He knows the stresses and pains of being human: Jesus wept, He felt anxious…


Questions:

1. Who is God the Son?
2. How do you know that He is God?
3. How is God the Son relatable to you?
4. Why is the Son an important part of the Trinity?
5. What does Jesus show us about God’s character?

Week 5 // God the Holy Spirit

Introduction:
John 14:16, 16:7
Last time we talked about the Son of God
We learned how the Word was with God at the beginning of the world
God is a TRI (three) unity - who is the third person?

Point 1:
Genesis 1:2 - The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit as God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Throughout the Bible we see God’s spirit resting on people and them learning more and more
He helps Joseph interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, also an artist from ancient Israel, Bezalel, is filled with the Spirit of God, giving him wisdom, skill, and creativity. The Spirit also came upon prophets who then spoke God’s words to God’s people
John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would be someone who baptised people with the Holy Spirit - We see the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus like a dove in his Baptism

Point 2:
Jesus said that once he had returned to Heaven, He would send another - The Spirit of Truth - Something so good that it was BETTER for the disciples that He left! Crazy!
It was God’s plan to save you! Jesus was born, lived, died and was raised to fulfil the Father’s plan
It is God the Holy Spirit that comes into YOU
We can’t be Christians without the Holy Spirit helping us see God!
The Bible describes this as the ‘seal’, the mark of being a Christian (Ephesians 1) and the Spirit is what marks the Church out as God’s people


Point 3:
But that’s not all. In the Old Testament, it tells that the Holy Spirit fills us with power
Power that enables us to resist evil and sin (we can’t do it without it)
Power to hear from God through the Bible and actually be changed by it - to live fruitful lives - Fruits of the Spirit: (Galatians 5:22-23)
Power to fight the good fight with the ‘Sword’ of the spirit - Part of this looks like spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12: 7-11)

Conclusion:
Having access to the Holy Spirit is a gift - a privilege
Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit before? Have you experienced being forgiven, and even tested the gifts of the Spirit?
We can ask God to give us his Spirit now! - God loves it when we ask!
Experiencing the Holy Spirit looks different for everyone - don’t be disheartened if it’s not what you expected
Jesus promises that those who ask for the Holy Spirit will receive it. So let's ask him for it! (Luke 11:13)


Questions:

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
2. How does the Holy Spirit work through us?
3. How have you experienced the Holy Spirit?
4. Can you name some things the Holy Spirit can help us with?
5. What are some fruits of the Spirit or gifts you would like to grow in?

Week 6 // God my Strength

Introduction:
Psalm 118:13-14 - I was pushed hard,[a] so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10- 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
We are encouraged by our culture to look inside ourselves for the answers to difficult questions, or for strength to carry on. We’re encouraged to see ourselves as the hero, that we can do anything we put our minds to…


Point 1:
People love to boast of their strengths, their achievements and what they do well.
Whether it’s from online or in a school assembly, we are constantly being reminded of how great other people are and how we can be like them
It can be easy to long to be someone else but God made us who we are!

Point 2:
This is all well and good, but when the going gets tough we can realise that by ourselves we are not strong
As humans, we all struggle with temptation, we get stressed, or tired, or ill
When we realise the life that God wants for us, the amazing but unattainable life, and we are honest about who we are, we cry with the disciples, ‘When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
We then hear Jesus say - ‘But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all thing are possible.”

Point 3:
The Christian life is actually the opposite to what culture says
The world might say ‘You’re stronger than you think - you’ve got this!’
But God says to us ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
In difficult times we might hear ‘stay strong - things will get better.’
Christians say ‘for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong’

Conclusion:
As Christians, we can delight in God’s strength even though we are weak
In one day we could make a list of all the times we have fallen short of God’s glory and had moments of weakness - But God loves us through this!
Through this weakness we are are reminded of the ultimate strength that is in our corner


Questions:

1. Have you known people walk through a tough time and they have?
2. How do we keep going when things are difficult?
3. How do you turn to God for strength in tough times?
4. How do we stick with Jesus even when we are tempted by other things?
5. What are some ways you can remind yourself that God cares about you?
6. How can you remind yourself of God’s strength?