Morris God Is... Study Guide

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-951227-38-8
Verlag: Gateway Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Does it really matter what you believe about God? It's important to have a healthy view of God-one that is based not on your feelings or opinions. Your beliefs about God influence how you live, how you view yourself and others, and even how you respond to life's trials. Your understanding about God also affects your relationship with Him and should be based on the truth of the Bible. In this five-part study designed for group experience or individual reflection, Pastor Robert Morris offers a fresh perspective on God the Father's character and heart. You will be encouraged as you learn: How believing in the goodness of God helps you enjoy life How God is fully merciful and fully just at the same time How God is faithful and worthy of your trust How God's grace is unmerited, unearned, and unlimited How God wants to partner with you in His plan for your life

Autoren/Hrsg.

Morris, Robert

Leseproben

1

Enjoy the Ride

We can enjoy life fully when we trust in God’s goodness.

ENGAGE

If you could design a ride at an amusement park, what would it be like?

WATCH

Watch “Enjoy the Ride.”

• Consider what you believe about God’s character.

• Look for the reason you can relax and enjoy the ride.

(If you are not able to watch this teaching on video, read the following. Otherwise, skip to the Talk section after viewing.)

READ

Many people believe God is mean or mad. They believe God got mad in the Old Testament, so He sent His prophets. However, we didn’t listen to them, so He got madder. Then He sent His Son, and not only did we not listen to Him, but we also killed Him. So now God is really mad. He gave us a book (the Bible), and if we don’t do what it says, He’s going to come back and be really, really mad.

Your beliefs about God are very important. I’ve been studying the nature and character of God for 40 years now, and I feel like there are so many people who have been taught incorrectly about who God is. I want you to understand that God is good, kind, merciful, gracious, and just.

The title of this message is “Enjoy the Ride.” I am going to share a story from our family vacation, but I first need to tell you something about my son James. James is very strong. He was born strong. Some people are just that way.

When my children were young, I often traveled and preached. Most of the time, my family traveled with me, but sometimes they couldn’t come to the services because the kids had to be in bed. One night I was leaving the hotel room and saying goodnight to my wife, Debbie, and the kids. I told Debbie, “Make sure to latch the door chain and lock the door completely.” She was holding James, who was about 18 months old at the time, in her arms. After I left, Debbie latched the door chain, and then James reached up and grabbed it. Debbie thought, Oh look, he’s playing with it. Suddenly, James yanked the door chain out of the wall! (And this thing was supposed to protect us from burglars?) Around the same time, Debbie’s dad got a new car. He sat James in it and thought, What harm could a toddler do? Well, James pulled all of the air conditioner vents out of the dashboard! These feats of strength earned him the nickname “Bam Bam.”

Like many dads, I wrestled with my boys as they were growing up. And of course, the older they got, the stronger they got. When that happens, you have to use your weight advantage. I’m not exactly sure what I weigh, but it’s over 200 pounds. I used to lie on top of them in a T shape with my arms around them. When James was about 15 years old, I did that to him, but he just picked me up in the air over his head. And then to show off, he started bench pressing me up and down!

In addition to being very strong, James has always been very good at water sports. He slalom water skis, wakeboards, and surfs. On our recent family vacation, James was teaching his kids to wake surf. You get in the water behind the boat, holding on to a rope at first. Once you get good at it, you can throw the rope in and surf on the boat’s wake. James’ four-year-old son, Mitchell, was scared, so James held him as they surfed behind the boat. Mitchell was still afraid, though, and he was obviously not enjoying the experience.

I started thinking, If Mitchell just knew how strong his father is and how good his father is, how able his father is at water sports, and how much his father loves him, he would enjoy the ride. Mitchell got back in the boat, and all of his cousins wanted James to take them surfing too.

As Mitchell watched his dad and cousins, I went over to talk to him. I said, “Did you know your father is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met in the whole world?” Mitchell’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Really?” I replied, “Yes, he’s very, very strong. And did you know that he’s one of the best surfers that I know in the whole world?” And he said, “Really?” Then I said, “Do you know how much your father loves you?” Mitchell said, “Oh yeah. He loves me a whole lot.” I told him, “Mitchell, there is no way that your father would drop you.”

At lunch, Mitchell told James, “I want you to take me surfing again.” After he understood his father’s strength, ability, and love, he went surfing and stood on the board with his dad, smiling from ear to ear. He even explored and had fun, sticking his hand in the water as they went.

Here’s my point: I’ve been walking with God and studying His character for the last 40 years. If you just knew what I know about your heavenly Father—how strong He is, how able He is, and how much He loves you—you would relax and enjoy the ride. Now let me tell you some things about God.

God Does Because He Is

Psalm 119:68 says, “You are good, and do good.” God isn’t good because He does good; He does good because He is good. Are you following the difference? He is good. This is what’s great about grace when you understand it. You’re not good because you do good; you do good because a good God made you good. And even if you do something bad, that doesn’t make you bad. God made you good.

That is what is great about Christianity. Every other religion in the world tells you that you have to do good to be good. But Christianity makes you good so you can do good. You can be and then you’ll do. As a believer, I want to do the right thing. I don’t always do the right thing, but I want to. The reason I want to is because God made me want to do the right thing.

So God does because He is. That’s important to understand. It’s also important how you think about God. I’m now going to make some strong statements, but stay with me. We don’t really worship God; we worship our concept of God. Everyone worships who they think God is. Some people come to church out of fear instead of joy, because they think God will “get them” if they don’t. In the same way, we don’t really pray to God; we pray to our concept of God. Here’s a sad one: we don’t really witness to others about God; we witness to others about our concept of God.

The more you understand about who God really is, the more it will change your life. A while back, I had to be taken to the hospital in a helicopter because I had a near-death experience. Debbie could not come with me in the helicopter and instead had to drive to the hospital, which was two hours away. Even though I was dying, I knew God was faithful, and that gave me peace. Debbie also had peace on her long drive because she knew that no matter what happened—even if I died—God was still faithful.

Mark Jobe is a pastor on staff here at Gateway Church. I’ve known Mark and his wife, Sandy, for almost 40 years now. One of their daughters is Kari Jobe, the recording artist. Kari is married to Cody Carnes, and he’s a recording artist as well.

The Jobes used to live just around the corner from us. My sons, Josh and James, are about the same ages as Kari and her sister, Kris. The four children often played together as they were growing up. Many years later, Kari told me that she and Kris used to try to get the boys to let them bring their Barbies over to play, but the boys wouldn’t let them. Then one day Josh and James said they could bring them, and the girls got so excited. They were not expecting the boys to put their Barbies in a toy truck, put it out by the fence, and blow it up with firecrackers! Kari said, “We took home burned and bald Barbies.”

After Kari told me this story, I called Josh and said, “Kari Jobe just told me you blew up her Barbies when you were young. Is that right?” Josh replied, “Yeah, that’s right.” And I said, “Son, I have never been more proud of you than I am right now!”

I just wanted to tell a funny story, but the point is I’ve known Mark Jobe a long time. We went to Criswell Bible College together. But if I couldn’t tell you where Mark lives, what his hobbies are, or what he likes to do for fun, wouldn’t you doubt how well I really know him?

What is God like? You say you’ve known Him all these years. So what’s He like? Where does He hang out? What are His hobbies? What are His likes, dislikes, and interests? The purpose of this series is to help us understand what God is like.

What Are Attributes?

We are going to talk about the attributes of God, but first you need to know what the word means. I’m a bit of a wordsmith—I love words. One time Debbie heard Pastor Jimmy Evans use a word, and she later asked me what it meant. I said, “Well, let’s break it down.” She replied, “Never mind. I’ll just Google it.”

If you take one “t” out of the word attribute, it reads like “a tribute.” When you give someone a tribute, you tell others some of the distinct qualities and characteristics of that person. Another root word is “tribe.” The definition of tribe is the distinct characteristics of a group of people who have descended from one person.

I’m going to tell you about the distinct characteristics of God, but here’s the good news: because of Jesus Christ, we have become part of His tribe. Because God is good, we can be good. Because God is merciful, we can be merciful. Because God is loving and kind, we can be loving and kind.

Over the summer Pastor Jimmy preached on grace. As I listened to one of his messages, I thought he...