Matt Nelson - June 27, 2021
A God Who Loves You
A God Who Enjoys You 6.27.21 Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him. –Thomas Merton OUR PRAYER: God, would you rid us of who we imagine you to be and reveal to us the truth of who you are. TRAPS TO DEVELOPING A FAITHFUL UNDERSTANDING OF GOD: • We believe God’s scales of approval are tipped against us • We are bound up by deeply-grained misconceptions and opinions about who God is 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. • We attempt to explain the unexplainable or fit God into our limited understanding • We choose fear instead of trusting in God’s perfect love Luke 15:1-2 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:5-6 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ Luke 15:9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘ Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ Luke 15:20 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. God is always ever greater. – Edith Stein If we are to think faithfully about God: • We must learn to think faithfully about God by continually renewing our minds with truth • We must allow contemplation and abiding prayer to reshape our heart and affections