Why in The World (1) – To Communicate and Demonstrate

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here worshiping with us. It’s good to be back after a couple of weeks away. Well actually, I only planned to be away one Sunday, but got sick in the other. Thank you for praying for my family and me, I think we are almost all recovered. Being away gave me a lot of opportunities to think and to reflect, about the recent decision handed down by the Supreme Court on marriage, about the church’s influence in America, in the world. I felt that God renewed a vision in me, about church, about Christians, that we are to live in this world and to influence this world. We are not to stand far away from the world to judge the world, but to live in it, and bring hope and light to the lives around us.

I think it’s amazing that God showed us how to do this first. One of the unique things Christians believe is that God became one of us. For thirty years he lived undercover as a carpenter, surfaced as a miracle worker and rabbi for three years, and allowed himself to die in the most degrading way imaginable. Can you imagine? God took a risk to become a baby in this world and to grow up like any one of us. He came as one of us but was treated as less than one of us. Why in the world would God do that? That’s what we will be talking about in this new series.

Moving Forward

Like any father, our heavenly Father wants to be known. While it is true that Jesus came to die for our sins, he lived his life to explain the Father. Look past Jesus and you will miss him. Look in another direction and you will miss him.

Discussion Questions

1. What, if anything, do you do to feel close to God? What is it about that habit, practice, or approach that makes you feel God’s presence?

2. In what ways have you seen people look in the wrong places to discover what God is like? How did it shape the ways they view God?

3. Read John 1:14. What do you think it means that Jesus is “the Word”? What does it tell us about Jesus’ connection to God?

4. Talk about some of the wrong places you’ve looked to find out what God is like—religious traditions, your circumstances, nature, within yourself. What limitations did you discover in these attempts to find God?

5. At the end of message, Kevin challenged you to read the four Gospels with this question in mind: What do we learn about the Father from the Son? Which gospel will you begin with? What can this group do to help you follow through on this homework?