Knowing God Week 2 Discussion Guide
KNOWING GOD MEETUP: A 3 WEEK INTRO TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH—WEEK 2
Intro: This is a 3 Week introduction to the Christian Faith. We are using the concept of “Knowing God” as a way to explain and summarize what we as Christians believe. When I say, ‘what Christians believe,’ I mean the basics of what anyone who claims themselves to be a Christian would affirm. Over 3 weeks we’ll consider this: 1. The heart of what Christianity is about a personal knowledge of ‘The God Who is There’; 2. “What Hinders us from Knowing God;” and 3 How Does Jesus bring us into KNOWING God.
ENCOURAGEMENT: Share your questions; Be open to see things a new way; Ask God to reveal Himself to you.
FORMAT: Our format is study and discussion, with the hope that we will have lots of opportunities to ask questions and have discussion. Each week we’ll consider a few verses, think about a few ideas, and have lots of discussion.
THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: What HINDERS us from KNOWING GOD?
We are going to think a bit about what HINDERS us from knowing the God who is there, who made us.
OPENING QUESTION:
What hinders us from Knowing the God who is there?
[Some say that it is impossible to know anything objectively true about God. They say he exists, but we don’t know what he is like. Another name for this is AGNOSTICISM. In your mind, what are the perceived ADVANTAGES of Agnosticism (the view that truth about God is out of our reach)? What makes this position attractive to some?]
Analogies from human experience of things which hinder knowledge of other humans:
1. Problem with the Knower (cognitive, distance, moral)
2. Problems with Person Being Known (SAME)
3. Problem with the Communication (Lost in translation, Distorted or Corrupted).
HOW SHOULD WE THINK ABOUT What HINDERS US FROM KNOWING GOD?
CLARIFICATION: 2 Types of Objections to knowledge. De Facto objection: You can’t know something or someone, because your facts are wrong. De Jure objection: It is impossible for you to know something and thus irrational to assert you know it (like if there is an odd or even number or stars in the sky). Christianity claims that truth about God can be known, and neither the de facto nor the de jure objection need hinder us. The way reality has been set up, true knowledge is possible.
- The Problem is NOT with ______________
-Ps 16:11a “You make known to me the path of life”
-Ps 94:11b “He who teaches man knowledge;”
-Ps 103:7 “He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel”
-Ps 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork”
-Romans 1:18b-21: “…all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” - The Problem is NOT with ______________
2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
- The Problem is with ________________
Rom 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Isaiah 29:1-2 “Indeed, the LORD’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you.”
Col 1:21 “For we ourselves once were, alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.”
Ezek 14:5b: “…the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.”
Jere 2:12-13: “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water”
CONCLUSION: What hinders us is our sin, as God desires worshippers who worship Him in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Next week we’ll think about how Jesus brings us into knowledge of God.
QUESTIONS:
-What questions do you have about our study? What questions do you have about the concept of KNOWING God?
-If you could ask God any question, what would it be?
