More than God Above (2nd Draft)

I - How Do I tell Foster about God?

Who made the corn dad?

Y - How do you picture God?

The way you picture God can have a lot to do with how you structure your life.

Final Judge - Javert

God is watching (but is relatively uninvolved in the world), he is keeping score, and after we die the account is going to be settled.

God is watching, he is keeping score, and after we die the account is going to be settled.

Jesus settled my account, but I should probably still try and be a good person because i’m pretty sure God is still keeping track.

Someday when I die things will probably work out

Others: Better follow the rules

Problem: Leads to a legalistic focus on rule following that often forgets about people. Has trouble with the grace of Jesus because I have spent my whole life following the rules!

Traffic Cop - Karma - Disciplining parent

God is watching and waiting to either bless or smite people based on their behavior. There is a final judgement as well. But if i do good, good (and follow the rules in the bible) things will happen to me and my family and vice versa.

Y

Jesus died so that when I die I can go to heaven as long as I was basically good.

Prayers are marked by asking for good stuff because I have been good. OR begging for forgiveness when I do bad things or bad things happen.

Others: suffer because they aren't following the rules. Success will either be short lived, or they must be following the rules.

Problem: Same as above. But things also get dicy when bad things happen in your life. “Why did this happen to me” I always follow the rules. Also leads to blaming people for the hardships they are facing (that often are random.) Either abandon God, or you go the other way.

Wingman - buddy - permissive helicopter parent

God is my buddy. He is there to make me feel good in this life and in the next. As long as I am basically a nice Guy.

God is basically there to make sure life goes good for good people like me.

Jesus came and is here to be my friend. he forgives me and makes me feel good about my self. He makes sure things work out good for me.

My prayers are marked by asking for things.

Others: What others? The primary concern is me in this scenario. You do what works for you.

Problem: When things go Bad then what? Unaware of and uninterested in addressing deep character weakenesses.

Watchmaker - Dieism - Agnositic - Atheist

God (or something) made the world, because its hard to explain it without him. But he is involved in its running.

Prayers: may make me feel better but there isnt much point.

Others believe differently and thats fine

Problem

Jesus: A good moral teacher, but not God in any meaningful way.

These are exteremes but I think when we say we believe in God many of us lean more towards one of these images or the other. And the consequesnses in our lives and behavior can be staggaring.

In all four Jesus is there to save the day at the end. He died so I can get into heaven, perhaps to make the rules a little easier to follow, and is sometimes interchangable with how I think about God.

There is an element of truth in all of these but something is missing too I think. They fall way short of what the bible says.

There is an element of truth in all of these but something is missing too I think. They fall way short of what the bible says.

And they all seem to fall short when they meet real life.

And in my mind these ways of looking at God do all have one thing in common. the main character in the story is me. They are obsessed with me, what I do, or dont do, and what I have or dont have.

And they all seem to fall short when they meet real life.

G -

Transition: So how do we get to know who God is? And how do we make sure we aren’t settling for less than the truth.

John’s Gospel is all about that question, “How can we know God?”

1-18 is an intro and it summerizes it. 3 times.

1-13

Word is God (God’s Glory), Word Come to Earth (reveals God’s Glory), Those who receive him become children

14-17

Word is God (God’s Glory), Word Becomes Flesh and Dwells (reveals God’s Glory), We receive Grace and Truth (truth about God, Grace to become Children)

18

God (is unseen), God is Made Known in the Word (reveals God’s Glory)

Summerize:

To make himself known, God sent his son, we recieve GRace to KNOW GOD, AND be his child

Point of John: “If you want to know what God looks like, look at his son.”

The whole Gospel plays this out. Its dedicated to showing (like it says in Colossians) that Jesus is the IMAGE of the invisible GOD.

Everything recorded in John Points to that purpose. Every miracle, teaching, word, and event.

ex,. “This was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory”

So what is the point of John?

“If you want to know what God looks like, look at Jesus” - Point repeat.

So we are getting closer… but were not there yet… So how do we look at Jesus?

read the bible? pray?

Seems like we are kind of right back where we started!

Lets fast forward to the end of

Jesus is praying for his disciples...

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one”

remember verse 14? Whose Glory does Jesus have. God’s!

This is the point John is trying to make, this is the good news.

The Word - Became Flesh (to reveal God’s Glory) - Now We can reveal God’s Glory

If Jesus points to God, we point to Jesus.

Here is the crazy thing Jesus is saying...

“If you want to know what God looks like look at Jesus, if you want to look at Jesus look at those who believe.”

therefore.

“If you want to know what God looks like the best place to look is his PEOPLE.”

You, his children.

The point of the Gosple is that God came near.

but he diddnt just come near 2,000 years ago. He is STILL NEAR. And according to *this* the best way to see him is to find another couple of his followers.

That is the point, that is the story. That is your purpose, what we were created for, Jesus came to make it possible, and if you accept him he works in you so that YOU can reflect God’s glory in your life. In every part of your life. Every interaction, every relationship, every day at work. Not right away but that is the goal, that is the story

Above everything else your purpose as a human being is to REFLECT GOD’S GLORY in your daily life. And when you do that your are the most human you can be, you are the best version of yourself. Because it is what you are made for.

By living like Jesus, togetehr, made possible by his sacrifice, ressurection, and holy spirit. The church (you and I) IMAGES the word made flesh.

Y -

Trans: HOw do we do this?

next week and the week after we are going to talk about how that impacts who we are and how we live that out in our lives but for today what I want you to remember is this.

The best way to get to know who God is, is to look at his childern. You.

I think we so so often fail to live this out in 2 tremendous ways. We settle for a far away God, who will fix us up in heaven someday and we miss the plot. We miss the call and we miss our purpose

So often we fall short in 2 big ways

We fail to recognize God’s Glory in others.

We fail to take seriously our role in reflecting God’s glory.

SO for this week lets do something about that.

Look for God’s glory in someone else.

(I saw it at the care center this week)

2. When you wake up remember your purpose as revealer of God’s glory.

and

Get busy Who does God want you to call? Who does he want you to make a meal for? Who are you supposed to share his glory with? Who are you supposed to invite to church? Check on? Cry with? Listen too? Pray for?

Your workplace is a place to show God's glory. Every place you Go

I don't care where God has you there if someone you are called to bless.

I spend a lot of time in hospitals and care centers, those are places

Doesnt mean you are perfect.

Doesnt mean you will always get it right.

But it really is what you were put on this earth for.

W - Look around you

God revealed himself in Jesus, and he seeks to reveal himself in Jesus’ followers. This is the call. This is the PURPOSE of your life.

My friends this is a hard world to live in sometimes. And I know its Celebration Sunday. But lets be real.

This is a hard world to live in...

People get sick and hurt.

We let each other down.

We lose our jobs.

Chronic illnesses and injuries creep back.

People struggle with mental illness.

Drug addiction.

Sometimes its really hard to make enough money to make ends meet.

Things we want so so bad and have wanted for so so long seem just out of reach.

Life lets us down sometimes.

Evil invades our relationships and causes all kinds of pain.

The world is hurting out there...

The world is hurting in here...

And it is in need of A God who draws near.

People are asking, where is God in this. They’re praying, God help.

The word became flesh to reflect God and he died rose and gave us his spirit. So that We could reflect taht glory, that light in the dark places we sometimes walk.

To hurting people, right here and in the places we live our lives.

That is so much more than believing in “a” god and hoping for somethign better when we die.

That is something worth celebrating

And here we are, those Jesus has made God known to, who continues to make him known to, so that

I

the love (God) has for Jesus may be in us, and that Jesus himself may be in us.

John says it in a complicated way

As we go may we draw near to JEsus so that we might rflect him...

MY VISION for the church.

God’s vision

That when you are not hear, at your workplace, at your game, at school, that you would be CHRIST there. REFLECT him there.

SO that when your friends your relatives face challenges and struggles they come to you, to REFLECT God to them. AND EVENTUALLY through you they connect to Christ himself.