Confirmation Session One: "What Is God Like?"

10 min. Overview of class topics & papers

(Handout notebook with class schedule & instructions)

Discuss requirements.

Answer questions.

15 min. Simulation Game: "Ask God Anything"

1 person acts like God. Others ask "God" anything they want to know.

Prop=A chair that serves as "God's throne"

15 min. Images of God in the Bible. (Handout in notebook.)

Give overview.

Ask for questions.

Focus on one or two--look up in Bible--read & discuss.

10 min. God as Trinity.

Lecture:

III. What is God like who gives us this new life?

A. Father Almighty

1. We know God as the power behind nature

• a. Creator of this great universe
• b. Sustainer of life

• c. One who established a moral order for all life

2. Discuss nature pointing to a power which must be behind it.

3. But nature cannot tell us all there is to know about God.

a. Nature is good and bad

1. Beautiful sunsets
2. Tranquil lakes
3. Lovely foliage
4. Miracle of human reproduction
5. But also

• Tornadoes
• Ravaging floods
• Cancerous tumors snuffing out life prematurely
• Still-born babies

b. We know there is a power behind our world, but nature does not point us to a loving God.

c. If nature were all I had to tell me about God, I’d be an agnostic.

B. We know what God is like most fully when God comes to our world in Jesus Christ.

1. God reveals Himself

a. Makes Himself known in a special way

b. Reveals His

1. Nature
2. Love
3. Righteousness
4. Justice
5. Mercy
6. Power
7. Truth

c. We know God as God makes Himself known in Christ

d. Keystone diagram: <———Reason——Revelation——Reason———————>

1. We can know a great deal about God thru the use of our reason as we explore nature.
2. But Christ is the keystone.
3. Without special revelation the whole arch would collapse
4. Nature is inadequte—revelation is necessary.
5. God comes to us in Jesus to
6. Tell us that God is a loving God
7. Show us that God’s love is all powerful
8. Offer us God’s forgiveness
9. Give us meaning for our lives
10. Offer us God’s new life

3. So we know that the God who created the world is also a loving God.

C. GOD IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. God is present in the world today

a. The God we meet thru people, places, events

b. The God we touch thru prayers

c. The God we feel in worship

d. The God who is real

2. God the Holy Spirit is at work in human history

a. Natural laws—e.g. The law of gravity

b. Moral Laws—e.g. Love your neighbor as yourself

c. Power to face temptations

d. Power to face difficult tasks

e. Power in the face of tragedy

f. Giving the new life

5 min. Wrap Up.

A. Confirmation is a big YES!

B. Assignment next week=Paper on "My Idea of God"

C. Closing Prayer