Notes and question help for May 1st.

These questions do not follow Pastor Duke’s sermon point by point.  However, they are designed to get you thinking about who God is and how that impact your life.

Read or Listen to Genesis 1

God does not need us or our money or service because He is ultimate.  He is  self-sufficient.  He does not lack anything.  What are some reasons we need to give to and serve Him?

If God doesn't need us money or time why do we need to give and serve.  GIVING and SERVING promote DEPENDENCE UPON GOD.  GIVING and SERVING are done to GLORIFY GOD!

You can discuss how GIVING and SERVING shows OUR DEPENDENCE UPON GOD and HIS GLORY!   

God comes first.  God is eternal.  God is ultimate.  God has life in Himself.

God made everything.  How should these truths impact the way we pray?  Take some time to pray with these truths in mind.  During this prayer time don’t share prayer requests.  Pray the attributes of God.  Go to  www.emmanuelbaptist.com/gods-glory/ for some helps on how to do this.

If we understand these truths our prayer lives should be changed.  

God is bigger than we could ever understand.  As we approach Him in prayer, we need to be in awe of who He is.  

Here are some quotes/thoughts from Paul Tripp's New Morning Mercies.

• Prayer is abandoning hope of independent capability and believing that in Christ you’re given everything you need for life and godliness. (121)
• Prayer decimates my independent self-surety; it puts my utter dependency before my eyes and calls me to cry out for the help that I am so often tempted to deny I need. (121)
• God’s care for you is secure because it does not depend on your faithfulness, but on his. (124)  

God is greater than anything we will ever face in this world.

God speaks.  God spoke creation into existence.  God speaks broadly through creation and our consciences.  He also speaks uniquely and personally through the Bible.  For an infographic of this go to visualtheology.church/products/god-speaks

What is revealed about God in creation, universal law & our consciences?
Why are these not enough and why do we need the Bible?

"While God speaks broadly to all humanity through his creation and through our consciences he also speaks uniquely and personally and he does this through the Bible.  In the Bible, God speaks to us of his purposes and intentions and reveals to us things we cannot learn by looking at the world or listening to our consciences.  Where creation and conscience provide general knowledge of God's existence and God's Law, the Bible provides provides clear and specific communication about his nature and his plan."  (Visual Theology p.43) 

Basic question:  What happens to a culture that rejects, denies or even ignores the simple yet weighty words that open the Bible, “In the beginning God”?