Explore God Week 3: How Great Is God?

In our current series we are exploring God and this week we are looking at How Great Is God? People talk about God all the time.

If someone asked you to describe God, what would you say?

Have someone read Genesis 1:26.

Gene shared three things he doesn’t fully understand about God:

The Eternal Nature of God – Last weekend we unpacked the concept that science can try to explain the origins and existence of the world with a big bang. Gene shared that his question is, “Where did the gases, and matter, and energy come from for the bang? What’s the explanation for the ‘original cause?’” Ultimately, the only explanation that satisfies the problem of original cause is that there is an eternal being who has always existed.

The Mystery of the Trinity – He is one God, but He is 3 persons. The Bible teaches very clearly that the Heavenly Father is God, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God.

Why This Amazing God Is So Interested in Me – Many of us are in circumstances that are so big, so overwhelming we wonder if the God of the universe is greater than our circumstances, fears, hurts; or your past; you wonder if He could make a way in your universe.

Do you wonder if God is aware of the current circumstances of your life? Do you think He really knows and understands?

As a group read Psalm 147:5 out loud.

Gene shared three things he has learned about how great God really is.

He knows my circumstances. His understanding is beyond comprehension.

The first is sometimes referred to as the omniscience of God. He has perfect knowledge of all things.

Have someone read Isaiah 55:9.

How much higher are God’s thoughts than yours? What is the distance between His wisdom and yours? It’s why His understanding is beyond comprehension. The omniscient God of the universe knows your physical needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, relational needs, and financial needs. He knows your self-destructive habits, your hang ups, your hurts before you even tell Him, before you even choke out the words.

We don’t realize that Someone is listening, Someone is watching, and the omniscient God knows what we’re going through.

Psalm 56:8 (NLT) says “You (God) keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” The image there is that God is so moved by our brokenness and our circumstances that He numbers and collects our tears in a bottle.

You say, “O.K., God knows my circumstances, but where is He when I’m in a tough spot?”

God is present in my circumstances.

Have someone read Psalm 139:7.

God is omnipresent. He is everywhere in heaven and on earth all at the same time. The reality is that God’s complete essence if fully present in all places at all times.

We can rest in familiar phrase in Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil because you are with me.”

Sometimes, as adults we play hide and seek with God. We pretend he can’t see us or shut down and stop turning to Him, embarrassed by our choices and decisions. We turn to other things to find a way out of a situation, to numb the pain or find relief.

What are some things you’ve turned to in order to cope with difficult situations, and what was the result?

God is our constant companion. You can go to bed tonight with peace, knowing God is there and He will never leave or and will never forsake you.

God is more powerful than my circumstances

God is omnipotent. He is greater and more powerful than my circumstances. Nothing is too hard for the all-powerful, omnipotent God of the universe. What’s hard is coming to the point in our lives where we admit we’re not God and finally say, “God, I’m powerless and I need You in my life.”

We would all prefer that God would empower us in advance of our circumstances. We’d like to have His power before the crisis. But God’s way is to give us power along the way.

Share a time you took a leap of faith, trusting God, and saw Him meet you and your need.

We can implement the power along the way principle by saying to ourselves “I found out I have a God who is greater than my circumstances. A God who not only knew my situation; and was present in my situation; but a God who is more powerful than my situation.”

We can walk toward that thing, take a step toward that situation we fear or are uncertain about and experience God’s power along the way.

For some us, we need to walk in the direction of a friend, be honest and say, “Here what’s really going on in the secret places of my life and I just have to start talking about it.” You need to trust for power along the way.

We can hold onto what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:13, “For God is at work within you giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.”

Which of the three truths Gene shared about God – Omniscience, Omnipresent and Omnipotence is the hardest for you to wrap your head around? What is the easiest for you to believe?