Christian Faith – A Relationship With a God You Cannot See

GETTING STARTED: 

1. Have you ever had a spiritual experience? What happened? 

2. How spiritual do you see yourself to be as a person? What do you mean by that? 

A LOOK AT THE BIBLE:

As you read Luke 2:1¬12 today, consider these questions:            

• If you were an all powerful, good God, and you wanted people to have a trusting relationship with you, how would you reveal yourself to them? (Remember, you don't want to scare them, but also you can do anything because you are God).             


• If you, as God, decided to come to earth as a human, where would you be born, what kind of people would you choose as your parents, and why? Compare this to what God chose to do in Jesus. 

About Jesus’ birth: Born to parents of no social standing, without wealth, in an unimportant location; Jesus' beginning on earth was completely unexpected. The humility of the whole thing is one of the reasons the religious establishment simply could not accept that he could be who he claimed to be (God on earth in human form). God did this to reveal who he is to us - as compared to the kind of God we sometimes make him out to be. He is more gracious, loving and humble than we could imagine! 

An interesting point: Isaiah, who wrote 700 years before Jesus, predicted that a child would be born, of the tribe of Judah (there were 12 distinct tribes in Israel), who's identity was in fact that of God. Amazing or what? Isaiah 9:6¬7 reads, "For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..." Is this verifiable? The Qumran Scrolls discovery included a complete copy of the book of Isaiah, dated hundreds of years before Christ. No question surrounds the authenticity of this and scores of other such predictions. 

REFLECTION:

How does the belief that God loves you and wants to have an authentic friendship with you make you feel? 

Do you find having faith in God's love easy or hard? Why? 

PRAYER:

Dear God, thank you not only for life and this amazing planet ¬ but also for loving us, and giving us the chance to know you. Thank you for all the special things you've done in history that you led people to write about, so that we could read about them many hundreds of years later in the Bible to learn about you.

Some of us struggle with the idea of faith. We struggle to see you as a God who is near. Please help me to believe, and through faith to find your reality in a way that is real for me. Please speak to our hearts. 

Thanks again, Amen.