From Discipleship Weekly
(a publication of the Presbyterian Church of Islip)
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A Word from Our Sponsor
"All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." -- Matthew 11:26-28 The Heidelberg Catechism:Part 2- Of Man's Redemption Week 9 Of God the Father 26. Q. What do you believe when you say: "I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth"? A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth with all that is in them, who also upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father. I trust in him so completely that I have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul. Moreover, whatever evil he sends upon me in this troubled life he will turn to my good, for he is able to do it, being almighty God, and is determined to do it, being a faithful Father. [Gen. 1 and 2; 18:14;
Ex. 20:11;
Job 38 and 39;
Ps. 33:6; 55:22; 104:27-30;
Is. 44:24;
Matt. 6:25-26, 30-33; 7:9-11;
Luke 12:22-31;
John 1:12-13;
Acts 4:24; 10:29; 14:15;
Rom. 8:15-16, 28, 31-39 Gal. 4:4-7;
Gal. 4:4-7;
Eph. 1:5,11]
Suggestions for discussion and review:
1. Finish the following statements from the point of view of: a) someone who has trouble believing; b) someone who believes. "If God is almighty, then. . ." "If God is a loving Father, then. . ." 2. Would anyone who knew God as an almighty, loving Father still have trouble trusting him? Why or why not? That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and his desires, without a glow or an aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, failures, neglects, and wandering forgetfulness, and say to him, 'Thou art my refuge, because thou art my home.' -- George MacDonald |