Discovering God Series
Distant, Angry, Silent, Absent, Unfair, Uninterested, and Judgemental…If there is a God then this, many of us assume, is how he/it could best be described. The God many of us were taught about only cares for “his” people, only cares about those that follow his narrow-minded rules. If you do good God gives you good things, or at least leaves you alone. If you do bad…
But maybe there’s more to God than you’ve heard. Maybe the story is so much better than that.
From the beginning, humanity’s story is the story of God’s unending, unstoppable, audacious love. Maybe it’s time to take another look at the idea of God.
Maybe it’s time to DISCOVER GOD.
Discovering God: Introductions (pt 1)
June 16, 2019 – Jon Silva
Our goal at Crosscreek is not just change people’s minds about church… but change people’s minds about God. The common thinking may just be (but may not always be put into words): If there is a God, he’s either uninterested, or angry at me. He’s judgmental, silent, distant, absent when I need him. Or, he only shows up when I do something that doesn’t fit within his narrow rules in order to punish or judge me or make me feel guilty. He’s definitely not FOR me. Well, in part 1 of Discovering God, we want to Introduce (or perhaps re-introduce) you to God and have a conversation about some of these misconceptions about WHO God is.
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Discovering God: It’s Simple (pt 2)
June 23, 2019 – Jon Silva
What if it is so simple that we missed it even though it’s been there the whole time? Turns out the most important point in Discovering God is the fact that peace with God comes from a single act of trust. It couldn’t be much simpler than that. It’s not that complicated. God is pursuing you. And he is only asking that you trust him.
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Discovering God: The Tension (pt 3)
June 30, 2019 – Jon Silva
How do we balance the God we’ve been talking about (the God who is FOR you), with the God that would be a part of instances like Jericho (utter destruction and death)? This is an example of the reasons many people reject the God of the Bible. So that leaves anyone who says God is a God of love with some explaining to do! Well, we give it a shot here, in this episode of “Discovering God,” aptly called ‘The Tension.’
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Discovering God: He Knows (pt 4)
July 7, 2019 – Jon Silva
The way a lot of people talk about God’s attributes make him out to be a scary or creepy figure who’s very interested in watching you and making sure you obey his rules. It’s a big reason why many people reject the idea of a God that loves. But when we truly discover God, we discover nothing could be further from the truth… God is personal and relational.
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Discovering God: Limitless (pt 5)
July 14, 2019 – Jon Silva
What we think we know about God keeps us from discovering God. Sometimes people believe God hates sinners and he’s angry. That we’re testing his patience. He’s ready to judge and won’t accept me. …Or he won’t keep me. If I don’t clean up my behavior he’ll never let me in or he’ll kick me out. The good news is: God’s love is not based on our behavior. A prime example of that: King David. Your behavior does not cancel out God’s promises.
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Discovering God: Your Turn (pt 6)
July 21, 2019 – Jon Silva
So… let be honest. It can be easy to say, “God loves everyone” and “he loves everyone equally.” BUT, if we dig a bit deeper, few of us actually believe that. In our true thoughts and hearts (maybe even subconscious?), whether you even believe in a god or not, most of us FEEL that some people are more DESERVING of God’s love than others. And, when we do that, we’re like Jonah… and we misunderstood one very important aspect of God’s love: God’s love is offensively inclusive.