Teaching Notes

You would say this plant is real.  Is it any more real than the one that made it?  God is alive and from him all living things were created.

What You Should Know About God

He is Real

Jeremiah 10:10 (The Message)

But God is the real thing— the living God, the eternal King. When he's angry, Earth shakes. Yes, and the godless nations quake.



Note: In a time when so many things are suspect, it is good to know that something is real.  You might not know which person to believe, or who is telling you the truth, but you can trust God's word and what he says about himself.  The prophet Jeremiah says that God is the real thing.  He is the living God and he is eternal, never ending. 



Question: Why do you think the writer wrote "living God"?



Answer: You must remember in the days of Jeremiah the people were worshipping so many gods that they worshipped as many gods as they had cities!  That was a lot.  People worshipped gods for harvest, for childbearing, and so many others.  Yet these gods were only carved out pieces of wood, they were not alive and they could not answer the peoples needs.  The writer calls the true God "living" because he was not created by the created man.  Man's hands did not carve God out of wood or chisel him out of stone.  God has always been and will always be (eternal).  He is the living God because from him all life was breathed upon this earth.  Jeremiah wants to make a difference between the created gods and the creative creator, God.



Prayer: God we thank you for being the living God.  We thank you for showing us many things about yourself.  Thank you for loving us enough to teach us, train us and direct us in your ways.  Help us to walk in the ways of the true and only living God.

Teaching Notes

Looking at these plants, can you determine all what makes them up?  No.  There are somethings we can find out and there are somethings that are still a mystery to us.  It is the same about God.  There are somethings we can see and there are somethings that pass our understanding, but by faith we trust that if God says it, then it is true, even if we don't fully understand it.

What You Should Know About God

He is Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Luke 1:35 (The Message)

The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.



Note: You might have heard the word "Trinity" or "Triune" spoke of about God and wondered what those words meant.  You might have thought someone was saying there are three gods.  That is not what this means.  It means that God has three distinct parts.  He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.



Question: Why is it important to know the three persons of God?



Answer: To understand all the persons of the trinity (meaning 3) helps you to understand God better. It is like thinking about a family of three.  There is the mother and she has a special role.  There is the father and he has a unique and special part different from the mother.  Then there is the child that also is vital to the family but has another role.  These three people make up this one family unit.  To understand how this family works, you must understand each of the persons roles to completely understand the family unit.  God is similiar.  Each of the three persons have a different role and when we understand them, we have a better understanding of God.  Jesus came to be the savior of the world.  The Holy Spirit works to help the unsaved see their need for Jesus, and then he helps equip the saved to live for God.  God is the loving Father that sent his Son for us.  There is so much more to the attributes of God that we cannot contain them all in this short writing.  This is just a small step into understanding the important of the character of God.



Prayer: Lord we know there is so much to learn about you and we cannot contain it all.  Help us, however to gain an understanding about you and your ways.  Help us to know you better as we learn about your son, your spirit and you.

Teaching Notes

Before we ask, he is ready to give us.  You don't have to have perfect words, or remembered lines, just the heart felt words of your heart he hears them.

What You Should Know About God

He is a Healer

Malachi 4:1-3 (The Message)

"Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash— a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking. And you'll tromp on the wicked. They'll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day." God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

Notes:The promise was there is coming a time when healing will be made available to the people.  Do you know that healing is available now to us through Jesus Christ?  God promises that the wicked will perish, but the righteous will find comfort under his wing.

Question: What do you think this saying means, "healing radiating from its wings"?

Answer: In the NIV it says, "healing in its wings."  This gives us a picture of being taken into the arms, under the wings of a mighty bird and lifted from the things that hold us captured to the ground.  Under those wings, under that protection we find healing from the things that would hurt us or harm us.  Have you ever seen a mother bird tuck her baby bird under her wing? She protects it from the elements because the baby bird is not able to handle the world around it.  She allows the baby bird to feel her heat and this warms the baby.  God does the same for us.  He draws us close to himself so that we can feel his "heat" his power and Spirit so that we can be kept safe from the elements that would try to destroy us.  In that place we also find healing.

Prayer: Lord, keep us safe and thank you for the healing we find in you.  The healing from all that we face in our lives.  Hurts that we face and those that we will face in the future.  Your power does not stop it is already available for us for those times ahead.  Thank you.

Teaching Notes

What You Should Know About God

He is Great!

Psalm 86:8-10 (The Message)

There's no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord, and nothing to compare with your works. All the nations you made are on their way, ready to give honor to you, O Lord, Ready to put your beauty on display, parading your greatness, And the great things you do— God, you're the one, there's no one but you!

Notes: The writer of this Psalm talks about God's greatness and that there is no other God as great as him. God's works are so great that nothing can compare to it.

Question: Why do you think the psalmist was so excited about God?

Answer: The psalmist understood the wonderment of God. The writer understood that in all the world there was no god that could compare to the true God. There were many gods worshipped at that time, but there was none that was able to show himself as the true God of the world. God is the creator of all things and without him nothing was made.

Prayer: Lord today help me to know that any other god is not worthy of you. There is no one that can compare to you, you alone are God and to worship you the way you want, you say I must come to you through your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to understand and to accept your call to me for the saving of my soul.

Teaching Notes

What We Need to Know About God

He is Good!

1 Chronicles 16:34-36

Give thanks to God—he is good and his love never quits. Say, "Save us, Savior God, round us up and get us out of these godless places, So we can give thanks to your holy Name, and bask in your life of praise." Blessed be God, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then everybody said, "Yes! Amen!" and "Praise God!"

Notes:One of the many attributes (or characteristics) of God is that he is good. This scripture tells us that we should thank God because he is good. His love for us never ends and he continually seeks the lost.

Question: Why do you think God continually seeks the lost?

Answer: It goes back to his love for mankind. He loves us so much that he patiently waits for us. He wants none to perish (die in their sins). This doesn't mean that some will not perish. It is not because God cannot save them, but because they refuse to accept his offer of salvation. God loves us so much that he does everything short of making us against our wills, turn to him. He will allow us to go through difficulty not to destroy us but to help us see we really do need him. Won't you thank him today for his goodness?

Prayer: Lord thank you for your goodness toward us and for loving us endlessly. Help us to accept that love and to walk in your way.