The God who exists as perfect love within the trinity becomes the source of our identity as Beloved Children of God. The source of identity is external from us but placed within us by the Spirit of God who has made our hearts his dwelling place.
Introduce the Triune God, how they exist together as Eternal Relational Love. Set the Table of Belonging we are invited to.
In the midst of a week of chaos in our culture, we are reminded that grief and hope can be intertwined ( 1 Thess 4:13). As we grieve with hope, the church becomes of a guide to the world of how to be unified in Jesus rather than weaponizing grief to destroy others.
Grief
· John 11:35 Jesus wept.
· Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
· Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
· Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Hope
· Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.“Behold, I am making all things new.”
How do we engage the beauty and tension of worldly authority and kingdom authority in our lives?
God's mercy compels us to live sacrificed lives
What it means to be a child of God
Practice calling God "father"
Practive hearing from the Spirit to our Spirit that we are children of God
Contrast a moment in life lived by flesh vs life lived by the Spirit.
Communicate the reality of the default/presence of flesh still within us vs the certain victory we have over the flesh in the Spirit if we make the choice to live by the Spirit.
How big God's grace is
Trying to grasp the magnitude about how much God treasures us and has done everything to allow us to be saved and fully redeemed unto Him
What it means to have peace with God.