The Name of God: Part 3 - 'House of God'
This Sunday, Simon Lace brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC services. We encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.
Here are some questions to consider:
Readings:
Genesis 28:3-4
3 May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations! 4 May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”
Genesis 28:13-15
13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions - to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
For further reading – Genesis chapters 27 through 35.
Prayer and Reflection:
Loving God, we say thank you that you are Immanuel, God with us, and that you are with us, to the very end of the age. Amen.
Questions to Consider
1.What are some of the really significant events in your life – good or difficult?
2. Do you have any specific ways to remind you, or mark them?
3. What would you say are the biggest things over which you have “wrestled with God”?
4. On reflection, can you see that God was at work in the most desperate times, or at least trust Him with those times?
5. Since God is in nature ever-present, what do you make of the sense that “God is here” more obviously in certain places and times?
6. Might it be that on our own human level we are simply perceiving God’s presence more clearly sometimes, or is there more to it?
7. What’s the most powerful experience of God that you have had?
8. Where do you feel closest to God?
9. Are there any special places or circumstances in which you feel the presence of God regularly?