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Crossroads Church
Believing Like Jesus :: Part 4
The Metaphor that Mattered Most :: Ryan Howell
Locations & Times
Crossroads Church Loveland Campus
5420 N Taft Ave, Loveland, CO 80538, USA
Thursday 6:30 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM
Anchor Verse: “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith...” Hebrews 12:1-2
What’s the Issue Anyway?
We aren’t great with metaphor in ____________ and ____________.
The enlightenment enlightened and ________________ us.
Only one word can be used literally for God: _________.
What wisdom does scripture offer us?
When teaching on prayer, Jesus used the metaphor ____________ for God. (Matthew 6:5-9a)
The inclusive “Father” was not just a parent, but a ___________________.
(Deut. 5:13)
(Deut. 5:13)
Jesus’ tradition insisted that the earth has ______________ ownership. (Leviticus 25:23)
Does everyone have _____________? (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Don’t Miss This
Jesus called God “father in heaven” because he believed God was the just householder of the ___________ ___________.
Jesus called God “father in heaven” because he believed God was the just householder of the ___________ ___________.
What about my everyday, peacemaking life?
Believe and behave like an __________ of the household.
As an heir of the Householder, God is your ___________.
As an heir of the Householder, we are responsible to act as ________________.
How can this make me a better human and our world a better place?
Everyone will have ___________ bread.
Everyone will be free of __________.
Everyone will live on earth as in ______________.
God’s reputation/name will truly be ________________.
What is God inviting you into today?
1. Talk to God as father; choose the spirit of adoption.
2. Accept the metaphor that God is the just householder of the world and live as an heir.
3. Every day this week pray,”Father, how can I model you and be a creator, protector and provider today?”.
Thought Provoking Questions for Groups or Personal Reflection
1. What metaphors for God have resonated with you over the years? Where did you pick those up?
2. What has the metaphor “Father in Heaven” meant to you? Given the talk this weekend, what do you think it meant for Jesus?
3. The writer of Leviticus established that Israel was to see the land as belonging to God and not themselves, that they couldn’t just do whatever they wanted to do with it. Why was this so important?
4. How can we participate in divine (distributive) justice today? What pains in our current culture are a direct result of not understanding that God’s vision for the world is that all God’s children have enough?
5. What about this idea of “enough for everyone” bothers you? Why? What of our cultural values are in tension with God’s vision of enough for everyone?