Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho; photo by GAC Father, it is so hard for me to hold your terrifying holiness and your gentle kindness together in my conception of you. My mind wavers and falls out of balance as I try to keep those true aspects of your character in healthy tension. Then you either become a … Continue reading Prayer Note #62: Holy Kindness/Kind Holiness
Tag: doctrine of God
Quote of Note #104: God’s Response to Disasters
Dutch Fork Lake in the fog; photo by GAC "After all, so often when people look out on the world and its disasters they wonder why God doesn't just march in and take over. Why, they ask, does he permit it? Why doesn't he send a thunderbolt (or perhaps something a little less like what … Continue reading Quote of Note #104: God’s Response to Disasters
Sermon #16 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 7: Three in One
In a theological context, a mystery is not a puzzle to be solved but rather a truth that exceeds the rational capacity of human beings. Certainly, the top of the list of mysteries in the Christian faith is the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of a Triune God is crucial to the Christian faith; … Continue reading Sermon #16 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 7: Three in One
Sermon #15 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 6: To Know and Be Known
The Christian faith is not merely a set of ideas or concepts that adherents are meant to affirm intellectually; rather it is a living relationship with a living Being. If this series of sermons were to lead anyone to the notion that the Christian faith is simply about an intellectual decision to agree to a … Continue reading Sermon #15 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 6: To Know and Be Known
Sermon #14 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 5: Male and Female He Created Them
Following on the theme of the previous installment in this series, here I look deeper into the nature of humanity, the image of God, and gender. As the preaching of this series worked out, I had not been planning on including this topic here in the series. But after a passing reference to the nature … Continue reading Sermon #14 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 5: Male and Female He Created Them
Sermon #13 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 4: The Image
Our own identity is tied intimately into the identity of God. We bear the image of the living God. In the person of God, we see the root and origin of our own identity -- broken and distorted though it may be because of our fall in to sin. In ourselves, we see the imperfect … Continue reading Sermon #13 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 4: The Image
Sermon #12 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 3 — The One Who Holds Space and Time
I continue in this sermon to set out some more of the core truths about the nature and character of God. In this sermon, we work through Isaiah 40:12-31. We can easily take the on-going existence of the universe for granted. Here through Isaiah, God impresses on us the truth that it is his constant … Continue reading Sermon #12 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 3 — The One Who Holds Space and Time
Sermon #11 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 2: Creator and Maker, Psalm 104
Here I continue to explore the doctrine of God. Who is God? What is his nature and character? In this sermon, I work from Psalm 104 to lay out some of the basic truths about God as Creator and Maker of everything. There are, as I say often, two kinds of things in the world: … Continue reading Sermon #11 — The Doctrine of God, Pt. 2: Creator and Maker, Psalm 104
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