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Aug 22, 2021

Raiders of the Lost God

Raiders of the Lost God

Passage: Psalms

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Ascend

No one wants to be misunderstood. They would hope others would take them on their own terms and not create them in their own image. The same goes for God. Not because He is diminished by our misunderstanding, but because we are. We can learn much about God—much clarified about God— just by hearing the story of the Ark.

Readings & Scripture

PREPARATION: Acts 17:24-25
LEADER: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

ALL: nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

NEW TESTAMENT READING: John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

BENEDICTION: Numbers 6:24-26
LEADER: The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

The Peace of the Lord be with you

ALL: And also with you!

SCRIPTURES:

  • Numbers 10:25
  • Deuteronomy 33:17
  • 1 Samuel 7:1-2,
  • 2 Samuel 7:1-2, 12-14
  • 1 Kings 11:36
  • 1 Chronicles 13:6
  • 1 Chronicles 22:14
  • 2 Chronicles 6:41
  • Psalm 72
  • Matthew 26:61, 27:40
  • John 2:13-22
  • Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 3:20-21

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. What might’ve been your greatest misunderstanding of God that was in time--maybe even at a certain point--clarified? How had you come to that misunderstanding? What served to correct it? (Ever still find yourself operating on that earlier, faulty impression?)
  2. What do you know of the Ark of the Covenant (apart from the film!)? What was inside it? Why call it the Ark of the Covenant (or in other places the Ark of Testimony)?
  3. You find two oaths being made in this Psalm. Who makes them? What are their respective oaths?
  4. Why might David be so devoted--to the point of refusing sleep--until a more permanent place for the worship of God is established?
  5. What promises has God made? (What promises do we sometimes think He’s made, but were just misunderstandings--see question 1)? 
  6. Take a stab at what is meant by the “presence” of the Lord? How do we typically use that word in everyday settings? How is that use both like and unlike what might be meant by God’s presence?
  7. In what ways do we find in Jesus everything associated with the Ark--God’s promise, presence, and peace? How do those high-sounding ideas find their way into your ordinary living? (Do they?)

QUOTES:

  • “I believe in, well, my whole religion is where you try to be good and, ah, if you're not good then you should just try to get better, that's all.” - Boy, 17, Utah
  • A man can't be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it. - C.S. Lewis
  • You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run. - Augustine

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