Made for Relationship with God

In one paragraph

Brad, one of our elders, opened a two-week series on the great commandment by asking a simple question: what were we actually made for? His answer, drawn from Matthew 22 and Genesis 1 and 3, is that we were made for relationship, first with God and then with each other. This week focused on the first half of that, and on the things inside us that make it hard to live that way. Brad started with...

Read together

1. John 14 (partial) opening verse 'because I live, you also will live' used to introduce the opening song
2. Matthew 22:36-40 the great commandment, core text for the two-week series on being made for relationship
3. Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image, supporting text for the Imago Dei section
4. Genesis 3:8-9 God walking in the garden and calling out 'where are you?' to Adam and Eve
5. Psalm 34:8 taste and see that the Lord is good, sung in the first service and quoted to illustrate knowing God experientially
6. Romans 5:8 while we were still sinners Christ died for us, used to show God's love is not earned
7. Ephesians 2:8-10 salvation is of no merit of our own, used to reinforce that God rescued us as enemies
8. John 14:15 if you love me you will keep my commands, used to distinguish compliance from love
9. 1 Corinthians 13 Paul's teaching on love referenced to contrast agape love with cheap imitations
10. 1 John 4 God's love is a deep permanent commitment, not a temporary emotion
11. John 15:5 I am the vine you are the branches, used to explain abiding as active remaining in relationship with God
12. Revelation 21 the tabernacle of God among the people, used to describe heaven as communion with God
13. Galatians 2:20 closing benediction, no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me

Talk about it

1. Brad talked about the difference between knowing God and knowing about him, and said a lot of people will miss heaven by 14 inches, the distance between the head and the heart. Where would you say your own knowledge of God sits right now, more in your head or more in your heart, and what do you think got it there?
2. Brad described carrying an underlying feeling that he had to achieve in order to be loved, that his worth was tied to his utility. Do you recognize anything like that in yourself, and how has it shaped the way you relate to God?
3. Brad said it is much easier for him to feel useful for God than to feel beloved by him. What is the difference between those two things in practice, and which one tends to drive you more day to day?
4. Brad suggested that our quiet times can drift into being academic or performative rather than relational, and that the heart cannot love what the mind does not know. What does your own time with God actually look like most days, and what would a more relational quiet time look like for you?
5. Brad asked everyone to write down what is stopping them from drawing nearer to God, and then to share it with someone this week. What came up for you when you sat with that question, and what would it take to have that conversation with a brother or sister in Christ?