Father

Psalm 103:13 (Lk 15:11-32)

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him."

E is for Experience: Taste and See (Ps 34:8)

1. What is the difference between knowing and tasting? How might we taste and see that God is good?

2. How exhilarating are our senses? Isn't our world a world of sensory delight (even overload)?

3. Why does God create a world that inundates our senses?

4. Should we fear our feelings? Can they lead us astray?

5. Have you tasted God's goodness? How?

As a title for God in Scripture, Lord is far more frequent than Father. Father, applied to God, is rare in the OT, becoming common in the NT. It is Jesus' own name for God, while he does not address God as Lord or as King.

1. What are your recollections of your dad? How do you think this shapes your view of God?

2. Jesus most often refers to God as father, while the OT does so rarely. What might this suggest (Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6)?

3. God is Lord (covenant), King (kingdom) and Father (family). Correspondingly what are we?

4. What is God like according to Isaiah 9:6? What does Exodus 34:6-7 suggest about God as a good father?

5. Paul speaks of himself as a father to the Corinthian church (1 Cor 4:14-15). Does he violate Jesus' command "do not call anyone on earth 'father'" (Mt 23:5-10)?

6. What do you learn about God from the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32)?