God Needs New PR

Chapter 17 - Walking in the Cool of the Day Summary Walking in the cool of the day is the culmination of everything we learned in this book. Again it’s not something we have to try to do, just find ourselves doing as we learn about and abide in the love of God. This is the life we can look forward to with God. It’s a life full of peace, love and joy regardless of our circumstances. It’s a life free from guilt, offense and laboring. It truly is a beautiful life that God has made for us. Enjoy. Outline - Walking in the Cool of the Day We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to experience the benefits of our relationship with God. We can experience the benefits of walking with God in the here and now. This term comes from Genesis 3:8 in the King James version which says; “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” The word for “in the cool” is translated from the Hebrew word ruach which means breath, wind or spirit. So walking in the cool of the day could also be thought of as walking in the spirit. Again, walking in the spirit is dwelling in the thoughts and intentions of God towards you. When you do this, that spirit will bring forth fruit, not you. Don’t Try Too Hard - when you’re trying too hard to produce fruit and/or see God’s quality of life manifest in your life, you leave yourself exposed for the lies of the enemy to come and wreak havoc in your life. The devil’s mindset will try to come in and take advantage of your over eagerness in an attempt to frustrate you and disappoint you with the goal of getting you out of relationship with God. Abide In Him - apart from Him we can do nothing. The fruit of the spirit is not a bunch of things we are commanded to do in our will power, it’s the life we experience when we are walking in the cool of the day. Scriptures Acts 17:24-28 MSG Hebrews 4:11 John 15: 4-5 Genesis 3:8 Questions Does God need us to run errands for Him per Acts 17? Are we like His slaves or free to live with Him? How does the approach a baseball hitter takes at the plate give us an example of how to live the Christian life? What happens when we are over eager to produce fruit? How does the devil take advantage of that? What are we able to do in our own power? How does this correlate to giving God glory? What does walking in the spirit mean? What does walking in the cool of the day look like to you? How often would you say you experience this? How can we restore somebody to walking in the spirit if we see that they are not? If you have any experience with this, share with the group. When we are frustrated and burnt out, what is that a result of? Do you find that you struggle more with getting peace about something in the past or the future? Discuss with the group and see if others may be able to encourage you. What are some practical things you can do to walk in the cool of the day?

Chapter 16- Tough Questions/Myth Busters Summary Some good questions tend to come up in our walk with God. This section is like a Christian FAQ’s page. The questions we address here are why does God send people to hell? Why do good things happen to bad people? And also why aren’t my prayers getting answered? These are complex answers but really give you some good insight about God and His true nature when you can get a revelation of the truth about these questions Ch. 16 Outline - Tough Questions/Myth Busters 1) How can a loving God send people to hell? God isn’t the one who sends people to hell. He gives people free choice and the only way someone goes to hell is if they choose that they don’t want anything to do with God. If a child has cancer, do you hate the child or hate the cancer that is killing them? When Jesus died on the cross, God was killing the thing that was killing us. What was killing us? Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death…not God. Those that don’t obtain eternal life will do so because of the wrong belief they have, not because God is killing them. Woman caught in adultery - Did Jesus say he couldn’t stand to be around her? The scriptures actually said to stone this woman, but Jesus said I don’t condemn you. Jesus was the Word of God. He judges no man according to the flesh, meaning by what they do or have. 2) Why do bad things happen to good people? The question really should be why do bad things happen at all? The way people make God out to be the bad guy leaves no need for the devil. It’s like we’ve made God the most valuable player on the devil’s team. The devil doesn’t play on God’s team either, he is not God’s messenger boy. John 10:10 makes it pretty clear and simple: The thief (devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Putting John 10:10, 1 John 3:18 and Hosea 4:6 together we can see that a lack of knowledge about the devil and his intentions leads to death and destruction (bad things). 3) Why does God allow bad things? True love requires a choice. In us having that free will, some will chose to reject God thus opening the door for these bad things. Why aren’t my prayers getting answered? What are you delighting in? Psalm 37:4 Who are you praying to? Don’t use your faith for things, put your faith IN Jesus. That’s it. It’s his good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He knows what is best for you and He wants you to succeed even more than you do. Scriptures Ezek. 16:6-14 NIV. John 8:3-11 NIV. Romans 2:4 1 John 3:8 NIV Matthew 6:7-8 NIV. Psalm 37:4 John 17:3 2 Peter 1:3

Chapter 15 - The Ultimate Buzz Summary The Christian life is not just about receiving. It’s also about giving. You have to receive first, which is why that has been the emphasis of this book, but I wanted to talk about how the receiving will affect our relationships with others as well. We’ll need to be able to forgive others, which can be a very difficult thing. Sometimes we’ll also need to forgive ourselves and even God in our own minds. The key to be able to do this is to see things from God’s perspective and how He is able to love. Abiding in His love will not only bring much freedom to our own lives but also free us up to love others as well. Outline - The Ultimate Buzz The Ultimate Buzz is speaking about feeling God’s love for others and seeing Him work through you Example of me being in search of the perfect buzz - we don’t want to experience the buzz by ourselves In terms of God’s perfect buzz (His love for us), He doesn’t want to experience this by Himself either. He wants someone to share in this “buzz” with Him. He wants to talk about how we and others make Him feel. He wants to talk about His experiences, thoughts, emotions, etc. We are the ones that “do it” for Him and He loves when we share in this “buzz” with Him. Forgiveness is huge for relationships and experiencing this buzz - the “only love those who love me” attitude is a very weak position to operate from. You are giving others control over your life. Most of the pain we feel is not from our actual interactions with people, but the judgments we make about what they are doing or saying to us. This is where the problem lies. Crooked Car Parking Example - many times we only see others for where they are and not what caused them to get there. Many times we take people’s actions against us so personally when it’s actually something that is a result of us living in a fallen world. A revelation of God’s forgiveness frees you up to love others regardless of how they treat you Jesus forgiving on the cross - that kind of life can be born in us as well. Scriptures John 15:12 Col. 3:13 James 3:17 Questions What does the word Elohim mean? How does this show us the relational aspect of God? How would you describe the ultimate buzz discussed in this chapter? Can you relate to it? What is the source of most of the pain we feel in relationships? Think about the crooked car parking story. Discuss some instances where you may have a hard time forgiving someone. Do you think their interactions with you may have been based on something that happened to them in the past? What do you think Jesus’ thoughts were on the cross? Who did He forgive? How was He able to forgive? Is this only possible for Jesus or can we find this kind of life born in us too? What is the key to forgiveness talked about in this chapter? How do you feel about your ability to forgive others? Share with the group your experiences What kind of position does the “only love those who love me” belief lead to? Have you ever found yourself in that position? Does God demand love from us or supply love to us? What effect does this have on our lives? What are some practical things you can do to abide in the love of God?

Summary A revelation of God’s character and nature will give us hope. But this hope is not like the world’s definition of hope. This is a confident expectation. This chapter talks about the confident expectation you can and should have in your life with God. This will give you a barometer of your thought life and revelation of God’s goodness. I talk about some things you should be expecting from God, how to combat any negative expectations and how to position yourself to continue to receive from God. It’s not just a one time event, but a continual receiving from God that you can experience. Outline - Confident Expectation - Expecting & Receiving From God Hope = confident expectation. Biblical hope is a confident expectation that what you have always desired to be true in your life, already is true. It’s not begging and wishing. It’s a certainty of the glory (view and opinion) of God being revealed in those that believe in the return of Jesus. Hope deferred leads to unrelenting disappointment Lottery ticket example - the hope you have between the time you win and actually cash in your winning lottery ticket is the kind of hope we have in Christ. A confident expectation. The thing that is really cool about Biblical hope is that not only can you have a confident expectation of the life you will have with God, but you can also have a confident expectation that God is the one who will bring it forth for you. A righteous person (one who believes in God) expects blessing and understands the blessings are theirs. They have what you could call Godfidence that God is well pleased with them and that He is well able to provide for them all they need in abundance. Receiving - open hand vs. clenched fist Put yourself in a position to receive by sitting at His feet and listening to good message For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11 Scriptures Proverbs 13:12 Nehemiah 8:10 2 Peter 1: 2-4 Colossians 3:16 NIV Jer. 29:11 Questions Are you currently expecting anything from God? How does this speak to your relationship with God? Share with the group When we’re not expecting or receiving from God, why do you think that is? What can we do to counteract this? How does knowing God and His thoughts about you affect your life? Share your experiences How would you define “the good life”? How has that definition changed over time? What does the Message version of the Bible describe what happens when our hope is deferred? What does that look like to you? Have you ever experienced this in your life? What is the Biblical definition of hope? How does this differ from the world’s definition? Who is the one who will bring forth life in you? How so? How is the example of getting a winning lottery ticket similar to the hope we have as Christians? What is Godfidence? Would you say you have it? Why or why not? How can you position yourself to receive from God?

Chapter 13 - The Sweet Fruit of Patience Summary Patience is very underrated but key to living the Christian life. Patience will allow you to enjoy your life and give you freedom from the cares of the world. It comes from hearing the right message and continuing in it. We need to understand how patience works to live the Christian life going forward. Ch. 13 - The Sweet Fruit of Patience Patience is important. One of the fruits of the spirit. Don’t hear much about it because people don’t want to hear about it. It’s not about denying that certain things are going on, it’s just your cares will not be on the things of the world. There is no better way to wait for something then to not even be aware that you are waiting for it. Detention in school example - focusing on the clock just made it seem so much longer. Need to be able to get your mind off of what you want and rest in what you have. Babies on a schedule example - they develop patience because they know even thought they may be hungry, their parents will be feeding them soon. Otherwise they’d throw tantrums every time their hungry. Me watching Michael Jordan growing up - in awe of him because he was so great at what he did. God is great at what He does and what He does is bring life. If you can rest in Him long enough you can get to a place where you’ll be in awe of Him and His doing. The biggest factor to you having patience is only hearing a message of God and his grace. If you’re hearing a mixed message you’ll be tempted with the cares of the world and be running around like Martha. Relax! God’s got this. Scriptures John 10:10 Galatians 5:22 Luke 10:38-42 Questions What does patience allow you to do? How does the example of babies being on a schedule show us about the heart of God for us and help us develop patience? Think about somebody you know who is really good at what they do. How does that compare to how good God is at what He does? How does this help us develop patience? Have you ever experienced being mesmerized by something that God did in your life? Meditate on that and share with your group. What is the biggest factor to you having patience? What are some things that lead to you being impatient? How important do you think patience is in your life? What does a life without patience look like to you? Can you see how one with patience is superior? How so? How does the scripture John 10:10 encourage you and give you patience? What are some practical things you can do to have more patience in your life?