God Views Week 1 Our View of God By Peggy Jo Stanley & Freida Thornton

Song “Oh, Lead Me” by Matthew Ward Oh, lead me To the place where I can find You Oh, lead me To the place where You’ll be … Let me know You’re here with me.

Confidentiality We maintain confidentiality at all times in all areas having to do with this class and its members.

Confidentiality We do not repeat anything that anyone shares in the class outside of the class.We do not repeat anything that anyone shares in the class outside of the class. We do not talk about anyone or the issues that they have shared in confidentiality during the class at any time outside of the class.We do not talk about anyone or the issues that they have shared in confidentiality during the class at any time outside of the class.

Acceptance We do not discount, minimize or in any way criticize another person’s thoughts, feelings, or experience.

Respect We show each other respect and value one another as individually and uniquely created by God, deserving of being heard and understood just as we are.

Respect  We do not interrupt each other as we share or participate.  We do not tell each other how or when to change.  We do not monopolize the time and attention of the class.

Honesty We are committed to rigorous honesty as a way of life and a fundamental principle in establishing and maintaining a healthy relationship with God, ourselves and others.

Openness We are determined to be open and willing to gain new awareness and insight from the experience of others, and to risk making positive and healthy changes in our attitudes and actions.

Encouragement We seek to build up and affirm one another, motivating each other to believe that positive change is possible, encouraging one another to persevere in new directions as God leads, and recognizing our achievements as we overcome and become new creations in Christ.

DVD Clip by Graham Cooke From a sermon he did entitled “God is the Kindest Person I’ve Ever Met.”

Writing Exercise Write with your non-dominant hand a prayer to God asking what you would like to get out of this group. What you would like God to do in your heart, your life.

Our belief system … Activates our life Frees us or keeps us in bondage

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God himself,

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

What’s Your Picture of God? Take a moment to think about how you perceive God. What does He look like in your mind’s eye?

Take a few moments to close your eyes and allow images of God to flood your mind. Perhaps words come to mind. Perhaps scenes from the Bible. Maybe even sounds or smells. Takes notes on these images. Then draw a picture that best captures how you see God.

What’s Your Picture of God? Worksheet 1-A Worksheet 1-A Using your non-dominant hand, draw a picture of God, how you see God.

What’s Your Picture of God? How I see God determines how I view myself. How I see God determines how I view myself. How I see God determines how I view my own life. How I see God determines how I view my own life. How I see God determines how I view the church. How I see God determines how I view the church.

Song “Inside of You” by John Schlitt My prayer for you is that God will rekindle dreams, give you new dreams and help the child inside of you become the miracle God created you to be.