Session 3:
Walk Away or Wade In
If someone asked you what your story of faith was, what would you say? How would you
respond? My guess would be that you would start talking about your individual journey
through your own faith. You would probably begin by telling them the way that you started
your own personal faith journey. Your specific story is important, but when we narrow down
our story of faith to only the things that we have experienced, we lose a significant element.
Faith based on personal experience eventually buckles under the weight of personal experiences.
Our faith isn’t meant to stand on its own with only our personal truth holding it
up. We need to be aware that when we only have ourselves holding up our faith, it will fall.
Sometimes the circumstances that get thrown at us cause our faith to collapse because the
only thing keeping it up is our own personal stories and our own personal convictions. When
we rely purely on ourselves for truth then we are limited, biased, and without an anchor.
Marcus Garvey says it like this, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin,
and culture is like a tree without roots.” So that is why we need the history. It keeps us
grounded and gives us a more clear understanding of who our God is.
Three major faith traditions all claim the same starting point in history. Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam all recognize the fact that God created humanity in his own image, meaning that
there is something divine in each of us. All three traditions agree that God gave humanity
the ability to say yes or no, which we call free will. At a point in history, somebody said no
to God. Through this sin entered the world and humanity’s relationship with the Creator
became strained and broken.
When sin entered the world it ruined the harmony in relationship that God had with humanity.
So God had to decide whether to walk away from the mess of human-kind or wade into
the dysfunction. God chose to wade in. He began this process through one person. God’s
starting point was through one man: Abraham.
respond? My guess would be that you would start talking about your individual journey
through your own faith. You would probably begin by telling them the way that you started
your own personal faith journey. Your specific story is important, but when we narrow down
our story of faith to only the things that we have experienced, we lose a significant element.
Faith based on personal experience eventually buckles under the weight of personal experiences.
Our faith isn’t meant to stand on its own with only our personal truth holding it
up. We need to be aware that when we only have ourselves holding up our faith, it will fall.
Sometimes the circumstances that get thrown at us cause our faith to collapse because the
only thing keeping it up is our own personal stories and our own personal convictions. When
we rely purely on ourselves for truth then we are limited, biased, and without an anchor.
Marcus Garvey says it like this, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin,
and culture is like a tree without roots.” So that is why we need the history. It keeps us
grounded and gives us a more clear understanding of who our God is.
Three major faith traditions all claim the same starting point in history. Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam all recognize the fact that God created humanity in his own image, meaning that
there is something divine in each of us. All three traditions agree that God gave humanity
the ability to say yes or no, which we call free will. At a point in history, somebody said no
to God. Through this sin entered the world and humanity’s relationship with the Creator
became strained and broken.
When sin entered the world it ruined the harmony in relationship that God had with humanity.
So God had to decide whether to walk away from the mess of human-kind or wade into
the dysfunction. God chose to wade in. He began this process through one person. God’s
starting point was through one man: Abraham.
- Have your personal experiences ever caused your to doubt or change your beliefs?
- When you see a mess do you have a tendency to walk away or wade in?
- What do you think of God choosing someone as imperfect as Abraham?
Scripture Focus:
Genesis 12: 1-3, Genesis 15: 1-6
Our God is an expert at dealing with chaos, with brokenness, with all the worst that we can imagine. God created order out of disorder, cosmos out of chaos, and God can do so always, can do so now- in our personal lives and in our lives as nations, globally – Desmond Tutu
BOTTOM LINE: SESSION 3
- The introduction of sin into the human experience left God with a choice. Instead of walking away, he waded into the mess.
- God’s solution to the problem of sin began with three promises he made to one man.
- The righteousness available to Abraham through faith is also available to us.
LIFE IS NOT MEANT TO BE LIVED ALONE. YOU WERE CREATED TO EXPERIENCE LIFE WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
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