Praying the Lord's Prayer regularly transforms our view of God, self, and others. Through continual use, we learn to think of God primarily as Father, ourselves as children, and others as members of God's family. This is a much needed corrective to our stern views of God, self, and others. No matter how mature we become we will always need to pray like a child.
In this session, we wrestle with Jesus' use of "Abba" language and its significance for a distinctly Christian spirituality. We also address arguments against using "Father" language - arguments that this language is essentially archaic, patriarchal, or sexist. In my opinion, we must preserve the precious treasure of Jesus' language - and we can do this without being archaic, patriarchal, or sexist.
Finally, this message is applied to earthly fatherhood, and the extreme and lasting influence it holds on our children's view of God - both positively and negatively.
[Mp3] | [Manuscript] »more
[Mp3] | [Manuscript] »more
God’s greatest desire is that we would live all of life coram deo, that is, before the face of God. God is closer than we think, offering us access into the divine life. God furiously pursues us – in spite of our lethargy – and desires for us to awaken to his presence. “He is never farther than a prayer away. All it takes is the barest effort, the lift of a finger.”
