Adults

 WPC Small Group Study Questions

For the week of June 1st through 8th

Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and then read the scripture, Matthew 6:9b. Our Father in heaven

Relational Question:

What is your sense of reality? Do you look at the world around you with a sense of personal connection or does it feel alien and impersonal? As Christians we believe that there is a spiritual dimension to reality, but where do you sense this dimension?

Study Questions:

The Lord’s Prayer is the best known scripture next only to Psalm 23. It is said millions of times by millions of people every day. Jesus provides it as the model or blueprint for how he would like his followers to pray. All the various petitions of the Lord’s Prayer start and are based on the first phrase, “Our Father in heaven.” Luke’s version in Luke 11:2-4 is much simpler and shorter, so Matthew’s wording becomes much more significant. The Jewish context for Matthew’s version illumines not only the meaning of the prayer, but gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ own thinking.

While Judaism had instances of referring to God as “our Father,” Jesus only uses this with his disciples. Jesus who otherwise would say “my Father” includes himself, in this instance, with his disciples as a fellow worshipper. He who is uniquely related to the Father as the Son invites mere humans to share in his personal relationship. Identifying God as the Father who is in heaven keeps the emphasis on God as the sovereign creator and ruler over all. It is important for Jesus to keep the Father as the Holy One of Israel who is completely beyond and other than the creatures of creation, yet through our relationship with Jesus we now share in his intimate relationship with the Creator. As such, the God of all and over all is now a person who we can dare to call “Our Father.”

1.      What does calling God “Our Father” mean for you? Does this make your relationship with God feel casual or formal?

2.      Why does Jesus teach this prayer? What is Jesus wanting us to do with it?

3.      How does this prayer help us to see who Jesus is? In the Old Testament only special priests can intercede between the people and God. Does Jesus leading in this prayer reveal anything about his role as our Savior? What about his role as our “priest”?

4.      Does Jesus mean for us to say this prayer exactly as he taught it to his disciples? What do you think about the Lord’s Prayer being said together in worship services? Is this a good thing or a not so good thing?

5.      How can God be totally separate from us as a holy God and at the same time be close to us as a good and loving Father?

6.      Is God as Father to be understood according to our experience of human fathers, or are human fathers to be understood according to our experience of God as Father?

7.    What do you think is the nature of heaven? Is heaven a place? If we can experience God as our Father now, then does this mean that we can experience heaven too?

Action Question

Describe your relationship with your father? What was good about it and what were some problems with your father? Share with one another how your experience with you father helped or hindered your understanding of God as Father.