All of God: Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity - small group study # 1

OK, I have decided to publish the series our church is conducting about the Trinity. Our church (Grace Community Church) has recently begun a series titled: All of God: Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity We are studying this topic both during the Sunday morning services and during our small group studies that meet throughout the week. I will include all of the studies here - both Sunday morning messages (though, again, the recorded version is better - go to: http://www.graceccnc.org/) and the small group studies. For the small group studies, I will include some of the leader's notes to give you a better feel for what we are learning. This way, GCC family, if you miss the Home Fellowship, you can catch up here, though it will be a little behind the "real-time" schedule.

I have included the title of the series in the title of this post. In the future, I will simply put "The Trinity - Small Group Study #1" or, "The Trinity - Sermon # 2" in the title of the post. In case there are newcomers, I will include a short explanation in the first paragraph of the post (you can skip that part if you are a regular).

Most of the feedback I receive about this blog comes outside the comments posted at this site. I receive them in person, by phone, or via e-mail (which you may always choose if you want to communicate privately - see the January 14 post for information). If you want to interact about the Trinity, though, feel free to respond at this site and I will interact with the feedback in this forum.

Having said all of that, here are the first week's small group questions (for the week of January 11) with comments:

All of God:
Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity
Introduction, Week of January 11, 2009

Ø The Trinity. Three in one. Three persons, one substance (or, essence). Unexplainable, and yet, we try. Give your best shot at explaining this important Christian doctrine.

What do you know about the Trinity? It is quite a difficult doctrine, yet an absolutely essential doctrine of the Christian faith. Three persons, one essence – Hebrews 1:3 is a good place to go – Jesus was clearly separate from God the Father, yet according to this verse, He was the exact imprint of God’s nature – He had the exact same essence as God because He was God.

Ø Can you give some examples in Scripture that support the doctrine of the Trinity? Take time as a group to discuss some of the passages you find. (e.g., the baptism of Jesus – Matthew 3:13-17)

After you have thought about places in the NT that show us that God is three, yet one, consider these passages: Matthew 28:19 – the earliest formulation of the Trinity; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Acts 5:1-11 – in verse 3, Peter accused Ananias of lying to the Holy Spirit, and in verse 4 Peter said that he had not lied to men, but to God; Mark 2:1-12 – you will get it; John 14:1-14

Ø The Old Testament is quite clear that there is one God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and the God who interacts with His people through His word. Does the New Testament make the claim that God is one? If so, how can this be reconciled with a belief that God is seen as Father, Son, and Spirit?

OT: Deuteronomy 6:4 (through v 9, but especially v 4); 1 Kings 8:59-60; Isaiah 45:5-6
NT: John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 3:29-30; James 2:19 – we reconcile it, for now, by acknowledging that Scripture teaches “one” and “three in one,” and we can only accept this as a mystery. Our understanding will increase as we proceed through this study.

Ø Most of us tend to think of God as “one” or as “three” rather than “three in one.” Why do you think we have this tendency? What we do to adjust/improve the way we think about and worship God?

It is extremely difficult to get our minds around, isn’t it? It is much easier to think of one or the other, but we are called to believe in the Trinity.

Ø What questions do you have about the Trinity that you would like to have answered during this series?