Can you be proud of your father, and can you be filled with wonder at the God whom Jesus tells you to address as Our Father in heaven? The message sets children boasting about their parents alongside a painful letter from a daughter to a dad who was nearby but never truly with her, and then opens the door of heaven from the fourth chapter of Revelation (Revelation 4). John sees the throne, the elders and the four living creatures, and he is caught up in awe, because in heaven everything gives glory to God not out of compulsion but out of admiration. Listen if your relationship with God has dimmed and you need to see what he is really worth.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- What does John see in heaven in Revelation 4:1-11: the throne, the rainbow, the 24 elders, the four living creatures? What do these images tell us about the God we pray to as the one "who art in heaven"?
- Why do the 24 elders lay their crowns before the throne and declare, "You are worthy, our Lord and God"? What might this gesture have meant to the first readers of Revelation?
- The speaker observed that we are more easily amazed by earthly things than by God in heaven. What most often pulls your attention away from being amazed by God?
- The sermon described worship as recognizing God's worth and giving Him what He is worth. How does the story of the young man spending rare coins as if they were ordinary change help you understand what it means to undervalue God?
- The speaker emphasized that God was the first to delight in us, like a father delighting in his child. How does your belief about what kind of Father God is shape the way you see yourself and your life?
- The woman who wrote a prayer of thanks after a night of bombing showed that worship is possible even in life's worst storms. How can you pause this week at the words "who art in heaven" and give God glory in the middle of your own difficulties?
