Read an Excerpt
The Christian Atheist Participant's Guide
By Craig Groeschel ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 2011Craig Groeschel
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-69207-2
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
When You Believe in God but Don't Really Know Him
THEISM [thee-iz-uhm] belief in the existence of God
ATHEISM [ey-thee-iz-uhm] disbelief in the existence of God
PRACTICAL ATHEISM [prak-ti-kuhl ey-thee-iz-uhm] acting with apathy, disregard, or lack of interest toward belief in God
CHRISTIAN [kris-chuhn] one who professes belief in the teachings of Christ
CHRISTIAN ATHEISM [kris-chuhn ey-thee-iz-uhm] believing in Christ but living as if he doesn't exist
Video When You Believe in God but Don't Really Know Him (18 Minutes)
Play the video segment for session 1. As you watch, use the outline below to follow along or to take notes on anything that stands out to you.
Notes
So many people believe in God but they do not know him (Titus 1:16).
[Your Notes]
Three levels of knowing God
• Level 1: I believe in God, but I don't know him.
[Your Notes]
• Level 2: I believe in God, but I don't know him well.
[Your Notes]
Galatians 4:8–9
[Your Notes]
• Level 3: I believe in God, know him intimately, and serve him wholeheartedly.
[Your Notes]
Example: David is described as a man after God's own heart (1 Sam uel 13:14).
[Your Notes]
Psalm 63:1–4
[Your Notes]
Psalm 9:10
[Your Notes]
What you call God often reveals how well you know him.
[Your Notes]
If you seek God with all of your heart he will reveal himself to you (Deuteronomy 4:29; Ephesians 1:17–19).
[Your Notes]
Group Discussion When You Believe in God but Don't Really Know Him (5 Minutes)
Take a few minutes to talk about what you just watched.
1. What part of the teaching had the most impact on you?
[Your Response]
2. How do you respond to the idea of "Chris tian Atheism"?
[Your Response]
Individual Activity How Well Do I Know God? (5 Minutes)
Complete this activity on your own.
1. Briefly review the following list of statements and place a checkmark next to those you feel are true for you.
[] I believe God loves everyone, but I sometimes struggle to believe that God loves me.
[] I often feel disconnected from God.
[] I pray when I need help, but I don't routinely spend time with God.
[] I feel trapped in a cycle of shame about my past.
[] I don't feel much need or desire to read the Bible.
[] I sincerely believe in God, but I can't say I prioritize my life around him.
[] I don't feel the same devotion to God as I did when I first became a Christian.
[] There are some things about me that I know aren't what they should be, but I don't know if I can ever really change.
[] My belief in God doesn't seem to keep me from worrying a lot.
[] My lifestyle, actions, and decisions don't always line up with what I say I believe about God.
[] I don't talk about my faith with people who don't believe in God.
[] I don't experience worship or express praise to God in my daily life.
[] I find it difficult to forgive people who have hurt me.
[] My sense of security is impacted more by how I am doing financially than by how I am doing spiritually.
[] I believe in God, but I'm not so big on the church.
[] I'm not sure my heart breaks for the things that break the heart of God.
[] I tend to diminish or overlook my sins and failures rather than grieving them.
[] I don't often experience a passionate desire to please God.
[] It feels like a long time since I've heard God's voice or experienced God's leading in my life.
[] I sometimes feel God is not fair.
[] It's rare for me to feel completely surrendered to God. Sometimes I'm not even sure I want to be.
2. Circle the two or three statements on the checklist that best describe where you're at spiritually right now. Or you may wish to write your own statement below.
[Your Response]
3. Based on your responses from the checklist, circle the number on the continuum that best describes the degree to which you feel you know God.
Group Discussion (30 Minutes)
How Well Do I Know God?
1. Describe your experience of working through the checklist. For example, was it uncomfortable, confirming, surprising? Why?
[Your Response]
2. How do you feel about the number you circled for question 3 in the Individual Activity? Would you say that the level at which you know God now is the highest it's ever been? Lowest? Somewhere in between?
[Your Response]
3. If you feel comfortable, share one or more of the statements you circled on the checklist. Why do you think this statement is true for you right now?
[Your Response]
Connecting Love and Obedience
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible makes a strong connection between knowing God and living for God. In an authentic relationship with God, it is impossible to separate love from obedience, belief from behavior, faith from practice. Each reinforces and balances the other.
4. Go around the group and have a different person read aloud each of the passages listed below. As the passages are read, underline any words or phrases that stand out to you. You may wish to read each passage twice to give everyone time to listen and respond.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments (Deuteronomy 7:9).
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul (Joshua 22:5).
Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live (Titus 1:16 NLT).
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did (1 John 2:3–6 NLT).
5. Based on these passages, how would you describe the connection between loving God and obeying God?
[Your Response]
6. Describe the characteristics of someone trying to live one way or the other—loving God without obeying God or obeying God without loving God. In either case, what good things do you think the person might miss out on in their relationship with God?
[Your Response]
7. Would you say you have experienced what the passages describe—obeying God out of love and loving God with your obedience? If so, describe your experience and how it's impacted you. If not, what would you say is the hardest part for you—obeying God out of love or loving God with your obedience?
[Your Response]
Loving Obedience
8. If we affirm that failures
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Christian Atheist Participant's Guide by Craig Groeschel. Copyright © 2011 by Craig Groeschel. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
