No One Like You

In one paragraph

Brian opened with a question that sounds simple on the surface: what does it actually mean to say God has no equal and no rival? The sermon worked through the Bible's own categories for spiritual beings to show that the claim is far bigger and stranger than most of us have assumed. By the end, the point was less theological and more personal, that this God who dwarfs everything else in the cosmos...

Read together

1. Exodus 15:11 read aloud by a congregation member to open the main teaching on God having no equal or rival
2. Psalm 89:6-8 read aloud by a congregation member alongside Exodus 15:11 to establish the same theme of God's incomparability among heavenly beings

What was said

• Find a quiet place this week and simply say 'Yahweh, Jesus, are you there?' and wait to see what happens.
• Text or email Brian to set up a coffee or beer so he can walk you through the biblical passages on the divine council at your own pace.
• Bring a friend to the last Revival at the Rodeo tomorrow, Monday, at 7 PM at the fairgrounds.
• Sign up for the Tribe text blast by filling out a connect card so you stay in the loop on what is happening.
• The next time something heavy lands on you this week, pause and remind yourself out loud that Yahweh has no equal and no rival, and that nothing you are facing is bigger than him.

Talk about it

1. Brian described growing up thinking of God and Satan as two equal and opposite forces, like a yin and yang symbol. How did you think about God and his enemies when you were younger, and has that picture changed over time?
2. Brian used the image of a fish trying to describe water to talk about how familiar truth can lose its weight. What is a truth about God that you know well but have stopped really feeling? What helped you see it freshly in the past?
3. The sermon introduced the idea that the Bible describes a larger cast of spiritual beings than just God and Satan, including what it calls little-g gods or Elohim, and that some of these were given delegated authority over nations and failed. What questions does that raise for you, and does anything in your own Bible reading connect to it?
4. Brian pointed to the Messi bell curve video to illustrate how Yahweh stands in a completely different category from everything else, not just better but statistically off the chart. In your own life right now, is there a situation where you are treating God as one strong option among several rather than as the one with no equal and no rival?
5. Brian closed by saying that unlike Messi, who is surrounded by security and unreachable, God actively longs to draw close to us and it is the human heart that pushes him away. What does it look like practically for you to make room for that this week?