Resources Needed:
- Printouts of the following verses – one complete set per table.
OR:
- PowerPoint with the following verses. Set each slide to advance after 8 or 9 seconds the PowerPoint to loop continuously. If you use PowerPoint for the rest of the service, this will have to be done as a separate slideshow in order to loop it.
- Plain Paper with the words “Our God Is…” across the top (you can use individual pieces of paper, one large sheet per table or a roll of paper over a couple of tables that everyone can write/draw on).
- Felt tip pens
Verses:
Our God is the one who rescued us… Joshua 24:17
Our God is near to us… Deuteronomy 4:2
Our God is greater than all others… 2 Chronicles 2:5
Our God is a God who saves… Psalm 68:20
Our God is merciful and forgiving… Daniel 9:9
The Lord is my strength and my song… Exodus 15:2
The Lord is slow to anger and unfailing in love… Numbers 14:18
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love… Psalm 145:8
The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble… Psalm 9:9
The Lord is King forever and ever… Psalm 10:16
Script (adapt for your context):
The bible is full of descriptions of what God is like, here are a few of them:
Read the verses on the screen or allow people time to read them to each other at their tables.
These descriptions of God are great. They tell us or reminds us what he is like.
But they are more than reminders of facts we can know in our heads. When we read things like this in the bible it isn’t because someone sat down and thought “Hmmm… I wonder what God is like? Perhaps he is like this…” It is because that person or those people have experienced that this is what God is like in their own experience. They understand God’s forgiveness because they have been forgiven, they can say that God is faithful because he has shown his faithfulness to them.
Take a moment to think what your experience of God is. Where have you seen his goodness or love in your life? When have you experienced his faithfulness or his provision?
On the paper provided start with the words “Our God is…” and fill in the blanks with what you know about God –from your own experience or, if you’re struggling, perhaps from the stories that you know from the bible.
You could write as many of the things that you can think of that describe God.
Or you could picking one and draw something that illustrates it
Or you could write or draw something from your own experience that was a time when you saw what God is like
Allow people plenty of time to do this. When you get the sense that most people are finishing get people to share some of their work or read out bits from it yourself. Close with a prayer thanking God for all of the things that he is to each of us