God is ___ - Merciful and Gracious

Listen in as we begin our new series looking at who God is from Exodus 34.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 34:6-7

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” - A.W. Tozer“Here’s how you know if you’ve created God in your own image: he agrees with you on everything…Often what we believe about God says more about us than it does about God. Our theology is like a mirror to the soul. It shows us what’s deep inside.” - John Mark Comer

“In the world of the Hebrew Scriptures a personal name was often thought to indicate something essential about the bearer’s identity, origin, birth circumstances, or the divine purpose that the bearer was intended to fulfill.” - Michael Knowles

Isaiah 49:13-16
Psalm 103:11-14

“What he is, he does. He cannot act any other way. His life proves his heart. Meek. Humble. Gentle. Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.” - Dane Ortlund

Ps. 145:8-9
Hebrews 4:14-16

For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours not by right but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God. While there is much we may have earned--our degree and our salary, our home and garden, a Miller Lite and a good night's sleep--all this is possible only because we have been given so much: life itself, eyes to see and hands to touch, a mind to shape ideas, and a heart to beat with love. We have been given God in our souls and Christ in our flesh. We have the power to believe where others deny, to hope where others despair, to love where others hurt. This and so much more is sheer gift; it is not reward for our faithfulness, our generous disposition, or our heroic life of prayer. Even our fidelity is a gift, "If we but turn to God," said St. Augustine, "that itself is a gift of God.” My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” - Brennan Manning