The woman simply shouted "I will never address God as my Father!".. and walked out of our mid-week Bible Study (a mic drop moment). There was an awkward silence in the room for what seemed like forever. Strangely enough, I remember the experience quite clearly (since it happened over 25 years ago).

One of the leaders at my church had been leading an interactive study about who God is, and when the title of "Heavenly Father" came up, the tone of the conversation shifted, and with the sharing of some strong feelings, there were some differences of opinion, things got excited, and this led to the woman's abrupt self-departure from our gathering.

Through the years, I've personally spoken with a handful of people who shared the difficulty and frustration of this woman - how can we call God "Heavenly Father", when that title is sometimes burdened and steeped with very heavy baggage from a possible strained relationship with our earthly father? And on a deeper level... what is our picture of God like? What comes into our mind when we think about God? Does it really matter?

On Sunday, I'll be sharing a bit about this tension, and talking a bit more about God as Father in a message entitled "Our Father Is A Good, Good Father". We often think that Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray when he taught them what we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer"... and yes, I know he was teaching them to pray. But I think Jesus was teaching them something in addition to how to pray.…. I think he was also teaching them about the One to Whom we pray.

How you picture God matters.

What comes into your mind when you think about God matters.

Not just at church, but in your whole life.

It just might influence your life far more than you think!

Come and join us on Sunday morning as we spend time discovering how to recover a proper picture of God, and how to restore (and sustain) life-giving relationship with Him.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Scott Corkill