God in the Hands of Angry People
- Mark Batterson
- Mar 11, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 2
God in the Hands of Angry People April 7th / April 8th
Speaker: Dr. Mark Batterson
Scripture: Ephesians 2:10; Haggai 2:23; Zachariah 2:8; Zephaniah 3:17
Sermon Summary:
In the beginning, God created humankind in His image. We have been creating God in our
image ever since. But what you end up with is a god who looks a lot like us! That’s the God
we’re dismantling in this series so we can discover the true God, the God of the Bible. And
that God might surprise you.
Sermon Series Questions:
1. What did God reveal to you?
2. What are you going to do about it?
3. What is one element of God’s character you learned?
Sermon Specific Questions:
1. What was you first impressions of God?
2. How would you describe God now? How does it differ from your first impressions?
3. What has influenced your view of God?
4. Our faith matures as you do. Have you ever had to deconstruct and reconstruct
your faith? What did you have to learn or unlearn about God?
God in the Hands of Angry People Sermon Discussion Guide
Digging Deeper
Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King
Dr. Martin Luther King challenged the view of God in many eyes by challenging other’s
view of Christ. Christ is the image of the invisible God. So, in his open letter to fellow
clergyman in his Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), he stated:
But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist,
as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of
satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not
Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for
the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was
not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help
me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I
make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation
cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So, the
question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists
we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists
for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
With your group, reflect on Dr. King’s question: What kind of extremists will you be?
Recommended Resources:
To learn more about the legacy of Dr. King, the history of U Street, and race relations within
America, check out these resources:
Jesus and the Disinherited (1996)
Howard Thurmon
Race, Class, and the Cappacino City: An Indepth Study of U Street (2017)
Derek Hyra
Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community (1967)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
White Awake (2017)
Daniel Hill