The 4G’s
What do our everyday thoughts & emotions show about how we live?
How can God become the center of our being?
Conversations to consider:
Conversation #1
Great
💡 Bottom Line
The first G is “great.” Because God is great, we don’t have to be in control.
💡 Explain the G: “Great”
The 4 G’s stand for: God is great, glorious, good, and gracious. Today, we will talk about “God is great.”
📜 Read: Luke 12:22-31; James 4:13-17; Isaiah 40:9-31
🙋 Ask: “What might it mean that God is great?”
💡Explain
“God is great, so we don’t have to be in control.”
Consider what happens if we don’t believe this or live like it is true:
Our idol becomes control or predictability.
We fear uncertainty and feel worry.
We emphasize certainty, discipline, and standards.
We become inflexible, risk-adverse, and over-bearing. (We may be impatient with others who do not “meet” our standards.)
Others often feel condemned by us and so may avoid us. We become isolated from life and others.
💬 Discuss
What’s true of God | Do we believe He is great? What does that include or apply to in our lives?
What’s true of us | Do we need to be great? Why do we perhaps feel the need to be more than we are?
How can we live | What would be true if we accepted that God is great? What would our life look, feel, and sound like?
Do you hear it | Ask each member of the group if they “hear” this truth in the way you speak each week. Discuss the things you say and stories you tell which might indicate belief and action are in line or out of touch.
Who He is —> makes us —> who we are.
In a Picture
The 4 G’s represent who God is and how that changes how we live.
God is great
God is glorious
God is good
God is gracious
Conversation #2
Glorious
💡 Bottom Line
The second G is “glorious.” Because God is glorious, we don’t have to fear others.
💡 Explain the G: “Glorious”
The 4 G’s stand for: God is great, glorious, good, and gracious. Today, we will talk about “God is glorious.”
📜 Read: Matthew 19:16-29; Isaiah 6:1-13
🙋 Ask: “What might it mean that God is glorious?”
💡Explain
“God is glorious, so we don’t have to fear others.”
Consider what happens if we don’t believe this or live like it is true:
Our idol becomes approval or acceptance.
We fear rejection and feel cowardly.
We emphasize affirmation, love, and relationship.
We crave approval and avoid confrontation, behaving differently around certain people. (We may pretend or hide our true self, thoughts, or feelings.)
Others often feel avoided, appeased, or smothered. We become controlled by others and lose independence.
💬 Discuss
What’s true of God | Do we believe He is glorious? What does that include or apply to in our lives?
What’s true of us | Do we need to be glorious? Why do we perhaps feel the need to be more than we are?
How can we live | What would be true if we accepted that God is glorious? What would our life look, feel, and sound like?
Do you hear it | Ask each member of the group if they “hear” this truth in the way you speak each week. Discuss the things you say and stories you tell which might indicate belief and action are in line or out of touch.
Who He is —> makes us —> who we are.
Pause to Discuss
How have we seen these G’s come up this week?
How are we hearing these in conversations?
How are we seeing and hearing the world differently?
“
What would our GC look like, feel like, or sound like if we really believed the 4 G’s were true of our God?
Conversation #3
Good
💡 Bottom Line
The third G is “good.” Because God is good, we don’t have to look elsewhere.
💡 Explain the G: “Good”
The 4 G’s stand for: God is great, glorious, good, and gracious. Today, we will talk about “God is good.”
📜 Read: Psalm 34:1-10; Genesis 1-3; Jeremiah 2:12-13
🙋 Ask: “What might it mean that God is good?”
💡Explain
“God is good, so we don’t have to look elsewhere.”
Consider what happens if we don’t believe this or live like it is true:
Our idol becomes comfort or pleasure.
We fear demands or boredom and feel stress.
We emphasize lack of stress, privacy, and freedom.
We feel burdened, often complaining, or don’t stick at things when they become difficult. (We may also treat people as a burden or duty.)
Others often feel hurt or less important to us, and so may avoid us. We become less productive and offer less good to others.
💬 Discuss
What’s true of God | Do we believe He is good? What does that include or apply to in our lives?
What’s true of us | Do we need to be good? Why do we perhaps feel the need to be more than we are?
How can we live | What would be true if we accepted that God is good? What would our life look, feel, and sound like?
Do you hear it | Ask each member of the group if they “hear” this truth in the way you speak each week. Discuss the things you say and stories you tell which might indicate belief and action are in line or out of touch.
Who He is —> makes us —> who we are.
Conversation #4
Gracious
💡 Bottom Line
The fourth G is “gracious.” Because God is gracious, we don’t have to prove ourselves.
💡 Explain the G: “Good”
The 4 G’s stand for: God is great, glorious, good, and gracious. Today, we will talk about “God is gracious.”
📜 Read: Psalm 103:1-13; Ephesians 2:1-20
🙋 Ask: “What might it mean that God is gracious?”
💡Explain
“God is gracious, so we don’t have to prove ourselves.”
Consider what happens if we don’t believe this or live like it is true:
Our idol becomes power or success.
We fear humiliation and feel anger.
We emphasize success, winning, and influence.
We take criticism and failure badly, being proud of our success and envious of others’s success. (We may find it hard to relax and not find the next success too.)
Others often feel used by us, and so may avoid us. We become over burdened and self-focused, perhaps even making others feel guilty for their success.
💬 Discuss
What’s true of God | Do we believe He is gracious? What does that include or apply to in our lives?
What’s true of us | Do we need to be gracious? Why do we perhaps feel the need to be more than we are?
How can we live | What would be true if we accepted that God is gracious? What would our life look, feel, and sound like?
Do you hear it | Ask each member of the group if they “hear” this truth in the way you speak each week. Discuss the things you say and stories you tell which might indicate belief and action are in line or out of touch.