Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church
September 3, 2023
“Who God Will Be”
Rev. Hardy Kim
Greetings!

In our Western Christian understanding, there’s a strong tradition of thinking about God as someone who is above all of creation. This God isn’t affected by us. This God does not change.

But what if this way of thinking about God is incomplete? Or what if it’s just flat out wrong? What might we be missing about who God is and what God wants for us?

Let’s explore an old story that might be familiar to you – the story where God meets Moses in the burning bush. By taking another look at this story, we might be able to renew our understanding of who God is. We might even find some ideas that might be helpful for who we want to be in the world.

Faithfully,
Hardy

Please join us immediately following the Sunday service for our Coffee Hour (in-person in Trinity Court or online via Zoom).
Theme for Sunday

Changing God, You changed your mind. And we, too, change our minds about you. We want to change toward the better. Change with us because we know you want to. Amen.

Pádraig Ó Tuama, from Daily Prayer with the
Corrymeela Community
Questions for Reflection
  • What is a foundational idea about who God is that has stayed constant for you in your life? How has that idea been helpful?

  • What is a foundational idea about who God is that has changed for you over your life? How has the evolution of that idea been helpful to you?
Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.
Facebook ‌ Instagram ‌