The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith
Week 4: Chapter 3 — God Is Grand (and Knows My Name)
Read Chapter 3 of The Good and Beautiful God. Key Scripture: Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 10:29-31; Psalm 8.
Previewing Week 4 of The Good and Beautiful God
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
One of the strangest tensions in Christian faith is that the God who holds galaxies in place also knows the number of hairs on your head — this chapter asks you to hold both truths at once and see what they do to you.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Smith opens this chapter by sitting with the sheer scale of the universe — its age, its size, the number of stars — as a way of evoking the grandeur of God. How does that cosmic perspective make you feel? Awed? Insignificant? Both?
2.Isaiah 40 asks, 'To whom will you compare me?' and then describes a God who measures the waters in the hollow of his hand and numbers the stars by name. What false or diminished pictures of God does this passage correct? What false narratives do we carry that make God feel small or manageable?
3.Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 10 that not even a sparrow falls without the Father's knowledge — and that they are worth far more than sparrows. How does Jesus hold together God's greatness and God's intimate attention to individuals? Why is it important that the same God does both?