Scripture
Genesis 17:1-2
Name
El Shaddai - "El" meaning God and "Shaddai" meaning Almighty or Mountain
Understanding the Name
Almighty - by the dictionary, having unlimited power
God Reveals His Name
God reveals His name as He makes a covenant with Abraham. God waited until Abraham was 99 years old to establish a covenant with Abram, well past the age of parenting and Sarah was 90 and well past child bearing years even in those days. God's plan was to show the world that He can do the impossible, so He waited until in human life, a baby was beyond impossible.
With God the impossible becomes possible. God transcends, time, space, and creation and has complete dominion over it.
Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus calms the storm - Think about it, Jesus had a hard day teaching, gets in the boat with the fishermen, the professional sailors, let's go to the other side. Galilee is big, shallow and storms pop up fast even on a clear day, like Oneida Lake near Syracuse. They head out across the lake, a storm comes up, the worst storm they have ever been in. They are seasoned fishermen and they are terrified. Jesus is sleeping in the boat on a sack of rope. "Jesus!" "Wake up! We are going to drown!" Jesus gets up looks around and speaks, he doesn't shout, he simply says "Peace. Be Still" and immediately the waves and wind stop. Now the disciples don't know what is scarier, the storm or Jesus!
Judges 15:15 - Samson kills 1000 Philistines with a donkey's jawbone - I'm not sure about you, but if I need to square off against a 1000 sworn enemies who are all tough warriors, I don't think I would reach for a donkey's jawbone. I 'd be looking for a few good Marines, a case of grenades, a machine gun. He fought and fought. I'm sure when he was done, it was sight worse than the worst movie scene fight.
Exodus 14:21-22 God parts the Red Sea - Think about standing there, the dust from the Egyptian army rising up from them as they close in coming across the desert, Moses crying out to God, and then the wind starts up coming in from the sea. Then as you stand there thinking about the end of your life, dry land begins to appear where the sea was, the army slows it's approach blinded by a gritty sandy wind. Then the command to move forward on the dry land to cross where the sea had just stood.
Joshua 10:12-13 God makes the sun stand still for a day and a half - I love astronomy, seeing the stars on a dark night with a dark place, I've seen many things up there, northern lights, meteors, comets, eclipses, Venus transiting the Sun. How God stopped the laws of physics for the sun to stand still is beyond my comprehension. Here's some pictures I've taken over the years. Celestial Images
I Kings 18:38 - God sent down fire - If you want to re-enact this, use kerosene not gasoline, less explosive.
Genesis 19:24 - God rained down burning sulfur on Sodom & Gomorrah - God napalmed Sodom and Gomorrah. The United Nations banned napalm usage against civilian targets in 1980. It is so dangerous and deadly even after the incident, it has been banned. God does not take sin lightly.
Take It To The Bank
- God is bigger than your problem. He knew about your problem before you and He has the resources needed to take care of it.
- When facing a temptation, God's power is available for you to resist the temptation
- God's timing is perfect, He is always on time.
Small Group Discussion
Open in prayer, and pray for God to make Himself known to your students.
- Have you ever seen the power of God in your life? What did God do?
- Describe God's power. - This is hard to do. Look at the universe with a broad large stroke, what can we see. Describe God when you look at the vast array of stars in the universe. Describe God's power on a smaller scale with a storm or waterfalls. Describe God's power on you or your families life.
- What covenant has God made with us as believers? -
- We are Sanctified
- We are Sealed
- We are Redeemed
- We are filled by the Holy Spirit
- We are empowered by God
- What can we do with God's power? I Samuel 23:8-23, I Corinthians 11:23-28,
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