Truth #1

"At this point in the story, God has created the heavens and the earth and is finishing his work by creating us- Humanity. Genesis 1:26 reads, "So God said, 'Let us make man in OUR image.'" Wait- who is the US and OUR in that verse? Isn't God just one entity? Well, actually, no. You see, guys, our True Source is actually three persons in one- he is a Trinity."

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God exists outside our categories. We can experience and have clarity about his relationship with us, but we can't fully understand it. It's like the compass needle and the magnetic pull toward the earth's poles. We know the magnetic pull exists, but there is no material thread that "proves" it's there. We can't touch, taste, smell, feel, or see the magnetic pull. Still, we know from our experience (watching the compass needle calibrate to True North) that it is indeed "present."

This is what it's like to engage with God as three persons in one. It's a mystery that needs to be experienced, not a puzzle to be solved or a theory to be proven. We could spend a LOT of time discussing it together, but ultimately, we must go back to God's Story. How does the Biblical narrative depict God? What shape does he take in the Old Testament? The New? We can take those questions to the Biblical Story and let it shape our imaginations in a way that leads to experiencing God in ways we never thought possible! Take about ten minutes and find out in the video below. It's not "expansive," but it will begin to show you how the Triune God shows up even on the first page of the Biblical story.

All rights reserved to The Bible Project. TNF does not own anything in this video and uses it for educational purposes only. We make no money on this video. We will remove this video at the request of The Bible Project and its representatives. For more information about The Bible Project, go to their webpage.

Quick Discussion Questions

1. What stuck out to you about who God is in the video?
2. What questions does the video help you answer? Discuss them together.
3. What other questions come to mind now that you've watched the video? Write those down in your journal.
4. How does this change your view of God?

Explore EVEN Further...

Want to dive deeper? Check out the video below for the first episode in the BibleProject's podcast "God" series. This isn't mandatory; it's just an excellent resource if you are still curious. You can find the full podcast series on their website or wherever you stream podcasts.

All rights reserved to The Bible Project. TNF does not own anything in this video and uses it for educational purposes only. We make no money on this video. We will remove this video at the request of The Bible Project and its representatives. For more information about The Bible Project, go to their webpage.

Truth #2

"Jesus went on Many Adventures and struggled through various Wilderness Trials. One adventure begins in Luke 3. At his baptism, Jesus accepts his Father's call to live as a beloved son. Then, led by God's Spirit, he enters the Wilderness and faces the opposition from within and without in Luke 4. The Adversary tempts him to distrust God's heart. He drives Jesus to believe lies and calibrate to false beliefs about his identity - to trust sources apart from his Father and take an Imposter Path. But Jesus overcomes this opposition by declaring his Father's words and truth- by trusting his Father's answers to his identity question. Leaning into God's Spirit, Jesus battles through and returns more in tune to his true identity and no longer just led by the Spirit but empowered by Him to step into His public mission."

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Watch this short video. Then, continue below:

All rights reserved to The Bible Project. TNF does not own anything in this video and uses it for educational purposes only. We make no money on this video. We will remove this video at the request of The Bible Project and its representatives. For more information about The Bible Project, go to their webpage.

Ancient Israelites had a common practice of listening to readings of scripture from the Old Testament and discussing them together. This was a communal way of reading literature, where different perspectives and experiences brought further understanding and revelation to God's Story. As father and son, we want you to engage in this practice together. In the teaching video, we mentioned Jesus' adventure in Luke 3 and 4. We want you to read it together and discuss it through the lens of the Heroic Journey. Read the following verses out loud together 2-4 times. Take turns reading it, then discuss the questions below:

Luke 3: 21-22

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Luke 4: 1-15

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." And Jesus answered him, "It is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

"'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,'

and

"'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Quick Discussion Questions

1. Where do you see Jesus walking out the Call to Adventure and the Wilderness?
2. Where do you see the opposition within/without?
3. How does the Adversary "attack" Jesus?
4. Where do you see the Spirit step in and help Jesus?
5. How does Jesus overcome the Adversary?

Truth #3

"Spirit as our Guide to help us on our Adventures by showing us how to walk the Path of our True Source everyday. He helps us take Jesus' life and teachings and apply them to our day-to-day and current circumstances. He gives us insight into the spiritual world, so we can be aware of how the opposition from within and without are keeping us from moving forward on our adventure. He helps discern what sources have become magnets in our lives and gives us the tools we need to remove them altogether, and he meets us in our young places and gently heals and replaces our false beliefs with the truth of the Father and Jesus. And those are just some of the things the Spirit does to help us battle through. "

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God's Spirit is mysterious, untamed, and good. How he plays his role in our story may differ from how he does in those around us. This is one of the unique and beautiful truths about our Creator-he is vast. We could spend a million years in his presence and still never have words or understanding of his breadth and depth. That is why we opted to share examples from others and their experiences and encounters with God's Spirit as the Guide. Below, we have TWO excellent stories from two wonderful people. You can choose one or do both (we recommend the latter). One is about 10 minutes of reading. The other is a commitment of 50 minutes of listening or watching, but we believe both do a great job inviting you to begin to see the Guide's work in your life. He is always there. Sometimes, we need to tune into his presence and voice.

Option One:

Click here to read the first example from one of John Eldredge's books.

Option Two:

Or click on the video below to watch Tim Mackie tell the story of a unique encounter he had with the Guide.

Quick Discussion Questions

1. What stuck out to you about John or Tim's encounter with the Guide?
2. How does it change the way you see the Guide's role in your story?
3. Have you ever encountered the Guide like this? Share your story. Dad, you go first.

Explore EVEN Further...

If you want another tangible picture of what a daily walk with the Guide can look like, check out John Eldredge's Walking with God.

Truth #4

"We need an example that can show us HOW to live in and from our Garden State- an example that can show us How to live close, trusting relationship with God, so we can have clarity about our true identity. Thankfully, we don't have to look far in God's Greater Story for that example. Our Mentor in the Wilderness is Jesus, God's Son. Why is he our ultimate example? Because He walked the Path of our True Source perfectly. He lived in close, trusting relationship with the Father and the Spirit, where he had access to the answers to ALL his questions and trusted them perfectly. He lived IN and FROM his Garden State his entire life."

"Our True Source calls Jesus his beloved son. If Jesus was God's son, and we are to look to him as our ultimate example, does that mean we are God's beloved sons, too? YES. Our True Source answers our identity question: "You are my beloved son!" But how can that be? How can we be sons alongside Jesus? Well, God's entire Greater Story in the Bible is his rescue of humanity. Remember, He gave us our Garden State when he made us. We gave it away at the Fall. Only he can give it back to us today! We were his children. We gave our place in the family away. Only HE can restore us to that place again!"

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Jesus is our ultimate example; his life is a map that shows us WHAT it looks like to live as a beloved son. Unfortunately, we can distort that perspective of Jesus. Many of us encounter Jesus as the Mentor through the lens of his divinity. Jesus is the PERFECT son of God, born of the spirit. That description isn't wrong per se, but depending on our position, it can miss the point of Jesus's humanity. Yes, he walked God's Path of Sonship as God designed us to. Yes, he did it perfectly, but that doesn't mean he's a "high in the sky, unattainable example we can never relate to."

Jesus was a person, just like you and me. He experienced life as we do. He encountered heartache, pain, joy, love, comfort, hope, chaos, peace, etc. - all we do daily. We miss this part of Jesus when we focus solely on his divinity. Ultimately, we NEED to encounter Jesus as the human he was. If we don't, we risk missing how Jesus's life can show us how to truly live as Beloved Sons.

This month, we included a book in your adventure kit called Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge. Eldredge does a fantastic job helping us experience and encounter the humanity of Jesus. His words changed our approach to Jesus. He is no longer "an image of what I could never be," but a character I can encounter and experience life change through. We recommend you read this book together between now and your Montana Trip. The content between now and then is light, so we recommend you include this book in your weekly rhythms together.