Five Truths About the God Who Is Both Infinitely Great and Intimately Near
Week 1 lays the foundation for all 52 weeks. If your group walks away grasping one thing, let it be this: God is infinitely great AND intimately personal. The God who spoke the universe into being knows each of them by name. Most people quietly believe one or the other — that God is big but distant, or loving but small. Your work this week is to help them hold both truths together, because everything that follows is built on it. And watch for the open heart: this is the first week, and for some it is the first clear look at who God really is — be ready to point any heart toward the Jesus these truths keep pointing to.
The five truths are wonderful, but the Mark 5 story is where they come alive and the room feels the weight of the great-and-personal God. The most common way this lesson stalls is spending so long on the five truths that Mark 5 gets rushed. Plan to reach the story with at least 18–20 minutes left. The two long "Going a Little Deeper" sections (God outside time and space; Jesus fully God and fully man) are rich — teach only their short core aloud, and point participants to read the rest during the week, so the meeting stays on schedule and the story still lands.
Everything below the outline is the lesson — written exactly as your group needs to hear it, in plain, warm words, with every picture painted in full so you never have to invent one on the spot. You can teach it almost line for line, and a prepared teacher will make it their own. Two kinds of help are set apart so the lesson itself stays clean:
Read the Week 1 study all the way through, and read Mark 5:21-43 aloud several times until the story lives in you. Meditate on each of the five truths personally before you teach them — let the great-and-personal God meet you first. And spend real time in prayer before teaching: lift up each participant you know by name, ask God to prepare the hearts of those He will still bring, and ask Him to help your group not just learn about Him, but begin to truly know Him.
The five truths build a portrait; Mark 5 is where the portrait breathes. Protect the story's time above all — if you're behind, shorten the deeper sections, not the story.
Everything that follows is the lesson itself — teach it. The shaded gold notes are your margin cues; the rest is for your group's ears. Teach the prose; let the cues stay in the margin.
Teacher · ~5 min Welcome everyone warmly — this is the first night of a long, good journey together. Then open in prayer, asking God to help the group not just learn about Him, but begin to know Him.
Who is this God we say we believe in? That is the most important question you will ever ask. There are many ideas in the world about what God is like — and a lot of them are wrong. Some of those wrong ideas can even hurt you or pull you away from the truth. So before we can love God, trust God, or follow God, we need to know who He really is.
This week, we are going to learn five true things about God that come straight from the Bible. These are not just facts to know in your head. They are truths that can change how you live every single day. Let's begin.
Almost everyone gets God a little wrong in one of two ways. Some imagine a God who is big but distant — powerful enough to run the universe, but far away and not really interested in them. Others imagine a God who is loving but small — warm and kind, but not really able to do much about their actual problems. The God of the Bible is not either half. He is both at once: great enough to hold the galaxies, and near enough to count the hairs on your head. Hold those two together this week, and everything else will make sense.
Here's something amazing we need to understand first. When we talk about God being eternal (no beginning or end), all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at once, and never-changing — we're talking about ALL of God.
You see, God is one God. But He is also three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. It's not three Gods — it's one God who has always existed as three Persons. All three Persons share the same "God qualities." The Father is all-powerful. Jesus is all-powerful. The Holy Spirit is all-powerful. None of them has more power than the others. They are equal because they are all fully God.
So when you read in the Bible about Jesus doing things only God can do — like knowing people's thoughts or having power over death (we'll see this in Mark chapter 5) — that's proof that Jesus IS God. He's not just a good teacher or a prophet. He's God the Son. And one more amazing thing before we begin: these three Persons have loved each other perfectly forever. Before God made a single star, the Father loved the Son, the Son loved the Father, and the Holy Spirit shared in that love. God has never been alone, and God has always been love (1 John 4:8). And here's the best news of all: God didn't create you to stand outside and watch that love from far away. He made you so you could be part of it — known by Him, loved by Him, and welcomed in like a child coming home.
Teacher · ~5 min Keep this simple and confident — don't try to fully explain the Trinity (Week 3 is devoted to it). Just land the one point that powers the whole lesson: when Jesus does what only God can do in Mark 5, that's proof He is God the Son.
God has always existed and will always exist. He never started, and He will never stop. He lives outside of time. While we are stuck living one moment at a time, God sees all of time at once — the past, the present, and the future — all at the same time.
This means something powerful for you: whatever hard thing you are going through right now, it is temporary. It feels like it might last forever, but it won't. God is eternal — your problem is not.
Imagine you are standing on the ground watching a parade go by. You can only see the part that is right in front of you. But now imagine you climb to the top of a tall building and look down. Suddenly you can see the whole parade at once — the beginning, the middle, and the end. That's how God sees time. We only see the moment we're in. God sees the whole thing all at once.
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
Psalm 90:2"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
Hebrews 13:8
Here's something incredible. God didn't just create the stars, the oceans, and you. He also created time and space themselves. Before God made anything, there was no "yesterday" or "tomorrow," and there was no "here" or "there." That means God is not stuck inside time and space the way we are. Think of an author writing a story: the author isn't trapped inside the book — he can see page one and the last page at the same time, because he's outside the story he created. In a way, that's how God relates to His creation. This is why God can be eternal (not stuck moving through time) AND everywhere at once (not stuck in one spot) — both are true because God is bigger than the time and space He made.
The eternal God stepped into time as Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again — so that we, who only live for a short time, could receive eternal life through faith in Him. The God who lives forever wants you to live forever with Him. That's not just a fact to learn. That's a rescue.
Teacher · ~5 min · paint the Parade picture Teach the "above the parade" image in full — it's what makes "eternal" land. Teach only the short core of the time-and-space deeper section; point them to read the rest this week.
Ask "What situation in your life feels like it's gone on too long? How does it change things to know the eternal God sees the end of your story, not just the middle?"
God knows everything there is to know. He knows every star in the sky and every hair on your head. He knows what you did yesterday, what you're thinking right now, and what you will do tomorrow. Nothing surprises God. Nothing catches Him off guard.
Best of all, God knows YOU completely. He knows your fears, your hopes, your secrets, and your struggles — and He still loves you. You never have to explain yourself to God or hide from Him. He already knows, and He stays.
A mom comes home and finds marker drawings all over the white wall. She doesn't even have to ask who did it — she knows it was her little one, because she knows her child completely. God knows you even better than that — more completely than anyone ever could. And He loves you anyway.
"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar."
Psalm 139:1–2"Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered."
Matthew 10:30
Jesus knows every wrong thing you have ever done and every thought you have ever had — and He still chose to die on the cross for you. He knew your worst and still gave His life to save you. That kind of love, from Someone who knows everything about you, is the heart of the good news.
Psalm 147:4 says God "determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names." And here is the wonder: the more powerful our telescopes grow, the more uncountable the stars prove to be — we keep discovering we had vastly undercounted, exactly as God said long ago. Science isn't correcting the Bible here; it is slowly catching up to it. Now hold that next to Matthew 10:30: "even the hairs of your head are all numbered." The God who has named every uncountable star also counts the hairs on your head. That's how big He is — and that's how much He pays attention to you.
Teacher · ~5 min · paint the Parent picture The "Stop and Be Amazed" star/hair pairing is the emotional punch of this truth — don't skip it. It's the great-and-personal God in one breath.
Ask "What do we try to hide from God, even though He already sees it? How does it feel to know He knows your worst and stays?"
God has unlimited power. He spoke the entire universe into existence just by saying the word. There is nothing too hard for God. No problem is too big. No situation is impossible. The same God who made billions of stars knows your name and cares about what you're facing.
Imagine trying to scoop up the whole ocean with a tiny sewing thimble. Impossible, right? Now think about your biggest problem — the thing that feels way too big for you to handle. Compared to God's power, your "ocean-sized" problem is smaller than a thimble of water. What feels impossible to you is easy for God.
"Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you."
Jeremiah 32:17"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."
Job 42:2
Here is something amazing: the all-powerful God willingly humbled Himself. When Jesus went to the cross, the One who holds all power in the universe chose not to use it to rescue Himself — He laid down His life on purpose, so that all who trust in Him could be saved. Then He rose from the dead by that same power, proving He has won the victory over sin and death forever.
Psalm 139:14 says you are "fearfully and wonderfully made." How wonderfully? Biologists at the Weizmann Institute of Science calculated that your body replaces about 330 billion cells every single day — roughly 4 million brand-new cells every second. While you read this sentence, your body just built millions of new cells. You are not a finished statue on a shelf; you are a living masterpiece God's design is actively rebuilding every moment. His power isn't just out there in the galaxies — it's at work in you, right now.
Teacher · ~5 min · paint the Thimble picture Let people name a real "ocean" before you shrink it — the picture only lands if they feel the size of the problem first.
Ask "What have you quietly decided is 'too hard even for God'? What would it look like to hand that to Him this week?"
God is everywhere at the same time. There is no place you can go where God is not already there. He is with you in your happiest moments and your loneliest ones. Even when you feel completely alone, you are not — God is right there with you. Remember what we learned earlier: God made space itself, so He's not stuck in one spot the way we are. That's exactly why He can be fully present everywhere at once.
A fish is completely surrounded by water all the time. The water is in front of it, behind it, above it, below it — everywhere. The fish is so surrounded by water that it might not even notice it's there. That's how God's presence is with you. He surrounds you completely, every moment, even when you forget He's there.
"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!"
Psalm 139:7–8"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:20
When Jesus hung on the cross, He bore the full weight of our sin and the judgment we deserved — the forsaking our sin had earned — so that you would never have to be cut off from God. He endured that in our place, so that nothing could ever come between you and His presence. Because of Jesus, you are never truly alone.
Teacher · ~5 min · paint the Fish picture Tie it back to Truth 1's "God made space itself" — that's the why behind His being everywhere, and it keeps the lesson feeling like one connected portrait.
Ask "When do you feel most alone? How does it change that memory to know God was fully present there?"
God never changes. His character stays the same. His promises stay the same. His love for you stays the same. People in your life might change how they feel about you depending on your behavior or their mood. God doesn't work that way. He doesn't love you more on your good days or less on your bad days. He is perfectly, completely consistent — forever.
Think about how hard it is to trust someone who is different every day — happy one minute, angry the next, kind today, mean tomorrow. You never know what you're going to get. God is the opposite. He is exactly the same every single day. That's what makes Him so safe to trust completely. You always know what you're going to get with God: faithfulness, truth, and love.
"For I the Lord do not change."
Malachi 3:6"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
James 1:17
Jesus shows us a God who finishes what He starts. But how can you be sure His love won't change? Here's how: God already proved it once and for all. He didn't wait until you were good enough to love you. The Bible says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). He loved you at your absolute worst — when you weren't even looking for Him. So if His love didn't depend on you being good back then, it can't depend on you being good now. The cross settled it forever. On your best days and your worst days, God's love for you is exactly the same — because it was never about how good you are. It was always about how good He is.
Teacher · ~5 min · paint the Friend picture The grace point is the climax of the five truths — land Romans 5:8 firmly: His love was never about how good you are, but how good He is.
Ask "What change in your life makes you afraid God's love for you might change? How does Romans 5:8 settle that fear?"
The God who made the entire universe knows your name. The God who lives outside of time stepped into your story. The God who needs nothing chose to love you. The God who is everywhere is right here with you now. The God who never changes will never change His mind about you. This is not wishful thinking. This is who God really is.
Now let's watch all five of these truths come to life in one amazing story. In Mark chapter 5, Jesus is on His way to heal a dying girl when a sick woman touches His robe in a crowd. Read Mark 5:21-43 slowly, and watch how Jesus shows us exactly who God is. Remember our framework from the beginning: Jesus does these things because He is God the Son. Watch the proof:
Did you notice what Jesus called the sick woman? He called her "Daughter" (Mark 5:34). And the little girl He called "Little girl." These are tender, loving names. This is the heart of God — powerful enough to raise the dead, and gentle enough to call a frightened, outcast woman "Daughter." And don't miss the last verse: after Jesus raised the girl from the dead — the greatest display of power imaginable — the very next thing He said was, "Give her something to eat" (Mark 5:43). The same God who had just conquered death noticed that a little girl was hungry. That is how big AND how personal our God is — in the very same breath.
Teacher · ~15 min · the high point This is the emotional and theological summit. Read the passage together, then walk the layers below slowly. The goal is for the group to see the great-and-personal God in action and feel the weight of it.
Five moments in this story are worth slowing down to see — each one opens a window onto the God you've just described.
Jairus is a synagogue ruler — respected, powerful, religious, at the top of society. The bleeding woman is broke, ashamed, unclean, at the very bottom — she isn't even named. Yet both end up in exactly the same place: at Jesus' feet, desperate. And Jesus gives Himself fully to both. It doesn't matter whether you feel like the important ruler or the overlooked outcast — everyone comes to Jesus the same way, and everyone is received.
Jesus is rushing to save a dying girl when the woman stops Him — and to us, that delay feels like a disaster, because the girl dies during it. But Jesus is never in a hurry and never has a "more important" person. The overlooked woman was not less important than the ruler's daughter. What feels like an interruption in our lives is never an interruption to God. He has time for the one person everyone else would tell to wait.
Under the Law (Leviticus 15), the woman's condition made her unclean — everything and everyone she touched became unclean too. By the old rules, when she touched Jesus she should have made Him unclean. Instead, the opposite happens: her uncleanness doesn't flow into Him — His wholeness flows into her. The same thing happens when He takes the dead girl's hand: touching a corpse meant uncleanness, but death doesn't contaminate Jesus — life pours the other direction. Jesus is so holy and so full of life that our brokenness doesn't stain Him; His goodness overwhelms our brokenness. That's the God we're getting to know.
The woman tried to be healed in secret and slip away — she'd been invisible for twelve years, and invisible felt safe. But Jesus stops everything and calls her out — not to shame her, but to see her. And He calls her "Daughter" (Mark 5:34), the only time He ever calls a woman that in the Gospels. He gave her more than a healed body; He gave her dignity, relationship, and a name in front of the whole crowd. He didn't just heal her — He restored her place among people, and called her family.
After raising the dead girl by the power of God — "Talitha cumi," Little girl, I say to you, arise — the very next thing Jesus says is, "Give her something to eat" (Mark 5:43). The God who had just conquered death also noticed a little girl was hungry. Almighty power and tender, caring attention, in the same breath. That single verse is the whole lesson: the same God who raised her from the dead made sure she got dinner. That's how big AND how personal our God is.
Teacher You won't have time to dwell on all five in the room — pick the two that fit your group best, and let the others feed your own preparation and your self-taught readers.
The Mark 5 story shows us something we need to get exactly right, because a lot of people get it wrong. When God the Son came to earth as Jesus, He didn't stop being God. He wasn't God pretending to be a man, like wearing a costume, and He wasn't a regular man who later got "upgraded" into God. The truth is harder to imagine but easy to say: Jesus is fully God AND fully man, at the very same time, in one Person. You can see both in Mark 5 — He got tired and walked through a crowd (the man part, because God never gets tired), then raised a dead girl with three words (the God part, because only God has power over death). Same Person. Both at once.
And this wasn't random — there are real reasons it had to be so. A real man had to pay, because people are the ones who sinned (Hebrews 2:14-17). Only God could live the perfect life we never could (Hebrews 4:15). The payment had to be big enough — our sin is against an infinite God, so only God's own Son could offer a sacrifice of infinite worth (1 Peter 1:18-19). Death couldn't hold Him — because He is God, the grave couldn't keep Him (Acts 2:24). And we needed Someone who truly understands us — because He became a real man, He knows tiredness, hunger, and pain firsthand (Hebrews 4:15-16). Put it together: if Jesus were only God, He couldn't take our place; if only man, His payment wouldn't be enough and death would keep Him. He had to be both. There was no other way to save us. So if anyone ever says "Jesus was just a good teacher," now you know the truth — and you can explain it.
Teacher Teach the short core aloud — "fully God and fully man, one Person," with one example from Mark 5 — and point participants to read the five reasons in full during the week. It's too much to unpack fully in the meeting, but it's gold for personal study.
"...always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." — 1 Peter 3:15
"If God is so big and runs the whole universe,
why would He even care about someone like me?"
This isn't only a question skeptics ask. It's the quiet ache many people carry — a lonely student, a discouraged parent, someone who feels small and overlooked. Sometimes the first person who needs this answer is the one looking back at you in the mirror.
The same God who counts the stars and calls them each by name (Psalm 147:4) also numbers the hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). And in Mark 5, you just watched Him — the Lord of all power — stop everything for one sick, ashamed, overlooked woman — and call her "Daughter." God's greatness doesn't make Him too busy for you. His greatness is exactly what makes His care for you possible.
"A God big enough to make the whole universe is also big enough to love every single person in it — personally, all at once. His size isn't the reason He'd ignore you. His size is the reason He CAN know you and love you completely."
When a friend asks this — or quietly admits they feel it — don't rush to fix them. Listen first. This question usually comes from a hurting place. Then gently share the truth: the God who made them has never once overlooked them. Point them to the woman in Mark 5. Be kind. Plant a seed. God does the growing.
Practice saying the answer out loud, in your own words, like you're talking to a friend. If you can say it kindly at the kitchen table, you'll be ready when it really matters — whether the person who needs it is a friend, or you.
When something feels like it's been going on too long —
Remember God is eternal. Your hard season is temporary. He sees the end of your story, not just the middle.
When you feel like no one understands you —
Remember God knows you completely — every thought, every fear — and loves you anyway. You never have to hide.
When you face a problem that feels impossible —
Remember God is all-powerful. Your biggest "ocean" is a thimble to Him. Bring it to Him.
When you feel alone —
Remember God is everywhere. He is with you right now, even when you can't feel it.
When you wonder if God still loves you —
Remember God never changes. His love for you today is the same as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow.
Ask one closing question and let a few share: "Which of these five truths do you most need to hold onto this week, and why?" Then introduce the week's challenge — the Scripture Treasury, with its memory verses, daily readings, prayer guide, and reflection — and remind them gently but honestly: real change happens not in this meeting but in the daily time with God across the week. The work is where the reward is. Close not with a tidy summary but in worship — lead the group to simply marvel at the God who is great enough to hold the stars and near enough to call them by name.
"Father, You are bigger than we can imagine and nearer than we dared hope. You made the stars and You know our names. You see the end of our story and You are with us in the middle of it. Thank You for being both great and good — and for sending Jesus, who shows us Your heart. Help us not just to learn about You this week, but to truly know You. We worship You. Amen."
Teacher · ~5 min Close by praying for the group based on what was shared — by name where you can. Stay afterward for anyone who wants to talk. The right ending to night one is not a closed notebook — it's a heart that wants to come back.
Keep these in your back pocket for when a hard question comes. You don't need to raise them yourself — but if someone does, here's a gentle, honest place to start.
Acknowledge it as a real and important question. Note that we'll explore suffering more fully in a later week (Week 44). For now: the same attributes that make the question hard — His power, His knowledge — are also what give us hope, because a God big enough to bring your hardest questions to is also big enough to trust. Don't feel pressure to resolve it fully today.
Simple doesn't mean shallow. These truths are simple enough for a child and deep enough that we'll spend a lifetime growing into them. You might ask: "Which of these truths do you find hardest to actually live by?"
A great question — and we have a whole section coming on exactly that (the Word of God, Weeks 10-12). For now, point them to the consistency of Scripture and the person of Jesus, who shows us what God is like.