Britt Merrick - Big God with Study Guide: What Happens When We Trust Him

PRAISE FOR BIG GOD

Britt Merrick is the best young Bible expositor I have ever heard. Big God is his breakout work. With remarkable content, a fabulous presentation and the Spirits anointing, Britt writes with the same power with which he speaks.

Jay Carty

Author and Former Basketball Player (Los Angeles Lakers)

I thank God for men who not only teach the Word accurately but also live it out. This book describes the faith God wants us to have, and Britts life exemplifies it.

Francis Chan

Author of Crazy Love

Britt Merrick has written a powerful, challenging, practical, exciting, and thoroughly Bible-based book that will stir your heart and convince you more strongly than ever that God is worthy of all our trust.

Wayne Grudem

Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies

Phoenix Seminary, Phoenix, Arizona

Pastor Britts powerful book is well known to my family. The instruction, lessons and Spirit-filled knowledge were the basis of our Bible study for more than a year at Reality Carpinteria, where my family and I attend. Big God will allow those seeking a closer walk with Jesus Christ to realize the endless love that our Lord offers us every moment and why our greatest goal is to live in harmony with Him. Pastor Britts courage in the face of adversity demonstrates that he lives his life according to Scripture. Learn from this brave, humble man of God. Your family will be blessed by his great wisdom and gifts.

Kathy Ireland

Author, Entrepreneur and Model

Britt and the entire Merrick family are an inspiration to many believers, including myself. The honesty and vulnerability they witness in this book remind me of how big our God is, and it encourages me to go toward the impossible by faith.

Bryan Jennings

Professional Surfer and President of Walking on Water Ministries

The greatest defense of faith is not all of the evidence or the rationale. The greatest defense is truth backed up by a lifestyle. Britt Merrick shows us how the heroes of faith did it, how he seeks to do it and how we can too. When we embrace a big God, we will have a big faith.

Josh D. McDowell

Speaker and Author of Evidence that Demands a Verdict and Evidence for the Resurrection

I am very encouraged when I meet young leaders such as Britt Merrick. He is a voice of the future; a leader we all can follow. Not only can he tell a story and motivate a crowd, but he is also biblically solid. It doesnt get any better than this.

John M. Perkins

Author of Follow Me to Freedom and Let Justice Roll Down

God has not promised that our skies would always be blue or that the road would always be smooth. He has promised that He will always be with us in the fiercest storm to see us safely through. It is one thing to know this intellectually, but quite another to know it experientially. Britt writes out of experience, and thus has proved thorough his own experiences the faithfulness of God, which makes this book authentic not just in theory but also in actual practice.

Pastor Chuck Smith

Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa, California

I have written many books about spiritual breakthrough. It is something we all want. In Big God, Britt Merrick shows us a key to all spiritual breakthrough: simply having faith in a big God. Thank you, Britt.

Elmer Towns

Author of Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough

BIG GOD

2010 Britt Merrick

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Baker Books edition published 2014

ISBN 978-0-8307-6260-6

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Other versions used are:

CEVContemporary English Version . Copyright American Bible Society, 1995.

ESV Scripture taken from the English Standard Version , Copyright 2001. The ESV and English Standard Version are trademarks of Good News Publishers.

KJVKing James Version . Authorized King James Version.

NCV Scriptures quoted from The Holy Bible, New Century Version , copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Nashville, Tennessee. Used by permission.

NIV Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

NKJV Scripture taken from the New King James Version . Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

NLT Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation , copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

This book is dedicated to my wife, Kate, who has taught me more about the beauty, bigness and love of God than anyone. I love you.

When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
PROVERBS 31:26, NLT

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my parents, who first taught me that God was bigger and more valuable than anyone or anything else. Because of them, I have had the desire to follow Christ into mission. That mission has been particularly shared with an amazing group of people known as the staff of Reality Carpinteria and Ventura. They have brought me so much love and friendship, and without their work I never could have completed this work. I look forward to many more years of pursuing faithfulness and fun for Gods glory with all of you.

A huge thank you to Bill Denzel at Regal who really made this book happen and in whom, through this process, I have gained a great friend. To my fellow church planter Pastor Dave Lomas of Reality San Francisco who, while training under me to plant a church in that amazing city, spent many fun and fruitful hours with me in the study discussing Hebrews 11. Thank youthis book is yours, too.

I must also lovingly acknowledge my children, Isaiah and Daisy, who make my heart sing and constantly teach me about God. Finally, to the congregations at Reality Carpinteria and Ventura: We discovered and labored over and rejoiced in these truths together. This is your book. I love all of you and consider it the privilege of a lifetime to be called pastor by you.

PREFACE

In each of our lives, we have moments in which we must make significant decisions that can change the path of our journeys. This book is about those choices and people who have made them. These are people weve read about before but may have never really considered how significant their choices wereboth to them and to all of us people of faith who look to their lives as examples of Gods faithfulness. This is about their trust and the big God they put their trust in. Through these stories we see that He was worthy of their trust, their faith. And He is worthy of our trust today.

WHEN MY HEART IS OVERWHELMED

Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.