June 23: Groups Guide
About This Guide
The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
pdf download
Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.
Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.
more Resources
Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.
Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.
Love
Teaching Text: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 and 27-31
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Gifts of the Spirit
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What special ability do you have that people in your group does not know about?
Resume Virtues and Eulogy Virtues.
“The resume virtues are the ones you list on your resume, the skills that you bring to the job market and that contribute to external success. The eulogy virtues are deeper. They’re the virtues that get talked about at your funeral, the ones that exist at the core of your being - whether you are kind, brave, honest or faithful; what kind of relationships you formed.
Most of us would say that the eulogy virtues are more important than the resume virtues, but I confess that for long stretches of my life I’ve spent more time thinking about the latter than the former. Our education system is certainly oriented around the resume virtues more than the eulogy ones. Public conversation is, too - the self-help tips in magazines, the nonfiction bestsellers. Most of us have clearer strategies for how to achieve career success than we do for how to develop a profound character.”
– David Brooks
God is a wild life artist. Eugene Peterson has said this in his book Run with the Horses…
“Every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God's creative genius is endless. He never, fatigued and unable to maintain the rigors of creativity, resorts to mass-producing copies. Each life is a fresh canvas on which he uses lines and colors, shades and lights, textures and proportions that he has never used before.
We see what is possible: anyone and everyone is able to live a zestful life that spills out of the stereotyped containers that a sin-inhibited society provides. Such lives fuse spontaneity and purpose and green the desiccated landscape with meaning. And we see how it is possible: by plunging into a life of faith, participating in what God initiates in each life, exploring what God is doing in each event. The persons we meet on the pages of Scripture are remarkable for the intensity with which they live Godward, the thoroughness in which all the details of their lives are included in God's word to them, in God's action in them. It is these persons who are conscious of participating in what God is saying and doing that are most human, most alive. These persons are evidence that none of us is required to live "at this poor dying rate" for another day, another hour.”
– Eugene Peterson
God is an artist with our lives, but beautifully God is not simply making us into something, but inviting us into a story, giving us gifts along the way, filling our spirits with the Spirit of God in this kind of friendship dance.
When God wants to build something, God equips people with gifts.
Corinth - was a city and church where God was clearly at work - they saw fruit in the Gospel and outpourings of the power of the Holy Spirit, but we also know they dealt with..
divisions over leadership
jealousy and quarreling
obvious and public sexual sin
indulgence and forgetting the others in the body
spiritual pride
confusion and even chaos in their gatherings
Their gifts were greater than their maturity - it is interesting that this then is the letter in the New Testament with some of the most extended teaching on the spiritual gifts.
Our strengths and weaknesses are often intermingled and what can make us great can threaten our downfall. And where we most need help may be the place God is most clearly seen in our lives.
The Spirit of God is always lifting up Christ.
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
– 1 Corinthians 12 v 4-7
These are two huge errors the church can make…
Demanding each story to look the same.
or
Missing that each person’s gifts are not just for them but for the body.
We see this in the American church in
Rigid behavior modification in a given community - wells vs fences
Celebrity Christianity - overly exalting someone because of their gifts
Phariseeism - clean up the outside but your heart is heart
Second hand christianity - that person will do the God seeking so I don’t have to
If you are in Christ you are given the Holy Spirit
If you are in Christ you are gifted by the Holy Spirit
You are gifted by the Spirit to love well.
You are gifted by the Spirit to lift up Christ.
You are gifted by the Spirit so the body of Christ can this shining outpost of the Kingdom of God, tabernacle that it is meant to be.
Message of Wisdom – applying knowledge of God and His Word to specific areas of life, making sense of a moral dilemma, I need wisdom here.
Message of Knowledge – similar but more to do with navigating a particularly difficult to understand issue and making it clear. Help me in this confusion.
Wisdom is the decision
Knowledge is the clarity.
Faith – seeing situations with Gods power in perspective, remembering that all things are possible with God. Trusting God’s character and promise in the real details of life
Healings – this is the plural which means can happen at times, not necessarily always, and God gives the power for instant or gradual healing. WE should be praying for healing!!
Miraculous Powers – asking an evil Spirit to leave a person, having a vision of something that will happen, praying for someone to live who has died.
Prophecy – sensing Gods heart on a matter and redirecting people by sharing it, Scripture, pictures, words
Discernment between spirits – being able to sense when motives are impure, being able to tell when something is not from God
Speaking in Tongues – praying in a language that is not understood by the speaker, happened at Pentecost and all heard, happens in private prayer, if it happens publically in church then it is meant to have an interpretation
Interpretation of Tongues – the ability to interpret what has been said it tongues
Apostolic – visionary, pioneering work in the Kingdom of God
Which of these do you think you have?
These are way to love one another
Ways for Jesus to be lifted up
And you are gifted by the Spirit
Spiritual gifts emerge in the body of Christ as we…
Walk in friendship with Jesus – ABIDE is what the Jesus calls this
Speak the Gospel to your heart
Regularly spend time in extended prayer
Practice speaking with God through your day
Hide His word in your heart
Meet regularly with the church
Have people in your life with permission to call you to Jesus
Take risks of obedience when given
Take Opportunities of Service – when you have chances to serve even if you are not sure yet what you GIFTS are, begin serving
Understanding for Christians is often on the other side of obedience
Follow the Clues of your Passions – look at what makes your heart race
Look at what you have imagination for
Look at what bothers you in our church
How are you meant to BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
Follow the Clues of Confirmations from Community
Pay attention when those in your community feel deeply encouraged by your service
Pay attention when you are being used to build the body up
Paul reminded Timothy that the church had prayed words over Him about his calling
Practice Using Gifts - once you get an idea about something realize that it will take development
A gift can be neglected
Practice in your Life Group – you may sense God gving you special insight for a person
You may notice a skill at explaining hard to grasp things
You may sense it is easy for you to bring people and be open about your faith
You may have vision for new things your life group or our church could do
Capacity - God has given you gift but you may not know yet the space it will fill
Development - is in consistency
Acceleration - acceleration is a gift God occasionally gives
June 23: The Gifting of the Holy Spirit
June 16: Seal | Evidence of Adoption
June 16: Groups Guide
About This Guide
The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
pdf download
Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.
Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.
more Resources
Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.
Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.
Love
Teaching Text: 1 John 2: 29 - 3: 2
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Seal | Evidence of Adoption
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What are some unique personality traits in your family of origin?
What are some habits that are unique to your family growing up?
A family image.
In the book of Genesis, the author is describing the thought process of the creator God and writes:
“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
– Genesis 1:26-27
Image: the Hebrew word is selem and in the bible it is mostly used— outside of this verse and a few others in Genesis—to describe idols. We tend to talk about idols today in sort of metaphorical terms: things that we build our lives and worth around that are not God (work as an idol, marriage as an idol, etc. But biblically idols were very literal—they were structures made of materials that people carved or smelted into the shape of other created things (whether animals or other humans) and then they worshipped those structures.
“You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god— which you made for yourselves.”
– Amos 5:26
That same word is used in the psalms to describe a phantom or a shadow—something that has form, but no substance—like the same way a ghost is an image of a human being, but is in fact disconnected from its life source.
“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.”
– Psalms 39:6
God takes his image very seriously. Later in Genesis, God is speaking—making a new covenant with Noah. God says:
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.”
– Genesis 9:6
You and every person you have ever met carries the image of the creator. Being made in the image of God means that you have inherent worth and value as derived from the one who gave you that image.
The word “Likeness” (in Hebrew demut): is used to compare things that are similar in substance. This one thing is like this one other thing—they share a quality or qualities.
When Isaiah is prophesying trying to put into words what he’s hearing, he says:
Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.
– Isaiah 13:4 NIV
We were created in God’s image and likeness. We both bear the mark of creator God in our physical bodies, but we were also meant to share in his character–in the substance of who he is.
The image of God in you is immutable. It cannot be changed.
Wherever you are, whatever you do in this world, you will always carry the indelible mark of the one who created you. We look like our Father.
So we carry the indelible mark of our creator, but the fall did happen. And part of what was broken or injured was the likeness. The separation that humanity experienced made us not unlike the phantom images the psalmists wrote about. The events in the garden disconnected us from the source of life and cast a shadow over the likeness of God in us.
And that is what Jesus came to repair. It says in Colossians that:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…– Colossians 1:19
Jesus came and showed us how to live, not only as an image of God, but also in his likeness–the full likeness of God, in Jesus.
Jesus, through his life, showed us how to live by the power of the spirit–the spirit is what re-creates us the likeness of God that was marred in the garden.
“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:5
In the biblical story, seals were a big deal. It was the way you authenticate a message from a person of importance, usually a king. It indicates a decision that cannot be changed.
“Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”
– Esther 8:8
The clear implication here is that once you believe the good news and receive the Holy Spirit. That the King—our living and eternal king has made a decision about you that cannot be changed
Here, the thing that is promised, the thing that God has sealed and made an irrevocable deposit toward is our full and complete redemption.
Like the immutable image of God in us, the seal and deposit of the Holy Spirit makes God’s likeness in us an inevitability—it makes it a promise. This is the description that Paul is giving us and the picture that John is painting for us.
When you see Jesus, you will be like him. You will be like him. Somehow in the mystery of the gospel and of grace, by the power of the holy spirit, what was lost in the garden will be fully restored to us when we see our savior face-to-face.
There will be an unmistakable family resemblance—not just appearance, but also character.
That is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives—reconciliation into the family of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
– Galatians 5:22-23
June 9: Teacher | Reminder | Keeper
June 9: Groups Guide
About This Guide
The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
pdf download
Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.
Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.
more Resources
Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.
Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.
Love
Teaching Text: John 14: 25-27
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Teacher | Reminder | Keeper
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What aspects make for a good life in NYC?
If we pay attention to our city we can hear the question being asked, being lived. WHAT MAKES A GOOD LIFE?
We see the Spirit of God at work in Creation.
In the opening moments of Genesis, in the poetry of the creation account in Torah, we have a picture of God as Spirit.
We see the role of the Holy Spirit in initiating New Creation
When Jesus goes to begin His public ministry, we have this powerful picture again. The picture is of the Spirit as a Bird, descending on Jesus.
The Holy Spirit gives birth to the New Creation community of Jesus
All of what we see Christ doing throughout the Gospels is done in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And this is the very same Spirit that fills you and I. The life of God in the soul of a person.
Jesus says in the upper room…
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
John 14
The Spirit of God Teaches Us - instructs us, helps us with discoveries of who God is.
The Spirit of God Reminds Us of what we have come to know - often in crucial moments the Spirit will pull into our minds and hearts who Jesus is, what God has said is true about us, how life actually works.
Jesus’ expectation for us is that the Spirit will give them a share in the peace that He experiences. The Holy Spirit will give them, give us a share of The Shalom of God.
2 Corinthians 5 says … “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
You may be familiar with a translation that says if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation.
THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES US ALIVE IN A WAY THAT WE WERE NOT BEFORE
The apostle Paul puts in “I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” – Ephesians 3 v 16-17
THE SPIRIT COMES TO DWELL IN OUR INNER BEING.
Romans 5 says the Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts.
So now there is a new way to live, a new way to operate, a new way to change that is not simply our already formed MIND, WILL, and EMOTIONS.
We are in the REALM OF THE SPIRIT.
Our minds are renewed, and our decision-making is changed by God.
ONE WAY TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS OUR SOUL BEGINS TO BE HEALED
THE GOSPEL IS NOT JUST PUNCHING YOUR TICKET FOR AN AFTERLIFE IN PARADISE. IT IS HEALING YOUR SOUL SO YOU CAN BEAR BEING IN GOD’S FULLY REVEALED PRESENCE
SO YOU CAN BE FULLY ALIVE.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. “
– 2 Corinthians 4 v 16
How does this reality inspire you to change how you live?
THE SPIRIT IS OUR TEACHER AND REMINDER
BUT THERE ARE SOME PLACES THE SPIRIT HAS PROMISED TO MINISTER TO US
TO TEACH AND REMIND US.
SCRIPTURE. WORSHIP. COMMUNITY. PRAYER
How much is your life ordered around the practices that engage specifically with the Holy spirit?
SCRIPTURE. WORSHIP. COMMUNITY. PRAYER
The Spirit might teach and remind us in many ways in our life, but these are four places we can expect the Spirit to minister to us
THIS IS A CRUCIAL PART OF THE HEALING OF OUR SOULS
Scripture - the stories of Jesus, God’s work in the world, in the armor of God, the sword of the spirit is the word of God
Worship - the narrative of the Scripture shows us over and over again that God inhabits the praises of his people.
The ministry of the Spirit is to lift of the life of Christ. When we worship we are agreeing and participating in that.
Worship helps to re-orient our affections, it begins to direct and reinforce our love to the highest aim of God rather than some other lesser thing.
So those lesser things find their proportion and place
Community - the priesthood of all believers, we minster the Spirit to each other, where two or more are gathered in God’s name, God is there.
Prayer - as we grow in talking and listening to God we learn to discern how God speaks to us, often in a still small voice in our inner being, prompts and invitations to love, conviction or correction when we have drifted from God’s way
So the Spirit is teaching, but the Spirit is often teaching by reminding …
Reminding
I often experience this as conviction in my heart or mind…
Of identity + Of correction + Of promises
ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE YOUR INSTRUCTOR AND REMINDER TODAY, IN YOUR INNER BEING.
I want the last words of this meditation to be the words of this prayer for the ministry of the Holy Spirit…
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
– Ephesians 3 v 16-21
Pray this prayer over one another in your small group, family, marriage, friendships…
June 2: Groups Guide
About This Guide
The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
pdf download
Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.
Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.
more Resources
Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.
Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.
Love
Teaching Text: Roman 8: 9-14
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodiesbecause of his Spirit who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Advocate | Intecessor
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
How do you observe shame being used or leveraged in our culture?
Specifically, do you see shame playing a role in relationships you have?
Is Christianity a set of thoughts about God in our head that we have organized in the right or satisfactory way or is it something more?
Certainly, there are essential beliefs, but what is the experience?
And since the experience can be so subjective, can we really say anything definitive about what must be true of it?
Is it dangerous to have a set expectation about what the experience of being a Christian should be like to be real and true or enough?
We certainly have testimony from the ages, from the saints of the past that the same Christian life might have rapturous joy in God's presence; a full emotional fire at God's nearness and also seasons of dryness, distance, and even dark nights of the soul.
Jesus said “it is good that I go away, because My Father will send you The Spirit” - THE PARAKLETOS
The Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor. This word is so rich and holds for us some pointers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus prophetically tells them about the sending of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's ministry.
And then they wait and pray and wait and pray, and at Pentecost—50 days after the Passover—Christ died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
WE HAVE THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Spirit is poured out, and the church is born.
And the community they form by the Spirit is an heart-stirring and beautiful
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
– Acts 2 v 42-47
They see Jesus’ promise prove true.
They experience the Holy Spirit as Parakletos. Helper. Comforter. Advocate. Intercessor.
SO: Yes, Christianity is something you believe
But it is also something you experience
And it becomes something that you live.
And if you have only had the belief, the thoughts about God organized a certain way, and never the experience, never the fullness of life, I want to tell you THERE IS MORE
More of Jesus. Poured out in our hearts and minds and bodies by the Holy Spirit.
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
– Romans 8 v 9-14
The Spirit of God makes us alive in Christ. In the Gospel.
The realm of the flesh is about living the human story by human resources
The realm of the flesh is all your natural resources for living that don’t include awareness of, surrender to, or love for God.
The realm of the spirit is living with a dependence and trust on the loving kindness that is God.
Two ways the Spirit ministers the life of God in us
The Spirit lifts our shame
The Spirit helps us pray
The Spirit lifts our Shame | Advocate
Applies what is true of Jesus to us
Forgivness for all sin
Power to break free from any pattern or thought
Uncontrollable anxiety
Lust and pornography
Destructive patterns with alcohol
Anger and a vision of masculinity rooted in aggression rather than sacrificial love
Love of comfort
Measuring success in materialism
Really defensive when criticized
The Holy Spirit is my advocate
THE SPIRIT HELPS US PRAY | Intercessor
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
– Romans 8 v 26-28
When you pray you aren’t praying alone.
When you are out of words, you can still pray
No matter where we start we can come to alignment with God’s will through prayer
What place of your life does shame reside?
How is the Spirit trying to address that place and apply what is true of Jesus to that part of your life?
May 26: Groups Guide
About This Guide
The online groups guide is designed as a teaching series companion to foster discussion, study, and prayer, especially in a group setting.
Join a weekly group for a meaningful way to connect to our community.
pdf download
Download this PDF to help you make a plan to follow Jesus in your everyday life, including diagnostic questions to help get you started.
Pickup a print version at our weekly in-person Sunday gatherings.
more Resources
Explore a curated online collection of recommended practices and resources to pursue presence, formation, and love in your life.
Questions about the series or looking for a way to get involved? Contact us.
Love
Teaching Text: John 14: 15-21
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Helper | Comforter
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
What is the Holy Spirit’s purpose?
The New Testament’s Greek word to describe the Holy Spirit is Parakletos - one summoned or called alongside.
“If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
– John 14 v 15-17
This one being given is helper, advocate - PARAKLETOS.
You will know the Spirit, the Spirit will be in you..
Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
– John14 v 23-27
This Holy Spirit will point to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is eternal, is our teacher, our reminder, and peace.
The Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity, sent from the Father., given by the Son. The Spirit is God.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
– John 15 v 26-27
So The Spirit Comforts us by Making Jesus Known
Jesus SAYS…The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, He has anointed Me ...
To proclaim the gospel to those who need it
Freedom for those who are trapped
Sight for those who cannot see
Release for those who are oppressed
And favor from God
When the Holy Spirit is lifting up Jesus in our midst:
We know and remember we are can be forgiven and united to God - What Jesus has done has accomplished that so we can come in Jesus’ name, not our own deserving or performance
We can be set free from those things that ensnare us
We can see where have not been able to - vision for our life
We can experience freedom even in a world with broken systems that attempt to crush us
We can know God doesn’t just love us, God like us
God is with us in our pain
God has put a time limit on it, and God will be present when it is gone.
The Lord is near
God comforts us with His Presence -
Many times the Holy Spirit will let us know God is near
It may not resolve every circumstance in the moment
But You are loved and God is with you is a powerful sense from the Holy Spirit
God comforts us with His Promises - we have times where we hold these promises without the benefit of feeling better right away
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
– 2 Peter 1 v 3-4
Here’s just a few …
I will never leave you or forsake
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you
Nothing will snatch you out of My hand
My peace I give you
And on and on…
All the promises of God are yes for us in Christ. The Spirit is our guide to live these promises.
God comforts us with Intervention - sometimes the Spirit will comfort us with direct change
God comforts us with Sustaining and Endurance
Here’s the thing…
Your anxiety, your depression, your illness, you loneliness, your addiction, your sin has a limited time.
God is before and God is after. You are untied to God in Christ.
So God will remove your suffering or carry you through it
and in both experiences … And the Holy Spirit is your Comforter and Helper
Do you need comfort today?
Do you need help?
This is what the Holy Spirit does.
Where in your life do you need the Holy Spirit to bring comfort?
May 26: Helper | Comforter
May 19: Groups Guide
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Love
Teaching Text: Acts 2: 1-41
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT | Meditations on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
The Promise
The Outpouring
The Counterfeits and Questions
The Invitation
How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in your life?
Do you live with an expectation of the Spirit’s nearness and awareness?
The Promise
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
– Acts 1 v 4-5
Pentecost is a reminder that God keeps His promises.
Don’t be so sure that all you’ve tasted is all there is. God may have a day of revelation on the way.
The Outpouring
The story opens…
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
– Acts 2 v 1-4
The Holy Spirit makes the presence of God known and people are filled.
Two challenges.
1. If it doesn’t happen like this its not the Holy Spirit
2. Or we go the other way and ignore what’s possible - these were a one time thing
The Spirit can speak as a gentle whisper
The Spirit may move as an inner conviction or an insight when reading the Bible
But The Spirit may also break through your categories.
A sound like a violent wind
Visuals of tongues of fire
Physical sensation and empowerment.
The outpouring is God making His love alive and knowable.
The Holy Spirit is not simply to give us a memorable experience but to make the goodness and love and victory of Jesus known.
This account ends with people being cut to the heart and trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord
Have you seen people experiencing the Spirit, and it leads to them relating to Jesus more?
The Counterfeits and Questions
Some of us long to be filled with the Spirit, but there is also a place in us that we will not surrender. Our experience of God is shallow because we know we are keeping certain things in our control.
In the text:
People think they are drunk and grasp for a reasonable explanation
People are afraid and wonder what is happening
There is confusion and distraction - how is this happening and theories shared
There are commitments to the world’s power structures
Our problem is not a new problem.
Alcohol is the one example here but there are many. Some in the crowd think they are drunk. And it’s not just a random possibility or comparison.
Booze can help you escape stress for a time, it can make you feel connection, it can give you temporary courage, it can turn the volume down on your pain.
Jesus turned water into wine. The traditional cup of communion is wine, but many of us have appetites that we satiate that are substitutes for the Holy Spirit.
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
– Ephesians 5 v 18-20
Pentecost is a challenge to our appetites that lead us away from God
What appetites can you recognize in your life that are substitutes for experiencing the Holy Spirit?
Some of us are just afraid. Or when spiritual longing comes up in us it is always mixed with fear. Fear of losing control. Fear of it not working for us. Fear of failing later. Anxiety
There is confusion and bewilderment in this story. People don’t have categories for what they are seeing.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
– 2 Timothy 1 v 7
Pentecost is a call out of our fear and into the experience of God’s love.
Some of us know the confusion and distraction - we go down the rabbit holes of our own questions and never take what God is offering us.
Pentecost is a call to be present to what God is doing - now, today
Some on Pentecost had deep commitments to the world’s power structures. They wanted to keep things as they were.
God has no problem shaking up our allegiances if they are misplaced.
Many of us are finding to stay in charge of our lives but let God consult.
Peter has to confront those who wanted Jesus out of the way so their way could go on..
Pentecost is a challenge to surrender to God. To let go of having to be the one in control.
The Invitation
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
– ACTS 2 v 36-39
When the Spirit moved through the message of Jesus, people were cut to the heart.
Cut to the Heart
And the call to trust Christ and be filled with the Spirit is open to…
All who are near. All who are far.
“This work of God is wonderfully inclusive, because there is no category of people which is left out: both genders, all ages, all social classes. But it is wonderfully focused, because it happens to all ‘who call on the name of the Lord.”
– NT Wright
What is your ask of God regarding the Holy Spirit?
Where in your life do you want the Holy Spirit to reach in to?
