THE KINGDOM: WEEK 6 THE HOLY SPIRIT
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LOOK BACK:
- Do you know for sure that when you die you will be united with God in heaven?
- What did you do this past week to bring heaven and earth closer together?
- How did it go? Did God bless you?
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Look Up:
Watch this video from us.
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Review the notes below.
The Spirit is, first and foremost, God’s personal presence. Before creation even began, the spirit of God is hovering over the dark, disordered waters of the earth, ready to begin spreading goodness and creation. Throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit empowers individuals for specific tasks; Joseph is empowered to understand and interpret dreams Betzalel is empowered to create beautiful things for the tabernacle, the prophets are empowered to bring messages from God. While God’s spirit had created a good and perfect world, humans had given in to evil and unleashed chaos into it through their injustice. Mankind had returned the earth to the dark, disordered state that it was in when the spirit of God was first hovering over it. But, the spirit of God would come again, to transform the human heart and empower people to truly love God and others.
At the beginning of Christ’s mission, God’s spirit comes down in the form of a dove and empowers Him to begin his mission of healing the human condition and starting a new creation. He heals people and forgives them for their sins. Religious leaders see this as a threat, and have Jesus killed. Jesus is resurrected and appears to His closest followers and breaths into them the Holy Spirit, empowering them to spread God’s goodness throughout the world. Soon, God’s spirit comes over all of His followers. Today, through the power Christ has given His followers, God’s spirit continues to hover over a dark and chaotic world, slowly healing it and working towards the day when it is restored to its former glory.
Look In: Discussion
- How is our lost world of today similar to Genesis 1:1?
- Is the “power of the Holy Spirit” exclusively a New Testament concept? Are there some OT examples?
- How is a renewing of the heart and an empowering of the Holy Spirit comparable?
- What are followers and disciples of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit to do?
Look Forward:
Throughout the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit’s power used to empower individuals for specific tasks. The followers of Jesus are empowered too, to spread God’s goodness throughout the world.
- How do we become empowered by the Holy Spirit?
What are ways we can spread God’s goodness to a lost world - What is the Spirit telling you the one thing you can do this week to spread God’s goodness?
- How will you do it? When where and with whom?
Pray for one another to do it and be ready to share what God does with your obedience.
Helpful Resources:
The Bible Project: Who is the Holy Spirit?
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