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Group Guide

September 3rd, 2023
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This Week's City 7:

6. Is the Bible God’s Word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s Word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

Ice-Breaker:

What kind of church did you grow up in, if any? What kinds of things did they teach about the Holy Spirit?

Discussion Questions:

  • Brandon talked on Sunday about the importance of right theology. It's critical that we work to maintain a right understanding of Scripture so that we don't unintentionally veer off track. Scripture is sacred and truth matters. We should all guard against believing wrongly about His Kingdom. What about you? How much thought do you give to theology? How skeptical are you of things your read in books or hear in sermons, or do you pretty much just trust them as the gospel truth? What might be the danger here?

  • Most people, when they think of where the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, would go to the book of Acts. They might think of the upper room at Pentecost when the Spirit fell and they all spoke in different languages. But if we are going to study who the Holy Spirit is, we have to start WAY back at the very beginning. Genesis 1:1-2 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." Then in verse 26 God said, "Let US make human beings in OUR image, to be like US." So the Holy Spirit has existed from the very beginning. The first point from Sunday was, "The Holy Spirit is GOD." He has all the same attributes as God. He's all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal and everywhere all the time. He is the third member of the Trinity. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. While they all serve different functions in relations to creation and God's plan for redemption, they are all equal in their divinity and deity. Is any of this information new to you? When you think of God creating all there is, do you think of Him being alone?

  • The second point was, "The Holy Spirit is a PERSON." He's not an "it" or force that we can wield whenever we want. He's a person that has a personality. He has a mind and a will. He loves and thinks and has emotions. What was the most eye-opening part for you from these two points? Where have you either had a wrong belief or a lack of understanding when it comes to the Holy Spirit being a person?

  • The Big Idea was, "The Holy Spirit is GOD with US." Think for a minute about Jesus and His ministry. Imagine being one of His disciples. You not only get to be with Him all day every day, see all the miracles first-hand and sit under His teaching, but you are His FRIEND! How amazing would it be to have Him physically and personally in your life? But before He ascended, Jesus told the disciples it's better that He go so that the Holy Spirit could come. That's how important Jesus thought is was that we be able to have the Spirit in our lives. He's the one that brings regeneration and sanctifies us. He comforts and counsels and leads and guides. He empowers us to do the work of the Kingdom. And He gives us each spiritual gifts so that we might serve His church. A life without the Spirit is a powerless, ineffective one. How active is the Holy Spirit in YOUR life? Can you say you know what it is to live by the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you know what your spiritual gifts are?

  • Ultimately, we all fall into one of these three camps... Which one are YOU in and what is God asking you to do as we continue in this series for the next few weeks? 
    • 1. You know nothing of the Holy Spirit.
      • Haven't given it much thought
      • Maybe just realizing you are missing something
      • Want to grow in this area
    • 2. You know of the Spirit, but have resisted Him.
      • You don't obey because you're not sure if it's His voice
      • You're afraid people will think you're weird
    • 3. You know Him, follow Him, but want to grow in your capacity to hear Him.
      • Want to grow in your obedience and ability to discern His voice
      • Want to know what it means to truly walk with Him

Prayer Topics:

  • That we would invest the time to get to know the Holy Spirt... who He is and what He does. 
  • That we would grow in our obedience and seek to be empowered by Him.
  • That we would learn to hear His voice.

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