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Group Guide

September 17th, 2023
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This Week's City 7:

1. Who is Jesus? I believe Jesus is God because Jesus said He is God and proved it by rising from the dead and appearing to His disciples, His brother James, 500 others at one time and Paul.
(Mark 3:21; John 8:58, 10:30-33, 14:9-11; Acts 9:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:2-3; James 1:1)

Ice-Breaker:

What has been the biggest surprise of this series? What have you learned that you didn't know before? 

Discussion Questions:

  • On Sunday, Clayton explained how the Holy Spirit works in and through us. In which of these ways have you seen the Spirit work in you? Give examples. Here is the list he shared:
    • The WORKS of the Holy Spirit
      • Vivifying - brings life to non-life
      • Comforting - our comforter and advocate
      • Empowering - giving strength, courage, boldness
      • Sanctifying - producing holiness, convicting of sin
      • Revealing - guiding, speaking, showing
      • Unifying - bringing believers together with one heart and mind
      • Inscripturating - inspiring the authors of Scripture to write

  • One of the ways we can know that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives is that we will start to exhibit more and more fruits of the Spirit. This happens during the process of sanctification as the Spirit makes us more and more like Jesus. He weeds out the ugliness in us, the things that don't please Him, and replaces them with the things of Him. Below is the list of the fruits of the Spirit. Which of them need the most growth in your life? 
    • LOVE (for God, Word, Church, the lost, prayer, worship)
    • JOY (in the Lord, of our salvation)
    • PEACE (calmness and confidence)
    • PATIENCE (grace towards others knowing that God is patient with you)
    • KINDNESS (not jerks, not arrogant, generosity and empathy towards others)
    • GOODNESS (working for benefit of others instead of self)
    • FAITHFULNESS (consistent in spite of cost or circumstances)
    • GENTLENESS (not forceful or harsh)
    • SELF-CONTROL (HS empowered discipline to resist temptation, flesh)

  • When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit who now lives inside us. And He doesn't come empty handed! He gives each one of us several spiritual gifts. These are not natural talents that we are born with. They are spiritual gifts that we receive when we are born again. Over time we are to use these gifts to serve the church and to grow in the gifts as we grow in obedience. Michael Bird said, "A spiritual gift is an empowerment from God for God’s people through the Spirit for spiritual work in the church. Some gifts appear to magnify ordinary attitudes and talents (e.g., leadership, generosity, helping), while other gifts are out of the ordinary and have a supernatural quality (e.g., prophecy, tongues, etc.)" Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? Take some time right now, go to the prayer tab on the app, and take the spiritual gifts test provided there. Are you surprised by the results? How can you better serve the church and this group with those gifts?

  • The big idea from Sunday was that the Spirit will work IN and THROUGH you. We say often that we are a church of Word and Spirit. All Word and no Spirit, you'll dry up. All Spirit and no Word, you'll blow up. But if we get enough of both, we will grow up! Walking with the Spirit and spending time in His Word is the way we move towards spiritual growth and maturity. What is God saying to you through this series? How is He asking you to grow in the Holy Spirit?

Prayer Topics:

  • That we would seek to serve with our spiritual gifts. 
  • That we would grow in the fruits of the Spirit.
  • That we would allow the Spirit to work in and through the Spirit.

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