Living and Worshipping in the Power of the Holy Spirit
September 28, 2015 | by: Lars Haglund | 0 Comments
Posted in: Sermon Questions
PARTICIPANT'S GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP GATHERINGS
Sermon: Living and Worship in the Power of the Holy Spirit, September 27th, 2015
Series: Nehemiah: Building for the Future
Speaker: Pastor Anthony Orzo
Primary Passages: John 4:23-24, Ephesians 5:18-20
Cross Referenced Passages: Psalm 150, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 2:12
Sermon Questions:
1. Being filled with the Holy Spirit has unfortunately become one of the most confusing statements in the modern Christian Church. In the message Pastor Anthony said there are two root issues driving every area of confusion when it comes to the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
a) The first is when a believer or church sensationalizes the work of Holy Spirit. (i.e. they take the handful of miraculous ways the Holy Spirit works in Scripture and tells other people if those miracles aren’t happening in your life on a regular basis you don’t really know Jesus.)
b) The second root issue is when a believer or church devalues the work of the Holy Spirit. (i.e. the Holy Spirit is treated like an unwelcomed guest we’d prefer to keep locked up in the back of the church because we’re afraid of being identified with some of the modern abuses we’ve seen with God’s Holy Spirit in our culture.)
- Has there ever been a time where you were a part of, seen or experienced either of these abuses? If so, please explain. How can these abuses push people away from Jesus?
2. The Holy Spirit’s main job is to lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus by revealing God’s truth to their hearts. In other words, “He is God’s spotlight on Jesus sent into the world to draw attention to Jesus.”
- How does this effect our worship to God for who He is, not who we want to make Him out to be?
3. In Ephesians 5, Paul uses the example of drunkenness to warn us. We should never saturate our hearts with anything in this life to deal with life- whether it’s alcohol, money, material items, relationships, etc.
But, when we choose to be saturated and filled with the Holy Spirit who promises to lead us to an unrivaled fulfillment and stability in Christ, our hearts begin to sing a very different life-song. To be filled with the Spirit like Paul speaks of - is a daily discipline of shepherding your heart to meditate on and grow in the Grace of Jesus.
- Can you point to a time when you let something outside the Holy Spirit saturate your life? (i.e. you sang the song of bitterness, sadness, hurt & anger so many in our world sing today.) If so, please explain.
- What steps did you take to re-saturate your life in Jesus’ Truth by the power of the Spirit?
- How do the life changing promises of Jesus give you a desire to share Christ with others that lack hope? Please be specific.
4. When talking about worship in the local church, it was mentioned that we must never “start worshipping the music or style---at the expense of the God the music seeks to lead us to.”
• Why is it dangerous to deem a preferential expression of worship invalid if it is Biblical in it’s substance?
5. It was also said “If we reduce worship to a musical style or simply see it as a set of catchy tunes we like to sing, it means we have entirely missed the heart of what Gospel-centered worship is.” This is more like what our “pop consumer driven” worship culture says; I’m more in love with the idea of what I think I can get from God, rather than just loving and worshipping God, because they just genuinely love God.
- How can we be a people that worship God with a heart deep “contribution culture” like the Gospel is supposed to produce in our hearts?
- How can we orient our entire life around worshipping in a way that gives back to God and represents Him well in every area of life?
Conclusion Discussion:
If you are stumbling through your faith and feeling empty, how can you remove the things damming up your heart to be saturated with the Holy Spirit?
- How can the ways you’re filled up with the Spirit on Sundays set the pace for the fullness you experience in life every day- living in the promises of the Gospel, and sharing the grace of Jesus with others?
