Supernatural Power for Living

Supernatural Power for Living

Theme:Living in the Spirit

Objectives:

• Know: The Holy Spirit works in people's lives, both saved and lost, to accomplish God's purposes.
• Think: Live each day with the awareness that the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to live for God in a secular culture.
• Do: Depend on the power and guidance of the Spirit in order to live for God in a secular culture.

Scripture:

• John 15:18-27
• John 17:15-19
• 2 Peter 1:3-4

Notes and questions

• B1 When the situation in our culture is evil do we stay or leave? Why?
• B2 What help do we have? (The Holy Spirit).
• B3 What is the Holy Spirit?
• C1 The Holy Spirit is a being, a person of the Holy Trinity.
• C2 See R. Daniel Dickey's teaching series on the Holy Spirit.
• C3 The word "spirit"
• D1 Hebrew: (source)
• ruach: breath, wind, spirit
• Original Word: ר֫וּחַ
• Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
• Transliteration: ruach
• Phonetic Spelling: (roo'-akh)
• How it is translated depends on the context. The idea is the same and refers to (in general) to something that isn't seen but has an effect (as in a windy day), causes an effect (our breathing), or is an effect (as a person/personality for example the Holy Spirit, spirits, our spirit, etc.).
• D2 Greek--τνεῦμα, which is essentially the same.
• C4 Some facts (Source)
• D1 He is a person--the characteristics of a living being
• E1 Intellect--1 Corinthians 2:10
• E2 Knowledge--1 Corinthians 2:11
• E3 Mind--Romans 8:27 and Ephesians 1:17
• E4 Emotions--Ephesians 4:30
• E5 Will--Acts 16:6
• D2 He has actions--the characteristics of what living beings do
• E1 Teaches--John 14:16 and John 14:26
• E2 Testifies--John 15:26-27
• E3 Guides--John 16:33
• E4 Regenerates--Titus 3:5
• E5 Convicts--John 16:8
• E6 Intercedes--Romans 8:26-28
• E7 Commands--Acts 13:2-4, Acts 8:29, and Acts 16:6
• D3 He has emotions and attributes of personality. He can be
• E1 Grieved--Ephesians 4:30, Isaiah 63:10
• E2 Blasphemed--Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29-30
• E3 Resisted--Acts 7:51
• E4 Lied to--Acts 5:30
• E5 Obeyed--Acts 10
• D4 He has the titles of deity as the Spirit of God, etc.
• D5 Divine attributes
• E1 Life--Romans 8:2, etc.
• E2 Omniscience--1 Corinthians 2:10-13
• E3 Omnipotence--Job 33:4
• E4 Omnipresence--Psalms 139:7-10
• E5 Eternity--Hebrews 9:14
• E6 Holiness--Matthew 12:32
• E7 Love--Galatians 5:22
• E8 Truth--John 14:17
• B4 How does the Christian lifestyle (as in the New Testament) different from the non-Christian? (See Galatians 5:16-26).
• B5 What is the work of the Holy Spirit in a human?
• C1 No one seeks God. Romans 3
• C2 All people are dead in sins and trespasses. Ephesians 2:1
• C3 All people are in darkness. Luke 1:79, John 12:46, Acts 26:18, Ephesians 5:8
• C4 The Holy Spirit initiates salvation (prevenient grace). John 6:44 (Father), John 12:32 (Son, Jesus), and John 16:8 (Spirit). No human can initiate salvation. Both Pelagian and semi-pelagian views are heresy. For a discussion of this see here and here.
• D1 Pelagian teaches that there is some good in humans and that they can seek God on their own free will. God's grace then brings salvation. This is wrong because there is no good in humans (in God's terms), nor do people seek God) Luke 18:19, Romans 3:10-11, and Romans 3:23.
• D2 Semi-pelagianism teaches that humans have no good in them and that God looks for some effort or good intention of their own effort for salvation (thus the "seek God, and He will seek you" and "seek God" messages that many use). This is wrong because no one seeks God or salvation. Romans 3:10-11, Romans 3:23.
• C5 God opens the spiritually darkened eyes of humans, so that we can understand our lost, sinful condition and salvation. God initiates salvation, not humans. Acts 26:16-18, Acts 16:14, 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, John 1:9, Ephesians 4:18, Ephesians 5:8, etc.
• B6

• B7 Do we ever compromise Christian beliefs?
• B8 Who reveals the truth to unbelievers?
• B9 "There are two ways Christians wrongly engage the world: seclusion or secularization." Jacob Riggs author of the Sunday School lesson "Living in the Spirit" as found in the D6 Fusion teacher's book June to August 2016. Do you agree with this statement? The author points out that both are wrong and references John 17:15-19, 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:17-24. The author then points out the correct attitude is that we are sent. John 17:18 and many times in John 17.
• B10 Why are we sent? (To preach and live the Gospel).
• B11 How does Christianity slide into the secular life? (A little at a time. It usually starts with the rejection of the final authority of the plain, normal reading and interpretation of Scripture).
• B12 What is the greatest need for the church today?
• B13 What is the greatest danger that the church faces today?
• B14 What is a Christian life? (Living by the rules that the Lord Jesus and His 12 Apostles taught).
• B15 How can we do this, since we are weak and prone to fail?
• C1 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4 NKJV)
• C2 Can we apply this verse to our lives? "And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)
• C3 How does this verse apply to us? "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)
• C4 We need God's help. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)
• C5 God is the source of our strength. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5 NKJV)
• B16 Gifts of the Spirit.
• C1 Refer to God's help, not some kind of show in a religious meeting.
• C2 Refer to furthering the Gospel and ministering to others especially those of our faith--Biblical Christianity.
• C3 "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:4-12 NKJV)
• B17 What kind of help do we need today to live a Christian life?
• B18 God will help us this week.

Christianity Marginalized

Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. (1 Peter 4:16 NRSV)

The picture is of the Marius & Ruth Bodnariu family who now have their children returned to them.

(Jacob Riggs is a graduate of Welch College (B.A.), and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div.). He presently pastors in Royal Oak, Michigan).

Saving Marriage

Saving Marriage

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24 NKJV)

Divorce Statistics in the USA (source)

• Divorce Rate Statistics of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Marriages

Various studies on US rate of divorce show significant differences when a comparison is made in 1st, 2nd and 3rd marriage breakups in America. The marriage breakup rate in America for first marriage is 41% to 50%; the rate after second marriage is from 60% to 67% and the rate in America for 3rd marriage are from 73% to 74%. Reports also say that couples with children have a slightly lower rate of breakup as compared to couples without children. This is due to the fact that being childless is one of the prime causes behind divorce in America. Also, the children of divorced parents are prone to divorcing 4 times more than the children of couples who are not divorced.

• Drop in Divorce rate:
  Rates have been dropping during the last few decades. Data indicates that marriages have lasted longer in the 21st century as compared to the success rate of marriages in the 1990s. Also experts believe that the current rates trend might go down more in coming years as more and more couples prefer a live-in relationship. This is a type of relationship where couples live together like partners without marrying.

Much could be said about the importance of marriage, the Biblical view of marriage, why be married, etc. but I wanted to share one couple’s story. You may have read this already.

Richard Paul Evans and his wife were having problems:

For years my wife Keri and I struggled. Looking back, I’m not exactly sure what initially drew us together, but our personalities didn’t quite match up. And the longer we were married the more extreme the differences seemed. Encountering “fame and fortune” didn’t make our marriage any easier. In fact, it exacerbated our problems. The tension between us got so bad that going out on book tour became a relief, though it seems we always paid for it on re-entry. Our fighting became so constant that it was difficult to even imagine a peaceful relationship. We became perpetually defensive, building emotional fortresses around our hearts. We were on the edge of divorce and more than once we discussed it.

Finally he could not take it anymore:

I was on book tour when things came to a head. We had just had another big fight on the phone and Keri had hung up on me. I was alone and lonely, frustrated and angry. I had reached my limit. That’s when I turned to God.

What he did

You can’t change her, Rick. You can only change yourself. At that moment I began to pray. If I can’t change her, God, then change me. I prayed late into the night. I prayed the next day on the flight home. I prayed as I walked in the door to a cold wife who barely even acknowledged me. That night, as we lay in our bed, inches from each other yet miles apart, the inspiration came. I knew what I had to do.

The next morning I rolled over in bed next to Keri and asked, “How can I make your day better?”

Keri looked at me angrily. “What?”

“How can I make your day better?”

“You can’t,” she said. “Why are you asking that?”

“Because I mean it,” I said. “I just want to know what I can do to make your day better.”

She looked at me cynically. “You want to do something? Go clean the kitchen.”

How did it turn out?

I’m grateful that my family is still intact and that I still have my wife, my best friend, in bed next to me when I wake in the morning.

Definitely a good read. Read all of it.

Love is a choice. We can choose to really love our spouse.

Love in the Bible--consider

• Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. (John 15:13 NKJV)

• If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8 NRSV)

Can we know?

Theme: What is truth?

Objectives

• Know: God and His Word are the absolute standard for all moral truth.
• Think: Live with the mindset that Christ and His Word reveal absolute, objective truth.
• Do: Go to Christ and His Word to find truth, and then put it into practice.

Scripture:

• John 18:37-38
• John 14:6
• John 17:17

Notes and questions

B1 What is truth?

• C1 Important question. It should not be dismissed by something trite like "just believe the Bible." As Christians we can find answers.
• C2 What it is not. Relativity
• D1 Consider are these true? What do they think? What is reality?
• E1 Anorexia

• E2 Great singer?

• D2 Short changed, that is, buying something, paying for it, and not receiving the correct change.
• E1

• E2

• E3 Every been cheated at a vending machine?

• D3 Is what we see true?
• E1

• E2

• D4 What other examples can you think of?
• C3 What truth is
• D1 Philosophical considerations--there are many theories of truth. Search on your search engine for "theories of truth"
• D2 Three main theories of truth
• E1 Correspondence--something is real, thus true, if it corresponds to a verifiable fact/reality. An example would be, this is my hand. This is true because I can feel it, see it, and use it.
• E2 Coherence--something is real, thus true, if it agrees logically with other knowledge we have and with what others know to be true. My hand is real because it agrees logically with what a hand looks, feels, and acts like. It also fits with the context of where it is.
• E3 Pragmatic--something is real, thus true, if it is useful to us or works in practice. My hand is real because I can use it today and expect to use it tomorrow.
• E4 Another example of these would be a shoe, a table, a cell phone, etc.
• D3 Objective truth--is there such a thing?
• E1 Are there questions that have the same answer for each person?
• E2 Relativism
• F1 Defined
• G1 A statement has no truth or validity in itself. It is relative to the situation, culture, and person. There are no absolutes, especially as truth.
• G2 "The belief that things like truth and morals change depending on a particular culture or situation. Someone who believes this is called a relativist." MacMillan Dictionary.
• F2 In many ways this is truth. What is considered rude in one culture would not be in another.
• E3 Problems
• F1 All knowledge depends on context. This has to be false; see the next point.
• F2 The concept of universal knowledge is true no matter what especially in the sciences as gravity, math, chemistry, etc.
• E4 Some people have a general skepticism regarding the concept of truth. They point out, "You may be mistaken." A mistake implies that there must be some type of truth to measure it. If there is nothing that is true or false, how can we correct errors?
• E5 Elliot Temple writes, "Here is an argument that objective truth must exist: Communication relies on there being an objective truth. When I say something, you hear it. We're in a shared world. What you hear isn't random, it has to do with what I said. It's not based on your whim or subjectivity. What you hear is a close approximation of what I actually said, because you seek the truth of what I said and it is there to be found. Communication is only possible when there is one single truth of what is being said for all the people communicating." (Source)
• D4 Truth in the Bible
• E1 "Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!" (Genesis 42:16 NKJV). In this passage the correspondence theory is seen, that is, what they say, corresponds to what they are.
• E2 "Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness speaks deceitfully." (Proverbs 12:17 NRSVA). Again there is the assumption in law that a witness will speak the truth, that is, what they say corresponds to what they saw.
• E3 "So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another." (Ephesians 4:25 NRSVA). Here we are commanded to speaking the truth.
• E4"... in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time itself," (Titus 1:2 EMTV). In fact, the Bible teaches that God cannot lie. This would contrary to His nature.
• D5 Why do people have different views of truth? Some ideas may be that they want to justify their thoughts, desires, words, and deeds. They may want to manipulate or confuse others.
• C4 Why is truth important?
• D1 Some ideas include we need to know who we are, why we are here, where are we going, why am I alive, etc. These are the big questions in life. If there is no truth, or if it is changeable, then we cannot know for sure, which will surely lead to errors. Some of these errors will be too late to correct.
• D2 We also need to know the truth to learn from our mistakes.
• C5 Why do people lie?
• D1 Self-esteem. People want others to think well of them, and the more their self-esteem is threatened, the greater they lie. See here.
• D2 Prevent ill feelings or arguments. Types of lies like this are false excuses, false compliments, etc. See here.
• C6 What are we to do when we find ourselves lying?
• C7 Standard of truth
• D1 Is there a standard of truth? In many sciences and math, for example, there is a standard. All use the same standards.
• D2 What about law or moral issues?
• E1 In some aspects the standard depends on who has the power, authority, to enforce. If Jane is queen of the world, and her armies are loyal to her, then what she says is law, is law, and what she says is moral or immoral, is moral and immoral.
• E2 Who is the ultimate authority? It would have to be one, because even if it is a group, there will be one who has more influence or authority than the others. If we include ultimate power and authority, then we have to include authority over the sciences, planets, suns, and galaxies. If not, there would be something outside this authority and could challenge this one.
• D3 Hierarchy

• E1 The highest concept of supreme being would be/is called god.
• E2 It is most reasonable that the supreme being in the Bible is God.
• E3 His law and morals would be supreme and the standard.
• E4 His law and standard is in the Bible.
• F1 The Old Testament laws are to Israel, the nation.
• F2 The New Testament laws are to the church, a people.

B2 Do all roads lead to heaven? Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5, etc.

B3 How do we answer those who don't believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation?

B4 Is the Bible a reliable source of truth? Wasn't it written by ignorant, backward beings with no knowledge of science? Wasn't the New Testament written by people who wanted to start a new religion and so deified Jesus? See here for example.

B5 How do we minister to those who do not believe? ...to atheists and skeptics? ...to those of another religion as Islam or Hinduism?

B6 Why is it important to study the Bible this week?