Leader Guide week of Sept. 30

Small Group Leaders Guide
September 30, 2007

Small Group Announcements (please announce these to your group).



Small Group Study Questions:

September 30, 2007
The TRANSFORMER
Getting Started:

1. Complete the sentence: I remember a time when the Spirit prompted me to _________.


Going Deeper:

2. Can a person be filled with the Spirit more than once?


3. Read Ephesians 4:30. What practical advice would you give someone who was concerned about whether or not he/she was grieving the Holy Spirit? Can you find some advice if you continued reading from verse 30 through chapter 5, verse 4? How about if you read the rest of chapter 5?


4. Read Acts 13:52 and Luke 10:21. What is in the surrounding verses that may supply context for the experience of being filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit in these passages?

• Seeing God at work.
• Experiencing the fulfillment of promises made by Jesus. (even promises like “if they hate you, remember they hated me first”)
• Participation with God in His work.

5. Read Matthew 3:11, Acts 1:5 and Acts 9:17. What is the difference between being baptized by the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit?

• Ephesians 5:18
• 1Corinthians 12:13
• Baptism by the Holy Spirit is a one-time occurrence that happens at the time of salvation when God sends the Holy Spirit into a new believers life. Being filled with the Spirit is a state of being and can happen over and over and to greater or lesser degrees and for different purposes.

6. Read Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6. When a person receives the Holy Spirit, should he/she expect to speak in tongues? To prophecy? What other passages may help answer this question? What could a person expect?

• Read 1Corinthians 12:28-30. What is the implied answer to each of Paul’s questions in that passage?
• A person could expect a life increasingly free from the control of sin.
• A person could expect fruits such as those listed in Galatians 5:22.
• A person could expect to be transformed by the renewing of his/her mind.

7. The Bible talks about a person being “full” of the Holy Spirit, (a quality to look for) and being “filled” with the Holy Spirit (a verb) What is the difference and/or relationship between the two. (see the online question at www.newlifecommunitychurchblog.blogspot.com)

8. Read Acts 6:3. Who do you know that you would describe as being “full of the Spirit and wisdom”? What, specifically, makes you think of that person?


9. How can you tell if something you did, said, felt, etc. was the result of the Spirit? What questions might you ask to try to determine the answer?

• Did I behave in a manner consistent with Scripture’s description of Christian behavior?
• Could what I did be recognized as sinful in some way?
• Is this thing the Spirit prompted within me consistent with the Galatians 5:22-23 description of the fruits of the Spirit?
• Would I have done that anyway or was it out of character?
• Did I act more like Christ or less like Christ?
• The Holy Spirit will never prompt someone to commit sin.
• Obviously these questions could never give “proof positive” about whether the Holy Spirit was acting in a person. However, some people are very willing to attribute their acts, behaviors, thoughts, etc. to the Holy Spirit when, with just a little careful, Biblical, thought and analysis, it could be plainly seen that the Holy Spirit would not prompt such an action.

10. Describe a time or situation when you felt like you were filled with the Spirit. What about that time causes you to give credit to the Holy Spirit for your feeling, action or behavior?


11. If you had a Spirit gauge (like a gas gauge in a car) where would you say the needle is pointing right now?


Putting it into practice:

1) If you would like to experience a fresh filling of the Spirit, pray about that in your groups. Consider laying on hands during your prayer time.




Quote Of The Day
The filling of the Holy Spirit is not our having more of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit having more of us!







My Comments (for small group leaders and co-leaders)

Don’t forget to check out the small group leader blog at newlifegroups.blogspot.com
Feel free to offer comments and suggestions by clicking the comments on the blog post.
I look forward to hearing from you!




Small Group Leaders,

I’ve posted an online small group question. My question is about the relationship between the term “full of the Spirit” and “filled with the Spirit” One seems to be an adjective to describe someone, the other is a verb. Check out the video to hear my question. Below are a couple quick thoughts and verses.





I think we can talk of being filled with the Spirit in two ways:

1. A life that is increasingly characterized by the presence and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 6:3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

Acts 6:5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

Acts 11:24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.


2. A specific experience where we receive an empowering, infilling from the Spirit of God.

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!

Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Acts 13:9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

New and Improved

Normally the small group leader guide is sent by email on the Monday leading into the small group week. However, the questions (and often commentary) are usually created by the Thursday before.
In the hope of giving leaders more time to study and prepare, I will begin posting the guides on Thursday afternoons (even before the Sunday message!). This means you can come right here to the blog and check out the leader guide 4 days earlier than normal if you choose to. This should be especially helpful to those of you who are leading groups that meet early in the week.
We’ll start this week.

Thanks for leading!

Communion

The Passover feast was (and is to this day) one of the most sacred and important feasts on the Jewish calendar. On this important day, Jewish families would gather together, slaughter a lamb, roast its meat over a fire, prepare bitter herbs and bread made without yeast, and share this meal in remembrance of the events from Exodus 12.
In that passage we find that before the body of the sacrificial lamb could be eaten, its blood was placed on the sides and the tops of the doorframes to the people’s houses. On the night that God was going to pass through Egypt and pronounce judgment on the land where His people were being held captive to slavery, He would see the blood and it would be a sign to Him. Because of the blood of the lamb, God would pass over His people and they would not die on that day of judgment.
Many centuries later in Luke 22:19 we read that during the Passover feast, Jesus asks His disciples to “do this in remembrance of me.” Since this time, Christians have been breaking the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance of how the blood of the Lamb of God allows us to be “passed over” on the day of final judgment.

Read Luke 22:16. What do you think it means for the Passover to “find fulfillment in the kingdom of God”?

"Listening"

Hi Leaders,

You’ll notice in the next leader guide that I ask the question: “What is the best way to “hear” God? I want to share a thought with you.
The Holy Spirit often “speaks” to Christians in different ways. In my own experience, Scripture is the most often used method of communication. God’s Word is declared to be “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and when it goes out from Him it achieves the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).
My thought is this: If you wanted to learn another language, one of the things you would want to do is listen to it. You would want to pay very close attention to the sounds, pronunciation and cadence. As best you could, you would want to try to pick up meaning and listen for the words and phrases that you are familiar with. Studying God’s Word is like that. The more familiar I am with the Word of God, the better I will be able to understand and “hear” the Spirit when He “talks” to me, for I know that the Spirit will always communicate in a way that is consistent with the truth of Scripture.

One of my favorite songs is “Word of God Speak” by Mercy Me. Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.


I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say

[CHORUS]
Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet to hear Your voice

KidzLife Praise Report!

Hi Leaders,
I want to share two verses and a story with you:

Acts 2:47 ...and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
1Corinthians 3:5-8 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers...


Sara Clark serves in our nursery and her daughter, Josie attends the "Sharktank" on Sunday mornings and is in second grade. God has touched her through the faithful service of His "fellow workers". Thank you to those "workers" and Praise God!

(Following is a portion of the email Sara sent me today)

I wanted to share with you the happenings of this morning. As I was driving Josie to school she asked me "What does it mean to give your life to God?". I explained to her that God gives us the ability to make choices in our lives. We could choose to do what is not right/easier, or we could choose to do what is pleasing to God. And that when we give our life to God that means we are choosing to do things that are pleasing to him even when they might be hard. Anyways, I asked her if she had given her life to God and she said "no". So I asked her if she wanted to give her life to God and she said "yes." So in our car in the school parking lot we prayed and Josie told God that she wanted to give her life to him.
When you are having a bad day I hope you will remember that good things are happening in the children's ministry and our church. Jeremy and I are so thankful for the changes that God has made in our lives because of New Life, and now for the growth in Josie's life too! God is good!~sara

Small Groups Are Growing!

Seth Schmit is leading a new small group that will begin meeting this Wednesday. Let’s welcome him and lift him and his new group up in prayer together.

Behind The Scenes

As we approach the start of every small group session, we (the staff) get together to discuss how we can support small groups, increase their visibility in our church and help get more people interested in them.

Part of that plan usually includes Sunday morning videos, bulletin blurbs, and a verbal announcement/encouragement from the stage, but by far, the most important part of the plan is you!

This Sunday (Sept. 16th), while you are modeling your very state-of-the-art and fashionable small group t-shirts, make it a point to pray and think about who you would like to invite to your group. Then………..Invite that person!

Encourage your members to do likewise and let’s work together to build life-changing small groups!

Inside Out Worship

This is a story that I attached to the small group leader guide on 8/19/07 when we were in the Inside Out series and talking about worship. I’m posting it here on the blog also because it’s a great illustration of God’s love for us. Enjoy

1John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

In the year 2000, I attended a Promise Keepers conference in Denver, Colorado. On Friday evening, at the downbeat of the opening worship time, I stepped out from the backstage production area to see how the men in the arena were engaging in worship.
Seated in the front row was a man in his early fifties. His teenaged son was seated next to him in a wheel chair. It was dreadfully obvious at first glance that this boy was severely handicapped. I learned later that he had suffered a spinal cord injury playing high school football. The boy was paralyzed from the neck down. He was blind and unable to speak.
When the music started, I witnessed the most remarkable living demonstration of the Father’s love that I have ever seen. As 16,000 men stood to sing “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name,” this father turned and faced his son. He slipped his hands beneath the boy’s arms, lifted him out of his wheelchair, and held him in a bear hug. There they stood, face-to-face, not more than six inches apart from one another. The father began singing to his son.
The boy couldn’t see his father’s face, but he could feel his touch and hear his voice. Slowly, a smile came to the boy’s face, like a sunrise breaking through a clouded horizon. The boy was able, with great exertion, to wrap his right arm around his father’s neck. And for the next ten minutes they stood in one another’s arms, a proud, loving father singing to his crippled son.
The father’s face was full of love and pride for his son, not because of anything the boy could do, but simply because of who the boy was -the father’s son- broken, helpless, but beautiful in his father’s eyes. As I watched in tearful amazement, I remembered these cherished words from Scripture:

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17)

What I saw that night was the Word in flesh, dwelling among us. I saw a father taking great delight in his son, quieting him with his love and rejoicing over him with singing. Grace embracing brokenness; joy triumphing over tragedy. In this father’s eyes, I saw the love and pride of my heavenly Father. In the son, I saw myself and millions of other broken, helpless people.
Like this man, our heavenly Father loves us. Not because of what we can do for Him, but because of who we are - His sons and daughters, in whom He takes great delight. And He rejoices over us with singing.

Welcome

Hi Leaders, welcome to the New Life small group blog. I thought this would be a good way to get some good stuff to you. Things like small group resources, stories, tips, advice, and any other thing I can think of. The cool thing is that you can respond as well with a simple click of your mouse. I look forward to using this blog as a tool to help build life changing small groups at our church. I hope you will use it frequently and be built up.




Mike