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Grow: A Spirit-Empowered Life • Sermon • Submitted
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But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
God is not deaf or dumb — He listens! He speaks to all who have ears to hear!
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
He spoke to Adam and Eve and He continues to speak into the lives of those He created. It is not always an audible voice…but He speaks. Do we listen?
Did Moses hear an audible voice at the burning bush?
Did Samuel hear an audible voice when, as a small child, God woke him up in the middle of the night?
GOD…wants to speak
GOD…wants to guide our steps
GOD…wants to show us things we could never discover on our own
GOD…still speaks and He is looking for people who will listen
PRAYER
Connect
When people pray…do they spend more time talking or listening?
Can you name a Bible character whose experience of God speaking to them would be difficult to believe, even if you were there when it happened?
Why would it be difficult to believe?
Watch first DVD segment
Notes:
What examples of how to hear from God were shared?
One person shared a guideline for prayer. What did each letter stand for?
P
R
A
Y
Grow
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Why do you think the Spirit chose Philip for this assignment (“Go South...”) when there probably were other believers who were closer? (Philip was in Samaria, north of Jerusalem, and Gaza is south of Jerusalem).
Why do you think the Spirit chose Philip for this assignment (“Go South...”) when there probably were other believers who were closer? (Philip was in Samaria, north of Jerusalem, and Gaza is south of Jerusalem).
Have you ever felt God leading you to do something that seemed illogical or inconvenient? How did you respond?
They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.
That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.
Acts 16:
How do you think Paul and his companions knew that the Holy Spirit was leading them to stay away from Asia province?
Has the Spirit ever blocked you from something? What did that look like?
Why would it be easy to ignore the Holy Spirit’s direction in a situation like Paul experienced in this passage? Put yourself in his shoes
“ ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Paul sa
Do you think God still speaks to people in visions today? Why or why not?
Watch the second DVD segment
Notes:
Do YOU expect God to speak to you? Why or why not?
Building a closer relationship will enable you to hear from Him more clearly
How can you grow an ever-growing relationship with Him?
What kind of attitude do you need to grow closer to Him?
Serve
Take a few minutes to discuss how to better hear from God
Encourage each other in the group as you discuss this
Pray for one another’s weaknesses and areas of need
Go
Have you ever had God tell you to GO to another person and say or do something?
What was that like?
Are you willing to listen to and obey God’s voice this week when He leads you to GO?
DEVOTIONS SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEXT WEEK
Read and study
Keep a daily record of what God shows you and how He challenges you
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.
Again they answered:
“You may not pass through.”
Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
If someone curses their father or mother,
their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
