The Holy Spirit Shows Us Truth

Welcome back to our series, Guiding Light, where we're talking about where we can find guidance when we feel a little lost . . . like maybe from a trustworthy adult?

INSTRUCTIONS: Have every adult leader, worship band member, or volunteer that's participating write two true facts on two different pieces of paper, and then have the leaders line up in front of the group. Share all the statements and have students try to decide which truths align with which leaders. You might want to have students share why they believe each fact would be true for each leader. Give some guidance if students' guesses are way off. Wait until all truths have been assigned to reveal which ones are correct. Sometimes it's easy to know what's true and false.

If you know some of these leaders well, it was probably a little easier for you to know what was true about them. But for everyone else, it was probably difficult to know what was true without a little guidance. It can be hard to figure out what is true and what's false, especially when what's false sounds so believable. That's not just true in this game — it's true in life too.

DISCUSSION | Lying in Plain Sight

Turn to your neighbor and answer this question: What's the most obvious or ridiculous lie you've ever believed?

INSTRUCTIONS: Give students a few moments to discuss with someone sitting nearby. After 60 seconds, ask a few students to share their answers.

Lies can be easy to spot when they sound ridiculous. But what if the lies are really subtle and small? What if it's not an outright lie, but a misunderstanding, or a mistake, or bad information that keeps getting passed around?

With so many places to get information, how do we know what's even true? Is it true if we see it on the news, Instagram, or TikTok? What if we hear it from a friend, or even our parents? What if a pastor or adult we trust says it? What if it's something we believe even if we can't remember anyone ever explicitly teaching it to us? Daily we're bombarded with messages that tell us who we are, what's important, what to believe, or even what God is like. But sometimes it's hard to separate misunderstandings or lies from what's true.

Sometimes people will try to convince us that what we know to be true is actually false. Sometimes we'll be the ones who've believed a lie and need to be guided toward the truth. And most of the time, it's a little bit of both.

SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?

VIDEO | A Clip from Star Wars: The Last Jedi

We've been watching a few clips from Star Wars about what happened when Rey, a young Jedi, first discovered the force — a mysterious power that fills their universe and can be used for either good or evil.

While Rey tries to learn how to use the force for good, Kylo Ren has chosen the dark side and wants Rey to join him. He tries to recruit Rey by lying to her about her family and her very identity.

INSTRUCTIONS: As a teaching tool, play a short clip (0:50-1:50) from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where Kylo Ren tries to recruit Rey.

Of course, there's no mysterious "force" in this universe, but here's what our universe and Rey's have in common: when we believe lies and base our lives on things that aren't true, it can lead us down destructive paths.

Pic of Teddy’s Place Home

STORY | Talk about a time you believed something untrue about God or yourself.

When I was 16, our family moved from this tiny house in Old Hickory, TN to a huge house in Mt. Juliet, TN.

This home had a 4 car garage, full basement, and huge driveway- almost big enough for full court bball.

The neighbors across the street had a son a few years older than me.

He would always see me outside hooping and decided to come over one night for some 1v1.

I thought this dude was a nerd and not any good at all.

And I thought I could beat just about anyone.

I WAS WRONG.

We played until like midnight, but this nerdy dude beat me.

I couldn’t believe it.

He was super chill about it and didn’t rub it in, but he did feed me some humble pie that night.

Sometimes we all believe lies and untruths and need help seeing the light. We can feel lost trying to figure out what's true, but God promises to never leave us alone when we feel lost.

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SCRIPTURE | John 15:26-27

Like we discovered last week, God gives us a "guiding light" to help us find our way when we're lost, and that light is a Person called the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was here on earth, he talked often about how he would one day give his disciples the gift of God's Spirit. Last week, we saw Jesus refer to the Holy Spirit as our "Advocate," but today I want to show you another title Jesus gives God's Spirit. We can find Jesus talking about the Spirit often in the Gospel of John. The Gospels are the four books in the Bible that tell us what Jesus did and said while he was on earth. In them, we see that Jesus was constantly explaining things to his disciples (and sometimes re-explaining them a few times). In John chapter 15, Jesus is in the middle of talking to his disciples about why so many people hate him. Jesus tells them people hate him because they don't understand the truth about who he is — and they don't like it when Jesus tells the truth about them either. Then he says this . . .

INSTRUCTIONS: Read John 15:26-27.

Remember, the Holy Spirit hadn't come yet! That was only going to happen after Jesus left earth and the Holy Spirit would come to take Jesus' place. But do you see what's interesting here? Jesus called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth."

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would testify (or tell the truth) about who Jesus is. Then Jesus told his followers to do the same. They too should tell others the truth about who Jesus is.

SCRIPTURE | John 16:12-15

John 16:12–15 NIV

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 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. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Here, Jesus says that when the time was right, the Holy Spirit would . . .

Guide us toward truth. Speak on God's behalf. Pass on truth from Jesus to us. So one of the most important jobs of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is to show us what is true about God — and about ourselves too.

SCRIPTURE | Acts 2:1-12

Acts 2:1–13 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter explains that they ain’t getting drunk, but they are fulfilling the prophecy from the Bible book of Joel, which says that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on people from every nation, and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Then he tells the people that Jesus is Lord and the Savior of all, and He calls them to turn from their sins, be baptized, and turn to Jesus Christ.

And about 3,000 people were saved that day!

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Later, after Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven, Jesus' followers were still waiting for their promised Holy Spirit to come to them. They weren't sure exactly what to expect when the Holy Spirit arrived, but I'm certain they weren't expecting it to go down the way it did.

First, God's people were given a miraculous gift. They were suddenly, unexplainably, able to share the truth of Jesus in a way that allowed everyone present to hear that message in their own language. Next, Peter stood up and began to preach an incredible sermon. As far as we know, he had never done that before! The message Peter communicated was so compelling that people couldn't ignore it. When they heard the truth about Jesus, they saw the truth about themselves too — that they were sinners in need of a Savior. 3,000 people chose to follow Jesus that day. It's not because Peter preached the best sermon of his life. It's because the Spirit of truth had finally arrived and had begun changing everything. This wasn't the end of the Holy Spirit's miraculous work. It was only the beginning.

Throughout the New Testament of the Bible, you can read more stories of people receiving gifts through God's Spirit — gifts that helped them communicate the truth of God more effectively. Even today, we can see the Holy Spirit continuing to work in miraculous ways. Even if you've never seen fire fall out of the sky like the disciples did on Pentecost, if you've ever seen someone's eyes open to the truth of who God is, you've seen the miraculous work of the Spirit of truth. See, this isn't just a story about something amazing that happened a long time ago. It's the beginning of a story we're still living in right now.

The Spirit of truth who showed up that day at Pentecost is the same Holy Spirit at work in the world and at work in us. Because when we're faced with questions, confusion, or conflicting messages about who God is (and who we are), Jesus doesn't leave us to figure it out all alone.

The Holy Spirit shows us truth.

NOW WHAT? What does God want us to do about it?

MUSIC | Listening for the Holy Spirit

Like we said last week, sometimes God's Spirit leads us in ways that are mysterious and unexpected, but many people often sense the Holy Spirit speaking to them through music. As we listen to this song together, ask the Spirit of truth to reveal something true about who God is, or about who you are.

WEEK 2 HANDOUTS

"Just As Sure" (Tori Kelly)

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The Holy Spirit helps us know the truth of who we are, and who God is, when we feel lost.

No matter what kinds of messages the world gives us, God's Spirit tells us the truth, guides us toward truth, and reminds us what's true when we've forgotten. Remember, the Holy Spirit will only ever tell us things that line up with what God has already said. If Scripture tells us God is love, the Holy Spirit will never tell us something that contradicts that. What true things did the Holy Spirit tell you about what God is like just now? And how does Scripture back that up? Maybe you were reminded God is forgiving, gracious, patient, merciful, just, or powerful. And what true things did the Holy Spirit tell you about yourself?

Maybe you needed to hear some hard truth today. Maybe, like the 3,000 people who followed Jesus on the day of Pentecost, you realized you have some things in your life you need to make right with God. Or maybe you needed to hear the kind of truth that comforts and heals. Maybe the Spirit of truth reminded you that you're worthy, strong, brave, forgiven, and loved by God.

SEEKING AND SPEAKING TRUTH

But how can we learn to hear the Holy Spirit well enough to be confident we're being led toward what's true?

ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU WHAT'S TRUE. God wants you to know what's true and isn't hiding it from you! That's why Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit — so we could know what's true. So ask for help. Ask for the guidance you need to know the truth about who God is, and who you are.

SEEK OUT TRUTH-SEEKERS. Surround yourself with people who are committed to knowing God's truth. No one ever gets everything right about God all the time, but when we seek out people who listen for the Holy Spirit, we become better at listening for the Holy Spirit too.

SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT YOURSELF. It's easy to either see ourselves as much worse than we are (thanks, insecurities!) or much better than we are (thanks, arrogance!), but the truth is usually somewhere in between. Speaking the truth about ourselves starts when no one is around. It's being honest with ourselves when we mess up, but not letting our mistakes or shortcomings define us.

SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD. Remember that boldness and clarity Peter had when he preached his first sermon? The Holy Spirit can give us that same boldness and clarity if we're willing to first learn what's true, and then share it. Jesus told us to "testify" (or "tell the truth") about who he is. We can do that anytime we tell the truth about who Jesus is to us and what it means to follow him. (I can't guarantee 3,000 people will start to follow Jesus as a result, but hey! I'm not ruling it out either.)

You're probably hearing a lot of conflicting messages in your lifetime.

You'll hear voices that say you need to be smarter or stronger or prettier or skinnier or cooler. You'll hear voices that say believing in God is stupid or Jesus can't be trusted. But like Jesus promised, God sent us someone to help us know what's true — the Holy Spirit. When we face conflicting messages about who we are, who God is, or how to understand the world, we don't have to feel hopeless, lost, or confused for long. When we're uncertain (or when we're a little too certain about the wrong things), we can turn to the Holy Spirit, who shows us truth.

Prayer

Small Group Intro

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