Power of the Spirit

Read It:  Romans 8:26-28 (NRSV)

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Learn It:

The Spirit is a wonderful part of the Trinity.  Sometimes I think we don't often talk about the workings and the importance of the Spirit enough.  Yet this passage tells us the important work the Spirit does on our behalf and in our midst.  When life gets too hard and we are unable for one reason or another to tell God what it is that is really bothering us or upsetting us or distressing us...it is the Spirit that knows that pain in our lives and intercedes on our behalf.  It is the Spirit that takes over when we are too busy or too preoccupied to tell God what is really on our hearts and minds.  When our sighs are so deep that we don't have even a word to say the Spirit tells God what is going on so that God may search our heart to know how to make our situation work toward something good.  That is just one of the many wonderful things the Spirit does for us in our lives.

Share It:

Have you ever been so upset at something or soemone (whether angry or sad) and you just had no idea how to put it into words?  What was that situation and what made it so hard to talk about?  Do you think there is ever a conversation you couldn't have with God?  What kinds of things would you be hesitant to tell God?  Why?  Share these thoughts and others that come up as you discuss this with your family.

Live It:

This week while you are out and about in your life try to focus on the difficutl situations that you encounter and if you don't have a word to offer up to God then I simply encourage you to just say the name "God" and then take in a deep breath and sigh.  Let that big sigh be the letting go or the release of the situation.  Let the Spirit take it over from there so that the Spirit can intercede on your behalf. 

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Blessed Difficulties

Read It: Acts 7:56 (NRSV)

56 “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Learn It:

Read the whole Acts story (Acts 7:55-60) from this Sunday's story.  It is such a violent story that seems rather odd to include, but my favorite part of the whole story is the line I have quoted above.  Amid all the anger and violence, though, is this profound statement of faith declaring Jesus as resurrected and being with God in heaven. Then again in verse 60 you can see that Stephen also asks God not to hold the sins that they are committing against them.  In the midst of his death he focuses on the his faith and the well-being of others.  I think this is such a wonderful picture for us.  No matter how bad things get and no matter how dark the world can seem at times we have this certainty that God is God and that God is present with us through all aspects of our life.

Share It:

What difficult times have you faced recently in your life?  Have you sought God during them?  Have you declared Jesus as the resurrected Son of God during those dark or difficult times?  Talk about what difference it might make if you were to instantly declare the greatness of God when you began to face adversity.  How might that change your viewpoint of the situation?  How might it change your attitude as you walked through that point in your life?

Live It:

Take this next week to focus on the difficult times you are dealing with (either ongoing or ones that occur in the future) and take them as opportunities to declare the greatness of God and the presence of God in those moments so that  you can see the goodness and mercy of God.  See what difference that makes and how it might change your relationship with God in your daily faith walk.

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Free From Sins

Read It: 1 Peter 2:24 (NRSV)

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Learn It:

Recently I had the great opportunity to take several of our youth to Holden Village. One of the topics of conversation on our way home was about the text above though we didn't quote the text. They couldn't believe that Jesus would go to the cross and bear ALL the sins of humankind upon himself so that as he died our sins would die with him. Jesus did this so, as the text says, we might live free from sins and live a full and healthy life. That doesn't mean that we won't ever sin because we all do, but we don't have to worry about the weight of sin because we are forever forgiven of them. Therefore we live for righteousness...we live a life that reflects that forgiveness and freedom we have been given.

Share It:

Do you ever feel the burden of sin upon you at times in your life? Share with your family the times when you were, or even right now, feel that there were times when you were overcome or burdened by sin. How did you move past the sin? Did telling (confessing) God what was on your heart help? Share your thoughts and ideas about sin and the freedom that Christ bring us us always.

Live It:

During this next week...and onward...when you feel the weight of sin upon you think about the sacrifice that Christ made for each of us. He took those sins to the cross so that you might live free from them...burdened no more. "...by his wounds you have been healed." Remember those wonderful words.

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Humanness

Read It: John 11:35 (NIV)

"Jesus wept"

Learn It:

(I like the NIV translation because it retains this passage as the shortest verse in the whole Bible)

One of the traditions in Biblical times was for people to mourn the loss of a loved one and to do it loudly.  Sometimes people were even hired as "professional mourners" and they would wail, cry, beat their chests, and make the biggest scene possible to let people know that someone had passed and that this person was going to be terribly missed.  What is interesting about Jesus' response is that he doesn't wail or scream out but he silently lets out some tears of sadness at the loss of a friend.  This is one GREAT example of the humanness of Jesus.  We tend to focus on the divine nature of Jesus but it is equally as important to notice the human side of our Savior as well.

Share It:

When you think of Jesus do you tend to think of him in terms of his humanness or of his divine nature more often?  Why do or don't you focus on one side or the other?  Why do you think that Jesus wept instead of wailed and made a huge spectacle over the loss of his friend Lazarus?  What do you think was the focus of Jesus's tears?  What are the things in our life that make you sad and want to simply weep about?  What things do you silently think about that make you feel sad at times in your life?  In what ways might Jesus' sadness be a comfort to you in the times of your own sadness?

Live It:

In the next week as you go out about your days pay attention to things that might make you sad.  What is it that makes you sad about that particular thing?  In that moment remind yourself of John 11:35 "Jesus wept". Remind yourself that even the Savior of the world had times when he mourned over the loss of people and the difficulty of life.  Even Jesus wept.

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Never Disappointed

Read It: Romans 5:1-5 (NRSV)

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

Learn It:

It seems interesting that Paul suggest that we should boast in our suffering.  Many times in our lives I think we look at our suffering and think of the things we did wrong or things we could have done different to avoid whatever suffering is going on in our lives.  We then use that information to either make the suffering right or we don't do those actions again so that we can avoid it.  But Paul lets us know that it's ok to suffer.  It's ok to mess up at times in our lives because the end result is a hope that will never disappoint us.  Never being disappointed seems like a pretty nice deal in the end.  We boast because we have hope which has been given to us by the Holy Spirit who made us right with God...who justified us. Think of the first two verses as the result of the rest of the verses.  Paul is giving us the end result first and then telling us how we get there.  The end result is pretty amazing...look at the verses again.

Share It:

What kinds of things have you suffered from?  Share a story about a time when you had to endure some kind of hardship.  What was it like when it first happened and then what was it like when you realized you were past it?  Then talk about how you view the experience now.  Did you learn anything?  Have you grown in faith or in character because of the experience?  Did you rely on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to get you through the suffering?  Can you use the stages that Paul describes in verses 3 &4 and fir that with what you experienced?  Have everyone share and remember that we all experience different levels of suffering, but for us they are very real.

Live It:

The next time you experience some kind of suffering, whether big or small, think about boasting instead of wallowing in the pain or hurt.  Think about these verses from Romans and how much we have to be grateful for because of what Christ has done for us.  Think about how you will never be disappointed in the hope that God provides for us daily through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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