Teaching Notes

If God cares so much about the vast differences in the colors, shapes, fragrance of flowers, how much more does he care about us? He cares enough to make each of us unique and wonderful.

The Spirit of God

John 16:12-14 (The Message)

I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you.'


Notes: Jesus in this chapter is preparing his disciples for his leaving. He tells them in an earlier scripture it is good that he is going because then the comforter (Holy Spirit) can come. Different versions of the Bible have different names, for example here in the Message he writes Friend.

Question: What does Jesus tell his disciples the Holy Spirit would do?

Answer: The Holy Spirit will guide Jesus disciples, which includes us. He will help the disciple understand the truth that Jesus spoke as well as the entire word of God (Bible). He does not come to draw attention to himself, but to draw us to God through the Son. The Holy Spirit will give to the disciples those things which Jesus wants his disciples to have. He will give us power to do things God's way. He will help us understand the truth in God's word as well as how God reveals himself in our natural everyday world. As children of God he will help us to see things from a Kingdom perspective instead of just from an earthly vision. We would not be able to truly be disciples of Christ without the Holy Spirit giving us power to do, equipping us with the ability to go and showing us the Father's will which can only be understood by the Spirit of God.

Prayer: Lord thank you for your Spirit. You care so much about us that you give to us all the tools we need to be success as Christians. Help us to use all the tools you give us to worship you fully, for that is why we were created to worship you.

Teaching Notes

It has always amazed me to see a child exhibit characteristics of a parent. Sometimes you can watch the way a child walks, or talks or features they have and you can tell who they belong to. That is not something you can pretend to have, either you have it or you don't. Many of those characteristics are picked up because of prolonged exposure to that parent. It is the same way with God. We cannot pretend to have his ways, either we do or we don't. When we belong to him we have his "spiritual DNA" and that is what makes us look like his Son. We pick up his ways because of prolonged exposure to our Heavenly Father and we look and act in such a way than many can say, I know who your Father is.

The Spirit of God

Matthew 3:11-12 (The Message)

I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."



Notes: John the Baptist was called the forerunner of Jesus. He was baptizing people as he called them to repent. In this scripture he is speaking to the religious groups of his time, the Pharisees and Sadducees, of who many were showing up because it was the popular thing to do. He was rebuking them because their hearts were not right. He begins to speak of the one that would come behind him (Jesus) that would do more than cleanse their outer bodies with water but would change them inside with his Holy Spirit.

Question: What does John say the Holy Spirit will do?



Answer: He says Jesus will give to you a fire that will ignite inside of you. That fire is the fire of the Holy Spirit. It will be a fire that burns but will not destroy you. Instead this fire inside will burn off all the unclean things. The bad habits, the bad thoughts, the wrong way of doing. This fire will begin the cleansing on the inside and it will work outward into your life. What this means as a Christian you may not see the evidence of God working right away from the outside of a person, but know that God is working on the inside to change the person and to put everything in its proper place. This is one of the duties and purposes of the Holy Spirit. He empowers the Christian to become more like Jesus. We are not to be a cheap representation of Jesus, but he comes to change us to look just like Jesus. We cannot do that, if we try we come out as a poor duplication. If we want to look like the real thing, then that is the job of the Holy Spirit.



Prayer: Lord thank you for your Holy Spirit which comes to change us, remove from us wrong ideas, thoughts and ways. Thank you for loving us enough to want us to look like your son. Have full control of me so that you can show through me. I do not want to be a poor substitute, I want to be the real thing.

Teaching Notes

God cares for the old and the young. He does not "just" give His Spirit to one generation and not the next. These beautiful young girls also have the promise of God's Spirit to guide them.

The Spirit of God

Joel 2:28-32 (The Message)

"And that's just the beginning: After that—"I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people:Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters.Your old men will dream, your young men will see visions. I'll even pour out my Spirit on the servants, men and women both. I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below:Blood and fire and billowing smoke, the sun turning black and the moon blood-red, Before the Judgment Day of God, the Day tremendous and awesome. Whoever calls, 'Help, God!' gets help. On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be a great rescue—just as God said. Included in the survivors are those that God calls."

Notes: This message from Joel was first a message about the punishment that was coming to the people because of their disobedience. He also gives them hope that if they change, God will change his mind and not bring about the punishment. He also gives them this hope that after the punishment is over, God will restore to the people what has been taken away. One of the promises is of something new. That promise is His Spirit will be given to all, not just the prophets of old.

Question: Who will then be able to receive God's Spirit?

Answer: The answer is ALL. God will give His Spirit to whomever he chooses. It is not just for the rich, the famous, the popular. It cannot be bought or bartered for. God will give His Spirit to the young and the old, the male and the female. The important thing to remember is this, He will give His Spirit only to those that come to him and yield their lives to His way. You and I can have God's Spirit when we seek him first through His Son Jesus Christ. We are then promised by Jesus the comforter, (which is the Holy Spirit). The reason God gives us His Spirit is so that we can carry out the mission he has for us. We cannot do it without the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, today we say thank you for the promise of your Spirit to all that come to you. You give us your spirit so that we can do as you will for our lives.

Teaching Notes

Teaching, speaking or even singing all requires us to seek God's Spirit so that his power can be evident in what we do. Do you want his power evident in your life?

The Spirit of God

Ezekiel 11:4-6 (The Message)

Oppose them, son of man. Preach against them."
Then the Spirit of God came upon me and told me what to say: "This is what God says: 'That's a fine public speech, Israel, but I know what you are thinking. You've murdered a lot of people in this city. The streets are piled high with corpses.'

Notes: Ezekiel was a prophet that you can find out about in the Old Testament. He was sent by God to tell the people the truth about God. In this scripture it states that the Spirit of God came upon him so that he could speak God's word. He then gives the people the message God has called for him to do.

Question: Why did the prophet need God's Spirit to speak for God?

Answer: If the prophet had only spoken out of his own anger at the situation or his own understanding of the situation, he would have possibly (great possibility) done things wrong. Instead, if you want to ensure that you do the things right and pleasing to God you need to do them his way. Also another great fact is, he would not have had the power of God which is what convicts the hearts of people to change, or repent. Even when people refuse to listen to your words, if God's Spirit has equipped you to give them, his word will be fulfilled. We may not see the results sometimes right away, but the purpose was that the person had the opportunity to hear the truth of God and that was done. This is still true for you and I today. God wants to give us his Spirit so that when we speak for Him, we have his power.

Prayer: Lord just as you gave the prophets of old your Spirit to speak, we thank you for giving your Spirit to all today that would come and seek you as their Lord and Savior. Help me today to walk by your Spirit so that I can be empowered to do your will.

Teaching Notes

It's easy to see that this building is in need of being repaired. All the signs of it are before your eyes, but what about people? Can you so easily see the signs of their need for repair or healing? That is why it is so important to listen to the Spirit of God to hear his voice tell you who needs to know about God's love.

The Spirit of God

Isaiah 61:1 (The Message)

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners...



Notes: You may hear often people talk about the Spirit of God and not really understand much about what is being said. Sometimes people make you thing the Spirit of God is like a ghost or some spirit like you see in a movie. This is not who the Spirit of God is. We will talk this week about God's Spirit to gain a better understanding of who he is and his purpose.



Question: What does this scripture show about the Spirit of God?



Answer: This scripture from Isaiah shows that God's Spirit was filling Isaiah so that he would have the power to do the things he listed in the scripture. We can gather from this that in order for a child of God to be able to preach the word of God or help heal the brokenhearted, God's spirit must enable you to do it. Therefore, this scripture shows us that one of the many reasons we have God's Spirit available to us is so that we can be equipped to do God's will whatever that special assignment is for you. This helps us to understand that we cannot do anything in our own power. We cannot change ourselves or help others without God's Spirit empowering us to do it. It is not by our own power, but by the power of God.



Prayer: Thank you God for sending your Spirit to your people to empower them to do your will. We cannot do what you say, without your power to do it. Help us to walk in the power of the Spirit so that we can overcome the tricks of this world. Amen.