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October 16, 2022
Church 101 | Come Holy Spirit: The Heart of God
The church at Corinth gives us a glimpse into how the Kingdom landed and found shape in a rather typical First Century Roman city. There was nothing exceptional about the Corinthian church: just believers trying to learn how to walk out of familiar kingdoms of darkness and walk into the Kingdom of Light.
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1 Corinthians 13
Message Questions:
- What are some of the things that we use to measure the spiritual well-being of a church? What do we use to measure spiritual maturity in our own lives?
- Read vv 4-7, substituting “Jesus” for “love.” (“Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind …) How does this prompt you to worship him?
- Look at vv 4-7 again and list the characteristics of love included there. Compare them with the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. What similarities do you notice?
- Choose at least one of the characteristics of love from vv 4-7 (for example, “love is not easily angered”) and ask:
- How does our culture encourage or discourage this?
- Where have you witnessed or experienced this in action? What was the impact?
- How easy or difficult is it for you to practice this characteristic of love?
(If you have time, look at another characteristic with the same questions.)
- As you consider your life and lifestyle, is there anything that you may need to adjust to provide space for the Holy Spirit to grow your capacity to love?
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Recent Sermons
Ezra 3:10-13 - The book of Ezra tells the story of the return of God’s people from exile. The account details the extra care that was taken by the returnees in doing their best to reproduce what they once had. Very quickly, they got the old altar operational and began to rebuild the temple. Our story is about what they chose to do on the day the foundation of the new temple was in place. There was a party that didn’t feel like a party for everyone, and that’s just honest!
Daniel 6:1-24-The book of Daniel is all about the Sovereignty of God. The God of Israel proves himself sovereign even in faraway Babylon: boys receive foreign favour and are released from having to eat rich and potentially unkosher food. Young men are saved from a fiery furnace, and old man Daniel doesn’t get eaten by a den of hungry lions. God proves he’s not limited by international borders, arrogant kings or wild beasts. All of this points forward to Jesus, who demonstrated his sovereignty (he is God, after all!) in different ways.
Ezekiel 36:22-28- The people of God deserved to be in exile in Babylon. They had betrayed their relationship with God by worshipping idols and committing horrible acts of violence. But instead of giving up on his people, God goes with them into exile. He shows up with a message of hope: he will bring them back, clean them up, and make them new. It was good news for the Israelites, and it’s good news for us today.
Isaiah 6:1-10 - Most of Isaiah’s writings don’t have a timestamp on them, but one event does. The day that he had his most profound encounter with God was shortly after King Uzziah died. King Uzziah would have been on the throne long before Isaiah was born and would have been the only king that Isaiah knew. That’s a big loss. Sometimes, God is able to meet us best when we’re tender from loss or grief.
1 Kings 18:16-39 - Elijah lived at odds with his culture. An evil king (and queen!) wanted him dead, so he went into hiding. After 3 years, God prompted him to set up a showdown: Yahweh vs. Ba’al, good vs. evil, a battle to the death. Sadly, good’s triumph barely left a mark on the life of his country. Thankfully, there was another good vs evil showdown years later, and its impact is still being felt around the world.
1 Kings 12:1-16: King Rehoboam continues the descent that has been the story of the kings since the throne was established. No one seems to be able to get it right. Leadership is tough. It requires listening to God and keen self-awareness. Rehoboam’s legacy is that he divided the people of God. May that never happen again.
