I. God’s Love: Wrath and Mercy

II. God’s Love: His Action through Jesus

Content

The Passover looked back to Moses and the time when God gave Isreal a way to escape the punishment God had for Egypt (Ex 11:4-5; 12:29-30). The bloody doorposts of the Hebrews’ homes would keep death away. The celebration reminded them how God had saved them, but it was through the “food chain,” a lamb slaughtered.

Jesus changed everything when He celebrated His last Passover because He claimed to be the Passover lamb…salvation would come through eating His body and drinking His blood.

Evil has infected the world with sin. We cannot wipe the slate clean ourselves, even though we try to fix sin, deny it or ignore it. (Isaiah 64:6)

Seven words about sin:

Sin is corrupt. There are no little sins.

Sin is explosive. We can’t stop it.

Sin is relational. The ones closest to us are damaged most.

Sin is comprehensive. It affects us all.

Sin is systemic. It takes over families, governments, all of life.

Sin is deceptive. It wears a facade of good, and we minimize our sins while maximizing others’ sins.

Sin is deadly. It destroys all it touches.

God’s wrath is a deep, unchanging determination to destory evil. (Romans 1:8,18)

God’s wrath is a good thing, because we can only trust a God who will protect us from harm and evil through His love…He does not want us hurt by sin. (Psalm 143:12)

God protects us against harm, but He also protects others we would harm. (Romans 2:5)

God’s wrath is accompanied by His mercy and compassion. (Hab 3:2; Micah 7:18)

God’s wrath and mercy come together at the cross where Jesus had placed on Him all of our sin. (Romans 5:6-8; Isaiah 53:5-6)

His life was spilled out for us. Read Ephesions 2:1-9, putting our own names in, to understand the great price that Jesus paid for us, and to remind us that we did not earn this gift through our own working.

Communion calls us to remember the price paid by Jesus.

We began as sinners, but through Jesus’ death we die and through Jesus’ resurrection we live.

Our ambition should be to love as Jesus loved, displaying His humility, His compassion and His forgiveness. If we struggle to love the unloveable (Colossions 3:12-14) we need to stay in the gospel, where God will meet us and show us how to do what was impossible for us before.

We are set apart to love. (John 13) To do this we need to stay at the foot of the cross where we will find grace. It will not be easy because it is a battle but God will make it possible for us.

Aim

Remember the great price that was paid at the cross, where God’s wrath and God’s mercy demanded no less than the perfect sacrifice of Jesus’ death. Remember the great gift of His salvation and make your ambition be to love like Jesus.

Application Questions

What is the result of taking Christ’s death for our sins too lightly? What can we do about this?

What is the danger of forgetting about God’s wrath and His hatred of evil? Why are there no “small sins”?

Why can’t God’s wrath and His mercy be separated? How does His wrath show His love?

What must we do to be accepted and forgiven? How does visualising God as the father of the “prodigal son” affect you?

What would we look like if our ambition was to love like Jesus loved us - as individuals, in our group, and in our church? How can we effectively reflect Jesus’ humility, compassion and forgiveness?

What can we do when we think we cannot love like Jesus? What does it mean to stay in the Word, and to stay at the foot of the cross? How can we do that?

Outline

1. A pilgrimage of faith is about a willingness to obey without knowing all the details upfront. (v. 8)

2. A pilgrimage of faith is about a willingness to dwell in the land without settling in the land. (v. 9)

3. A pilgrimage of faith is about a willingness to keep seeking God’s promised location. (v. 10)

Content

1. Pilgrimage: journey, seeking a place. Faith: believing what we can’t see. Therefore, a pilgrimage of faith is seeking a place that we know exists even though it’s invisible.

2. The writer of Hebrews uses people’s lives as examples of faith to encourage Christians.

3. In Genesis 12:1-4, God told Abraham to leave everything and go to a land he had never seen, and Abraham went.

4. There are two ways to live: 1) by sight — base everything on what we see, what’s tangible and visible. 2) by faith — base everything on what we can’t see, but we believe and know it’s there.

5. The Bible calls Christians to live by faith and base our lives on things we haven’t seen. We love and trust God even though we haven’t seen Him.

6. Faith is not about understanding by way of reason, and it doesn’t make sense to the world because faith doesn’t know where it is being led, but it knows the One who is leading.

7. Faith obeys and the details come later; they become proof of our obedience.

8. Abraham was just passing through the land; he didn’t settle and conform to the patterns of the people there. In the same way, Christians shouldn’t be satisfied with the things of this world. Faith satisfies itself in the righteousness of God.

9. Christians need to walk their talk so the people around us can see God’s grace to a dying world.

10. A pilgrimage of faith involves growing in patience and waiting on God’s promises. Sometimes we fail, but we have God’s grace.

11. Genuine faith: loves God, is obedient and humble, prays, repents, is devoted to God’s promises, is selfless, hungers for God’s Word, and is an example to others.

12. The reason that faith has a willingness to go without knowing, to not settle, and to keep pressing forward is that faith is a means to an end. God’s purpose for faith is that it would reach its ultimate goal, that God would bring His good work to completion. Faith serves a greater purpose; it leads to an infinitely glorious conclusion.

13. The hope of our faith is that it’s real and growing, that we cling to Jesus in trials.

14. The main theme about God’s covenant with Abraham is God and His faithfulness to His promises, not Abraham’s faith.

15. Other passages referenced: 1 Peter 2:11, 1 Peter 1: 3-7, Ezekiel 48:34, Rev. 21:2

Aim

Our investigation of Abraham’s faith leads us to an infinite, glorious conclusion: that we will praise, honor and glorify Jesus when He’s revealed at the end.

Application Questions

1. Do you find it hard or easy to live by faith? Give examples of when you’ve experienced both.

2. Describe a time when you waited on God in faith and He showed His faithfulness. A time when you didn’t wait on Him — you charged ahead on your own.

3. What qualities of genuine faith (in question 11 above) do you exhibit regularly? How can you grow in the other areas?

4. What are some worldly things that people seek or put faith in? What are some worldly patterns that people conform to?

5. What do you rejoice in that you’ve seen God do?

6. Do you desire God and eternity with Him so much that you feel like a stranger here on earth? Do you want this desire? How can you strengthen it?

7. Is there something God has put on your heart that you know you should do but are hesitating? Describe.

Outline:

I. Dancing without love is just empty movement.

II. Loving is the best indication you’ve embraced the Spirit. (1John 4:19; Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22)

III. When the Dance is over…love will remain.

IV. By this will the world know we are Jesus’ disciples if we have love… (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Content:

1. Life is spelled L.O.V.E.

2. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. (1 John 4:16)

3. Love at its core, at its center, at its very essence, is for another.

4. It has a regard, a respect, a value for something and someone other than itself…and that’s not natural…that’s not human…that’s divine and that’s the point.

5. Paul is reminding us of an important reality: all other gifts will someday go away.

6. Only love is perfection.

7. Make sure any gift moves your heart toward the Giver to be like the Giver…

Aim:

1. Believe something and receive Someone.

2. Keep pursuing the things of the Spirit.

3. Follow the way of Love.

Application Questions:

1. When did you realize that love was more important than any spiritual gift or ability that you might have? Who is a person in your past who epitomized this to you?

2. Tell about the first time you realized that the fruits of the Spirit were coming out of you? From the inner, deeper work of God, where your motive and heart were patience and kindness, honoring and not self- seeking, forgiving and sincere?

3. Have you ever lost the ability to express your gifts and realized that not much was left? Or did you find that without the ability to express them that you could still love?

4. When you meet another believer, does your “Christian radar” get triggered? What usually triggers it?

Outline

I. What is prophecy?

II. Prophecy can bring conviction and conversion.

III. Prophecy should be limited and evaluated.

Content

Prophecy is a word of blessing from a good God. It is a gift to be pursued. (1 Cor 14:1)

Prophecy is communication, which is the key to personal relationships. It is the “conversation on the dance floor” with the One who loves us.

Prophesy speaks to people (unlike tongues in which those who experience the gift are talking to God) in order to strengthen, comfort and/or encourage us. It edifies the church, and we should not discard it just because we have seen it abused. (1 Cor 14:2-5)

If we embrace prophecy, it will build us up.

Unbelievers who observe prophecy can experience the reality of God. (1 Cor:14:24-25)

God allows us to be part of bringing others to Himself when we listen to His voice. This kind of prophecy can bring conviction and conversion. (The example of someone listening to God telling him to talk to folks at the gas station)

God’s exposure of our wrongs is for our healing through His mercy rather than our punishment. It is like a lighthouse meant to keep us from crashing rather than a policeman’s flashlight that would send us to jail.

Prophecy should be limited and evaluated. (1 Cor 14:29) Small groups are a good place to ask God for a word for another and to evaluate the words we think we have received.

Five guidelines for assessing prophecy:

Is it spoken in love? (1 Cor 13:2)

Is it edifying to the hearer? (1 Cor 14:4)

Does it sound true? (1 Thess 5:20-21)

Does it sound like Jesus? (Rev 19:10)

Is it in line with scripture? (1 Cor 14:37-38)

God will never tell you to do something wrong.

Prophets should demonstrate deference and dignity, taking turns and being orderly. If you can’t control it, it is not from God. (1 Cor 14:30-33)

For more on the subject of prophecy, Pastor Jim recommended two books by Jack Deere:

Surprised by the Voice of God

Beginner’s Guide to the Gift of Prophecy

Aim

By pursuing the gift of prophecy, we are making room for God to be God, for Him to communicate with us to build up our relationship with Him. We must listen and believe the full Word of God.

Application Questions

How have you experienced the gift of prophecy, either first-hand or as an observer? What was your reaction? Why do you think that you reacted that way?

After listening to today’s message, what do you believe about prophecy? How do you feel about this gift? What questions do you still have?

How could experiencing God’s gift of prophecy change your relationship with Him? Has it “happened” to you yet? How would you like the conversation between you and Him to go on the dance floor?

Where and with whom would you like to explore this gift? What is your next step?

Outline

1. The styles we see

2. The lessons we learn

3. The movements we desire

Content

1. We experience the power and presence of God through the Holy Spirit. The metaphor of dancing captures how this encounter works — He leads and we follow, even though the moves are sometimes awkward.

2. Together, we are a group, the church, which is the body of Christ. In a spiritual and mystical way, we’re His hands and feet. This group is different from other groups we’re a part of (Rotary, school, etc).

3. Individually, we’re unique and special. All these unique parts working together is what makes the body beautiful. Without people working, things wouldn’t happen.

4. Sometimes we put Jesus in a box, thinking He only does what we want Him to. We need the Spirit of God to see and know Him, and to know that He’s so much more.

5. The lists of gifts in different chapters of the Bible aren’t exhaustive; they’re examples of how the Spirit might move.

6. The word ‘apostle’ means ‘sent one’, someone who starts a task on behalf of another. The 12 disciples weren’t the only ones with the apostolic gift. This gift initiates or starts the work of God. When God uses people to start things in a new area (community, church, country, etc.), that can be evidence of an apostolic gifting.

7. Miracles are another way the Spirit moves. They can range from food not running out to freeing people from demonic oppression. Book: Miracles by Craig Keener

8. Healing is another style, or gift. Unfortunately, this gift is often hyped and hijacked. When healing is mentioned in the Bible, the plural word ‘gifts’ is used, which has caused some people to speculate that sometimes God gives the gift of healing to some people for certain situations. Doing Healing by Alexander Venter

9. Another gift is words or messages of wisdom or knowledge. Often the Spirit gives someone an insight or understanding about something in the Bible. This insight can also be given about a person or situation. The word will sound like Jesus because it’s something He’s saying.

10. The Spirit moves differently in different people. The same style can look different because we’re different. But the lessons we learn are similar. There are some things that are common to us all.

11. We need to be responsive and sensitive to the Spirit. Without a receiver, we won’t pick up the signal. Sometimes we get the signal (Spirit) but we need to dial in, fine tune it a little.

12. In the Bible, the Spirit is described as wind, living water, and a dove. (John 3:8, 7:8, 1:32-33)

13. If we’re prayerful and attentive, less distracted, we’ll experience more moves of the Spirit. We need to pay attention in our spirit to what God’s Spirit might be saying: what are you picturing, thinking, remembering, feeling in your gut, sensing. Ask God why you’re remembering or feeling something now, what He’s trying to say through it.

14. It takes time to learn those things — training, practice, and trial and error. We don’t learn without trying and being willing to fail.

15. There ought to be a ‘want to’, a desire, a drive for these gifts — movements of the Spirit — especially the ones that benefit others. We should pray for this desire and work toward it.

Aim

The goal, or outcome, of all this “dancing” is that our lives become more intertwined with, connected to, Christ. We need to be open, expectant and discerning; we also need to be out on the dance floor. Dancing doesn’t happen on the sidelines.

Application Questions

1. In what ways do you dance with the Spirit? How are you becoming more connected to Christ? Or are you?

2. In what ways are you on the dance floor? Or are you on the sidelines?

3. What spiritual gifts has God given you? Have you taken a survey to discover those gifts?

4. How are you using your gifts? (at Heritage and elsewhere)

5. Have you ever seen a miracle or healing take place? Describe.

6. Have you ever sensed God speaking to you? What was the situation?

Outline:

I. The body of Christ has many parts.

II. Sometimes the parts of the body work well together: sometimes one part develops a balance problem.

A. My thinking about me.

B. My thinking about you.

Content:

1. There’s not just a “me” on the dance floor; there’s a “me” and “YOU”— three “manys” and three “alls.” (1 Cor. 12:12-14)

2. The body of Christ is compared to the human body and has many parts.

3. It is not only the most complex entity in the world, it’s the most inclusive.

4. We get into the body by being baptized — that is, placed together by the Spirit of God to form ONE body and be connected. If all the parts of the body work well together, we say the body is “healthy,” but sometimes one part gets out of balance. (1 Cor. 12:15-17)

5. If our balance problem is my thinking about me, we may compare ourselves to others or focus more on our weaknesses. (1 Cor. 10:12)

6. If our observation escalates to self-hate and condemnation, we may conclude that we do not belong and should stop being a part.

7. No matter how our thoughts or feelings of insecurity sound, God’s answer to our negativity brings balance—He has placed us in His body where we are by His sovereign, intentional choice. Heritage teaches the value that if I’m here, God brought me here. (1 Cor. 12:18)

8. When we are not feeling good about ourselves, we could resort to the second unbalanced thinking tendency of my thinking about you. (1 Cor. 12:21)

9. We were operating from a posture of inferiority —“I don’t belong.” Now we’ve assumed a position of superiority —“it’s bad enough that I’m down on me, now I’m getting down on you. I don’t need you.”

10. Truly diverse thinking is more than “tolerant” thinking about one different than us. It’s valuing the difference and having a desire for inclusion.

11. Paul takes our body part relations standards to another level and asks us to make the weak indispensable and treat them with special honor. He turns our natural rankings upside down, or better yet, right side up. (1 Cor. 12:22-24)

12. Not only has God put us together, He’s also blended us into a new compound with our care and concern for each other as His focus. (1 Cor. 12:24-25)

13. Under the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, we want to serve the common good by meeting changing community needs — first with the life-changing gospel of Jesus. Your gift, your part, connects with and blesses somebody that I don’t.

Aim:

Now that we’re hopefully getting more comfortable with our dancing, God wants to teach us to dance together — valuing our part and valuing the parts of others.

Application Questions:

1. What have you learned that your spiritual gifts are — your part in the body of Christ? How would you like to begin to fit yourself into serving the body of Christ?

2. Which of the two off-kilter tendencies are you most likely to lose your balance over — your thinking about you or your thinking about others? Have you struggled with feeling a part? Have you struggled with including others?

Outline

I. Kinds of manifestations help us to see the majesty of God.

II. Each manifestation contributes to the common good.

III. The Spirit is the Choreographer.

Content

1. Paul uses the word manifestations to stress the breadth, width and variety of how the Spirit moves.

2. There is great variety in how the Spirit moves and yet these moves are all connected.

3. All Christians has the Spirit of God in them, and have therefore been graced by the Spirit in some way.

4. Charismatic in a spiritual context relates to some grace, favor, blessing, effect or impact given by the Spirit of God. So every gift of the Spirit is a charismatic gift.

5. Paul also uses the word manifestations to refer to something that enables the unseen to be seen; in this case it is the triune God, three persons in one. (Galatians 4:4-6, Titus 3:4-7)

6. To see the majesty of God we need many kinds of manifestations, not just one.

7. We have all been given many different manifestations to contribute to the common good.

8. We need to celebrate all the different manifestations that the Spirit gives God’s followers and not just some of them. No one manifestation should be considered better, or more important, than another.

9. The Spirit has sovereign control. We can grieve or quench the spirit over our gifts, but that doesn’t mean He’s any less in charge.

10. We are not all given the same manifestations but what we are given is all part of God’s plan and will for us.

Aim

The Spirit gives these gifts to make something beautiful, something pleasing to Him, something that depicts the majesty of God, blesses all of us and makes more of Jesus.

Application Questions

1. What types of gifts (manifestations) have you been given and how are you using them to bless others?

2. All of our gifts have been given to us to do what?

3. How do we see the majesty of God through our gifts?

4. Ultimately, why were we given gifts?

Outline

I. What we think we know but don’t (v.1)

II. What we once knew but forgot (v.2)

III. What we need to know and remember (v.3)

Content

From last week:

Dancing is a metaphor for encaging with the Spirit of God because of these parallels: both are filled with emotion, passion, and responsiveness. Both are somewhat unnatural and uncomfortable.

The Corinthians understood that a relationship with the Spirit was part of being a Christian.

The Holy Spirit manifests His presence in our lives by graces, undeserved gifts that help us grow in our relationship with Christ. These graces are not the same for all.

Every Christian has the Spirit living in them and every Christian is empowered by the Spirit in some way.

Christianity is both “something I believe” and “someone I receive.”

Experiencing something of the Spirit does not equate with being spiritual…remember the graces of the Spirit are undeserved gifts.

The Corinthians were experiencing gifts of the Spirit and feeling “puffed up” and self-made (1 Cor. 8:1, 4:7-10).

Today the Spirit-filled life is linked to weakness — gifts from our gracious Heavenly Father.

The Corinthians had forgotten how they were like when they worshipped idols, how easily it was for them to be deceived by the world. Experience alone is not proof of God’s presence (1 Cor. 8:4-7).

If the Spirit of God is in it, Christ will be exalted. You can be sure of this by the end result. The goal of the Spirit’s working is to promote Christ.

The Spirit of Christ is in communion where Jesus is seen in a broken body and poured out blood, making the ultimate sacrifice to glorify God and save us.

Aim

When we engage the Spirit of God, we are engaging a Father who has gifts for us that we do not deserve. He gives these gifts so that we will grow in Christ, not grow prideful.

Application Questions

How do you feel about engaging the Spirit of God?

What have you forgotten about your former life without God that might humble you despite your “accomplishments” for Christ? How do you know you did not make yourself a Christian?

How have you experienced the undeserved but gracious gifts of the Spirit, either as a recipient or observer? Did this experience glorify God and bring ones closer to Christ?

What difficulties do you have in judging spiritual gifts? What are some questions you still have?