Driven by Purpose

Main Thought

God created us intentionally, with unique purpose to fulfill in this life. He gives us unique gifts and abilities to fulfill this purpose. He also uses our life experiences, both good and bad, to shape us for the “good work” laid out for us. We can bring all of these things to God and find purpose in Him. God’s purpose for our individual lives find their place under the banner of His greater purpose. As we make a difference in the lives of others, our stories are bound together like pieces in a puzzle. Together, they paint a picture of God’s love growing and advancing throughout the world.

Main Passages

“I ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally (knowing God), your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do (discover purpose), grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers [making a difference]. 

- Ephesians 1:17-18 MSG

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

- Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

- 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 ESV

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

- Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Passages above?

2. What have others said you are good at or makes you unique? How can you use those to point people to Jesus?

3. In your current season of life, what do you think your purpose is? How has God positioned you to make a difference in the lives of others?

For the Common Good

Main Thought

As Christians, we are to imitate the actions and attitudes of Jesus Christ. Jesus wasn’t motivated by personal benefit when He died on the Cross for our sin. He did it to glorify God the Father - and He did it for the common good. He did it for the benefit of everyone who follows Him; for every member of the “Body of Christ.” The Holy Spirit is moving and active today, which is also for the common good. Are we primarily motivated by personal good, or by the common good of the Body of Christ? God gives us spiritual gifts for the common good. If we aren’t involved, then the Body is incomplete. There are people who need the spiritual gifts that God gave us. Love moves us to serve with excellent effort and an excellent spirit. Then, when we are active as members of God’s Body, we are best-positioned to experience love too.

Main Passages

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

- 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Discussion Questions

1. Who’s someone in the Body of Christ whose spiritual gifts have blessed you? How so?

2. Is there anything stopping you from wholeheartedly loving the Body of Christ in attitude and/or action? 

3. Do you feel that God is calling you to do something for the common good of the Church in this season of your life?

Life Group H.E.A.R. Journal: 1 Corinthians 12

An easy, memorable way to learn how to read and process the Bible is through the H.E.A.R. journaling method. This process helps us read God’s Word with the goal of understanding it and applying it to our lives. The letters in the acronym stand for Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. 

Please read the following passages from 1 Corinthians 12, which Pastor Roland featured in his message last week. (Another option for your Life Group: you can complete the Spiritual Gifts test that was handed out as service, and share your results with one another.)

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

- 1 Corinthians 12:21-26

Next, do each of the four things listed below:

• Highlight a scripture: Pick one verse (or pick a set of connected or related verses) from 1 Corinthians 12. Highlight this verse or write down the Book, chapter, and verse number.

• Explain the context: By asking some simple questions with the help of God’s Spirit, we can understand the meaning of a passage or verse. What’s happening in the story? Why was this written, and to whom? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? What does God intend to communicate through this text? 

• Apply it to your life: Application is the heart of the process! Answering a series of questions can help us uncover the meaning of these verses to us on a personal level. What is God saying to me? How can this help me? What does this mean today? How would applying this look in my life?

• Respond with action: This is the last part of the H.E.A.R. Journal. Your response to the passage may take on many forms. You may write a call to action. You can describe how you’ll be different because of what God said to you through His Word. You may indicate what you’re going to do because of what you have learned. You can even respond by writing out a prayer to God.

Share your responses with your group. Pay special to the Apply and Respond steps; that’s where God’s Word comes to life! Let’s encourage each other in God’s Word.

If God is Bigger...

Main Thought

There are big challenges all around us. It’s true now, and it was true for God’s people when the forefathers of our faith walked the earth. One of them was Elijah, the prophet. Our world is very different now; however, Elijah’s life revealed God’s greatness in situations that are similar to ones that we face today. God is bigger than our cultural climate. He’s bigger than any economic recession or our personal needs. God is even bigger than death. God did big things in Elijah’s day, and He still wants to do big things today.

If only we could be like Elijah, right? That’s the thing: we are like Elijah. He was a human being who experienced human emotions, just like we do. But Elijah prayed fervent, passionate, and powerful prayers. He knew that the challenges were big but God was bigger. If we believe that God is bigger, then we will pray bigger prayers. We can come to God in desperate faith, and ask Him to move with the right motives in our hearts. God only answers us after we ask Him.

Main Passages

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

- 1 Kings 17:1

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

- James 5:17-18

…You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

- James 4:2-3

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought and Passages above?

2. The book of James suggests that we may not receive answers to prayer because we 1) don’t ask God, or 2) ask with selfish motives. Do either of these two things apply to you?

3. What’s one big thing that you’d like to ask God for? Find a partner and pray.

Walking in Freedom

Main Thought

God paid the price to set us free from sin and death by becoming our sacrifice on the cross. But is that all there is to our Christian walk? What happens between now and when we get to heaven? Following Jesus means more than claiming our salvation. It means transformation. The Holy Spirit can helps us become more like Jesus - more loving, kind, graceful, true and so on - as we follow Him. Let’s look to God and how He’s transforming us; if we do that, then we’ll gain a clearer picture of the people we’re becoming in Christ Jesus.

Main Passages

16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

- 1 Corinthians 3:16-20

10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

- Romans 8:10-11

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

- 2 Timothy 1:7

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought and Passages above?

2. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God gives us power, love, and self-control. Which of those three things do you need more of in this season of your life?

3. What kind of person do you believe you’re becoming in Jesus? What kind of person do you want to be in Him?

The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit

Main Thought

Being a follower of Jesus means much more than going to church or trying to live a good life. It means letting the Holy Spirit change you. Transformation happens when we invite Him in and allow Him to defeat other “gods,” or idols and sin, in our lives. After the Holy Spirit defeats them, he gives us the authority to remove them. We remove these things when we recognize them for what they are, confess them to God in repentance, and replace old thoughts and actions with new ones. Prayer and fasting help us find breakthrough, especially in community. God wants us to do more than perform religious duties; He wants to transform us from the inside out.

Main Passages

10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. 12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.

- 2 Samuel 6:10-12

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Main Passages above?

2. Why can it be hard for us to allow God to transform us?

3. What’s one thing that God wants to transform in you?

Walk by the Spirit?

Main Thought

“Walk by the Spirit.” It’s a famous phrase, but what does it mean? If we want to walk by the Spirit, then we should also recognize things we need to avoid. Self-righteous actions and attitudes must be renounced. Self-righteousness fills us with arrogance based on our own “goodness.” We should also reject the temptation to rebel against God. There’s a long list of “rebellious” sin, from murder and theft to anger and envy. But these sins all tell the same lie: that there’s greater satisfaction away from God’s presence than there is in God’s presence. These things don’t lead to satisfaction - they lead to destruction! 

We want to experience God’s love, joy, and peace and more. That’s why we should walk by the Spirit! Walking by the Spirit means moving toward God. It refers to the direction of our lives and the steps we take to get there. The left-and-right steps of walking by the Spirit are denying sin and choosing God. We choose God when we choose the Word, prayer, and Life Group. We can choose media that glorifies Him, or silence and reflection to remind us of His presence. This process can feel slow when we’re only focused on the next step - just like walking does. But keep walking by the Spirit. Consistent efforts produces clear results.

Main Passages

“16 But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” 

- Galatians 5:16

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 

- Galatians 5:24-25

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 

- Galatians 6:9

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Passages above? Why?

2. Which category of sin is a bigger struggle for you right now: self-righteousness or rebellion?

3. What habit can you develop in order to “keep in step with the Spirit” and move closer to God?

Bonding with the Holy Spirit

Main Thought

The Holy Trinity. Three distinct persons, one God. We recognize God the Father and Jesus the Savior; however, the Holy Spirit often doesn't get the same consideration. It may be due to misunderstanding, fear, or unfamiliarity. But we find our true identity by bonding with the Holy Spirit. He was sent to be with us and dwell within us. We can spend time with Him, learn to recognize His voice, and obey Him. By embracing the Holy Spirit and His purpose in our lives, we find our identity in God. God’s power moves through us when we find ourselves in Him.

Main Passages

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

- Romans 8:14-17

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

- John 16:7

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

- Acts 1:8

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Main Passages above?

2. When you think of bonding with the Holy Spirit, what comes to mind? How do you get closer to God?

3. Why do you think it’s important to find identity in God before we can truly do great things for God?

The Holy Spirit in our Journey

Main Thought

Jesus Christ died, rose again, and ascended on high. He left the was the earth - but He didn’t want to leave us empty-handed! Jesus interceded on our behalf, and God the Father sent His Holy Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit is here to help us on our journey through life. It’s the Spirit who helps us to become God’s children. The Holy Spirit also helps us to be empowered witnesses for Jesus. A witness is someone who shares what they’ve experienced; God wants to empower us as we share what we’ve experienced in God with others. The Holy Spirit wants to abide with us, both in our lives and in our ministries, forever.

Main Passages

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.

- John 14:16

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

- John 20:19-21

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

- Acts 1:6-8

Discussion Questions

1. What stood out to you in last Sunday’s sermon, the Main Thought, or the Main Passages above?

2. What do you think it means to be empowered by God to be a witness? Have you ever experienced God’s empowerment?

3. How can we abide in the Holy Spirit’s presence?