Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2017 6:50:39 GMT
Here was a fun way to start tonight’s discussion, by filling in the blanks: “The best advice I ever received was to ___________________________________ and the name of the person who gave me the advice was___________________________________.” That was followed by another question to ponder: when we get conflicting advice from two different people, how do you decide which advice to follow? Answers ranged from considering the motives of the people, their evident interest in really helping us, and their track record of good decisions – and then probably weighing and analyzing to come to a final choice.
Regarding the scripture for tonight, keep in mind that the word for “advocate,” or “helper,” sometimes “counselor,” is parakletos in Greek. This literally means “one called alongside.” For the remainder of the evening, as we talked about the Holy Spirit, it was in the context of imagining Him walking along beside us, helping us know what to say (and when to say it) and what actions to take. When we talked about Jesus saying that the world cannot accept the Spirit (verse 17) and that Jesus will leave His peace, not the peace of the world (verse 27), we interchanged “unbelievers” for “world.” That made it clear who will not understand the workings of the Holy Spirit, and how people who try so hard to make peace and happiness out of their own efforts do not succeed.
We noticed that Jesus' description of the Holy Spirit as being another like Jesus, affirmed the construction of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, separate, but alike. And it seemed pretty clear that after the sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension, that the Spirit would be the teacher to remind the disciples of their experiences with Jesus after they could comprehend them better.
The advice of the Holy Spirit and the peace of Christ that He brings to us are only effective if we listen and get our own plotting and scheming out of the way. We remembered at the end that the Holy Spirit, as advisor and companion, matches positively the characteristics we would consider when listening to an advisor: His motive is only to bring us closer to God, He is keenly interested in really helping us, and He has a perfect track record of good decisions. No analysis needed!
To finish up, we challenged ourselves to think of at least one issue in our life that we especially would want our friend the Holy Spirit, by our side, helping us to handle. Then we read the words of a familiar New Apostolic Hymnal song, #468, Holy Spirit, Faithful Guide.
Holy Spirit, faithful Guide,
ever near the Christian's side,
gently lead us by the hand,
pilgrims in the desert land.
Weary souls forever rejoice
when they hear that sweetest voice
Ever present, truest Friend
ever near Your aid to lend,
leave us not to doubt or fear,
wandering on in darkness drear.
When the raging storms assail,
hearts grow faint and hopes, too, fail
Whisper softly: "Wanderer, come!
Follow Me, I'll guide you home."
Regarding the scripture for tonight, keep in mind that the word for “advocate,” or “helper,” sometimes “counselor,” is parakletos in Greek. This literally means “one called alongside.” For the remainder of the evening, as we talked about the Holy Spirit, it was in the context of imagining Him walking along beside us, helping us know what to say (and when to say it) and what actions to take. When we talked about Jesus saying that the world cannot accept the Spirit (verse 17) and that Jesus will leave His peace, not the peace of the world (verse 27), we interchanged “unbelievers” for “world.” That made it clear who will not understand the workings of the Holy Spirit, and how people who try so hard to make peace and happiness out of their own efforts do not succeed.
We noticed that Jesus' description of the Holy Spirit as being another like Jesus, affirmed the construction of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, separate, but alike. And it seemed pretty clear that after the sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension, that the Spirit would be the teacher to remind the disciples of their experiences with Jesus after they could comprehend them better.
The advice of the Holy Spirit and the peace of Christ that He brings to us are only effective if we listen and get our own plotting and scheming out of the way. We remembered at the end that the Holy Spirit, as advisor and companion, matches positively the characteristics we would consider when listening to an advisor: His motive is only to bring us closer to God, He is keenly interested in really helping us, and He has a perfect track record of good decisions. No analysis needed!
To finish up, we challenged ourselves to think of at least one issue in our life that we especially would want our friend the Holy Spirit, by our side, helping us to handle. Then we read the words of a familiar New Apostolic Hymnal song, #468, Holy Spirit, Faithful Guide.
Holy Spirit, faithful Guide,
ever near the Christian's side,
gently lead us by the hand,
pilgrims in the desert land.
Weary souls forever rejoice
when they hear that sweetest voice
Ever present, truest Friend
ever near Your aid to lend,
leave us not to doubt or fear,
wandering on in darkness drear.
When the raging storms assail,
hearts grow faint and hopes, too, fail
Whisper softly: "Wanderer, come!
Follow Me, I'll guide you home."