“If they (the people of Mali) could SEE Jesus, they’ll be different. If we could show them Jesus, He can change them…. We’ve delivered over 7,000 babies at our hospital.” Dr. Nesselrode

It’s kind of become a trend to contrast religion with relationship in churches. Religion is generally defined by the tendency to live by a list of rules, whereas relationship is just what it sounds like — to live in relationship with God through Christ.

I was thinking through the years of ministry I’ve experienced and realized that over and over again, when we are being religious, we are generally fruitless. And when we operate out of a relationship based in grace, we see fruit. It is my opinion that the fruit we are seeing at Curwensville Alliance is partially because we’ve abandoned dead religious tradition in favor of healthy pursuit of God. If you want to hear a good talk on this, there’s one at Willowcreek called Go Outside.

Tonight (May 4) at 7 p.m. we will be discussing The Forgotten God — the Holy Spirit. These are the questions we will address.

Forgotten God, Chapter 3, by Francis Chan

Without action and fruit, all the theology in the world has little meaning. But theology is still important— what you believe absolutely determines how you act. So while good theology at its best can lead us to live godly lives, bad theology will always point us in the wrong direction. When we study the Holy Spirit, bad theology can lead to ineffective lives or, worse yet, lives spent striving after what the Spirit of God opposes.— Francis Chan, p. 64

1. What are the classic illustrations of the trinity? Take each one and tell why it falls short of illustrating the triune God.

Acts 2:1-4, 14-15, 36-37 (NIV) ¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Sudden­ly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…. ¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!  ³⁶“…let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” ³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

2. What difference(s) do you see in the life of Peter from the time he denied knowing Jesus to the time he preached his first sermon in Acts 2? How is he different? Why is he different?
3. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is not an it but a he. The Holy Spirit is a person, not a force. Why is this aspect of Spirit theology important? What does his being a person and not a mindless force mean to you and me?
4. God’s word teaches us that the Holy Spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9:4). How is the eternality of the Holy Spirit relevant to Christians today?
5. Scripture reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is God and that he is in no way a lesser or different kind of being than the Father or Son (Acts 5:3-4). What does his deity mean to us? His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence?
6. Chan marvels that the Holy Spirit, having his own mind, prays for us. Can you think of three or four ways it’s valuable to have the Holy Spirit praying for us?
7. Ephesians 4:30 says it’s possible to grieve the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? What are ways that we may grieve the Spirit?

My hope is that reading these truths about the Holy Spirit will lead you into a deeper relationship with a greater reverence for the Spirit — that good theology would lead you to right action, genuine love, and true worship. ~Francis Chan, pp. 76-77