Thursday 4 July 2013

Jesus Challenge:

Over the last four weeks you have made all your plans regarding the gospel outreach event you will run together as a cell. Now is the time to run the event! Set aside a block of prayer time together to pray about the event. Pray that the gospel would be shared boldly and faithfully and that the hearts of those you have invited would be receptive to the message.

 

If you like, send your prayer and praise points for the event to the office staff so they can be included in the weekly bulletin to encourage and challenge the congregation.

 

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:17-22, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

There seem to be two extremes amongst the Christian church. The first extreme sees the Holy Spirit as the be-all and end-all of the Christian faith. These types of churches are always chasing after the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit and are always seeking a supernatural experience. This extreme can be quite dangerous when proper discernment is not made between helpful supernatural experiences and unhelpful ones. They can also tend to neglect or disregard the less miraculous gifts.

 

The other extreme is to almost disregard the Holy Spirit altogether. The Holy Spirit is assigned a place in the corner where He can guide in the background but miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit are looked down on. The less miraculous spiritual gifts (things like teaching and administration) are elevated and viewed as highly important and the miraculous gifts are ignored. These churches can tend to disregard the leading and work of the Holy Spirit.

 

It appears that the church in Thessalonica fell into this latter category, at least when it came to the gift of prophesy. Paul encourages them to take a more balanced approach. He exhorts them not to quench the Spirit, to not put the Spirit in the corner with limits on what He can choose to do in the church. Instead, rather than treating prophesy with contempt, they are to respect it.

 

But Paul does not encourage them to swing to the other extreme. Rather, he exhorts the Thessalonians to test all prophesy and, by extension, to test manifestations of the spirit. They are to be wise and discerning regarding the Spirit’s movement amongst them and they are to hold onto the good and reject the evil things which are not from God.

 

Consider the work of the spirit in your church. Do you swing to the extreme of quenching the spirit or of obsessing about the spirit? Do you expect the Holy Spirit to work in your church, changing people to be more like Christ and using the gifts He gives each believer (1 Corinthians 12:7) to grow His kingdom? It is only as we see the Spirit working powerfully in our churches that people will come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will work.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

¥ Pray that the Holy Spirit would work powerfully in the life of each person in your congregation. Pray that God would use His people and their gifts powerfully to preach and share the gospel with others. Pray that many would come to faith in Christ as a result of this work.

Pray for Anneke Timmers as she travels to Uganda and South Africa on a mission trip. Pray that God would strengthen and encourage the team during their time there and that many would come to know Christ through their ministry.

 

 

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. What would it look like for the Spirit to be actively involved at your church on Sundays?

2. Have another look at the list of spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12. Share with the group what you think your spiritual gifts are. Seek to encourage one another in these gifts.