Key Points:

• The Spirit of God often moves uniquely when God's people gather in one place together.
• God calls all people to salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
• God calls all people to serve God's mission.
• The Holy Spirit fills and empowers all who surrender to serve God's mission.
• Our response to God's call impacts generations.

Reflection Questions:

• When / how did you respond to God's call to salvation?
• When / how have you responded to God's call to mission / service?
• When have you been blessed by someone else responding to God's call to mission / service?
• How is God calling you? How are you responding? How are you trusting the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you?

Scriptures:

• Acts 2:1-41

Key Points:

• Pre-Christian: Prevenient Grace
  • The Holy Spirit reveals God's grace before we even trust Jesus as Savior.
• Almost Christian: Convicting / Convincing Grace
  • The Holy Spirit begins convicting us of sin and our need for a Savior.
• Salvation: Justifying Grace
  • When we trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit pours out God's justifying grace to save us.
• Regeneration: Being born again
  • By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are born from above.
• Initial Sanctification: The moment we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us and begins the lifelong process of sanctifying us to reflect the image of Christ.
• Consecration and Entire Sanctification: The Holy Spirit fills us entirely, setting us free from the power of sin to walk in holy love toward God, self, and others.
• Growth in Sanctification: The Holy Spirit continues sanctifying us through and through until we stop breathing.
• Ultimate / Final Glorification in Christ
• "A Christian is as full of the Holy Spirit as he wants to be. We can beg to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can talk about it, but until we are willing to empty ourselves, we will never have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God will fill as much of us as we allow Him to fill...Are you sure you want to be filled with a Spirit, who, though He is like Jesus in His gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life?" - A.W. Tozer, The Crucified Life: How to Live Out A Deeper Christian Experience

Reflection Questions:

• Are you ready to take the next step to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?

Scriptures:

• Galatians 5:1-6, 13-26

Key Points:

• Exercising our spiritual gifts GIVES life to the body of Christ and REVEALS life to the world.
• Giftless Christianity is lifeless Christianity.
• A spiritual gift is "a supernatural ability or capacity given by God to enable the Christian to minister and to serve." - Kenneth Kinghorn, Gifts of the Spirit
• Discovering your spiritual gifts:
  • Pray and ask God to reveal your gifts.
  • Invite brothers and sisters in Christ to help discern your gifts.
  • Look for fruitfulness and joyfulness in ministry.
  • Adopt a posture of curiosity and experimentation.
• Why would you sacrifice time and energy to serve?
  • Serving overflows from new life in Christ.
  • Serving multiplies life IN YOU and THE BODY.
  • Serving multiplies life THROUGH YOU TO THE WORLD.

Links:

• Spiritual Gifts Assessment

Scriptures:

• James 2:26
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27
• Exodus 31:1-5
• Ephesians 4:16