Savoring the Savior

1.        Why is the Holy Spirit so vital to the life of a believer? 2.        What does it mean to “walk” by the Spirit? (correlates to what word in v18) a.        Exodus 31:3 b.        Ephesians 5:18 3.        How do these verses relate to what is said regarding the work of the flesh? a.        Flesh Defined – Galatians 2:20 b.        Practice – How can missing this one word change how we read this passage? c.        Works Evident – Romans 1:18-22, 1 John 3:10 d.        Results – Galatians 5:21, Galatians 6:8, Romans 6:23 4.        Examine the Negative List a.        Are there words that need to be defined or clarified? b.  ...

Anytime someone asks me how God speaks to us today, my first response is through the Bible. God's primary means of communicating to us about who he is and who we are is found in his own revelation to us in Scripture. In the Old Testament, he speaks to us throughout history, through poetry, through his law, and by the mouths of his prophets. In the New Testament, he speaks through his Son - Jesus, as we read the eye-witness accounts of the gospels, see the creation and confession of the early church, and are encouraged by the writings of the apostles. God primarily  speaks through his word... but he can also speak through our circumstances, through situations and other people. This morning, I was reminded of the latter. In our Sunday School class, we have decided to devote one Sunday each month to focus on prayer. Rather than have prayer be the two shorter bookends to a longer lesson or lengthy discussion, one Sunday each month we have decided to invert our "order of se...

When we have people in our lives that are close to us, those individuals that really "get us", we treasure those relationships and consider ourselves to be very fortunate. In my own life, I think about my wife, someone who is familiar with not only my ambitions and motivations but also my fears and struggles. I think about my oldest son, who shares a common interest in music, enjoys watching constant reruns of "The Office", and has a similar sense of humor. When we say that someone "gets us",  we are saying that this person is more than just an acquaintance. This is someone who knows more than a few basics facts about us. This is someone who is dear to us because they know us on a deeper, personal level. Today, as I was reading a verse that I have read so many times before, I found myself coming to a complete stop. So many times I had read this verse or heard someone teaching this passage with my eyes looking towards the future that I had missed ...