Home Worship Guide (4-26-2020)

Overview: This is a guide. It has been designed to help you and can be modified by you however you see fit. Especially for those with younger kids, it might be best to read through this in advance and use elements that will fit the attention span of your kids. 

Main Point: The way we combat losing heart and persist in doing good is by relying on the Spirit and not the flesh.   

Read: Romans 8:9-11

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 

10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. (NLT)

Encouragement: God has not left us to walk as Christians alone. He has given us his Spirit. Because of this, we have different motivations, desires, loves and focus. Our role is to continually yield to the Spirit. To rely upon the Spirit. He lives within us and works through us as we live in the power he supplies. We are often tempted to do things on our own but the only way we will live in a way that pleases God is by abandoning self-reliance and embracing Spirit-dependence. The Spirit not only gives us live, but enables us to walk in newness of life. 

Prayer: 

Spend some time praying for the following

1. Pray that God would bless your time with him

2. Pray that God would open your heart and enlarge your love for him

3. Pray that God would show you how he is calling you to respond

Devotion: Galatians 6:7-10

Discussion Questions:

1. What are some examples of times your have lost heart or become complacent?  Where was your focus?

2. What are some areas in your life now where you find yourself growing weary? How much are you depending upon yourself in these areas? 

3. What are some areas in your life where you need to grow in Spirit-dependence? What do you have to surrender for that to happen?  

4. What are some areas where the Spirit is convicting you? How will you respond to that conviction?   

5. How often do you look forward to the reward of being with Christ for eternity as a motivation to honor him with your life now?  

6. How often are your discouraged by impatience in not seeing immediate results? How does this demonstrate an area where you need to grow in trust and dependence upon the Spirit?    

Application:

1. Don’t give up! We are often tempted to give up when we rely upon ourselves. Take your concerns and discouragements to God knowing that he cares for you and ask for the strength to glory in your weakness and rely on the power of the Spirit (1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 12:9-10; John 14:16-17; 2 Cor 4:16)

2. Look to the reward! We are often tempted to be nearsighted. We need the glasses of the gospel to look beyond this life and correct our vision to live with eternity in mind. (Phil 1:23; Psalm 16:11; 2 Cor 5:6-8)

3. Persist in doing good. We might not see the results but we can have confidence that God is still using us and the good we do magnifies his worth in our lives and points others to him. We glorify God by persisting in doing good by the power of the Spirit. (Eph 2:10; Romans 12:1; Titus 2:14)

Respond in Song: A Christians Daily Prayer (Consider discussing how the words of this song connect with the truths you saw in the text after singing).

Respond in Prayer