Topic: Holy Spirit

Title: The Spirit of Knowledge, Assurance and Power
Text: Ephesians 1:15-23

The Holy Spirit longs to speak to us and direct us. Who is the Holy Spirit and what role does He play and how is He relevant to our lives?

General Questions:

  1. Ephesians 1:15-23 highlights the roles of the Holy Spirit to help us know God, to assure us of our future and to connect us to the power of God. Which of these roles do you personally associate most and least with the Holy Spirit? Has your understanding of the Holy Spirit deepened through the sermon? Why do you think so?
  2. What is the difference between knowledge versus wisdom and revelation? Do you have any experiences when you received revelation from God which illuminated what only existed as head knowledge previously? How did that experience change your thoughts and actions?

Perspective Questions:

  1. Do you think you know more about God than you know God? Why? Are there specific areas or truths about God that you know but struggle to apply and put your faith and trust in?
  2. Pastor Jeff mentioned that we will live radically different lives, with reckless abandonment, if we have full assurance of our future. Do you agree? What is your level of faith and assurance in God’s promises? How would you view your time, talent, money and even your life differently if you have set your eyes on eternity?
  3. Believers have the Holy Spirit and access to God’s power through the Holy Spirit. The power available for believers is not some of God’s power but is described in Ephesians as an incomparably great power – the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Have you experienced the power of God in your life? What do you think hinders us from tapping on God’s power?

Application Questions:

  1. Do you desire to receive wisdom, revelation and power from the Holy Spirit? What are some changes you can make in your routines to be available to listen and be fully engaged with the Holy Spirit?
  2. We should desire not just to hear God but be ready to obey Him when He speaks. Think about an area of your life where you want to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how God can work in you and through you.

Title: Focus 1 2025 – The Spirit of Truth and Glory
Text: John 16:12-15

The Holy Spirit longs to speak to us and direct us. Who is the Holy Spirit and what role does He play and how is He relevant to our lives?

General Questions:

  1. What are other names or roles given to the Holy Spirit (provide reference Bible verses e.g. “Advocate” John 14:16)? Which one(s) matter most to you?

Perspective Questions:

  1. Should believers worship in spirit or truth or both (see John 4:23-24)? Who is the ultimate source of truth (see John 1:1-15)?
  2. Scams and frauds erode trust among members of the society. How does knowing that the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Truth helps us to rely on Him more? How can yielding to the Holy Spirit help believers to identify blind spots and become more Christ-like (see Psalm 139:23-24)?
  3. John uses “He” to describe the Holy Spirit. “He” reveals and glorifies Jesus. Why must Jesus be glorified (John 3:14- 18)? How does this bring glory to the Father (see John 1:14 and 17:1-5)?

Application Questions:

  1. As an LG, how can we support one another to yield more to the Holy Spirit in truth?
  2. How then can we grow in truth, so that we will indeed know that the truths that the Holy Spirit teaches us are consistent with who Jesus is?
  3. How can we follow the Spirit and thus allowing Him to glorify Jesus through our speech and deeds, in our family and workplace, so as to arose their interests to the Good News?

The Holy Spirit longs to speak to us and direct us. Who is the Holy Spirit and what role does He play and how is He relevant to our lives?

Title: Focus 2025 – When He Speaks
Text: Ezekiel 47:1-12

The Holy Spirit longs to speak to us and direct us. What can we do in order to position ourselves to listen to the Holy Spirit when He speaks?

General Questions:

  1. How often do you hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Why do you think this is the case in your life?

Perspective Questions:

  1. As we host the Holy Spirit, we need to grow in our surrender to the Spirit’s leading in our lives. How have we been surrendering to the Holy Spirit (e.g. ankle-deep, waist-deep)? What hinders us from surrendering to the Holy Spirit? In which areas do we need to grow in our surrender to Him?
  2. We do the ministry of the Spirit without the fruit of the Spirit. How true is this of us? What contributes to this experience? What does this reflect about the health of our relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Application Questions:

  1. As an LG, how can we support one another to be more conscious of the Holy Spirit?
  2. It is not so much about us having more of the Spirit than it is about allowing the Spirit to have more of us. What are some ways we can be more aware of what the Holy Spirit is doing and participate in His work?

The Holy Spirit longs to speak to us and direct us. What can we do in order to position ourselves to listen to the Holy Spirit when He speaks?

Series: Unchanging
Title: The Power Of The Holy Spirit
Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

*No discussion guide for this week due to decentralised sermon preaching.

Series: Unchanging
Title: Connection with the Holy Spirit
Text: Ephesian 5:18-20, Luke 11:5-8, 11-13

Speaking in tongues should not be sought for its own sake. At the heart of it, it is about desiring the gift of the Person of the Spirit and desiring to connect with God through the Spirit.

General Questions:

  1. How is your hunger and desire for the Holy Spirit in your life? What was your response to the Church Health Survey on how regularly do you pray in tongues? Has the desire for the Holy Spirit grown since you received Christ, or have you become more passive in seeking to rely on and be filled with the Holy Spirit?
  2. What is your understanding of the role of Holy Spirit in your life? What are your personal encounters with the Holy Spirit as a partner from God, who guides, teaches and empowers us? Share a personal experience or example of how the Holy Spirit has helped you.

Perspective Questions:

  1. Have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Describe your experience and how has that experience changed your spiritual life. Did you continue to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit after that experience?
    If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, what are the reasons? Have you personally asked God? Pastor Jeff mentioned that desire and faith are necessary to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Are these or other reasons hindering you?
  2. Do you consider yourself as someone who value spiritual things, and are you conscious of the spiritual realm? Why do you think so?

Application Questions:

  1. Do you go through life conscious of the Holy Spirit? What are the changes that you can make in your life to listen and be familiar with the voice of the Holy Spirit? What is the next step for you?
  2. Think about various aspects of your life – your personal being, family and ministries. Are there areas in your life that you require the Holy Spirit to intercede on your behalf? Pray together with your mentor or with your LG for breakthrough in those areas.

A 2-part series on the topic of Holy Spirit as our power source.

Series: Galatians – Freedom in the Gospel Part 3
Title: The True Meaning of Being a Christian
Text: Galatians 6:11-18

Paul ends the letter to the Galatians with his concluding summary unlike any other letters he wrote to emphasise the importance of believers’ faith in Christ alone and not appearances.

General Questions:

  1. When looking at people outside the church, what are some markers/characteristics you look out for to differentiate believers and non/believers?

Perspective Questions:

  1. The Judaizers were using circumcision – works of the flesh – as a marker for receiving salvation. What are some things modern believers might depend on to be secure in their faith? What then does true dependence on the spirit looks like?
  2. The gospel is good news because of God’s grace to forgive us all even when we are unworthy. It is different from other religions where you are earning your salvation. How does knowing God’s grace for us drive our desire for holiness? How can knowing God’s grace for us make us complacent? What can we do to protect ourselves from such complacency?
  3. Living a life of holiness is difficult. Although we cannot attain holiness through the flesh, we need to believe that holiness is possible for all of us. Why can we be sure that holiness can be attained?

Application Questions:

  1. How can we encourage each other to live by the spirit? What are some practices we can incorporate into our lives to walk more in step with the spirit? What are some challenges to implementing them into your lives?
  2. A Christian is to live by the Spirit and to keep in step with the Spirit. The Spirit is meant to be our source and our direction. What can you do to become more sensitive to the Spirit’s direction? What can you do to rely more on the Spirit’s power in your live?

Series: Galatians – Freedom in the Gospel
Title: Children of the Promise
Text: Galatians 4:21-31

In Christ, we are children born through God’s promise and born by the power of the Spirit. How does understanding who we are in Christ affect our resolve to resist the way of law and persist in the way of grace? 

Perspective Questions:

  1. In verse 21, Paul accuses the Galatians of wanting to be under the law. What are some reasons why believers would want to put themselves under some kind of law? What are the pitfalls of doing so?

  2. Many people see the Christian faith as a set of rules and regulations.  We know this is not true, why then do we give that impression? What then is the true heart of Christianity and how is it practised in our lives?

Application Questions:

  1. Over the whole series, we have been tracing Paul’s argument that we can be right with God only by faith in Christ. Paul uses several approaches to make his case – he appealed to the Galatians’ experiences with God (Gal 3:1-6), scriptural arguments (Gal 3:7-14), relatable illustrations from daily life (Gal 3:15-4:7), his pastoral heart for them (Gal 4:8-20), and creative analogies from Scripture (Gal 4:21-31). 

    Which of these approaches are you most familiar with? How can you use some of these approaches to help believers in your community live more by faith?

  2. How can we resolve to live as children of the promise i.e. to resist the way of law and persist in the way of grace?