June 3, 2012

Scriptures For June 3rd: Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17; Theme: Trinity Sunday; Song: I am Gonna Live So God can Use Me - Faith We Sing #2153 Romans: Last Sunday Jesus told us to wait for the Spirit to come to help us understand what was really happening. Now that the spirit is here, what difference does it make in our lives. Romans 8 gives us instructions of what it means to live in the Spirit of Christ. Paul makes a distinction between living in the Spirit and living in the flesh. When we live in the flesh we are slaves, but God intended us to be free. When we obey God, we also inherit the Spirit of God. We are brothers and sisters of God, which means that we can live with Christ as our example for all things. Suffering does not stop us, because God has given us the Spirit to overcome. Jesus says that if we are baptized then we not only have the grace of water, but of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that saves us from the fate of the world, and helps us not to fear suffering or anything else. John: We have talked about this important chapter many times before this year. This is John chapter 3. Nicodemus comes to talk with the master to understand what he must do to be saved. He must be born again. He must be born of the Spirit (and not of the flesh). Jesus is alluding to what it means to be baptized, what it means to share in the death resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we cant help but to be a part of the world that we are born into. But if we are Christians, we realize that at some point if we continue to follow the ways of the world, we are going to die. We have to do something different. When we are baptized, the path to a new life is opened up to us. Not guided by flesh, but by Spirit. We truly can be born again, and we can accept what doing for us. But we have to remember, that door is not open just to us, or our friends, but all flesh. Questions: Have you read chapter 8 of Romans? What keys of faith does it offer? What does it mean to live in the Spirit? What does it mean to live in the flesh? What does it really mean to be a child of God? If that a gift or a responsibility? What does it mean to you to be born again? Has baptism made a difference in your life? How do you witness the spirit in your life?