Ang B

People don't have to be ordained by man to have a gift of plastering. Those who are gifted can care for small groups or even one on one care. The senior pastor may be more gifted in teaching, and in leadership or admin. This allows others in the church with the pastoral gift to be used. It isn't so much as to who does it. As long as someone is doing it to help the church grow.

QUESTION 3_LESSON 8 (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Corinthians 14) How would you define the gift of prophecy? The gift of prophesy is intelligible speech, and is translatable. Vs. 22 It is for believers and if an unbeliever comes in he is convicted and judge by all- his secrets are revealed and was a result he worships and proclaims "God is among you" A prophet knows things and shares things only God would know. Therefore it is a gift that instructs builds and strengthens those who are recipients of the prophesy. Why do churches sometimes despise or prohibit prophecy? I believe prophesy may make them feel threatened by the instructive message of prophesy which could be in conflict with the direction and teachings of that church. What guidelines does Paul give here and in 1 Corinthians 14 to keep prophecy in a congregation healthy? Paul encourages people not to put out the Spirit’s fire. He says “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). In (1 Corinthians 14) Paul advises the people to follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophesy.

Spiritual gifts are used to build up the church so that ultimately Christ can be seen in His fullness. When people don't use their gifts in this way it stifles the church and the fruits are not generated.

Things of the flesh are our sinful worldly desires. We must lean on the Spirit and trust he will guide and provide. We must let go of worldly things and be intentional about this. Of course it will take will power in the beginning as our flesh is weak. It is a mind-set we must strive for- to be in this world but not of this world. We must let go of our will and be willing to surrender our lives so the Holy Soirit can lead. We can not have 2 Gods. We must chose between ourselves being our God our Jesus Christ. This is to be a way of life!!

Q1. (Romans 7:7-25) What does Paul mean by "the sinful nature" (NIV) or "the flesh" (ESV, KJV)? We are all sinners. Our flesh is weak. We will always be tempted by the ways of this world Satan the ruler of this world looks for our weaknesses and uses these things against us to try to win us. Is this ever eradicated? No I believe these things are always with us. God can use these things to help us to grow closer to him as we call on him in our darkest hours. Can there ever be victory over temptation? I believe everytime we are tempted and walk away from that temptation it is a victory!

I believe when it says "being filled" it is like an "extra special dose". I believe initially the Holy Spirit comes when we accept Christ and he dwells in us but when he sees fit to help us be more bold for Christ he pours extra power in us so we can speak boldly for grist or do things we can't do on our own strength. He makes himself available and fills us as he sees fit.

Christ does not dwell in those who have not accepted Him as their Savior. The Father and Son make their home in us through the Holy Spirit. He makes his home in us when we invite him in by Loving God and obeying his teachings as we learn more about him. In ancient times a deity dwelt in a temple but by human hands to honor him. The temple is not ours it is His. In the same way our body is not ours it belongs to God, but there is nothing we can do "deeds" to bring the Holy Sprit to us other than accept Christ. For Him to make a HOME in us we must love him. The temple had any restrictions and regulations to enter. The only thing needed for the Holy Spirit to enter us is our acceptance of Christ. For him to dwell we need to love God. Having the Holy Spirit dwell in me makes a constant yearning that can't be filled by anything but knowing God personally and coming to him daily. This yearning let's things I used to hold as important fall to the wayside so I can focus on His Kingdom rather than earthly desires. I try to allow the spirit to guide me when it comes to witnessing- timing, the words to say, - it is no longer me operating on my own strength but on His. I am still uncertain about the spiritual power within me other than the ability to lean on Christ.

Once we have accepted Christ as our saviour and surrender our life it is an invitation for 5he Holy Spirit to manifest in us. We don't see him physically enter us nor do we see any physical change in us. However we can sense a change/shift in our life. The way we see/perceive things in the world changes because the holy spirit is opening our eyes to a deeper understanding of God's Kingdom which surrounds us. Not everything is revealed at once for the Spirit knows what is best for us -in his timing. We can not control the Holy Spirit as he moves in and out but we can hear and feel him.

The Holy Spirit will graciously convict us of our sins to lead us to be more Christlike. He convicts us of spiritual blindness and reminds us of what Jesus has taught us, then ultimately will lead us to a intimate relationship with God.

The Holy Spirit can only come live in them if Jesus leaves and the Spirit will give them poser to do even greater things than Jesus if they believe in Jesus.

In John the Holy Spirit is referred to as "HE". He teaches, corrects, comforts, sanctifies, testifies, empowers, searches all things and works according to his own will. He dwells with us and can be grieved, resisted and tempted.

To testify means to tell what we have seen. The Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus has done in our lives. We can testify by sharing what God has done and is doing in our lives.

Jesus was the initial Paraclete who walked along side the disciples. The Holy Spirit will be Sent by God on the request of Jesus and will live in them to replace the outward presence of Jesus. He will reside in them after Jesus' death on the cross.

Pt 1 Jesus's relationship with His Father is rightly knitted, interdependant. Very intimate! His every move is done because he emulates His Fathers ways. Likewise the Father needs Jesus to get to His people in a way he chose to get through to us, by becoming human- but without sin. Pt2 Jesus had to rely on the Holy Spirit to be fully aware of Gods ways in everything and his disciples watch him therefore he is a model to us of what Gods wishes for us would be....to fully rely on the power He gives us through the Holy Spirit. We need to deny our own desires in order to fully surrender to the Power of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit came to dwell in Mary and she conceived a son. And then The Holy Spirit caused Joseph to accept Mary helping him to see this child was conceived by the spirit. Then Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him. Showing us that God has sent His Spirit to dwell in each of these 3 because they were chosen by God himself. When I said yes to Jesus being my Lord and Savior I know the Holy Spirit came upon me. I was washed clean and it was like my life started a new. I saw things from a different perspective. I had my spiritual eyes on. He puts the longing to know Christ deeper in my heart. And I long to be in His presence through my day and I am always asking for what God's will is and I am now willing to wait rather than take things into my own hands. This didn't all happen at once. It has taken about 10 years to get where I am now but I know the Spirit has gotten me here. There is no doubt I now live for Him.