2. PENTECOST
Eat & Connect
Connection Activation (20 mins)
How would you love to be remembered?
Worship
Testimonies (10 mins)
Take a look at the new Stories page on our website.
What do these stories remind you about God? How have you stepped out this week, empowered by the Holy Spirit? Celebrate risk!
Worship Activation (20 mins)
As we worship, let's focus our attention this week on worshipping and welcoming the Holy Spirit. We know He is in our midst but He loves to come and keep coming as we invite Him, and by focusing on Him we become more aware of His presence. Pay attention to any changes in your body as you worship. You may feel heat or a refreshing breeze or you body may tingle or shake. All of these are very biblical! Most people in the bible that encounter God fall face down!
Worship song suggestions:
Bible
Bible Study (30 mins)
Read Acts 2:1-21.
Verse 1:
What does it mean that the disciples were all together in one place? How can we apply the importance of unity and fellowship in our own lives and communities?
Verse 4:
2. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can we seek and cultivate a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit's presence and power in our lives?
Verse 8:
3. The people from different regions heard the disciples speaking in their own languages. How does this demonstrate God's ability to transcend cultural and language barriers? How can we ask the Holy Spirit to help us embrace diversity and bridge cultural gaps in our interactions with others?
Verse 11:
4. How does the fact that people heard the disciples declaring "the wonders of God" in their own languages highlight the universal nature of God's message? How can we effectively communicate the wonders of God's love and salvation to the people around us?
Verse 17:
5. In Peter's quotation of Joel's prophecy, what significance does the pouring out of the Holy Spirit hold? How does the promise of the Holy Spirit's work impact our lives as believers today in the North East?
Verse 18:
6. Joel's prophecy speaks of various manifestations and experiences that will accompany the pouring out of the Spirit. How can we discern the different ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives and recognize His guidance and empowerment in specific situations?
Verse 21:
7. Peter emphasizes the importance of calling on the name of the Lord for salvation. What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord in our everyday lives? How can we cultivate a habit of seeking and relying on the Holy Spirit every day?
Prayer
Response (10 mins)
Changing our posture in prayer is similar to changing our posture in worship. Sometimes we kneel to pray to emphasise our surrender, sometimes we stand to pray to declare, fight, agree.
As we spend some time asking the Holy Spirit to fill us, what posture would be good? Why not try a new posture now where we express our hunger and desire for more by standing with arms wide open or lying face down in anticipation of encountering His glory.
Prayer (20 mins)
Use the prayer in Ephesians 1:17-23 to pray for one another:
17 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Particularly pray for each other to know the incomparably great power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.