FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | overview
Boundless Acts! With a flick of the fingers, friction occurs and a spark leaps from match to tinder. A small flame burns the edges and grows, fuelled by wood and air. Heat builds, and soon the kindling is licked by orange-red tongues. Higher and wider it spreads, consuming the wood. The flame has become a fire. Nearly 2000 years ago, a match was struck in Palestine. At first, just a few in that corner of the world were touched; but the fire spread beyond Jerusalem and Judea out to the world and to all people. Acts provides an eyewitness account of the flame and fire – the birth and spread of the church. Beginning in Jerusalem with a small group of disciples, the message travelled across the Roman Empire. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, this courageous band preached, taught, healed, and demonstrated love in synagogues, schools, homes, marketplaces and courtrooms, and on streets, hills, ships and desert roads – wherever God sent them, lives and history were changed. As you read Acts, put yourself in the place of the disciples – feel with them as they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and thrill with them as they see thousands respond to the gospel message. Sense their commitment as they give every ounce of talent and treasure to Christ. And as you read, watch the Spiritled boldness of these first century believers, who through suffering and in the face of death take every opportunity to tell of their crucified and risen Lord. Then decide to be a 20th-centruy version of those men and women of God! (Life Application Bible, Kingsway) In this month’s cell groups we are going to be diving into the book of Acts and exploring the boundless outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early church. We will discover how, under immense persecution, these spirit filled believers kick started a movement that saw the gospel spread like wild fire throughout the world. The transformation that the Holy Spirit caused in the lives of the disciples was immense. Take Simon Peter for example. Here was a man who was scared to admit he knew Jesus a few weeks earlier. But, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, stood up in front of a massive crowd, preached the word of God and 3000 people became Christians. When he prayed for sick they were healed, and even his shadow healed people as he walked by. Peter became one of the most significant leaders in the early church.
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It’s an exciting month as we realise that the same Holy Spirit is still here today, filling us with his boundless faith and power, and transforming us from the inside out so we can transform the world around us!
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Leaders Notes This month we have provided five session outlines. Week One: Boundless Outpouring Week Two: Boundless Transformation Week Three: Boundless Power Week Four: Boundless Faith Additional session: Who Is The Holy Spirit? It is recommended that you read though all five and consider which four out of the five are the most relevant for your group. As this month focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit you may feel that your first cell group needs to be about the Holy Spirit; who is he, what does he do, how can we be filled with him etc. If this is the case you may wish to do the additional session ‘Who Is The Holy Spirit?’ in the first week. If however, you feel your group already have a good understanding of the Holy Spirit you may not find it relevant to include this session this month. Session four, ‘Boundless Faith’, is one where your group members prepare and present a short study on one of the lesser known characters in the book of Acts. Characters you could include could be people like Stephen, Philip, Cornelius, Barnabus, Silas, Timothy, Aquila & Priscilla, Lydia, Jason. Presentations need only to be short; key points that they should try to draw out would be a summary of the character’s story, their strengths and accomplishments; and lessons we can learn from his/her life. Approaching the cell group in this way, with each person taking part, should provide a broad overview of the many other exploits of the believers and the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts that would be more difficult to obtain using a more ‘normal’ cell group format! You should aim to give your group members plenty of time to prepare, so perhaps inform them during the first week this month, and keep reminding them the following couple of weeks. For more information and instruction see week four.
celloutlines
FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | overview (continued...)
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FEBRUARY 2012 celloutlines
celloutlines | week one These Cell Outlines are written by ALOVE UK. They are available each week from our web site. For more information and other cell resources, visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove/resources
Boundless Outpouring You Will Need • Bibles • Pens/paper • Copies of the February Cell Introduction for everyone • Print out of Acts 1 and 2 as given below for each member of your group. • Polo’s/straws • Coloured highlighters • Large piece of flipchart paper / wall paper
Welcome If your group have a good biblical knowledge of the book of Acts, you could play a game of Acts charades. If not you may prefer to try the Polo game! Acts of Acts: Charades. Split into two teams and give each team a set of six or so stories from the book of Acts to act out charade style for their team to guess. Examples could include
Peter heals the crippled beggar.
The stoning of Stephen.
Saul sees a bright light.
Peter’s vision of a sheet full of animals.
Paul and Silas in prison.
Eutychus falls out of a window.
Paul is shipwrecked and bitten by a snake.
Polo game This icebreaker activity uses those well known ‘holy’ mints – polos! Spilt into two teams. Each person needs a straw. Each team must race to pass a Polo around each member of the team till the last team member has the Polo. The means of passing on the Polo is via a straw which is held between the teeth. The first player slips the polo over the straw and then, without using their hands, must pass it onto the next team member’s straw and so on till it reaches the last team member.
Read through the February Cell Introduction together.
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week one (continued...) Word a. Give each person a print out of the portion of Acts 1 and 2 as given below. Read it through together. Then using different coloured highlighters as you have available, ask each person to highlight the following things on their sheets: • Yellow: every mention of the Holy Spirit or Spirit • Green: how the Holy Spirit is given e.g. poured out, baptized, received as a gift • Purple: What the Holy Spirit bought about in peoples lives e.g. help, power, speak in different languages, prophesy, miracles, repentance • Orange: what reactions people had to the Holy Spirit e.g. amazement, confusion, praise for God (You can adapt the colours as you wish!) Discuss what you have read and use the following thoughts to expand on the passage. Ten days after Jesus ascends to heaven, about 120 believers are gathered on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost. Jews of many nations gathered in Jerusalem for this festival. The coming of the Holy Spirit, as promised by Jesus, transforms the group. Their words and actions amaze the crowds on the streets. 3000 people believe and are baptised. This chapter shows how the coming of the Holy Spirit affects the fellowship of believers and how this then affects those around them. Many other people throughout the book of Acts believed and were filled with the Holy Spirit. ‘Pentecost was the church’s public launch event. Breathed into life by the Spirit of God, the disciples were transformed from scared deserters to courageous revolutionaries. The frightened fledgling church burst out of it’s waiting room and onto the streets to set the world ablaze.’ (Krish Kandiah. Youthwork Magazine vol 2 issue 9) b. Discuss • How does the Holy Spirit affect the believers? • What affect does this have on the other people?
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c. Place a large piece of flipchart paper on the floor with a line down the middle. On one side write ‘before’, and the other side write ‘after’. Discuss together and try to build up a before and after picture of the disciples…before they were filled with the Holy Spirit and after! For example: • Before they were frightened, fearful of arrest and punishment by the Jews, the believers were together, maybe hiding out, in the “upper room.” (John 20) Afterwards this attitude of fear and doubt was reversed, turning into courage and the bold faith to preach to all people. • Before the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, each one wanted to have first place and be in control, but now everyone was united. Jesus had first place and he was Lord of their lives, and they were glad to be his servants. • Before they often didn’t understand what Jesus was teaching, after they were filled with wisdom and were able to explain and stand up for the gospel with wise words.
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week one (continued...) Keep this piece of paper handy throughout the next month and add to it as you look more closely at the lives of some of the people involved in this filling of the Holy Spirit. d. If you have an internet connection do a keyword search on Bible Gateway in the book of Acts. Search for ‘Spirit’. Depending on which translation you search you should come up with around 65 references. Either split into small groups, or as one large group, look through some of the references to create a list of all that the Holy Spirit was involved in, in the early church. Some examples are included below. Keep this list handy throughout this month so that you can add to it during the next three cell groups. • Acts 2:4 — Miracles. • Acts 4:8, 31 — Gave the disciples boldness and confidence to preach God’s word. • Acts 8:29; 10:19 — Gave specific instructions as to where to go and who to speak to and what to say. • Acts 9:31 — Encouragement and comforting. • Acts 13:52 – Filled the disciples with joy. • Acts 15:28; Acts 16:6-7 — Making decisions. • Acts 19:6 — Speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Worship The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us the power to be Christ’s witnesses. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit also helps us greatly in our personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit helps us pray and have a much greater understanding when we read God’s Word! (See Acts 1:8 and John 16:13) We should rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the strength, courage and insight to accomplish our work for God. If this is your first session this month, why not take some time to pray for each of you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, whether that is for the first time or filled anew.
Witness
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Talk to the Holy Spirit everyday this week. Ask him what he wants to do in you and through….and do it!
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FEBRUARY 2012 celloutlines
celloutlines | week one (continued...) Acts 1 To Theophilus.
1
The first book I wrote was about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before this, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told the apostles he had chosen what they should do. 3 After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. 5John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus Is Taken Up into Heaven When the apostles were all together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, are you now going to give the kingdom back to Israel?”
6
Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. 8But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.” 7
Acts 2 The Coming of the Holy Spirit When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw something like flames of fire that were separated and stood over each person there. 4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them. 1
There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem who were from every country in the world. 6When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all surprised, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? 8Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages? We are from different places: 9Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, Rome 11(both Jews and those who had become Jews), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own languages about the great things God has done!” 12They were all amazed and confused, asking each other, “What does this mean?” 13But others were making fun of them, saying, “They have had too much wine.” 5
Peter Speaks to the People But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. 15These people are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! 16But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today: 17 ‘God says: In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 At that time I will pour out my Spirit also on my male slaves and female slaves, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show miracles in the sky and on the earth: 14
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blood, fire, and thick smoke. 20The sun will become dark, the moon red as blood, before the overwhelming and glorious day of the Lord will come. 21Then anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.’ — Joel 2:28–32 So Jesus is the One whom God raised from the dead. And we are all witnesses to this. 33Jesus was lifted up to heaven and is now at God’s right side. The Father has given the Holy Spirit to Jesus as he promised. So Jesus has poured out that Spirit, and this is what you now see and hear.
32
“So, all the people of Israel should know this truly: God has made Jesus—the man you nailed to the cross—both Lord and Christ.” 37When the people heard this, they felt guilty and asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do?” 36
Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39This promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself.” 38
Peter warned them with many other words. He begged them, “Save yourselves from the evil of today’s people!” Then those people who accepted what Peter said were baptized. About three thousand people were added to the number of believers that day. 42They spent their time learning the apostles’ teaching, sharing, breaking bread,[d] and praying together. 40 41
The Believers Share The apostles were doing many miracles and signs, and everyone felt great respect for God. 44All the believers were together and shared everything. 45They would sell their land and the things they owned and then divide the money and give it to anyone who needed it. 46The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts. 47They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers. 43
celloutlines
FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week one (continued...)
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FEBRUARY 2012 celloutlines
celloutlines | week two These Cell Outlines are written by ALOVE UK. They are available each week from our web site. For more information and other cell resources, visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove/resources
Boundless Transformation You will need • Bibles • Pens/paper • Large piece of flipchart paper / wall paper • Laptop or some way of playing You Tube video clip • Large discussion sheets from last cell group.
Welcome Try one of the quizzes about Peter found at http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Religion/The-Apostle-Peter-149671.html
Word Use the following thoughts to introduce and expand on the following group activities. Peter was one of the key figures in the birth and growth of the early church, but when he first met Jesus he was just an ordinary fisherman going about his ordinary business. A very colourful character, a bit rough and rugged, he was always bursting with energy and action. We read a lot about Peter in the gospels; always speaking his mind, rushing into action without thinking, his own strength and selfconfidence often hindered him and caused him to make mistakes. But Jesus saw something special in Peter…he even changed his name from Simon to Peter (meaning rock), because, he said, ‘on this rock I will build my church’. Impulsive Peter certainly didn’t act like a rock much of the time! Of course, Peter went through a great deal in the following years with Jesus, times of doubt and discouragement, mistakes and failure, confusion and desertion, teaching and training, forgiveness. But after Peter had followed Jesus for three full years, he underwent a tremendous and dramatic change as God’s Holy Spirit was poured out on all the believers just as Jesus had promised (which we read about last week). God’s Holy Spirit leads to transformation! a. Brainstorm what you can remember about Peter in the Gospels, before the day of Pentecost e.g walking on water, learning to cast out demons, correcting Jesus when he talked about his death, putting his foot in it in the mount of transfiguration! b. On a large piece of paper draw out a line…doesn’t need to be straight…to create a timeline for Peter. Put some of the ‘before’ episodes as you have discussed above, then flick through Acts and jot down on the timeline all the different things we read about Peter. (You could do this by searching ‘Peter’ on Bible Gateway in Acts as you did last week if you want to.) Some examples below: Acts 2: The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses a huge crowd and over 3000 people believed Acts 3: Peter heals the crippled beggar Acts 4: Peter in prison, then speaking before the high council
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FEBRUARY 2012 celloutlines
celloutlines | week two (continued...) Acts 5: Peter confronting Ananias & Sapphira Acts 5: Peter’s shadow heals people Acts 8: In Samaria, praying for the Samaritans to be filled with the Holy Spirit Acts 9: Peter heals Lydda and Dorcus Acts 10: Peters vision that sent him to Cornelius Acts 11: Peter explains that the Holy Spirit has also been poured out on the Gentiles Acts 12 Peter’s miraculous escape from prison, with help from an angel! Discuss the transformation bought about in Peter’s life by the filling of the Holy Spirit. (Add anything from your discussion onto the two large sheets from last week – the ‘before and after’ and how Holy Spirit was involved in the early church) c. Modern day examples of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Share some modern day examples of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit! Two examples are included below. One is a short video clip found on You Tube of a small Inuit village experiencing the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit; the second is a personal story of someone whose life was turned around by a physical experience of the Holy Spirit. Feel free to use your own examples if more appropriate for your group! You Tube. The transformation of a small village in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, complete with the sound of the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwwU7EdqNx4
A Touch By The Holy Spirit http://www.spiritual-experiences.com/real-spiritual-story.php?story=220 I was 26 years old and had been living in New York City for about a year. Having been born and raised in a small Midwest - blue-collar town, NYC was the potential opportunity to making my claim in life. On the onset, life was good! The company I worked for put my co-workers and me up in a midtown apartment in NYC. It was like a kid living in Disneyland! I had friends/acquaintances from day one. In such a lonely city of people who long to have friendships, I was good to go. We worked hard and played hard and took the whole city by storm. The start-up business operation was slow, but that was O.K. Why? Simply stated, I met a woman who I believed to be my soul mate. As all relationships begin, I believed she could be the one. I fell hard... She did not! After a year of living with people you work with and realizing this was unhealthy for business (we were at each others throats) on top of the fact that the girl I was dating moved on... I was lost! I was at an all time low. In my depression, I pushed everyone away and kept to myself. I was miserable but at the time didn’t realize how down I was on life. One day I didn’t know what to do with myself. No one around to talk with and no where to go, I decided to go to church... Every day! I was raised Catholic and although not a bible thumper, I respected its values. I went to St Patrick’s Cathedral, which was only a few blocks from the apartment we were living. I would walk around admiring this tranquil masterpiece in the middle of New York City’s pulsating spirit. On the fourth or fifth consecutive day of going to St Patrick’s, I entered one of the pews on the north side of the church. While mass was going on I knelt down and began to pray. After I finished my initial prayers, I began to talk to God. At one point in this prayer/meditation, I simply said, “God, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t make any more decisions. I give up! I put my life in your hands.” I wish I could explain this in better continued over >>>
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detail. Over the last twelve years I’ve never been able to find the words to communicate the physical and mental experience, which happened after I let go. Upon letting go, there was a bolt of energy, which began at my toes and rifled upward throughout my body. It exploded out the top of my head like a bolt of lighting. As this “energy” travelled upward it was like every cell in my body was energized. The best I can explain it was like the pins and needles one gets, but this was far from being uncomfortable. The experience lasted probably only a second or two, but after it left my body I was left with this euphoria. Almost feeling like I was floating. Every pain, every frustration, every mental disparity I had been carrying with me, had been ripped from my being at the singular moment. As I left the church, I had a feeling of clarity, focus, and comfort. All my hate, all my anger, all my desperation was replaced with happiness, love, and sense of hope. Within two years of this moment, my life had been given the love of my wife and a year later the first of three children. As for the work, the business turned around and all those in the initial start-up have done well for themselves. My prayers were answered!
Worship Ask each person to think of one, or more, areas in their life that they would like to see transformation (change). This could be in actions, such as to stop arguing with mum; in thoughts, perhaps to stop thinking negative thoughts about themselves; in emotions, to stop feeling so afraid of speaking about Jesus to friends. Pray together in the way most appropriate for your group. Pray for each individual to be filled with the Holy Spirit and for the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation in the persons life where needed.
Witness Live out the transformation of the Holy Spirit in your life this week!
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week two (continued...)
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week three These Cell Outlines are written by ALOVE UK. They are available each week from our web site. For more information and other cell resources, visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove/resources
Boundless Power You will need • Bibles • Pens/paper
Welcome Try an arm wrestling competition….who has the most power?! Or watch the ‘I got the power’ clip from Bruce Almighty! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtaxEHbAYBU
Word a. Read Acts 3:1-20; Acts 4:1-13; 23 - 24, 29, 31-33 b. Group Discussion. Use all or some of the following questions and thoughts in a time of group discussion to unpack the Bible passages above and explore the power of the Holy Spirit. • What does ‘power’ mean? • What is the power of the Holy Spirit and how does it match up with your answers to question 1? • Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in this Bible passage? • Why do you think Peter asked the man to look at them? • What was it that Peter had that he was giving to the crippled man?
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• How was the beggar’s life changed? How is this a parable of all of our lives? • What was the response of the people to Peter and John? • What was the response of the priests and Sadducees to Peter and John? • How did Peter respond to the question in chapter 4 vs 7 – By what power or what name do you think? • After spending a night in prison, when Peter and John went back to the believers, what did they pray for? Did they decide to stop preaching the word of God and performing miracles in the name of Jesus because of the persecution? • In vs 33, what does the power of the Holy Spirit in them cause the believers to do? • In what ways do you think the Holy Spirit’s power helps the disciples to tell others about Jesus? The New Church has started and the power of God is quickly exhibited through the believers. Peter and John must have come in through this temple entrance on many occasions previously and often seen this beggar, but on this occasion both Peter and John gazed intently at him, the Holy Spirit which they both had was working within them to fix their eyes intently upon this man at this time. Peter is the one who told continued over >>>
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week three (continued...) him that he must pay attention to them, not anyone or anything else. The man looked at them expecting to receive something from them. Peter is speaking God’s words in this situation being communicated to his mind by his Holy Spirit. He said: “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have this I give to you - in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth, walk.” In order for Peter to give something to this man, he must have it first. Peter had previously received the Holy Spirit and so he had the powerful ability of Jesus within him. Now he could give the beneficial effects, resulting from the Holy Spirit working within him, to another person in accordance with the will of God. Jesus made it clear that the Holy Spirit is connected with power. He said his followers would “receive power” when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and directly connected with that power would be their work of being witnesses of him, starting in Jerusalem, then spreading throughout Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the end of the earth. The book of Acts records the beginning of that mighty work with Christ’s followers receiving the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Then, empowered by that Spirit, they went out proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom. God’s Spirit is not a spirit of fear or wanting to hide, to pull back, to cower in fear or shame. It is the opposite: a spirit of power —of activity, energy, dynamism—and a spirit of deep, godly love and a sound, rational, self-controlled mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Worship The Holy Spirit’s power is given to us to help us share the love of Jesus with those around us. Discuss some practical ways that the Holy Spirit does this? (You may have already touched on this in answer to the last question of the group discussion.) e.g. Using powerful confident words, doing miracles, knowing to say just the right thing at the right time, having a ‘word of knowledge’ for someone (knowing something about them / their situation that you couldn’t possibly have known apart from through the Holy Spirit), having a generous, patient and serving heart towards someone to be able to help them in a practical way.
Witness
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Ask each person to think of one person they would like to tell more about Jesus. Allow a time of quiet for each person to pray on their own about the person they have written down and ask God to show them how to go about telling them about Jesus. Then pray for each person to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to share Jesus with them this week. Don’t forget to ask for some feedback next week as to how they got on!
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | week four These Cell Outlines are written by ALOVE UK. They are available each week from our web site. For more information and other cell resources, visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove/resources
Boundless Faith The book of Acts is filled with so many people who received the Holy Spirit and played their part in the growth of the early church. Some of these are people we hear about regularly, like Peter or Paul. Others are unsung heroes whose stories are shorter, may fade in to the background, but are nonetheless significant. (Indeed after the Apostle Paul, we do not run across many “big names” as missionaries in the first few hundred years of Christian history. Instead the faith spread through a multitude of humble, ordinary believers whose names have been long forgotten.) These first believers were people who were filled with faith despite the persecution that they often suffered. They were people whose reason for being alive was to tell as many other people about Jesus as they possibly could. They did this with bold, confident words, by living lifestyles different from those around them, by performing miraculous signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching and training new believers. Some of them even died for their faith. These were people who saw an explosion of Christianity throughout most of the known world. This week you have the opportunity to explore some of these other characters and the work of the Holy Spirit in them and through them. You should have already asked your group members to each consider and research one character from the book of Acts to present to the rest of the group (see Leaders Notes). Characters you could include could be people like Stephen, Philip, Cornelius, Barnabus, Silas, Timothy, Aquila & Priscilla, Lydia, Jason. You can decide the most appropriate way for your group members to do this. You could provide each group member with a ‘profile sheet’ like the one below to help them with their research – or you could design your own. You could allocate different characters to group members, or allow group members to choose their own person to profile. You could allow group members to bring a powerpoint presentation, draw or print out a picture, create a model, write a poem as a way of presenting their chosen character to the group. Key points that they should try to draw out would be a summary of the character’s story, their strengths and accomplishments; and lessons we can learn from his/her life.
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How you facilitate the presentations is really up to you. One way would be to have a long strip of wallpaper spread out on the floor and have someone scribe down the main points that the group member describes about their person. If you have someone who is arty they could draw pictures too!
NB If time is at a premium for your group members, due to exams or other commitments; it would be feasible to carry out the research and the presentations in the same session, especially if the group worked in pairs to do this.
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FEBRUARY 2012 celloutlines
celloutlines | week four (continued...) Name:
Where in Acts is his/her story told?
Key verse(s)
Picture
Summary of his/her story (or one part of the story)
Lessons from his/ her life
Strengths and accomplishments
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | additional session These Cell Outlines are written by ALOVE UK. They are available each week from our web site. For more information and other cell resources, visit www.salvationarmy.org.uk/alove/resources
Who Is The Holy Spirit? You will need • Bibles • Pens/paper • Plain or coloured paper for creating an origami dove, plus instructions • Large flipchart paper/ wall paper.
Welcome Have a go at creating an origami dove. There are loads of websites with instructions on how to do this, with written, pictorial or video instructions. For example: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/origami_dove.htm http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-dove.html http://origami.lovetoknow.com/Origami_Dove
Word a. First thoughts Spread a large sheet of paper out on the floor and begin by asking your group what words, pictures or experiences come to mind when they think about the ‘Holy Spirit’. Write down on the sheet of paper what people say. (Alternatively, give each person a pen and ask them to write down their own thoughts or pictures on the paper.) b. Biblical Images
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If you have an internet connection, search ‘Holy Spirit ‘ on a Google or MSN image search and scroll through what images you find. (Mostly they will be of a dove, but you may see some of fire, water or wind!) Then split the group into pairs and give each pair one of the following Bible references to read. Ask them to share with the group the image that is given of the Holy Spirit in the passage. John 7:37-39 John 1:32-34 Acts 2:1-4 John 3:5-8 The group should come up with the following thoughts: WATER: Living, life-giving water. All things are dependent on water, Water is essential to life—we die without it. The life-giving Holy Spirit flowing out from within our own lives, touches and benefits others. DOVE: An image of how the Holy Spirit comes into a person’s life. The image possibly implies gentleness, which may be helpful to those who are nervous of the effects of being filled with Holy Spirit.
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | additional session (continued...) FIRE: The Spirit is like a fire in at least three ways: He brings God’s presence, God’s passion, and God’s purity. Fire is often used in the Bible as a symbol of holiness, God’s presence and God’s anger with sin (Isaiah 10:17, Hebrews 12:29). Fire is the symbol of God’s holy power, as He displayed to Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-5) Fire burns out the dross. Fire gives light. Fire gives warmth WIND: The Hebrew word for spirit is ‘Ruah’ which means wind/breath/spirit. The Greek word (the New Testament was originally written in Greek) for spirit is ‘pneuma’ and also means wind/breath/spirit. The image is of the Holy Spirit as invisible, but nevertheless having a powerful impact on our lives (as natural wind has an impact on objects). As breath is essential to physical life, so is God’s Spirit to spiritual life. Taking it deeper: Ask the group which one of these images are they most attracted to and why? c. What does the Holy Spirit do? Use the references below, and any others you wish, to discuss what the Holy Spirit does. Place a large piece of paper in the centre of the group and write down your thought as you discuss. John 14:16-17 Counsellor and comforter John 14:26 Teacher John 15:26 Shows us Jesus and teaches us truth John 16:7-11 Convicts us when we go wrong Acts 1:8 Fills us with power to share Jesus Acts 9:31 Encourager 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Gives us spiritual gifts Galatians 5:22-25 The fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Taking it deeper: Ask group members to share their own experiences of the Holy Spirit. Depending on where your group are at with their understanding of the Holy Spirit, use the following thoughts as relevant to give an explanation of who the Holy Spirit is. You can use these thoughts at any time during your above discussion.
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The Holy Spirit is God! The Salvation Army Doctrine 3 states that we believe in one God who exists and is known as three persons. This means that God is one in his essential being, but in this being there are three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, sometimes referred to as the ‘Godhead’. The Father is wholly God, the Son is wholly God and the Spirit is wholly God! They are distinct from each other, but the same! You can’t have one without the other! As it says in the doctrine, they are ‘undivided in essence’ and ‘co-equal in power and glory’. They are so united that there is no separation or division between them; and they all have the same importance and can all be worshipped. We can even pray to any one of them! This belief has become known as ‘The Trinity,’ or three in one! The Trinity is how we get to know God and how we discover who he is and what he desires for our world and our lives.
Three in one demonstrations Ask the group if they can think of a physical substance that can exist in three forms. The obvious answer is water! Demonstrate this with some ice, glass of water and steam coming out of a kettle. Ask the group how many names they go by e.g. sister, daughter, Grace. Different names expressing different aspects of who you are, but all the same person! Show the group an apple. There are basically three parts - the skin, the flesh, and the core. All the parts are still one apple, yet they are all uniquely different.
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FEBRUARY 2012
celloutlines | additional session (continued...) God the Holy Spirit While in school, have you ever come up against a subject that was difficult for you to understand? Did it seem that no matter how hard you study to understand, it just won’t sink in? If you have ever been in such a circumstance, you can appreciate the value of having someone to help you understand. God, our Creator, realises that we all face circumstances which are difficult and at times overwhelming for us. Throughout our lives, challenges will arise that will appear insurmountable. God offers each of us a “helper” for these kinds of situations. This “helper” is called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to ‘reveal, to glorify, to magnify, to unveil, to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ,’ 1and make God alive in our lives. (John 16:13-15) The Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’ – he’s a person! He is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus. He is the presence of God in our lives and in the world. The Hebrew word (the Old Testament is originally written in Hebrew) for spirit is ‘Ruah’ which means wind/breath/spirit. The Greek word (the New Testament was originally written in Greek) for spirit is ‘pneuma’ and also means wind/breath/spirit. They were all ways of speaking about God’s presence in the world. Scripture tells us that Jesus promised that His Father would send the Holy Spirit so that the good news of Jesus Christ could be shared to all nations and people groups. (John 14:26) Fifty days after the death of Jesus – the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and their lives were transformed. (Acts 2:1-4) The transformation that the Holy Spirit caused in the lives of the disciples was immense. Take Simon Peter for example. Here was a man who was scared to admit he knew Jesus a few weeks earlier. But, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, stood up in front of a massive crowd, preached the word of God and 3000 people became Christians. When he prayed for sick they were healed, and even his shadow healed people as he walked by. Peter became one of the most significant leaders in the early church and kick-started a movement that saw the gospel spread like wild fire through out the world. (more on this next week) When we became followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit came to live within in our lives (1 Cor 12:12-13) and began a process of transforming our identity into the image of Christ, freeing us to become the person God has created us to be. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are equipped with His power and gifts, and all that we need to love and follow God. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But the person who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. Your body will always be dead because of sin. But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life, because Christ made you right with God. Romans 8:9-10 (NCV)
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For several further Bible Study ideas on the Holy Spirit, see http://www.gobible.org/study/391.php
Worship Ask each person to consider the list of aspects of the Holy Spirit that you discussed in point c above. Ask people to consider which aspect of the Holy Spirit they would like to experience more of in their lives right now. Take it in turns to pray for each person in the group that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and experience him in their lives as desired.
Witness Live it out this week!
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