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Meeting aim
To highlight that one of the main roles of the Spirit is in restoring our relationship to the Father and the Son.
Background preparation
You will need: some bowls; spoons; a blindfold; some inedible food such as an egg, a spoonful of margarine, some dog or cat biscuits, mustard or hot sauce, cold gravy; some alternative edible food such as jelly, icing, savoury nibbles, jam, chocolate sauce and ice cream.
Blindfold game
Lay out the disgusting food in bowls alongside a bowl of ice cream. Tell everyone what the items of food are. Explain that this game is all about the unknown. Get some willing volunteers to be blindfolded (make sure they don’t have any allergies). The winner is the person who can guess what they are eating and will get to eat the ice cream. Once they are all blindfolded bring out the nice food and tell them that you’re going to mix the bowls up and get them to pick one bowl each. Get them to eat a spoonful of whatever they have picked and watch their reaction; some will still have in their minds that they are eating something horrible.
Childhood memories
Say: when we were children we all had irrational fears, whether it was the monster under the bed, the teacher with the massive eyebrows or the Cyber Men on Doctor Who. Explain that sometimes things that don’t make sense, or are beyond our understanding, can scare us when we’re young. Ask the group what irrational fears or funny childhood memories they have and ask if they still have those fears. If they no longer have those fears ask them what they did to get over them. Did they have a parent or guardian who helped them see the world differently?
Living with the Spirit
Read Romans 8:1-8 as a group then discuss these questions:
• What does it mean to live according to the Spirit?
• Why do those who live by the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires?
• How is it possible for us to live a righteous life through the Spirit?
• What do you think the passage means when it talks about those who live according to the flesh having their minds set on what the flesh desires?
• Why would a mind governed by sin be hostile to God?
The Spirit in us
Read Romans 8:9–13 as a group and then discuss these questions:
• How does it feel to know that the Holy Spirit, the same one who raised Jesus from the dead, is living in you?
• How can you be more aware of the Spirit’s work in your life?
Explain that when we know Jesus, we accept that he died for our sin and was then raised from the dead. The Spirit who raised him from death to life now lives in us. In other words, the full power of God is at work and alive in every Christian. We don’t just believe in a God who is out there, but know a God who gives us life from the inside out. This is what the Spirit does; he makes us belong to Christ and equips us to live a new life. Read John 3:1-8 and then ask the group to discuss these questions:
• We often use the phrase ‘born-again Christian’ to describe our faith but what does this actually mean? How does this relate to the Holy Spirit?
Say: both of these passages make the point that the Spirit helps us change how we live.
Adopted as children
Read Romans 8:14-16 as a group and then discuss these questions:
• Do you think the idea that we are God’s children has lost a bit of meaning? Do you think this phrase might have shocked the people who first read this letter?
• What does it mean to be adopted as a child of God and a co-heir with Christ?
Key point 1
These verses show us that those who are led by the Spirit become children of God and that he will look out for us and comfort us when we’re scared. Remember when you were a child and your trusted person comforted you? They would never think to scare you even more. The Spirit won’t make you a slave either. God says his Spirit will adopt us; he wants us to be his children and so receiving the Spirit means we can ‘let go’ and fear nothing. Our whole status as human beings changes as the Spirit brings us into the family of God. The Spirit restores our relationship with God and enables us to be God’s children.
REFLECTION
Ask the group:
• How can we know God more intimately?
• What else might we encounter if we are adopted into God’s family?
• What do we inherit from this relationship?
Pray
Pray for each other asking that the Spirit would reveal more of the Father to you. Pray that each of you would be able to live free from fear. If your group is not used to praying for each other or not comfortable praying out loud – why not try initiating a ‘prayer bomb’. Everyone stands in a circle and places a hand on the person on their left. Then after the count of three everyone prays out loud at the same time for the person they have a hand on. When the prayer dies down finish by saying Amen.
