Wk 11 // July 5 & 6
Wk 11 // LET’S TALK ABOUT IT
July 5 & 6, 2025
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
TAP HERE TO VIEW THE SERMON NOTES.
INTRODUCTION
The Holy Spirit enables us to reflect the life of Jesus to those around us by living out the relationship that Jesus had with His Father.
UNDERSTANDING
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ JOHN 5:16-19
Jesus wasn’t trying to reinvent something. He saw what the Father did and He imitated His Father. As Jesus’ followers, Christians do not need to wrestle with the weight of being unique or authentic. The goal for followers of Jesus is to look like Jesus. Spend your time imitating Jesus and you will honor Jesus.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER JOHN 5:20 & 14:16.
Imitating someone can be a daunting task. Just because Patrick Mahomes can complete no-look passes in the NFL doesn’t mean you can do the same thing. You might want to imitate him, but you probably do not have the skills to do so. As Christians seek to imitate Christ, though, we have a helper.
The Holy Spirit is given to Christians to empower them to serve and imitate Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul taught that the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to serve for the building up of Christ’s church. When you were saved, you were also empowered. You need not worry that you can’t serve Christ with your talents or abilities. The promise of God’s Word is that the Holy Spirit has given you the gifts you need to honor Christ and serve His church.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ ROMANS 8:14-17.
The Bible makes no distinction between Jesus and Jesus’ followers as it relates to relationship with the Father. Jesus’ followers are co-heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:17). As a follower of Christ, you not only carry the message of Jesus as an ambassador, you bear His name as an adopted brother or sister. You are part of the family!
APPLICATION
PRAYER
Close in prayer thanking God for your adoption as His child and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask Him to make you more and more like Jesus.
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ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY
[for further reading on this passage]
JOHN 5:16-19
5:15–16 The man never thanked Jesus. He only reported him to the authorities.
5:17 While Gn 2:2–3 teaches that God rested (Hb shabath) on the seventh day of creation, Jewish rabbis agreed that God continually upheld the universe, yet without breaking the Sabbath. If God was above Sabbath regulations, so was Jesus (Mt 12:1–14). What is more, even the Jews made exceptions to the rule prohibiting work on the Sabbath, most notably in cases where circumcision occurred on a Sabbath (Jn 7:23).
5:18 Making himself equal to God seemed to violate the OT teaching that there is only one God (Dt 6:4). Thus the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy, which became the primary charge leveled against Jesus before Pilate (Jn 19:7).
ROMANS 8:14-16
8:14 The leading of God’s Spirit is his providential sanctification (Ps 23:3). It is common to all believers, it is constant, and it will bring the believer to glory (Rm 8:17). The leading of the Spirit is not mystical direction or ecstasy. It is the Spirit’s empowerment for mortification of fleshly desires (v. 13).
8:15–16 The Holy Spirit is not an agent of bondage but is instead the means of our adoption into God’s family. By the Spirit we have a consciousness that God is our Father. It is the mark of a Christian to cry out to his Father in prayer. The Spirit also gives us assurance of our status and therefore of our salvation. Abba is an Aramaic word meaning “father.” Jesus used it in prayer to God the Father (Mk 14:36).
July 5 & 6, 2025
Small Group Study
SERMON RECAP
Spend a few minutes recapping this week's sermon together.
TAP HERE TO VIEW THE SERMON NOTES.
- What was one takeaway from this week's sermon for you?
- Were there any stories, ideas, or points that stuck out?
- Was there anything that challenged you?
INTRODUCTION
- How does the clamor of culture draw you away from your relationship with Christ?
- How would your life change if you were comfortable being culturally irrelevant, but rooted in Christ?
- Who would you invest in if your attention were not drawn away by internet sensations or cultural clamor?
The Holy Spirit enables us to reflect the life of Jesus to those around us by living out the relationship that Jesus had with His Father.
UNDERSTANDING
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ JOHN 5:16-19
Jesus wasn’t trying to reinvent something. He saw what the Father did and He imitated His Father. As Jesus’ followers, Christians do not need to wrestle with the weight of being unique or authentic. The goal for followers of Jesus is to look like Jesus. Spend your time imitating Jesus and you will honor Jesus.
- How can you imitate Jesus in your job right now?
- Read 1 Corinthians 11:1. Could you urge others to imitate you as an example of how to live as a disciple of Christ? If not, what do you need to change?
HAVE A VOLUNTEER JOHN 5:20 & 14:16.
Imitating someone can be a daunting task. Just because Patrick Mahomes can complete no-look passes in the NFL doesn’t mean you can do the same thing. You might want to imitate him, but you probably do not have the skills to do so. As Christians seek to imitate Christ, though, we have a helper.
- Read John 14:16. What name did Jesus use to refer to the Holy Spirit?
- How have you experienced the empowering help of the Holy Spirit as you seek to be like Jesus?
The Holy Spirit is given to Christians to empower them to serve and imitate Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul taught that the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to serve for the building up of Christ’s church. When you were saved, you were also empowered. You need not worry that you can’t serve Christ with your talents or abilities. The promise of God’s Word is that the Holy Spirit has given you the gifts you need to honor Christ and serve His church.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ ROMANS 8:14-17.
- What reason did Paul give for not being afraid?
The Bible makes no distinction between Jesus and Jesus’ followers as it relates to relationship with the Father. Jesus’ followers are co-heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:17). As a follower of Christ, you not only carry the message of Jesus as an ambassador, you bear His name as an adopted brother or sister. You are part of the family!
- How does it feel to know that you can call God your Father? What do you find encouraging about this? If your father was not a good example, how is this view of God challenging?
APPLICATION
- Is God calling you to do something for Him? Spend some time praying about the things He is calling you to and ask Him for obedience to walk in those things.
- Think of someone who needs to hear about God’s love (a different person than in previous weeks). Initiate conversation with this person this week as a step toward sharing about the love of God with them.
PRAYER
Close in prayer thanking God for your adoption as His child and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask Him to make you more and more like Jesus.
—----------------------------------
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY
[for further reading on this passage]
JOHN 5:16-19
5:15–16 The man never thanked Jesus. He only reported him to the authorities.
5:17 While Gn 2:2–3 teaches that God rested (Hb shabath) on the seventh day of creation, Jewish rabbis agreed that God continually upheld the universe, yet without breaking the Sabbath. If God was above Sabbath regulations, so was Jesus (Mt 12:1–14). What is more, even the Jews made exceptions to the rule prohibiting work on the Sabbath, most notably in cases where circumcision occurred on a Sabbath (Jn 7:23).
5:18 Making himself equal to God seemed to violate the OT teaching that there is only one God (Dt 6:4). Thus the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy, which became the primary charge leveled against Jesus before Pilate (Jn 19:7).
ROMANS 8:14-16
8:14 The leading of God’s Spirit is his providential sanctification (Ps 23:3). It is common to all believers, it is constant, and it will bring the believer to glory (Rm 8:17). The leading of the Spirit is not mystical direction or ecstasy. It is the Spirit’s empowerment for mortification of fleshly desires (v. 13).
8:15–16 The Holy Spirit is not an agent of bondage but is instead the means of our adoption into God’s family. By the Spirit we have a consciousness that God is our Father. It is the mark of a Christian to cry out to his Father in prayer. The Spirit also gives us assurance of our status and therefore of our salvation. Abba is an Aramaic word meaning “father.” Jesus used it in prayer to God the Father (Mk 14:36).