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Jun 18, 2023

The Spirit Comes a Comping, part 1

The Spirit Comes a Comping, part 1

Passage: John 14:15-29

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: That’s the Spirit: Learning to keep in step with Him who indwells

What is central to the life in Jesus is what some say make that life “impossible.” Not an exercise in futility, but a purpose not to be pursued without necessary help. We’ve been learning of the Spirit from His ministry to and through Jesus. Now we will hear from Jesus himself how He intends the Spirit to minister to His own.

Readings & Scriptures

PREPARATION: Psalm 27:1, 4
LEADER: The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?

PEOPLE: The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

LEADER: One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:

ALL: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH/SCRIPTURE READING/CORPORATE PRAYER: Luke 11:5-13 or Galatians 2:19-3:5
LEADER: And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

CENTRAL TEXT: John 14:15-29
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

John 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

CONFESSION OF SIN:
ALL: Gracious Father, we live between two desperate errors. We forget that there is nothing we have that we did not receive. We live as unto our own and forget we belong to you who both made us and bought us at cost to yourself. Likewise slip into thinking we were given your salvation and Spirit by some righteous act, some honorable deed. On both counts we are in the wrong. On both counts we need your pardon. On both counts we need your Spirit to remind, guide, and bring us the peace this world cannot provide.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON Romans 4:7, 8 (citing Psalm 32:1, 2); Ephesians 1:7
LEADER: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of his grace.

BENEDICTION: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
LEADER: Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • John 17
  • John 21:30-31
  • Galatians 2:19- 3:5

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. It’s a gift and not a given, but who in your life has been your greatest cheerleader? In what ways? What difference has their advocacy made?
  2. Try for a moment to imagine being a disciple and hearing from Jesus that He’s on His way out? What are you thinking? (Back up to the beginning of chapter 14 for more context) What does one of the questions of the disciple in this moment reveal about his/their thoughts? What do you sense is Jesus’s largest aim in that moment?
  3. Jesus draws a tight connection between loving him and keeping his commandments. What is that connection? Does he love you after you keep his commandments?
  4. In the departure of Jesus, how might you summarize the Spirit’s primary ministry?
  5. What is Jesus appealing to as the basis for the unique peace he brings and gives? How might the Holy Spirit facilitate that peace for us? What if any part do we play in receiving that peace?

ILLUSTRATIONS:  

QUOTES: 

  • “Comping” is a universal term in jazz. It probably derives from “accompaniment,” maybe also from “complement,” but it has a distinctive valence: the good comper is the musician who can support the soloist in meaningful ways without becoming a rival for the audience’s attention. The best comper improves and strengthens the audience’s response to the soloist without anyone ever noticing. Alan Jacobs
  • The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Mrs. O’Brien in Terence Malick’s  Tree of Life
  • The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. G.K. Chesterton
  • If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters. Jaroslav Pelikan
  • To want to believe is an authentic form of believing; to want to love is a legitimate way of beginning to love.  All disciples want to do what Jesus says; not many of us will ever honestly feel that we fully do what Jesus says.  F.D. Bruner
  • If we do not understand Jesus’ commands as gracious invitations rather than legal demands, we will miss the heart of the entire Gospel.  F.D. Bruner
  • Those Christians are most filled with the Holy Spirit who are least conscious of it.  All they know is they want to serve Jesus Christ; and they feel they are unprofitable servants.  Dr Robert Speer.

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