Teachers Manual 5-7

[Pages:109]ContentS

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7

Holy Spirit is God

Pg 3

Personality of the Holy Spirit

Pg 15

Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Pg 32

Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit

Pg 46

Infilling Power of the Holy Spirit

Pg 60

Speaking in Tongues

Pg 75

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Pg 92

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The Holy Spirit

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LESSON 1

Holy Spirit is God

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

? Introduce the children to the concept of Trinity. ? To help children understand that the Holy Spirit is God. ? To help children understand the attributes of God in the Holy

Spirit. ? To help children understand the works of God in the Holy Spirit.

RECAP

? Do a recap of last week's lesson. ? Ask the children to recite last week's Memory Verse.

MEMORY VERSE

Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..." Materials Needed: ? One bottle of clear water ? Three glasses

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INTRODUCTION

(As you ask the students the following questions, be the first to raise your hand to encourage their own participation.) How many of us have ever done something wrong? How many of us felt sorry about it? How many of us were tempted to do something wrong but did not do it? How many of us have ever been brave when we could have been afraid? How many of us need help making the right decisions? If you answered `yes' to any of those questions, you may have had a little help from the Holy Spirit. You may be wondering how you received help from the Holy Spirit.

TEACHING CONTENT

Ask: Who is the Holy Spirit? (Let the children answer. If the children answer "Holy Spirit is God," then skip the question below.) Is the Holy Spirit God?

Explain: The Holy Spirit is God. He is definitely not just a "force" or "power" of God, but He is God. We believe in one God, this truth is established in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." We also believe that this one God expressed Himself in three persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. People have called this Trinity--three in unity. We do not find the word Trinity in the Bible but find the word Godhead.

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LESSON 1

Holy Spirit is God

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are fully God because each one of them fully possesses the nature of God. Yet, each Person of the Trinity is different in role and relationship with respect to the others. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Holy Spirit. (As you explain the diagram given below ask the children to look at diagram given in their workbook). This diagram clearly explains Trinity to us.

Completely understanding the Trinity is beyond our little human minds. Just for you to understand, I will do a small demonstration using water.

ATTENTION GETTER

Place or hold before the children a large bottle of water and ask the children to describe what water is like--it is clear, wet, liquid, cool and refreshing. If the children do not mention it, you can point out that water has three parts as well--two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Pour the water from the bottle into three clear glasses. Ask the children if the water changed when separated into separate containers. The water is still the same substance whether you separate it into many

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containers or pour it all into one. Explain that you can separate God into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to help you understand Him better, but God is the same whether you are looking at one part of Him or all of Him.

E.g.,: I am a daughter/son to my parents, a sister/brother to my sisters/brothers, a mother/father to my children, I am a wife/husband to my partner and so on. I am just one person of the same nature and characteristics but I have different roles and hence different names. Similarly, God is One but because of His different roles, He has made Himself known in three different persons.

As Christians, we accept the Trinity by faith because certain aspects of God are beyond our understanding.

It is important that we understand who the Holy Spirit is and are able to see from Scripture why we believe what we do about Him. From the Bible, let us establish the following three points:

I. The Holy Spirit Is God II. The Attributes of God in the Holy Spirit III. The Works of God in the Holy Spirit

I. Holy Spirit Is God

A. The Holy Spirit is Mentioned on Equal Level With God We will look at three references in the Bible where all three persons of the Trinity-- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are mentioned. This will help us establish the truth that all three are one though they have different roles. In these references we'll also see that the Holy Spirit is mentioned on equal level with God. (Assign different children to read aloud the verses given below).

? In Matthew 28:19, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as God when He told His disciples to go and make disciples by baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."

? In 2 Corinthians 13:14 and 1 Peter 1:2, both the writers refer to the Holy Spirit in this same manner. They specifically list all three persons of the

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LESSON 1

Holy Spirit is God

Trinity or Godhead. 2 Corinthians 13:14: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 1 Peter 1:2: "Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance." These verses show that the Holy Spirit is God, equal with God and yet separate from the Father and Son.

B. The Holy Spirit and God are One A few verses in the Old Testament that refer to God when in the New Testament are ascribed to the Holy Spirit, which means they are one God. (After reading each verse, ask the children who spoke or whose voice was heard. Thus show them that the voice of the Lord and Holy Spirit are one).

Isaiah 6:8-10: "Then I heard, the voice of the Lord saying, `Whom shall I send?' ... He said, `Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

This verse refers to God speaking. The same verse is mentioned in Acts 28:25-27 but says that the Holy Spirit said it.

Acts 28:25-27: "... Paul had made this final statement: `The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: `Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving...'"

Let us read Psalm 95:7-11 Psalm 95:7-9: "... Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert ..."

This verse speaks of hearing God's voice. The same verse mentioned in Hebrews 3:7-9 refers to the Holy Spirit speaking.

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Hebrews 3:7-9: "So, as the Holy Spirit says: `Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried Me and for forty years saw what I did.'" Hence we see from these verses that God and the Holy Spirit are one.

II. Attributes of God in the Holy Spirit

An attribute is a quality or characteristic natural in a person. The attributes of God are those qualities or characteristics that belong to Him. The Bible ascribes many attributes to the Holy Spirit; all of them ascribe Him as God. Let us look at four attributes of God and see if they are ascribed to the Holy Spirit as well. (Assign different children to read aloud the verses given below.)

A. God Is Eternal The word eternal means "everlasting, having no beginning and no end." God has no beginning and no end. He has always been and He will always be forever.

Hebrews 9:14 ? speaks of "the eternal Spirit."

"How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" Thus, showing us that just as God is eternal the Holy Spirit is also eternal. Hence He is God.

B. God Is Omniscient 1 Corinthians 2:10-11? says the things of God are known only by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit's wisdom is infinite.

"... but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

The Spirit therefore knows all things, and is able to teach us all things.

C. God Is Omnipresent Psalm 139:7-8 ? David says the Holy Spirit is everywhere.

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