God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

ten-block area around your church about Jesus. As you begin to plan for the outreach, you started thinking about the truth that only the Holy Spirit can convince a person of their sin and only the Holy Spirit can give the grace of repentance and faith in Christ. You know it is right to get the “good news” about Jesus out to every person, but you don’t want your outreach efforts to act like evangelism is just a “spiritual” form of commercial advertising. What principles will guide you as you plan the outreach? Howwill you take seriously that only the Holy Spirit can draw people to Christ? Are there some things you must do during the outreach? Are there any things you should not do? You are the pastor of a church. One of your parishioners, Rhonda, comes to you in tears. She recently discovered that her husband, Willie, has been having an affair. This was the third time in their nine-year marriage that this has happened. Rhonda says, “Pastor, he says that he is sorry but I’m not sure what that means. I think he is mainly sorry that he got caught. Will you talk to him and tell me what you think?” When you meet with Willie he is congenial and polite. He admits that he did the wrong thing but says “I told her I was sorry but I can’t change what I did. She claims to be a Christian, so if she can’t accept my apology, it seems like it is more her problem than mine.” How will you explain to Willie what true repentance is and how will you evaluate his response to your exhortation? The Holy Spirit is the one “who spoke by the prophets.” Christians rely on the prophetic word (the Scriptures) given by the Holy Spirit to reveal to them the truth about God. Apart from the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit, there would be no way to truly know what God is like, to understand his will, or to respond to his commands. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to reveal the Father and the Son to us and to draw us toward reconciliation with God. Apology Accepted?

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Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis