UNEXPECTED THREE: POWER SOURCE

Session 3 Summary: Power Source
Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? There’s just something about a new year that makes us want to do something to make this year different or better than the one before it. The problem with resolutions is that we hardly ever keep them! And if we’re honest, we probably don’t think it’s that big of a deal when we don’t. Maybe that’s why we’re so hesitant to create goals that involve our faith. If we fail to meet that goal, we’ve not just let ourselves down—we feel like we’ve let God down too! Jesus’s disciples often felt a similar kind of pressure when it came to following through with what He called them to do. The things He asked of them sometimes seemed impossible for them to actually do on their own—and they were! But as we look back to the book of Matthew, we’ll see that Jesus left His disciples with an unexpected source of help to follow through with anything He called them to do. And what’s even better, He gives us access to the same so that nothing is impossible for us when we’re with Him.
Bottom Line
The Holy Spirit helps you follow through. 
The Goal of Small Group
To help us develop confidence that God can give us power in our everyday lives.

• Do you make New Years’ Resolutions? If so, what are they usually about? If not, why? 
• Why is it hard to follow through on goals you set when it comes to God, church, the Bible, etc.?

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Matthew 28:18-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 14:16-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

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• Do you feel like it’s easier to follow through when you have someone helping you? Why or why not?  
• Even though you can’t see God, how do you know when He’s helping you? 
• What are some words that describe what the Holy Spirit does for us?
• If you knew that God was with you and helping you, what would you try to accomplish? 
• What’s the first step you can take to accomplish the goal you mentioned above?

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God, thank you for your Spirit which works in us. Help us to remember how your Spirit helps us to respond with love to others. Use your Spirit within us to see where you are active in the world around us. In your name we pray. Amen.

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Use this simple blessing with your family, while you bless one another, mark the cross on the forehead of each member as a reminder of your baptism.

(Name), you are a Child of God

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