Mission Hills Church
The difference between religion and relationship, when we’re talking about God, is what we’re following. If we’re following the rules, that’s religion, but if we’re following Jesus, that’s relationship. Following Jesus is about learning to rest in the grace of God’s love and respond to the life flowing from his Spirit. Join us for a faith-changing series about what it really means to follow Jesus from what many have called the most important chapter in the entire Bible – Romans 8.
...he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22)
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit so we could be what the rules tell us we should be.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. (Romans 8:26a)
I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.(Numbers 11:17)
The Spirit helps us when we’re weak by sharing the bearing.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26b-27)
The Spirit puts words to our deepest longings and shares them with the Father for us.
We don't have to know how to pray for our prayers to be powerful.
1. Our prayers are important to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
2. Our prayers our powerful.
James 5:16 NIV
3. God often waits to move until we pray.
James 4:2 NIV
Prayer starts things moving in the spiritual realm.
The Spirit empowers our prayers.
Romans 8:28 NIV
God’s not in the prevention business…He’s in the redemption business.
The Spirit redeems our circumstances.
Romans 8:29-30 NIV
The Spirit empowers our prayers and redeems our circumstances in order to make us glorious.
1. What is a burden you’re carrying that is feeling like too much?
2. What’s an area of my life where I’ve been hesitant to pray because I didn’t know what to pray for?
3. Where have I seen God’s commitment to redemption at work in my life?