Our church has now been meeting outdoors or online for over three months. What are some of the things that you really like about our new worship situation? What are some things that you don’t really like about it? (Try to think of a positive observation for every negative one.)

In Pastor Wade’s introduction, he compared cobwebs in an underutilized building to the spiritual stagnation of a believer’s life that is not spending time in the Word and in daily prayer. What aspect of your spiritual life is becoming stagnant during this time of crisis?

One of the overriding themes of the message this week was the concept of abiding in God and God abiding in us. The word abide is found 22 times in the book of First John (ESV). The Gospel of John also has many occurrences of this word. Read John 15:1-17. How many times is the word ‘abide’ used in this passage?

What is the 'fruit' that John is referring to here?
(cf. Matthew 3:8; 7:15-20; Luke 8:4-15; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:3-6; Hebrews 12:7-11)

Almost all of the writers of the New Testament talk about fruit in one way or another. The concept of bearing fruit is found throughout Paul’s letters. Read Galatians 5:16-25. What is listed as the “fruit of the Spirit” in verses 22-23?

In the message, Pastor Wade quoted from an article about being transformed by the Holy Spirit by Thomas Tarrants. In that article, he writes:

“God knows that we are weak; He knows it far better than we do. And He has made a provision for it. That is precisely why He gave us the Holy Spirit! But … there is a big difference between the Spirit residing in us (which is true of all born again believers), and the Spirit reigning in us (which is true of only some). The Spirit is ready and willing and eager to reign in us, but His power is blocked until we surrender fully to God.”