Creeds & the Trinity: Who is God – the Spirit? Memory Verse of the Week: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4–5 I believe in the HOLY SPIRIT, the holy Christian Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the Body, and the life everlasting. Amen! WHO/WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? Not just a power or an energy- the Spirit is GOD. He is the 3rd person of the Trinity and true God! THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE Genesis 2:7 – The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and BREATHED into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. We see the Holy Spirit with a limited role in the OLD TESTAMENT and fall on specific people for a specific purpose. Specific examples – Bezelal, Joshua, Saul, Samson, David, Daniel, Azariah, and other judges & prophets Jesus’ INCARNATION changes the role of the Holy Spirit Jesus’ is BAPTIZED and we see all 3 persons of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! John 20:21-23 – The risen Jesus appears to His disciples and breathes on them - ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ The Early CHURCH Acts 1:4-8 – Jesus Ascension and promise of the Spirit Acts 2:1-6 – Spirit unleashed at Pentecost Acts 2:38-39 – Promise of the Spirit for all! THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has CALLED me by the gospel, ENLIGHTENED me with his gifts, SANCTIFIED and KEPT me in the true faith." --Luther's explanation to the Third Article, p17. Creates FAITH – 1 Corinthians 12:3/Ephesians 2:8 Confirms our status in the family of God as His CHILDREN –Romans 8:13-17 Helps COMMUNICATE with God and receive His truths – Romans 8:28/Ephesians 2:18 He CONVICTS us of sin and leads us into truth – John 16:8 The Spirit grants us spiritual GIFTS – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 The Spirit always produces FRUIT over time – Galatians 5:16-26 Main Point: The SPIRIT lives in all believers---be sensitive to His voice of truth, conviction, status in the family and the ways He has gifted you! Lamb of God Lutheran Church | Flower Mound TX

Confirmation Lesson 16

Reflection Time Use this space to silently reflect on these questions: 1) Why is the Holy Spirit so important to your faith?

2) Name as many of the roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives as you can. Which one means the most to you?

3) Read John 3:5-8. What do these verses tell you about the Holy Spirit and those that have the Spirit?

4) How do you know if it’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you? Are there ways to test it?

5) The Holy Spirit is the least understood of the Trinity. What questions do you have about the Holy Spirit that weren’t answered today? (Share in group!)

Lamb of God Lutheran Church | Flower Mound TX

Confirmation Lesson 16

Group Breakout Go around the group and share your favorite song and favorite artist that is on the radio or your iPod?

Experiential Activity For this activity you need 1 person to volunteer to be “Spirit-led Steve/Suzie”. The goal of “Spirit-led Steve/Suzie” is to find you, the leader of the group, playing the role of “Spirit”, across the room. Feel free to put obstacles in their way, just be careful---no injuries! However, while you are across the room calling the name of Steve/Suzie, they will be blindfolded. You will also need at least one “angel” and at least two “demons”. The “demons” are allowed to distract Steve/Suzie in any way, except they may not touch them. They want to speak lies to the blindfolded person about going the wrong way, tripping over things, etc. However, if an “angel” tags a “demon”, the demon must be silent and cannot do anything to Steve/Suzie for 5 seconds. After the 5 seconds, the demon is free to distract and it must be tagged again by an “angel”. “Angels” may not touch anything or say anything to Steve/Suzie, their only goal is to keep the “demons” silent by tagging them. There is no running in this game. Once “Spirit-led Steve/Suzie” makes it to the leader, the game is over and you may sit as a group and answer the following questions.

Application 1) To Steve/Suzie: Why was it so hard to listen to the voice of the “Spirit”? How does this apply to real life? 2) What are some of the things in your life that distract you from hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit? 3) According to this game and what you have learned so far in this lesson, what are some of the roles of the Spirit? 4) Have someone read Ezekiel 36:25-27 and discuss what this means. 5) What are qualities of a heart of stone and what are qualities of a heart of flesh? What role does the Spirit play in the change? 6) Read through Galatians 5:16-25 and discuss how this applies to your life. (Break the reading up into smaller chunks) 7) Have you seen evidence or ‘fruits’ from being a Christian? If so, what are they and how are you different? 8) Reread V.25---what does it mean to ‘keep in step with the Spirit’ and how can we do that? 9) One of the ways to “be filled up” by the Spirit is by listening for what He wants to say in your life. Tonight before you go to sleep, spend 5 min in complete silence praying and listening to the voice of the Spirit. Ask Him, “Spirit, what do You want to say to me tonight? and just listen. This will be hard but the more you listen to the voice of the Spirit, the easier it is to recognize and hear. 10) Lead your group in a prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill the students and speak to them clearly tonight. Pray that all distractions may be taken away. Lamb of God Lutheran Church | Flower Mound TX

Confirmation Lesson 16

Family Time Family Time is meant to be an opportunity to get the family talking about spiritual things. Multiple studies show that parents and grandparents are the #1 faith role models in a child’s life. We know life is busy, but we want to give you opportunities to grow together. A great time to do this is in the car, while eating a meal, or simply anytime you can enjoy together. 1) Confirmand(s), read this: The Holy Spirit sanctifies our whole life. By that, we mean that by the faith we are given in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit works a renewal of our whole life. That would certainly include our will, attitudes and desires. So now, by faith in Jesus and knowledge of His as our loving Savior, we daily strive to overcome sin and to do good works. Paul talks about this very thing in Romans 8:9. Please fill in the blanks: You, however, are controlled _______________ by the sinful nature, but by the ________________, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of ________________, he does not belong to Christ. 2) Parent(s), read this: Galatians 5:22-23 describes to us some of the good things the Holy Spirit works in our lives (enables us to do), since we know the love of God and the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus. Read Galatians 5:22-23 and fill in the blanks:

Memory Verse: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4–5

The fruit of the Spirit is ____________, ______________, _______________, _______________, _______________, _______________, _______________, _______________, and _______________, 3) Dad/Mom, read this: With these fruits of the Spirit given us from God, what types of things are we capable of doing so that we may love God with our whole heart, and love our neighbor as ourselves? Come up with a few examples together as a family:

4) Confirmand(s), read this: Some people in our world today would tell us life is useless, there is no purpose and we really can’t make any difference at all. How would you respond to this accusation, that your life has no purpose? Parent(s): Confirmand(s): Others: Lamb of God Lutheran Church | Flower Mound TX

Confirmation Lesson 16

5) Read this: What does Ephesians 2:10 tell us about our purpose? For we are God’s to do

, created in

____

_______________

.

6) What are good works in God’s sight? Look at Luther’s Small Catechism, (Question#163). In God’s sight, a good work is ________________________ that a child of God does, ____________________, or _____________________ in faith according to the Ten Commandments, for the glory of God, and for the _________________________ of his or her neighbor. 7) Parent(s), ask the family: What are we supposed to do to the glory of God, to say thank you to Jesus for His gift of forgiveness and eternal life? Please fill in the blanks from 1 Corinthians 10:31: Whether you

or drink, or

you do,

do it

to the glory of God! 8) Confirmand, write what you think doing something “to the glory of God” means and looks like in everyday life. Give an example of your “whatever” you will work on. This should be a common everyday task that you can give God glory in, not just a “churchy” or religious task:

For Further Study… (an optional section for families that want to go deeper) Read together Acts 2. This is the story of the Holy Spirit coming to the early church. It occurred during a festival called Pentecost, which means the 50th day after Passover. As you read this chapter pay attention to how the Spirit is described and what the Spirit does. In the last part of the chapter you will see how the early church functioned with the Holy Spirit. Discuss these questions: How does this compare to the church today? What do you like about the way they functioned? What don’t you like? Digging Into the Catechism: Review questions 153-168 on p147-157 with your parents.

Your Name: ______________________________

Parent Signature: ______________________________

(please print your name so we can read it)

Lamb of God Lutheran Church | Flower Mound TX

Confirmation Lesson 16