From John 16, Morning Praise (3)

In one paragraph

The pastor opened in John 16:5-11, where Jesus tells his grieving disciples that his departure is actually for their benefit, because it makes way for the Holy Spirit to come and live inside them. He focused on three specific convictions the Holy Spirit produces: conviction of sin, conviction of Christ's righteousness, and conviction of judgment. Those three convictions, he argued, are the marks...

Read together

1. John 16:5-11 main text for the sermon, Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment
2. Isaiah 40:8 quoted in the opening prayer: the grass withers, the flowers fall, but God's word stands forever
3. Acts 2:36-37 Peter filled with the Holy Spirit tells the crowd God made Jesus both Lord and Christ, people are cut to the heart and ask what to do
4. John 8:23 Jesus says you are from below, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not
5. John 8:46 Jesus asks the Pharisees if any of them can prove him guilty of sin
6. 1 Peter 3:18 Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God
7. Matthew 16 Peter's confession: you are the Christ, the Son of the living God
8. John 8:44 Jesus calls Satan a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of lies
9. Romans 8:1 there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
10. 1 Corinthians 11 Paul's account of the Lord's Supper, used to introduce communion

Talk about it

1. Pastor Scott described the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin as painful but necessary, comparing it to the weight of a heavy backpack on a hard climb. Have you experienced that kind of conviction, and what did it feel like to get out from under that weight?
2. Pastor Scott said there cannot be conversion without conviction of sin, and he challenged everyone to ask whether that conviction was genuinely part of their own conversion experience. How would you describe that part of your story?
3. The sermon pointed to Peter's sermon in Acts 2, where the people were 'cut to the heart' and asked 'what do we do?' What do you think it means to respond to conviction rather than just feel it and move on?
4. Pastor Scott explained that the Holy Spirit convicts us of Christ's righteousness, not our own, and that this is what saves us. Why do you think it is hard for people to let go of the idea that their own goodness plays a role in their standing before God?
5. Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, even while Satan stands condemned. How does that truth change the way you think about guilt you may still be carrying?