Living As a New Creation - Who do You say that I am (Wk. 4) (2)

In one paragraph

This message was the third installment in a series on walking out a life in Christ, focused on learning to recognize and hear God's voice. The speaker worked through scriptural foundations, real-life examples, and practical exercises to help the group move from knowing about this idea to actually practicing it. The morning closed with guided imagination exercises done together as a group. The...

Read together

1. John 10:1-16 Jesus as the good shepherd whose sheep recognize his voice
2. John 10:27 Jesus reiterates that his sheep listen to his voice and follow him
3. John 3:29 John the Baptist as friend of the bridegroom who hears and rejoices at the bridegroom's voice
4. John 15:15 Jesus calls his followers friends because he tells them what the Father tells him
5. Matthew 10:19-20 do not worry what to say, the Spirit of the Father will speak in you
6. Luke 12:11-12 the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you ought to say
7. John 14:26 the Holy Spirit will teach all things and bring to remembrance what Jesus said
8. John 16:13-14 the Spirit of truth will guide into all truth and disclose what is to come
9. Hebrews 3:7 today when you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as Israel did
10. Hebrews 3:15 repeat of the warning not to harden hearts when hearing the Spirit's voice
11. Psalm 95:7-11 quoted by the writer of Hebrews regarding hardening hearts in the wilderness
12. Acts 9:4 Jesus speaks audibly to Saul on the road to Damascus
13. Acts 10:9-16 Peter's vision of the sheet with unclean animals and God's voice telling him not to call unclean what God has made clean
14. Acts 8:26-29 the Holy Spirit directs Philip to go south and join the Ethiopian eunuch's chariot
15. Acts 13 the Holy Spirit speaks during worship and fasting to separate Barnabas and Saul for a special work
16. Isaiah 45:3 God gives treasures hidden in darkness so you may know He is the Lord who calls you by name
17. Proverbs 23:7 as a man thinks within himself so he is, applied to the importance of imagination and self-perception
18. Proverbs 16:1-3 we can make our own plans but the Lord gives the right answer; commit your actions to the Lord
19. Philippians 4:6-8 do not worry but pray about everything; set your mind on things true and worthy of praise

Talk about it

1. Pastor Amy walked through John 10 and pointed out that hearing God's voice is part of what Jesus called 'a rich and satisfying life.' What has kept you, or people you know, from believing that hearing God's voice is meant for ordinary believers today?
2. The forward Amy read said that God reveals himself 'on the way to somewhere' and that real transformation happens in the journey, not before it. Can you think of a time when you learned something about God, or about yourself, only because you were already moving and not because you had it figured out first?
3. Amy described many different ways God speaks, including scripture, impressions, nature, numbers, dreams, visions, and everyday circumstances. Which of those have you experienced, and which ones feel harder for you to trust or recognize?
4. Amy was honest that peace is not always a reliable signal on its own, because sometimes a sense of peace is coming from what our soul wants rather than from the Spirit. How do you personally try to tell the difference between peace from God and peace that is really just your own preferences?
5. The childhood memory exercise invited people to look back and see where Jesus was in a scene from their early life. What did that exercise, or the idea behind it, stir up for you about how God has been present in your story longer than you may have realized?