Life Group - Study Guides

This week, we continue our look at who the Holy Spirit is and how He works in our lives. Many people think of the Holy Spirit as a feeling or a moment of emotion, but He is so much more. He is the living, active presence of God in us. Today, we’ll explore one of the most challenging truths: the Holy Spirit cannot be controlled. As people, we like structure, predictability, and control. But following the Spirit often means releasing our grip and trusting His leading—even when it doesn’t fit our schedule or plans. Remember, this is a safe place, with no judgement, as we share and learn to recognize His voice together.

Don’t you just love God’s Word? This week we begin a brand-new series about the Holy Spirit. For many of us, the Holy Spirit feels like a mystery. Maybe you grew up in an environment that didn’t talk about Him much, or maybe you’ve only heard confusing or conflicting things about who He is and what He does. As a result, it can be tempting to ignore the Holy Spirit altogether or reduce Him to just a feeling or a force. But Jesus made it clear that the Holy Spirit is essential—He is God Himself living in us, guiding us, empowering us, and comforting us. Our goal in this series is to know Him more personally, understand His role more clearly, and learn to walk with Him more faithfully in everyday life.

This is our final stop in the series “Eden to Eternity.” We close with the book of Revelation—the unveiling of Jesus Christ. This vision was given to the apostle John while he was exiled on the Island of Patmos. Revelation is not written to frighten us or help us predict the date of the end times—Scripture is clear that no one knows the day or hour. It’s full of symbolism and mystery, much of which we can’t fully explain. Yet it is meant to strengthen our hope and remind us that God is in control and that one day He will make all things new. Let’s explore its truths and the principles that still shape our lives today.

God’s Word is alive—it speaks as clearly today as when it was first written. Throughout this series we traveled through the story of scripture. This week we reach one of its most awe-inspiring moments: the Gospels. The Old Testament closed in silence as Israel waited for the promised Messiah. Then the quite broke with the best news ever: God Himself came near in Jesus Christ! Four Gospels, one Messiah. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each present the same life-changing truth—Jesus is the Savior—yet each highlights unique details. Four eyewitnesses describing the same event from different vintage points, their perspectives weave together a rich, complete picture of who Jesus is.

As we pick back up and travel on through the Bible in our series Eden to Eternity, we arrive on the scene where the Israelites have been in captivity to the Babylonians due to their sin and disobedience. Now they have returned and are starting the process of rebuilding. God is giving them a fresh start. Many of us may find ourselves in a very similar situation in life. This past weekend we learned some biblical principles to rebuilding God’s way.

This past Sunday we were blessed to hear from our founding Pastor Mike Madding. He reminded us that humility doesn't come naturally—it's something we must intentionally cultivate. In this culture we are constantly pushed to climb higher, be noticed, and prove ourselves. But Jesus points us in the opposite direction: the path of humility. True humility is not weakness; it’s strength under control. It’s not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less—making space for God and others. This week, we’ll look at what God really desires from us and how we can walk in the way of Christ’s humility.

This week we look into a time in Scripture where the Israelites wanted to be like all the other people around them. Other nations had kings, so they wanted one as well, so they asked God for a king. As you can imagine, and as we will see, this was not God’s plan or His best for His chosen people. But like we often do, they demanded their way and so begins a long journey of difficult consequences to the choice they made to have a king “like everyone else,” instead of God as their true King.

What in the world are prophets? They were chosen by God to be a spokesperson to deliver His will to the people. The prophets had to draw near to God, hear His voice, and know His will. God calls us to do the same—we need to spend time in the quiet listening for His voice. This week we learned from the prophet Samuel that listening isn’t just about hearing—it's about responding. The prophet Micah summed it up this way: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Samuel models for us how to hear and respond to God's voice, and Micah reminds us of what to do once we’ve heard it.

As we continue our journey from Eden to eternity through the Old Testament, we now arrive at the time of the judges. Moses has died, Joshua has faithfully led God’s people into the Promised Land, and he too has passed away. The Israelites are left without a central leader. And as you might guess—when the leader is gone, the people begin to wander. Instead of remaining faithful, the Israelites compromised with the nations around them. Sin gradually replaced obedience to God. Yet in His mercy, God raised up judges to guide, rescue, and call His people back to Himself. This week, we’ll pause here to see what God wants to show us about compromise, courage, and obedience in our own walk with Him.

Hang on tight this week—there's a lot of ground to cover! We’re going to trace God’s plan from the family of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel, meaning “to struggle with God”) all the way to how God set apart an entire nation to display His holiness. Israel was meant to be a light to the nations, pointing to the one true God, and ultimately Jesus. As we explore these passages, we will see how seriously God takes sin, how deeply He loves His people—offering mercy and grace—and how He calls them to honor Him and be set apart. We’ll also face some hard questions. God’s Word can sometimes be difficult to understand, but we will see how to dig deeper, read in context, and trust that God will honor our diligence as we seek Him.