Ministry Training: Assignment 3

Exploration of the Person of the Holy Spirit

As we continue our training as disciples of Jesus, we want to continue to sharpen and deepen our understanding of “who God is” since our view of God will ultimately drive how we live in relationship with Him and other image-bearers. For many people, the third person of our triune God is the hardest to articulate and the answer to the question, ‘who is the Holy Spirit’ can be difficult.  In our next assignment, we will explore the person and work of the Holy Spirit more specifically through R. A. Torrey’s book of the same name.

Assignment:

Reading:

1. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by R. A. Torrey (provided by ccdelco)

Dr. Torrey first carefully describes who the Holy Spirit is and how one can come to know Him as a person, just as real as Jesus Christ Himself, an ever-present, loving friend and mighty helper, who is always with us. Then he goes on to describe the work of the Spirit -- in the world and in the lives of Christians.

2. The Book of Acts - Chapters 11-20 (you’re encouraged to journal questions and observations in your ESV journal)

Respond: As we build from our exercises of ‘testimony’ and reliance on the Holy Spirit, the challenge over the next two months is to have 9 Spiritual Conversations with people who are not Christians. That is essentially one Spiritual conversation a week. That might mean, that you will have to get outside of your comfort zone and talk to people you do not know. It may mean talking to strangers in a store, co-workers, or family members. A Spiritual conversation is something that shares your faith or gets the other person to talk about their beliefs. It doesn’t necessarily mean you ‘share the gospel.’ Think of this less as a prescriptive challenge of “ok, I completed my 9 Spiritual Conversations, yay I’m done,” but rather an opportunity for a greater awareness of the call to ‘share the Good news.’

Remember these points as you go about your time:

●       It is the Lord who saves, not you or cleverly devised wording, just be faithful and open to the conversation.

●       You don’t need to know all of the answers and be willing to just ask questions.

●       If an opportunity arises where you can share the hope that you have, consider sharing your testimony - how your story was changed by God’s story.

●       Be confident that the One who is in you is greater than He who is in the world.

●       Especially if you’re in a relationship with the person, consider inviting them to church. People are more open than you might think, especially around the holidays. Don’t say someone’s ‘no’ for them.

When you return to Ministry Training on January 11th, 2025, you should be able to share generally how your experience went. What went well, what was challenging, etc.

As you go about thinking about how to get into conversations about spiritual things, you may need some ideas about how to begin.

If this feels intimidating or new, consider exploring a tool like God Tools to get started.

God Tools App designed by Cru provides a variety of ways for people to explore conversation strategies. Think of it as a springboard for a lot of ways to think about sharing faith with people.