Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
How do we get to know God better?
For the lesson titled "Spirit" from August 1–7, 2011
Do we turn to temporal, material ways of understanding God, or do we take a spiritual approach, seeking a higher way? This week’s Bible Lesson, titled “Spirit,” teaches us a better understanding of Spirit, and the blessings this understanding provides us. The Golden Text makes it clear we should turn Spiritward, because “it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (John 6:63, English Standard Version).
In the Responsive Reading, the Apostle Paul echoes the Golden Text in his message to the Corinthians. In Paul’s teaching and counsel to the church in Corinth, he reminded them of the way he instructed them when he visited previously. He had not tried to impress them with big words or great speaking. Had he done so, the temptation would have been to follow and believe in Paul the man, rather than in God. He preached to them showing “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Cor. 2:4), for the purpose of drawing their faith to God.
This concept of Spirit as representing God was not something new introduced in Paul’s teaching. Paul was well trained in Jewish tradition and law (see Phil. 3:5); thus, he would have been intimately familiar with the accounts of creation in Genesis. Section I of the Lesson includes this statement from Genesis 1, verse 2: “And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (citation 1). So the concept of Spirit in creation is present from the very beginning of the Bible.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
July 25, 2011 &
August 1, 2011
double issue
View Issue
-
Letters
Cindy Roemer, Laurel Marquart, Brian Zavitz, Charles Palenz
-
Singing in perfect harmony
Maike Byrd, Staff Editor
-
‘. . . So I can read the holy book myself’
Fredrick Nzwili
-
Building on the bedrock of spirituality
Patti Waterson
-
Prayer about unemployment: from millions, to one
Margaret Campbell
-
God is Love
By Christa Kreutz
-
How do we get to know God better?
By Brian Hall
-
Lights leading to the practice
David Horn
-
Your questions about church
Giulia Nesi, Scott Putnam
-
Healing and church
Glory Holzworth, Adrienne Jones
-
A career of healing in the theatre arts
By Kim Shippey
-
Excerpts from Theatre: Its Healing Role in Education
Richard Morse
-
Hang up on ‘Uncle George’
By Bob Cochran
-
Seasons of good
Christie Hanzlik
-
Why worship together?
Lois Carlson
-
His
Wil Meacham
-
Prosperous living
Sue Spotts
-
A to-do list?
Kay Weed
-
For the preservation of the world’s animals
By Colleen Douglass
-
Healing stories from South Africa
Senelisiwe Nkomo, Gemma Ritchie, Moleboheng Beauty Masehlelo, Nikki Papadopoulos, Maia James
-
Let's pray
Travis, Lou, Monique, Davin
-
Striking the right notes in families
By Ginny Luedeman
-
Getting along with my father-in-law
Name withheld
-
Healing steps to reconciliation
By Jean Paul Nlend Nkott
-
Relationships renewed by Love
Name withheld
-
My marriage was saved
By Chris Harvey
-
If ‘thy brother hath aught against thee . . .’
Mary Ann Cahill
-
Family harmony—it’s possible!
John Minard, Valerie Minard
-
Roadside assistance with God
An experience of Bev and Kurt Smith
-
Singing and soaring beyond the Requiem
By Elaine Lang
-
Spiritual safety
James Masson Coleman
-
Montana dusk
Maike Byrd
-
Vision restored
Don Alusic
-
Constant protection as a stuntman
Loren Janes
-
Depression overcome
Peter Tyner
-
Hockey healings
Anne Cooling , Evan Cooling
-
From extremes to a world in balance
The Editors