Here are the published notes for Sunday’s talk at Cityview.
The Big Idea: Jesus is the New Testament Challenge!
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29
1. Getting to know someone requires their self-disclosure. When we talk about getting to know God in the Christian worldview, we speak of the self-disclosure of God. We can know only what God reveals about Himself.
“The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” Psalm 98:2
Creation ALL POINTING TO JESUS CHRIST.
Scripture
Covenants
History of Israel
History of the Church
2. The Christian Worldview accepts the Bible as God’s revelation of Himself and what He is doing in the world. The Bible is the primary documents from which we see WHO Jesus Christ is and see WHAT He is doing in the world.
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” John 5:39-40
3. Our challenge is to treat the Bible as inspired, trustworthy, true, and
authoritative Word of God and therefore to adjust our lives accordingly.
“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it
says.” James 1:22
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman
who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word
of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
4. The Word of God comes with benefits.
“The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in all he does.” James 1:25
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” 1 Peter 1:22-25
5. Get to know Jesus through the Word of God.
A. Read it.
I commit to take the New Testament Challenge.
I will read the New Testament through in 83 days.
When: _________________________________
Where: _________________________________
B. Apply it together.
I will be a part of a Growth Group.
My group meets on ____________ at __________PM.
C. Pray it. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if
we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know
that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15
D. Share it. See Mark 4.
E. Receive Jesus as Lord.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him
who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has
crossed over from death to life. John 5:24-25
urbanfoot 
Holy Spirit – Is it a Person?
The Scriptures says these things about the holy spirit.
1. It fills persons: Luke 1:15; Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8, 31; Acts 6:3; Acts 11: 24 etc.
Were these ones all filled with a person? Or were they filled with a force from God that
gave them strength?
2. It can be poured out: Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:17, 18. Will the scriptures speak of a person as being poured out? or is it a thing that is poured out?
Therefore, the Scriptures are indicating to us that the Holy spirit is God’s force that he actively uses to accomplish His Will. It is NOT a person.
Some Scriptures speak of the holy spirit as if it were a person. Example: holy spirit speaking (Heb 3:7) etc. Does this mean that Holy spirit is a person? No. The Scriptures are simply using “personification.” For example, The Scriptures speak of wisdom crying out & having children (Prov. 1:20; 8:3; Matt. 11:19) The Scriptures also speak of “understanding” putting forth her voice at Proverbs 8:1. This does not mean that wisdom or undersanding are persons; these qualities are personified. It is similar with the Holy spirit. It is at times personified in the Scriptures based on what it is accomplishing in line with God’s Will.
Best wishes,
Lorna
Lorna, I see you have an interest in the Holy Spirit and that you have a particular position you would like to argue for and that is what has drawn you to my blog. Blessings on you. While I am familiar with this anti-trinitarian argument I do not hold to it for several reasons. But one of those reasons is Jesus’ own promise of the Holy Spirit coming to us and the need to find language that reckons with Jesus’ personification of the Holy Spirit as more than a force or an “it.” Examples:
“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks, me ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment; in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgement, because the prince of this world now stand condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” John 16:5-15