WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT - PART 1 Listen to these 2 verses (or write on board), and try to hear one important truth about God that it is saying: Psalm 145:3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 25:14 The Lord confides in those who fear him. • God is great and mysterious • We are the creatures talking about an unfathomable Creator • All we know about God is because He has chosen to tell us For the next 3 weeks we’ll be looking closely at (1) Who the Holy Spirit is (2) What he was doing at different times in the story of God’s Great Rescue Plan [write on white board] Let’s begin with a prayer, asking God to give us more understanding and a response of hope and love, but most of all that all of us will get to know this person, the Holy Spirit better: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your Name in all the earth. I will praise you, O Lord, with all of my heart. I will tell of your wonders. Would you give in greater measure to all of us in the next few weeks, the real presence of your Holy and life-giving Spirit who makes Jesus real to us. Make him more real to us than he has been before so that we might know more deeply your transforming love in our lives, love you more deeply in return, and follow you more closely, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. Do you remember the first time you read a chapter book? (ask children). What is the difference between a book like Cat in the Hat, and a chapter book? (the story develops) When we look at the Holy Spirit over the next few weeks, it might help to think of this story as one with chapters, and today we’re going to look at the very first chapter, what the Holy Spirit looks like in the Old Testament, the time before Jesus was born. ACT I – The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Write on the board – What we Learned: Hand out all the cards. Everyone needs a card. Please pay attention to the COLOR of your card, because that will help us know when you can share this verse. Some of you may have the same verse as a few other children, but when you get your card, get out your Bible and find your verse. Let’s begin with the pink cards – could someone who has a pink card read the Bible verse? If you also had a pink card but didn’t get to read, now you can answer this question – what have we learned about the Holy Spirit from this verse? (Creation) Now, let’s move on to another way the Holy Spirit appears in the OT. If you have a blue card, and many of you do, raise your hand, and tell us what we have learned about the Holy Spirit from this verses. Let’s read those verses: King - 2 Samuel 23:2 (also read v. 1) – David’s given the Spirit of the Lord - king Prophecy - Micah 3:8 (Micah’s filling as a prophet to speak God’s truth) Dreams - Genesis 41:38 – interpreting dreams Special Tasks – Exodus 31:2-5 Visions – Genesis 15:1, 46:2, Daniel 1:17 Yellow cards: Inspiring Scripture – 2 Tim. 3:16 Let’s stop here and think – what if the Question Box today was just for questions about the Holy Spirit. Remember, God is unfathomable – you never reach the end of God. So if you had an index card and a pen, what would you want to know about the Holy Spirit? Write on white board So today we’ve looked at Chapter 1 of the chapter book on the Holy Spirit. And we’ll find that every chapter, there will also be a promise. In the Old Testament, the children know that God promised to send his son, Jesus. So anyone with an orange card, could you read your verse: Here is a promise God made over 500 years before Jesus came. Anyone can answer this question – What will God remove? What will God give in its place? Why? Let’s close in prayer: Keep us, Father Son and Holy Spirit in your care this week. May we not stay as we are, but always be growing in our knowledge and love of you. Give us a growing awareness of how completely you have provided for us by the presence of your Life in our lives. Make Jesus real to us. Empower us and fill us up with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.