"If you or I had never been to a church and had read only the Old and New Testaments, we would have significant expectations of the Holy Spirit in our lives … If we read and believed these accounts, we would expect a great deal of the Holy Spirit. He would not be a mostly forgotten member of the Godhead whom we occasionally give a nod of recognition to, which is what He has become in many churches. We would expect our new life with the Holy Spirit to look radically different from our old life without him.”
- Francis Chan, Forgotten God
This morning we were blessed to hear from Pastor Dale as he taught on the Holy Spirit. In the triangle of transformation theory that we are using as a guide for this series, the Holy Spirit is at the center.
There are some communities of believers where the focus is on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Scriptures. It's not that they don't believe in the Spirit, they just want to keep Him within the pages of the Bible. There are also communities of believers where the overwhelming focus is on the activity and visible works of the Spirit. They see amazing acts of healing, deliverance, renewal and they can also become separate from theology, doctrine, and scripture. As Jesus shared with the “Woman at the Well,” it’s always intended to be “Spirit and Truth.” The question Pastor Dale posed, is it possible to embrace the Bible as Truth, have a deep rich theology, and live an active Spirit-led life that is filled with the wonders and works of the Spirit?
We went through a wonderfully large amount of scripture today. For those who weren't able to grab a handout in person, you can find the verses here. A few key takeaways from the teaching, the Old Testament was an age of visitation by the Spirit. The prophets of the Old Testament saw “There was coming an age where the Spirit would live in the people of God." When we turn the page from the Old Testament to the New, it begins with the Spirit and a prophet preparing a way for the Lord and a womb for the Lord. Luke 1:15, "he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." As we go through the New Testament we see the habitation of the Holy Spirit breakthrough.
God through His Spirit lives in us. It transforms us if we allow it to be unleashed through obedience, servanthood, and open-handedness. The same thing Jesus experienced at his Baptism, a declaration of identity and intimacy, is what the Spirit does within each of us. The Holy Spirit declares our identity and cultivates intimacy with our Father.
The invitation to each of us, minister to each other:
Pray with and for each other.Express words of truth, blessing, and accountability to each other.Say to yourself “I have the Holy Spirit within me. Who does He want me to minister to today?”
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
