Do you have the Spirit?

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me…

Do you have the spirit? This question may ask if you have enough desire, willingness, passion, enthusiasm, excitement, etc, to be part of a specific team or movement. Most agree to succeed in life we need a spirit of zest, zeal, and grit. But…

Do you have the Holy Spirit? This question also asks if we have zest, zeal, and grit, but not for just any task. The Holy Spirit provides the power to join Our Heavenly Father’s call to be agents of God’s reconciling love for creation. Fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives gives meaning and purpose for our own lives.

Last week we saw Jesus being lifted (launched) into outer space (the heavens), right after he gave his marching orders to witness to the Kingdom of God. Likewise, His ascension lifts us up to see more clearly God’s purpose for our lives and for our church. Jesus also promises us the Holy Spirit to empower us to witness to the Kingdom’s reality.

This Sunday we will read about the fulfillment of that promise. In the story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21), the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples to give birth to the church. It appears God’s answer to the human predicament is to create a family (the church), branching out into the world to welcome the reconcile the world back to God. Paul puts it this way:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans‬ ‭8:14-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬
It is the Holy Spirit that adopts us, calls us, convicts, and convinces us we are the family of God going about our Father’s business.

So back to my question: Do we have the Holy Spirit?

As we seek to relaunch Three Oaks into our community can we still be the kind of people who help save this kind of world? Join us Sunday as we pray for a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit and to receive all the zest, zeal, and grit we can handle.

Come and see,
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me (US)! Melt US, mold US, fill Us, Use US…
Pastor Rob