Greetings Beloveds,
Since my return the first Sunday of June I believe the Holy Spirit has guided me to offer for our Sunday morning thinking and consideration, meditations that center on what it means to be the church. In particular how we see ourselves, our interpersonal relationships with each other and how that information informs our engagement in the larger community.
Below is an excerpt from Sunday’s message “We Are the Church.” If you have not heard it, I encourage you to go to our YouTube page pour yourself a frosty beverage and listen. It will bless your soul.
“First, we’ve got to plug in to the power We can only do something of within ourselves once we are truly connected to our holy power source. When we are plugged in, the Holy Spirit can enlighten and direct us. The Holy Spirit upholds, applies, and administers God’s grand plan to grow the Church (us). Paul says, “We have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
If our faith is guided by the Holy Spirit, you and I are ready to be an asset to the body of Christ. However, the opposite is also true. We can only be helpful if we are led by the spirit. Emotional and physical burnout is sure to follow if we are trying to do things with our strength and intellect. We become burdens rather than burden-bearers. You have heard me say before to be careful of doing things for the Church while forgetting to be the Church. Doing things for God but not allowing God to lead and guide us in all our doing is a recipe for disaster.
If the Church is going to achieve its mandate to spread the good news of the gospel, it will take all of us to be willing to step up and step out. If we’re going to be “laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9), we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. How do I know? Jesus said it. He said, just before His Ascension, “…And you will receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
When the Church plugs in…
It’s motivated by the love of God.
When the Church plugs in…
It’s empowered to break chains and set the captive free by the Spirit of God.
When the Church plugs in…
It’s equipped for the work.
It’s blessed by the touch of God.
Saturated by the joy of God.
And directed by the wisdom of God.”