We are about to embark on a journey to understand the Holy Spirit. Why? Don’t we already have the Holy Spirit in our church? We’ve got a decent preacher, an exceptional praise team, a good band – people are filling up our pews every week. But does this mean the Holy Spirit is actively working and moving in our lives? Unfortunately, it’s very easy for a church to be packed and lively, all the while utterly ignoring the Holy Spirit. One author put it this way:
“If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody WOULD know the difference.” (A. W. Tozer)
If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll have to admit that although we claim to have experienced the Holy Spirit, we still hold on to our selfishness, biases and personal preferences. This point was driven home to me, about my own experience, in another book:
“From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, FORGOTTEN. While no [Christian] would deny His existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.”
(Francis Chan)
Wow! I remembered how the Lord God had brought me out of my personal Egypt. I remembered how Jesus Christ, the seed of David, had been raised from the dead according to the gospel. I even remembered the Sabbath day and attempted to keep holy. But I had forgotten the Holy Spirit. I couldn’t answer, with biblical clarity, questions like: What exactly is this “spirit? Is it a floating vapor? Is it tongues of fire? Is s/he a person? Is he/it a power?
Over the next several weeks we will learn, by God’s grace, who the Holy Spirit is, what we need to do to experience Him fully, and why we so dearly need Him. Prayerfully, we will learn to live a life dependent on and surrendered to the Holy Spirit, living faithfully in the here and now.
Are you ready to take this journey? I’m excited to take it with you!
Here’s the “pre-work” for the series.
1. Begin memorizing the following. We will be reciting it as a family as we go through the series.
I will be influenced, taught and led only by the Holy Spirit. As I live by the Spirit, I put to death the works of the flesh. Therefore, I choose to practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When I fail, I will seek His grace. When I succeed, I will give thanks.
2. Commit to attending prayer meeting on Wednesday nights starting on July 13 and going through the end of the series in early September.
I look forward to seeing you as we start our Forgotten God series at 11:00 a.m. on Sabbath, July 9. Bring a friend!
Be Blessed & A Blessing,
Pastor Marquis D. Johns
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