https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2012%3A12-31&version=NRSV
This month, we have been learning more about the Holy Spirit. We have talked about how the Spirit can give us new life, and help us to know that God is our best friend. Through the Spirit, we know that God is with us and in us, and the Spirit leads us through our lives as beloved children of God; through the Spirit we are made more like Christ every day. Another big transformation we can experience with the Holy Spirit comes in the revelation of our spiritual gifts. One of the best known gifts of the Spirit, which we see in the Bible, is the ability to understand each other despite the barriers of different languages. Last month, we celebrated Pentecost, when the Spirit descended upon the disciples and gave them this very ability, allowing them to speak clearly to others and each other despite the different languages everyone spoke. In today’s Scripture passage, Paul talks about the gifts we are given by the Holy Spirit, wherein God “appoints” (1 Corinthians 12:28) or “chooses” certain people to be prophets, people who talk about the Word of God, teachers, people who do “deeds of power,” engage in healing or other forms of assistance, leadership, or speaking in tongues. (1st Corinthians 12:28) Earlier in the chapter, Paul said that spiritual gifts are for everyone. They are not limited to certain people. And spiritual gifts can vary too, since there are many kinds of spiritual gifts which the Spirit “activates” in each of us as the Spirit chooses (1st Corinthians 12:5 & 11). Today’s chapter, chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, is about spiritual gifts, but when we read through the passage we see that Paul is not just talking about spiritual gifts. Instead, Paul is talking about how the church works together as the body of Christ. The head of the church is Christ, but that body does not exist by Christ alone. It has various body parts, like eyes, ears, hands and feet, which make up the body. These body parts represent each and every one of us. We are individuals, but as individual body parts we come together to build that body, which is the church. An eye can’t be an ear, and a hand can’t be a foot; each part is needed to be exactly what it is, in order to build up the one body, our beloved church. So, what I want us to think about today is that relationship between our spiritual gifts and the body of the church. Why is it that Paul is talking about the church, the body of Christ, in a chapter about spiritual gifts? In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is addressing a specific issue that was facing the church in Corinth, an Ancient Greek city. In the church of Corinth, divisions had begun to arise over issues involving the life and activities of the church. They began to argue about whether or not Gentile believers should be circumcised, whether or not they could buy food which had been offered as a burnt offering to idols. And, of course, there was the issue of spiritual gifts. In Corinth, there were people who had begun to boast about their spiritual gifts, their ability to speak in tongues, to prophesize; these people who possessed more obvious, more charismatic gifts and manifestations of the Spirit in their life and ministry, began to be regarded as more spiritual, and therefore more Christian. On the other hand the new believers, poor converts who were unable to contribute much to the operation of the church financially, who didn’t have a clear understanding of whether they could or could not eat the meat that was sold in the market because it might have been used in an idol sacrifice, people who didn’t possess the more obvious spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues; these people began to be treated as being somehow less “spiritual,” labeled as “weak,” considered to be less honorable, less respectable, or even inferior or unnecessary. The bottom line in Corinth was that weakness was not celebrated, and people were not appreciated and welcomed for who and what they were. Jump forward 2000 years, and we’re now living in the 21st century, but we still suffer from that stigma associated with the word “weakness.” In Japan, when you search for a job, you have to fill out a specific type of resume form called a rirekisho. In this form, you have to write your entire work history, all your degrees, qualifications, skills, and strengths, down to the smallest detail. But nowhere will you find a column asking about your weaknesses. Often, the question about your strengths and weaknesses will come up during a job interview. Or, if you’re in a mentoring relationship, your mentor might discuss your weaknesses with you, highlighting the areas you can improve. But, nowadays, I’ve begun to notice that there is a new term we use to describe weakness. We avoid the word “weakness” entirely, and use instead the word “growing edge.” Because in the world and culture we live in, there are certain beliefs we have about weakness. Weaknesses are something we need to correct. Weaknesses are something we need to hide. Weaknesses are something we should avoid confronting, but rather conceal, and don’t talk about. (Weakness is something we need to correct. Weakness is something we should hide. Weakness is something we should avoid facing and talking about.) And we find this tendency not only in our society but, as Paul mentions, we can find it even in our faith community, even back in those early days. But this isn’t just an issue for this ancient church from thousands of years ago; it’s an issue that faces the church today. First of all, to be honest, I have to admit that I might well be the first person to get trapped in this kind of thinking. As you know, I struggle with depression. I have been working on accepting this part of who I am for a long time, close to 15 years but it took me a very long time to learn to embrace this part of myself, and to share it with my friends and church family openly. As someone with depression, I have good days and bad days. Even within a single day, I can have good moments and more difficult moments. When I get sucked into that pool of dark emotions, like anxiety, worry, anger, doubt, disappointments and so much more, it takes a great deal of effort and determination and, most importantly, God’s help and assurance, for me to be able to break out of the bad cycle of negative emotions. This is a truth about me, and sometimes there are mornings that I don’t want to get out of bed or do anything. And while I struggle with this now, I struggled with this a lot in my teenage years, or even today when times get particularly stressful. In times like those, I would much rather stay in bed and just cave in, not going anywhere, not meeting anyone, not even facing the world because I feel too overwhelmed with what is going on. On bad days, or in bad moments, especially now that I serve in the leadership of a church, I sometimes wonder if I am truly “qualified” to be a pastor because of this “weakness” within me. And I think I might not be the only one who is afraid of showing and sharing weakness within the church community. I have heard people saying that they hesitate to come to church because they are “too tired” to fake it. They just can’t pretend that everything is going OK because, in their hearts, they are anything but OK. They are struggling. They feel embarrassed sharing what is truly going on in their lives. I hear people say that they hesitate to serve in church because they have so many weaknesses, but don’t have any real skills or strengths to offer to a church. But today, I want(invite) us to look at how the church should look at the weaknesses within ourselves, and even the weaknesses within the church, based on the Word of God. Because the truth is that the Bible does not look at weakness the way the the world, or any of us in it, do. Here is the word we get from Paul; he denies all this negative thinking, rejects all these images of weaknesses, and delivers a message that is just as much to us as it is to the church in Corinth: “the members of the body-the church that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” (1 Corinthians 12:27) Weakness is necessary for the church. That word he uses there, indispensable, is also used in other places in the Scripture to mean “intimate.” So it is that this weak body part can, and should, be seen to form an intimate, necessary relationship with the body itself; with the church itself. But regardless of what the Scripture says, reality is different. What we often see in church is the opposite of what we see in the Bible. Weakness is avoided, pushed away, set apart from the life, conversation, and activities of the church. But Paul here say that in church life, it really shouldn’t be that way. There are no body parts that are somehow “less of a body part.” There is no one part of the church that we can look on and say that we have no need of it. All are welcome to be a part of the Church, especially those who are weak, who struggle with physical challenges, emotional struggles, spiritual fights, financial difficulties, social concerns; all that and more are not just welcome, but necessary for the church. This is because, in a church, weakness has the potential to be transformed into something beautiful, something that goes far beyond simple weakness. Something that can build up the church, and others in and around it, just as Spiritual gifts might do. There is an artist named Tomohiro Hoshino. (Pictures inserted in our online worship) He is a well known Christian artist here in Japan. In his early twenties, he got into a major accident and lost most of his mobility. Yet he met God through the Word he found in the Bible, and through that he gained comfort and hope from Christ. Then he started to use his mouth to hold pencils to write. Here, these are the first letters he managed to write using his mouth this way. (Picture inserted in our online worship) Once he figured that out, he continued working hard, eventually learning to draw using brushes. In time, he began to write poems and draw pictures to go along with the poems. What began as his weakness, the disability and immobility he experienced, through time began to turn into something else. Something that served as a witness to the beauty of life and all the creation around him. As he created more and more work, he began to host exhibitions so he could share his work with people. In one of his interviews he said, “People stopped and appreciated and felt my heart in each line I drew even though the line was shaky.” The lines showed all his physical weakness, but there was something still which captured people, and showed the wonder, mystery and joy of life. Here is one of his later work. (Picture inserted in our online worship) Here he says, “it seems we are closer to the truth when the weak gather together instead of the strong.” The word we use for church in Greek is ekklesia, and it means exactly that; a “gathering.” The church is a place where people are gathered together, all invited and welcomed by God. The church, as you know, is much more than a place, because we are the church; each one of us make up the body of Christ, that church, when we welcome those who are weak, and embrace them. The church is a place where we welcome the messiness in our lives; a place where the weak parts of yourself and your life are joyously welcomed. While society might reject or ignore you because of your struggles, turn you away because of the weakness you battle, or which your family or friends battle, church is a place which welcomes you as you are because we believe that all the parts of you, including your weakness, are necessary for the church to be what it is, necessary for us to grow in Christ. The church is a place of transformation; when you are willing to open yourself up and share the struggles you have with your weaknesses, God will enter in. When you open yourself up and share your weaknesses with God and God’s community, they are no longer your weaknesses alone. Your weakness is no longer carried only by you, but it is carried by both God and God’s whole community. We are a people who gather our hearts together and pray. Rather than rejecting or turning away from our weakness, we not only welcome it but invest in it. In chapter 12 verse 23 Paul talks about clothing the less honorable and respectable members of the church with great respect and honor. In other English translations of this verse, the word “invest” is used here instead. We, as the church, invest in weakness with the greatest of honor and respect. WE invest because, just like spiritual gifts, we believe that fruit is produced when we invest in our weakness. Just as Tomihiro Hoshino’s art and poems have touched so many, and testified to the goodness of life and creation, our weaknesses, nurtured with encouragement and investment from the church community, can give life to something beautiful in service to both the church and others. We are grateful to Pastor Chuck for his openness about his weakening body. With Pastor Chuck and God, we take in and welcome all the struggles he is going through. As one body of Christ, we suffer together with him, and rejoice with him as well. Even though he and his family are in California, can’t we feel the intimate relationship he has with God despite his weakening body? Can’t we see that our witness to his testimony is building up our church, because we cannot stop being in awe of how God keeps Pastor Chuck so close, embracing him as his best friend and the smartest guy in the room? And aren’t we in just as much awe at how much faith God has given him and his family? In that space, there is more than weakness. There is God. So I hope that we can become a church that not only invests in each of us for our spiritual gifts, but a community that is willing to accept and welcome all the weaknesses people might struggle with; mental illness, addiction, physical disability, chronic illness, poverty, troubled relationships, struggles with grades, self confidence issues, loss of dreams, loss of faith, or even a loss of self. I hope we will become a place that welcomes people as they are, and which is willing to walk with them, believing that their struggles and weaknesses only “seem” to be weak as Paul says in (v.22). Three is no wasted weakness in a church community. Each weakness shared in our community is a necessary part of our church as we try to reflect all that Christ is. Eyes, mouths, ears, shoulders, hands, stomach, feet; all these things in all their imperfections represent Christ, including those invisibly small body parts. They can all testify to something about Christ, because it is Christ who fills the whole body, our church. May we cherish our weaknesses and openly share them, willing to invest in our weaknesses. There we will see Christ fully glorified because of our weakness. All glory to God. Amen.
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Some of you may remember Garrison Keillor on National Public Radio many years back. He did a show called, “The News From Lake Wobegon” where he shared many stories. Some of my favorite stories were the funny stories he shared about the Lutheran Church and Pastor Liz.
Anyway, one evening he told us the origin of Father’s Day. He said that Father's Day goes back "to a Sunday morning in May of 1909, when a woman named Sonora Dodd was sitting in church in Spokane, Washington, listening to a Mother's Day sermon. She thought of her father who had raised her and her five siblings after her mother died in childbirth, and she thought that fathers should get recognition, too. So, she asked the minister of the church if he would deliver a sermon honoring fathers on her father's birthday, which was coming up in June, and the minister did. And the tradition of Father's Day caught on, though rather slowly. Mother's Day became an official holiday in 1914; Father's Day, not until 1972. Mother's Day is still the busiest day of the year for florists and restaurants. Sometime ago, phone companies made money on Mother’s Day because the most long-distance phone calls were made that day but on Father's Day was the day on which the most collect calls were made. I have to admit when I came to Japan as an exchange student in 1976, I made a few collect calls to my parents when I was living with my Japanese host family in Minami Urawa, Saitama-ken my first year in Japan. Since it is Father’s Day, I will tell you a bit about my dad. (I did this last year as well in my sermon on Father’s Day.) My father, Burton Genung, was born prematurely at six months in a mining camp near Prescott, Arizona on May 22, 1914. He was a twin but his twin sister died and was placed in a little shoe box coffin. They had another shoe box coffin ready for my dad but this was the first miracle in his life was that he survived by his father praying hard for him and by placing warm bricks around him to keep him incubated. My dad grew up to be 6 feet 3 inches. He went to University of Arizona where he graduated in 1939 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He served in Europe during WW II, where he had many adventures including meeting Ernest Hemmingway twice. After the war, he and my mom moved to California where they raised four kids. We remember him as being very honest, hard-working, willing to help anyone, and someone who knew so much that he often over explained things to us. (If you asked him the time, he would tell you how to make a watch.) He cared for the environment and people. If he saw trash on the street, he picked it up to throw away. If he saw someone on the side of the road in need, he would help that person. He also donated blood to the blood bank every week for 50 years. He served at our Methodist church. He loved my mother dearly and cared for her even with her Alzheimer’s until he couldn’t psychically care for her anymore. My dad died on Oct. 14, 2005 but the lessons he taught me have stayed with me my whole life. With their blessing, the Holy Spirit guided me to be an exchange student to Japan in 1976 where I met my future husband, Toshi. Their prayers sustained me while I was in seminary. The Holy Spirit guided me back to Japan and they were very supportive of how God was guiding my life. Our scripture that I choose today is from Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.” This verse begins with the word “for,” which tells the reader that this is an explanation of the previous verse. In verse 13, Paul told us that we are to be “putting to death the misdeeds of the body” as we live our Christian life. What does that mean? As believers, we are not to coexist with, give place to, or tolerate sin in our life. Rather, we are to get rid of the sin in our life. We can’t do this alone but we do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:5-6) The Spirit of God wants to help us remove from our lives all that is bad (e.g. our bad attitudes, bad reactions, bad vocabulary, and bad treatment of others). The Spirit of God is actively enabling us to be better people and walk in the Spirit. Therefore, when Paul writes that we are “being led by the Spirit” in verse 14, the focus is not upon the Spirit leading us to make day-to-day decisions such as what to buy when grocery shopping or what to eat for dinner. It is true that the Spirit does lead us to make some decisions about things happening in our lives. However, the focus of this verse is that we are being led into holiness - our sanctification. The Holy Spirit will still be leading us into sanctification and personal holiness. Sanctifying grace is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that changes us so that our lives are conformed to the mind of Christ. Sanctifying grace draws us towards Christian perfection (Christian maturity) which John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Movement which later became the Methodist Church, described as a “heart filled with love of God and neighbor” and as “having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked.” For John Wesley, growing as a Christian is all about being filled with love. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Paul’s use of the word “all” tells us that this is true for all believers. All those who are indwelt by the Spirit of God are also being led by the Spirit of God. Notice that “are being led” means we are not the one doing the leading. The Spirit of God is. The Spirit of God is leading you. This is also stated in the present tense, which means that as a believer, the Spirit is always leading you—every moment of every day. This is not just for Sundays or when things are going well in your life, but in every moment—even when you are having problems or illnesses. No matter the circumstance, the Spirit is continually leading you toward personal holiness and godliness. Paul writes of those who are being led by the Spirit of God, “these are the children of God.” Isn't it wonderful to know that you are a child of God? All who are in the family of God are being led by the Spirit of God. “These” is in the plural, referring to all believers. Paul is teaching us to live by the Spirit of God in this entire passage of Romans 8. The Holy Spirit is God dwelling in us in Romans 8:9. Then Paul claims the Holy Spirit is "Christ in (all of) you" in verse 10. He goes on to affirm that the very power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that raises us. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God giving us life and power and peace. Paul also says in Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Ephesians tells us that we are no longer aliens and foreigners to the promises of God, but we are God's people… (Ephesians 2:19-22). Galatians 4:7 says, “we are no longer slaves, but God's very own children.” (4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. (Galatians 4:4-7) We are God’s people –God’s family-God’s children. We do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God. God loves us and the world so much. Not only did he send Jesus, God’s one and only Son but God also sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell continuously with us showing and revealing to you the love of God. That is why Paul, Peter and John wrote so many times that those who have the Spirit of God are children and heirs. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (I John 3:1). Today, I pray that you will listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you. The Holy Spirit is expressing the amazing love of God. The Holy Spirit is revealing to you your place in God's family. God loves you, calls you friend, wants an intimate close relationship with you. This is done through the Holy Spirit. You are a child of God. I am a child of God. Let us go forth led by the Spirit knowing we are children of God. Amen. Let us pray Let’s breath in and now out. Breathe in God’s Holy Spirit -Ruah - and breathe out as you visualizing sharing that breath - God’s Spirit - with others. Amen.
The theme for KUC preachers this month is “Walking with the Holy Spirit” and it is also my sermon title. How do you know when you are walking in the Spirit? The Spirit is flowing through you. When you take appropriate steps of faith, you are walking in the Spirit even though you may not feel it. Walking with the Holy Spirit or walking in the Holy Spirit or walking by the Holy Spirit. What these sentences all mean is walking by faith and with a Spirit -filled life. Ok, so what does that mean? We have been talking about what it means by sharing personal experiences in small groups and emailing each other what is a Spirit-filled life. Paul is in full agreement with Jesus that it is by the work of the Holy Spirit that we have been given new life. “Walk by the Spirit” means do what you do each day by the Spirit; live your life in all its details from waking up in the morning until going to sleep at night by the enabling power of the Spirit. But how do we “walk by the Spirit”? The Holy Spirit guides and nudges and pushes and pull us in new directions. Serendipity or co-incidences or our intuition are often God-incidences where the Holy Spirit has been leading us. The Holy Spirit of God is living and breathing in us every moment, every day, with the possibility of changing us, inspiring us, giving us new life — in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways. We have been talking quite a bit about the Holy Spirit on Saturday in our Sermon Lab and on Sunday in our Sermon and Prayer class. We still have so much to say so please join us if you have not tried these classes yet! Therefore, “walking by the Spirit” is something the Holy Spirit enables us to do by producing in us a desire to follow God’s will. This is what God said God would do in Ezekiel 36:26-27 which was read in last week’s service. Do you remember? Tabuchi sensei so graciously and beautifully sang about Ezekiel and the dry bones in the song “Dem Bons” in last week’s sermon. It is a fun song and I taught it to the KUC children in our children’s fellowship time before service. (Dem Bones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5FxRGhUv30) The Spirit of God blew over the valley after Ezekiel preached, the bones, were connected and this miraculous experience gave Ezekiel hope for the recovery of the Judean Community. If you missed Tabuchi sensei’s sermon, then go back and watch it. He sings quite well. The beauty of our church website is that it has all our former services! Back to what Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Thus, when we “walk by the Spirit,” we experience the fulfillment of this prophecy in Ezekiel. The Holy Spirit helps us to walk in God’s ways. “Walking by the Spirit” refers basically to one kind of behavior: loving behavior. Let’s look at Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The first thing mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit is love. Why is that? Why love? Look at Ezekiel again, “27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” The law is fulfilled by Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Then he goes on to say equally important, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” “No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:31) Love is the lifestyle of one who bears the fruit of the Spirit, is led by the Spirit, and walks by the Spirit. Therefore, loving your neighbor and being led by the Spirit (or walking by the Spirit) are almost synonymous. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love. My commandment is this: “Love each other as I have loved you." Jesus repeats it again and again. “Love one another, love one another, love one another." Homeboy Industries I L.A. is a gang intervention program and one of Pastor Chuck’s favorite books is: ”Tatoos of the Heart – The Power of Boundless Compassion” by Father Gregory Boyle. Fr. Gregory says this, “Gangs are bastions of conditional love-one false move and you find yourself outside.” Homeboy industries seeks to be a community of unconditional love. Homies who used to work at Homeboy industries often return to visit during their lunch break or days off. One ex-gang member who was at homeboy industries and affectionally called a homie once dropped by and said to Fr. Gregory, “I just came by to get my fix.” And Fr. Gregory asked, “Of what?” “Love,” he says. My parents taught me to love by showing charity to others, giving food and clothes to those in need, showing kindness to strangers, by respecting people of different faith beliefs, different races and by caring for God’s creation. God wants us to share the love that is filled in us by the Holy Spirit. I also believe God loves us so much and God desires that we will walking by the Spirit and being led by the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit! The Holy Spirit was here when the earth was formed and that same Holy Spirit came during Pentecost into a body of believers who would receive the breath of life from their Lord and pass it on. We celebrated and read about Pentecost in the book of Acts two weeks ago in church on Pentecost Sunday. I believe the book of Acts can be said to be the gospel of the Holy Spirit. In the first four books of the New Testament, we learn the good news of what God did through Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, we learn the good news of what God did through the Holy Spirit, by sending a mighty wind and a fire above the disciples’ heads and burned within their hearts so that these disciples would go out into the world as their mission and change the history of the world. We are called to keep that mission alive. The Holy Spirit empowers the church to be the agent of change in the world and to share God’s love. The Holy Spirit has been sent to each and every one of us to guide us, walk with us, comfort us, and lead us into the future. We have hopes for KUC – we have been here in Kobe for 150 years already and we look forward to 150 more years guided by the Holy Spirit! Breathe in the Spirit and be inspired by the Holy Spirit to act on behalf of God. As the Spirit of God flows into us, it also ought to flow from us in the way we treat one another, the way we speak to one another, in the way we live out the new life we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord. When we accept Jesus our Lord, and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is inside every believer, all the time. You don’t have to experience earth shaking “feelings” or emotions, you don’t have to jump, shout, cry, roll on the floor, or have any such outward displays of physical emotions to be indwelt with the spirit. Some people will and that is their experience of the Holy Spirit. Some will speak in tongues but others may not. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you and know that your experience of the Holy Spirit may not be the same as someone else’s experience. Through the Holy Spirit we will have a new relationship of God. The role of the Spirit in us is to remind us of the Words of Christ and was sent by Christ to indwell believers. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us, she cleans out the unwanted parts of us and gives power to those who allow the Holy Spirit to fill each part of their lives. Sometimes the world can be a hard and difficult place and God’s Spirit working in us helps us to keep our balance and to stand firm in faith. Through the Spirit we learn to develop greater reliance on the Lord, and less on human wisdom, or strength, or our own abilities. Five Steps Toward Walking by the Spirit Here are five things that I think we can do so that it can be truly said that we are walking by the Spirit. 1. Acknowledge First, acknowledge from our hearts that we need the Holy Spirit! 2. Pray Second, pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for your to be filled with that power. Pray for our church to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us pray like Paul did in 1 Thessalonians 3:12 for that fruit of the Spirit: Love. “Now may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to everyone.” Also, pray expecting the unexpected! This is God’s Holy Spirit and the power of prayer! 3. Trust The third step involved in walking by the Spirit is faith. We believers can pray for faith that God will lead us by the Spirit. Invite the flames of faith to spread through your life. 4. Act The fourth step in walking by the Spirit is to act in the way you know is right. God is in us. As for myself, I am greatly encouraged when the going gets rough that any effort I make to do right is a sign of God’s grace at work in me. (1 Peter 4:11). 5. Thankfulness The final step in walking by the Spirit is to thank God in all things. Thanks be to God who puts love in our hearts! I will close with this scripture from Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, then let us also walk by the Spirit.” Then let us do what we know is right. And having done it, let us turn and say with all the saints, “Not I, but the Spirit of Christ within me.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thi image of Pentecost is by the artist Cerezo Barredo. It can be accessed here: http://www.servicioskoinonia.org/cerezo/dibujosA/31PentecostesA.jpg. |
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May 2024
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