Kenneth Maresco
This past Sunday as Mark preached, his message was an important reminder to us that for our church to flourish as God’s new community we must be repeatedly filled with the Spirit.
He asked the question, why do we really need the Holy Spirit? His answer from Scripture was, “Because the human problem runs deeper than needing forgiveness, we need new hearts, a new operating system”. Ezekiel promised that God would give His people a new heart and would put His Spirit in them. (Ezek.36:26-27) When Jesus returned to heaven, the Spirit was poured out, as promised.
The Holy Spirit is God’s empowering presence in believers and in the church. The Holy Spirit is not an ‘optional extra’ to the Christian life. He empowers Christians to live the new life we have been given through His ministry.
This raises the question, “How can we be a Spirit-filled church?”
In Ephesians 5:18 God commands churches like ours to be filled with the Spirit. We have the Spirit. We need more of the Spirit. But how? This command doesn’t come with a formula. There’s no “how to be filled” guide here or anywhere in the NT. But Mark gave us a helpful exhortation on Sunday.
First, let’s ask – we want to encourage every person in our church to follow the example of the Apostle Paul and regularly ask God to fill you again with the Holy Spirit. Please note how Paul prays.
[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him… – Eph. 1:17
…may [God] grant you to be strengthened with power through his Holy Spirit in your inner being…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. – Eph. 3:16, 19
Second, let’s regularly hang out where the Spirit is!
The Bible is the the Holy Spirit’s book. Are you reading it and praying to experience His presence?
He’s the great evangelist, who works through the gospel message to draw people to Christ. As we share this good news with others, you’ll be filled with His joy.
He lives in the church. Serve and love and partner with the saints and you’ll experience His empowering presence.
We want to encourage you to regularly ask God to fill Redeeming Grace Church with the active ministry of the Holy Spirit. We want to ask you to ‘lean forward’ when you come to church on Sunday and to ask for and stir up spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
At the close of Sunday’s service, Abby Mills, Paul Uribe, and Joseph Henson prayed for our church to be freshly filled with the Spirit. Let us all pray for more of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives and among our gatherings. Only he can bring revival to our communities. Let’s cry out together!