THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT (1 OF 6)
Scripture: John 14, John 14:15-17
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The Promise of the Spirit (1 of 6)
Series: The Holy Spirit
Dave Gustavsen
John 14:15-18
Back in July I got an email from a guy who's new here at The Chapel. He's been through a lot of challenges in his life, but he's really found a family here, and he's in a much better place now. So he sent me this email just to thank me and thank The Chapel. And I want to read you a couple of sentences from his email. ''You said the next series will be about the Holy Spirit! I am very excited for this series. I have for the last few months been studying on my own...You know what I found out? The Holy Spirit is God!'' (exclamation point) And I wanted to write back, ''You're kidding me! I had no idea!'' But I didn't, because I love his passion and his amazement. And I think we need more of it.
The great Christian writer, A.W. Tozer, said this:
If the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.
Wow. Unfortunately, I think he makes a good point. In the New Testament, you see people being healed; you see violent Jesus-haters turning into Jesus-followers; you see people courageously stepping out of their comfort zones; you see people praying these crazy, bold prayers, and you see those prayers being answered in crazy ways. Even now, historians scratch their heads and try to make sense of how this tiny movement caught fire and swept across the Roman Empire. Because it did! This happened. And it's just hard to explain that without the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When you look at churches and Christians in the 21st century, the presence of the Holy Spirit is a little less obvious. Wouldn't you agree? We look a little different from the book of Acts. And I know what some of you are thinking: ''Wait a minute! That was a unique time in histor ...
Series: The Holy Spirit
Dave Gustavsen
John 14:15-18
Back in July I got an email from a guy who's new here at The Chapel. He's been through a lot of challenges in his life, but he's really found a family here, and he's in a much better place now. So he sent me this email just to thank me and thank The Chapel. And I want to read you a couple of sentences from his email. ''You said the next series will be about the Holy Spirit! I am very excited for this series. I have for the last few months been studying on my own...You know what I found out? The Holy Spirit is God!'' (exclamation point) And I wanted to write back, ''You're kidding me! I had no idea!'' But I didn't, because I love his passion and his amazement. And I think we need more of it.
The great Christian writer, A.W. Tozer, said this:
If the Holy Spirit were 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.
Wow. Unfortunately, I think he makes a good point. In the New Testament, you see people being healed; you see violent Jesus-haters turning into Jesus-followers; you see people courageously stepping out of their comfort zones; you see people praying these crazy, bold prayers, and you see those prayers being answered in crazy ways. Even now, historians scratch their heads and try to make sense of how this tiny movement caught fire and swept across the Roman Empire. Because it did! This happened. And it's just hard to explain that without the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When you look at churches and Christians in the 21st century, the presence of the Holy Spirit is a little less obvious. Wouldn't you agree? We look a little different from the book of Acts. And I know what some of you are thinking: ''Wait a minute! That was a unique time in histor ...
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