The Holy Spirit Matters

The Holy Spirit empowers the church to be the church.  Unfortunately, many Christians minimize, ignore, or dismiss His role among us and His power in us.  The early church understood the impact and influence of Holy Spirit in the church.  The Acts of the apostles are acts that are possible because of the actions of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples understood that the Spirit is the life of the church.

If the church is the body of Christ, the Spirit of Christ is the life of the body.  Just like the human body is dead without the spirit, there would be no church without the Holy Spirit.  He is the breath, the life-giving force of the body of Christ.  The same Spirit who was active in the life of the early church is available to us. 

Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the church is the suppression of the Holy Spirit.  We are often guilty of quenching the Spirit and grieving the Spirit.  This may be because many Christians are uninformed and unaware as to who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.  But the church needs to be filled with the Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is not like a contractor who builds a house and then leaves it for new owners to occupy.  Instead, the Spirit takes us residence and fills the void left after sins are forgiven and evil is driven out of hearts of new believers.  The Spirit continues to give life to the church, and that life is the life of Christ.  The church is the community of the Holy Spirit.  As the community of the Spirit, the church benefits from the presence of the Spirit within us. 

​What are some of the benefits that we receive from the presence of the Holy Spirit?  How is the Holy Spirit active in the church today?  How can we be more aware of the leading of the Holy Spirit?  These are questions that we will address over the next few weeks.