Sermons on Holy Spirit (Page 3)
Leadership Gifts | Ephesians 4:7-16
Two weeks ago we learned what it means to live worthy of all the gifts God has given us in Ephesians 4:1-6. We talked about specific steps we can each take: humility, gentleness, patience, and love. Together these steps maintain church unity through the Holy Spirit. But they don’t actually create unity. We are unified by what we believe in, “one Spirit… one Lord… one faith… one God and Father.” So a church is unified by the character of its…
Four Prayer Requests | Ephesians 3:14-21
Let’s start by reviewing the big picture of the book of Ephesians. Chapters 1-3 How God is gracious to us Chapters 4-6 How we are to live-out grace The first three chapters, chapters 1-3, don’t include many imperatives, or commands. They don’t tell us how to live as much as they tell us what God has done for us. The next three chapters, chapters 4-6, tell us how to respond to grace and are full of imperatives and commands. Grace…
Are You Born Again? | John 3:1-8
This is the first of several sermons throughout the next two years in which I will reflect on what I learn at the GCTS Ockenga Fellows retreat. The Gordon-Conwell Ockenga Institute is named after the seminary’s first President, Dr. Harold John Ockenga, and exists to help the church bring about cultural renewal and transformation. Our first session was on the Great Awakening and Ministry in New England, so I look forward to sharing some of what I learned in this…
What We Believe: The Holy Spirit | 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:4-11
Next week I’m going to our denomination’s (4Cs) annual conference in Pittsburgh, so I asked Bernie to preach. I gave him two options. Option A. The Holy Spirit. Option B. Satan. Bernie chose Satan. I was hoping he would choose the Holy Spirit because I’m more afraid to preach on the Spirit than on Satan. Because of this I’ve done more reading than I usually do. I read a whole book, Forgotten God by Francis Chan, I read a chapter…
The Way of God’s Presence | Exodus 40:34-38
Last week we talked about “The Gift of God’s Presence.” I spoke on why God’s presence matters for our lives and church, and how we can have God’s presence because of Jesus and grace. This week we’re looking at “The Way of God’s Presence”—the way God’s presence has come from Old to New Testament to today, and the way we long to know God’s presence now. Looking at the story of God’s presence from Genesis to Revelation helps us realize…