Week Commencing Sunday 23rd May 2021

Week Commencing Sunday 23rd May 2021

Call to worship

‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.’ Romans 5:5

Today is Whit Sunday. Pentecost was when the early church was baptised with the Holy Spirit.

Hymn (Guitar)

To make our weak hearts strong and brave
Send the fire
To live a dying world to save
Send the fire today
Oh see us on Your altar lay
We give our lives to You today
So crown the offering now we pray
Send the fire today
Send the fire today
Send the fire today

William Booth, adapted Lex Loizides. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7et6rFUJ68

 

Opening prayer

Holy Spirit of God, the Lord and giver of life. Who hovered over the waters and brought forth abundant, material blessings. The one who breathes life into what has been made. The One who breathes life into dusty souls- freshness that we might awake, cleansing that we are washed and clean. Holy Spirit who leads us into the truth of the Word, that we might see clearly, who moves us toward unity and infuses us with courage, so we can be lights to the world. Come Holy Spirit, embrace us, lead us and free us. Amen.

Reading. Isaiah 61: 1-3. Carol Stephen

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He’s sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and to provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

 …to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

Hymn (Piano)

This is the day 

That the Lord has made 

That the Lord has made 

We will rejoice 

We will rejoice 

And be glad in it 

And be glad in it 

This is the day that the Lord has made 

We will rejoice and be glad in it 

This is the day 

This is the day 

That the Lord has made. 

Verse 2

This is the day 

This is the day 

When He rose a-gain 

When He rose a-gain 

We will rejoice 

We will rejoice 

And be glad in it 

And be glad in it 

This is the day when He rose a-gain 

We will rejoice and be glad in it 

This is the day 

This is the day 

When He rose again. 

Verse 3

This is the day 

This is the day 

When the Spirit came 

When the Spirit came 

We will rejoice 

We will rejoice 

And be glad in it 

And be glad in it 

This is the day when the Spirit came 

We will rejoice and be glad in it 

This is the day 

This is the day 

When the Spirit came 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-en4pOq3lQ

Sermon. “Who Is the Holy Spirit?” Part 1

I am taking material from Nicky Gumbel’s Alpha Course over 2 Sunday mornings to explore this question ‘Who is the Holy Spirit?’ It is a brief survey of the work of the Holy Spirit. Today we primarily look at His work in the Old Testament and see there the promise of what He will do. Part 2 will look at how what is promised about the Holy Spirit comes to pass in the New Testament and remains available to us today.

Nicky Gumbel relates the case of Nigel Skelsey who started out life wanting to be involved in the whole photographic world. But the only job he could get as his first job was at the very, very bottom – he was basically the tea-boy in a photographic company.

And what happened was in this photographic company it got itself into problems, and everybody was either sacked or resigned – including the editor and managing director. So Nigel became the managing director! And he turned this company completely round – he turned it from an ailing company into a very successful company winning awards all over the world.

But it didn’t satisfy him. He thought, `Well, maybe I’ll move, and move to another company.’ So he moved to another company that was also in trouble, and he made that more successful than the company he had left. And it still didn’t satisfy him. He thought, `Well, maybe I should set up my own company.’ So he set up his own photographic company, and he made that more successful than the other two companies.

And it still didn’t satisfy him. He thought, `Well, what I would really love to do is to be the pictures editor of a major national newspaper.’ And he became the pictures editor of the Sunday Telegraph.

And in one sense he had absolutely everything. He had a beautiful wife, two great sons; he had a wonderful home; he was driving a Porsche 911 – and yet he said deep down he was unhappy. And actually he found that he hated himself. And he hated his neighbour as much as he hated himself! And he discovered that his nickname at the Sunday Telegraph was `The Beast’!

And he was on holiday one time and he heard about the Alpha Course. And in particular he heard about the Saturday evening of the weekend and the possibility to experience the Holy Spirit, the love of God being poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And he thought, `That is what I want.’

So when he came back to England he came on the course, but really he was just sitting through the course because he wanted to come on the weekend and he wanted the Saturday night of the weekend! So he came on the weekend, and during the morning talks he was just longing for the Saturday evening. Saturday evening talk, he was just longing for the bit when we invite the Holy Spirit to come.

And, as he said, the more he sat through my talks, the more depressed he got! And after the weekend he wrote me a long letter, his entire life history. And he described what happened to him during the weekend. He said, `I’ll never forget that final session. I felt as though I was being torn in two. Halfway through I just couldn’t stand it anymore – the prize was so near, and you were getting there so slowly.’

`I literally wanted to scream out, “Do it now! Do it now! I can’t hold out any longer.” I’m not exaggerating when I say I was in agony.’ — `Then the Holy Spirit came, and oh the relief! Do you know, for the first time in my life I feel normal. It seems a strange thing to say, but it keeps hitting me just how normal I feel. I also feel loved. I feel accepted for who I am, and I feel free. Terribly clichéd, isn’t it, but I feel oh so free.’

Skelsey adds `Yesterday I read some words of Paul in Philippians which express so deeply how I now feel about my achievements of the last fifteen years: For whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I’ve lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.’

But who is the Holy Spirit? For a long time the Holy Spirit was really rather ignored in the Church – there was a big concentration on God the Father and on God the Son. And sometimes he’s been misunderstood. Maybe something to do with the fact that in the Authorised Versions of the Bible the name that he’s given is the Holy Ghost, and `Ghost’ sounds kind of a little bit creepy, a bit eerie

And of course God is supernatural and good, the Holy Spirit is supernatural and he is good, and we need the supernatural. But I think because of the slightly different translation, people were a little bit – a little bit sort of wary. One woman said to her Pastor, `Pastor, we don’t want anything supernatural happening in this church!’

And sometimes he’s been resisted. Gumbel says ‘I heard of one church in Central London that was a very formal church and didn’t really give much place to the Holy Spirit. And there was a woman who had just become a Christian, and she was just really excited about what she’d experienced, about the Holy Spirit. And in the middle of the service she shouted out, `Hallelujah!’ And a Church elder was standing at the back, and he came and he tapped her on the shoulder and he said, `Madam, you mustn’t say that here!’ And she said, `But I’m so excited!’ she said, `I’ve got religion!’ He said, `Well, you didn’t get it here, madam.’

The Holy Spirit is not a kind of twentieth century phenomenon. He has been around literally since the creation of the world. And that’s where we will start looking this morning – at the Creation account. What we’re going to do today is we’re going to have a look at a brief history of the Holy Spirit through the Bible. The Old Testament today, and the New Testament another Sunday.

So Genesis 1, verse 1. The Holy Spirit was involved in creation: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Like a bird hovering over her nest, waiting. And the Spirit of God was about to bring something new into being. The whole Trinity were involved in creation. God the Father, the Creator, created the world through Jesus by his Spirit.

And here the Spirit of God was hovering, waiting to bring new things, just as the Holy Spirit is here today – waiting to bring new things to our lives.

And I think we are conservative, with a small c, by nature! Sometimes we’re quite cautious about change – especially in the Church. I heard of one Elder who’d been an Elder for 46 years, and someone said to him, `Goodness me, over those 46 years you must have seen so many changes.’ He said, `Yes, I have, and I have resisted every single one of them!’

But the Holy Spirit wants to bring new things because he’s the Creator Spirit. He testifies to the same truth of Scripture but there is variety in the gifts He brings and a variety fruit- character qualities- He produces in believers’ lives, and creativity in how these are expressed in love for God, for one another and for others.

Then, next, he brings life to human beings. Genesis 2, verse 7: The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1, verse 1 is ruach. And it’s a very similar word to the word that’s used here for `breath’. And in fact generally speaking the word `breath’ in the Old Testament is translated by the Hebrew word ruach – the same word for `breath’ and `Spirit’.

So that, just as when God gave human beings physical life, he breathed on them his ruach. So when he gives them Spiritual life, he breathes on them the Spirit of God. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, `Receive the Holy Spirit.’

And one of the things that happens when the Spirit of God comes to live within the believer is He breathes within them the breath of life.

Sometimes you can almost see it on people’s faces. There’s almost like a deadness in people’s eyes, and then the Spirit of God comes to live within them and you can see it’s like life comes into the person’s face, their expression, almost a physical expression.

In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon particular people at particular times for particular tasks. So, for example, on Bezalel – Exodus, chapter 31, verses 1-5:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”

So here the Spirit of the Lord came upon a person for artistic work. And you see it today. When the Spirit of God comes upon a man or woman, it gives something different to what they create. Now, this is for artistic work; but it applies to any kind of work. The Spirit of God can bring a different dimension to our work. Not everybody is called to full-time Christian work, but all of us are called to be filled with the Spirit at work.

So the Spirit of God comes on particular people – on Bezalel, and then on Gideon for leadership – Judges, chapter 6, verses 14 and 15:

The Lord turned to him [that is, to Gideon] and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The nation had been overrun by the Midianites, the country was in desperate need, and God sends Gideon to be a leader. And Gideon says, `Oh, Lord, you’ve picked the wrong person! I can never do this. How could I save Israel? My clan’s the weakest, and I’m the least in my family.’

He felt inadequate, ill-equipped. And God says to him, `No, I want you to go. I want you to go and set the people free.’ Now, how can he do that?

Judges, chapter 6, verse 34: Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon – and that is what turned him into a great leader.

And again, this is the amazing thing about the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon a man or a woman, he can transform us.

Then on Samson for power and strength – Judges, chapter 15, verse 14. Still this is particular people at particular times for particular tasks. Here the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson – second half of the verse 14:

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him [that is, Samson] in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.

So often we find that what is described in the Old Testament in a physical way is true in the New Testament in a spiritual way. So here it is that Samson was bound physically. And when the Spirit of God came upon him, he was able to break free.

And so it is that many of us find ourselves bound by habits, patterns of thought, addictions. And when the Spirit of God comes upon us, he enables us to break free.

Sometimes these are obvious things – drugs or excess alcohol addiction; but it can be other things – bad temper, envy, jealousy, anger, immorality of some kind, impurity of some kind. And the Spirit of God wants to set us free.

Some people, it’s instantaneous, and some areas of our lives it may be instantaneous. Others, it’s a lifelong process of being set free. But the Holy Spirit comes to give us strength, to live the kind of lives that deep down we’re longing to lead.

And then Isaiah for prophecy. Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1-3. Carol kindly read the passage earlier, but the passage includes The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. …to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives.

The experience of the Spirit is in order that we should go out and make a difference to our world. To see the transformation of our society.

And the interesting thing to me is in the Old Testament, whereas the Spirit only comes on particular people at particular times with a particular task for them to do, every time he does it something happens as a result.

And as we go on through the Old Testament there is a rising sense of anticipation: that God is going to do something even more amazing. And this is referred to as `the promise of the Father’. In one sense you could sum up the whole Old Testament in one word: `promise’.

So what exactly is this promise? Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 33:

“This is the covenant that I will make

with the house of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbours,

and say to one another, `Know the Lord,’

because they’ll all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

                                                                 declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and remember their sins no more.”

Under the old covenant, the Old Testament, the people of God were given the Law. And the Law was written on tablets of stone. And they looked at these laws and they said, `Wow, they’re great laws – don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t covet, don’t want things that belong to somebody else.’ They said, `These are great laws. If we lived like this, we’d have a great society.’

And then they tried to live like that, and they found they couldn’t. And so the Law, instead of becoming a blessing, it was just this great burden on them – they were trying desperately to keep it, but they were failing constantly.

And God says: `I’m going to do something new. This is my promise. Instead of the Law being outside – something that you are trying to keep but fail,’ he said, `I’m going to put it inside, so that you really want to do it, it comes from your hearts.’

`It’s going to be like this from now on. You’re not going to keep the rules because you have to keep the rules; it’s because you love it, because this comes from your heart. I’m going to put my Law on the inside.’

How does he do this? How can the promise of the Father be fulfilled? Ezekiel 36:26, God says this:

“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. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

That’s how he does it – by the Holy Spirit coming to live within us. We will see how the Spirit does that in Part 2! Then we will explore how this promise of the Spirit is fulfilled and widens in its application in the New Testament and beyond.

…………………………………………………………………

A Prayer for Revival. 
Forgive us Lord where we your people have grieved your Holy Spirit. Where your church has become institutionalised and worldly, merely aping the thought forms and activity of the culture. By your Holy Spirit come to us afresh, purge every evil and wrong doing, flood the dry ground of our hearts with the living waters of your Spirit. Renew our first love for You. That we may be full of courage and devotion as those first believers were, and gladly declare Your Name and ways.

Father God. We live in such an age where people wander aimlessly to find something to give them meaning and life. What they seek they do not find, because they are not finding it in the true source of life itself-You. Father, today we come to you to ardently asking for a revival of souls in this age.

We thank You for the work of revival you are carrying out through many parts of the world, but we pray for fresh visitations of your Spirit in our country. We are grieved at how many in their pride have turned from You and your ways to idols of their own hearts and minds, and pursued self- will at all costs. We see the degeneration that results. Have mercy Lord. Convict many that they may turn from the anguish and alienation of sin to the joy and assurance of knowing You live in them by the Holy Spirit.

Father, You say in Matthew 7 to come and ask You as our Father for what we desire. Lord, we desire for our friends, families, and neighbours to be open and to seek and find the truth of the authentic source of life- You. We pray Your Holy Spirit be poured out onto the people You have made. We pray you would speak into the people You crafted with Your hands. Father, You say in Psalm 139 that You crafted each and every person in the hidden place in the palm of Your hand, and so we pray that truth will be brought to light in each and every person You have crafted. It is only by Your Spirit that truth can be truly known (John 15:26) and so we implore this day for such revival of souls, of nations, and of hearts.  Amen 

Hymn (Piano)

Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me:

break me, melt me, mould me, fill me-

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Daniel Iverson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BagH-zTfnsQ

A prayer about coronavirus.

We continue to pray for all who are engaged in the care of those who are suffering from COVID-19, and for the families of all bereaved by this virus. We thank you for giving guidance to those who have discovered vaccinations and for the quick roll out of these We pray for those whose employment has been lost or is threatened by this outbreak. And we pray for those who live on their own. We think of parents and children coping with lockdown. We also pray for teachers and children at school. We pray for our Government and a God-given wisdom in their decision making.                 

TO

Hymn (Piano)

1 O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and pow'r;
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,
and fit your church to meet this hour.

2 O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore, for this we plead.

3 O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
 

renewing thought and will and heart;
come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in ev'ry part.

4 O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
'tis there we find our strength and rest;
our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
and let your waiting church be blest.

5 Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating 
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting,
equip your church to spread the light.

Bessie Porter Head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-r3xd9_P3k

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” If earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13b).