Well, last week our cell group met again. After a quick recap on some common opinions held about the gifts of the Holy Spirit we swiftly moved on to get to what I’ve been looking forward to for a while – an exercise to help explore/discover how God may have gifted us, by his Holy Spirit.

An online survey was used…it was one of many available, so by no means the only, the best or even the most accurate help in determining how God may have gifted us.  But, nonetheless very interesting…

Mobile devices in hand, everyone logged in and set off answering the direct, personal questions. By the way – technology is super when harnessed effectively.  5 years ago I’d have had to hand out about 10 sheets of paper per person!

Slowly but surely each person finished up and waited for the ‘results’. After taking time to read and digest what came through people started to share what had been identified as their primary spiritual gifts. Discussion began on what had discovered. Overall I believe there was an atmosphere of affirmation as God was affirming in us how he has gifted us. Yes, there were a couple of pleasant surprises but many discovered things that they perhaps already recognised somewhere deep within.  But certainly there was a sense that God was using this to ‘connect some dots’.  I felt a positive atmosphere in the room.  The Holy Spirit at work…

From here? Well, I hope that this group of already dynamic young adults is able to reflect on what God has revealed, that they grow in confidence in the Holy Spirit and go on to become even more dynamic in him.

My question is this? Is the church all too often operating under power, sometimes even appearing to be ineffective in this world? I believe it is. Could this be, for this particularly group of Jesus followers, an awakening within? In anticipation, I really hope so.

I thought I would be better at keeping up with this!  Anyways…let me update you with where we have got to with our study on the person and work of the Holy Spirit…

We have looked at the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, discussing some of the general works of the Spirit but focussed specifically on how the Spirit makes possible the following:

Justification – ‘Justification is a judicial act, where God remits a person‘s sins and declares them to be in a position of righteousness before God. It is what God does for us… The Spirit is the agent that effects justification in the life of the believer’

Regeneration – ‘The word regeneration literally means – rebirth.  Regeneration is a spiritual transformation where the Holy Spirit takes us from death unto life’

Sanctification – ‘Sanctification is a process of being restored to the image of God, which begins at the new birth and gradually takes place over the lifetime of a believer’

Without the Holy Spirit’s work, these things just are not possible.

We moved on to discuss the outward, visible marks of the Spirit’s work in the life of a believer, with particular focus on the familiar words from Galatians 5:22-23, ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control’

We spent time reflecting on how each of us is doing with each of the fruits. One word: challenging.  Can people really see the Spirit at work in our lives?  However, we also felt it appropriate to celebrate the fruit that we do see in each other’s lives and pray that more fruit is cultivated!

Last week we studied the Gifts of the Spirit.  We only got to page 1 of the study.  God seemed to want us to put the brakes on and do a lot of discussing around this whole area.  Francis Chan says, ‘…maybe the biggest concern with the church today is this apparent lack of the Holy Spirit’s power’. In many, many ways I fully agree.  We spent a lot of time discussing the different viewpoints held regarding Spiritual Gifts…from the cessationist standpoint (that the sign gifts ceased with the time of the Apostles) through to the charismatic end (that all the gifts are in operation today) of what I suppose is a spectrum of opinions…

One group member commented that our discussions seemed to revolve so much around the gift of ‘healing’ at the expense of some of the others that seemed to get overlooked…great point.  We do tend to give a lot of ‘airtime’ to certain things in discussions like that and we miss some of the more understated but equally important things that God has for us.

We are by no means done with discussing the gifts of the Spirit.  I believe God wants us to have a fresh contemplation of this…and I believe he wants us to long for what is missing and long for a greater work of the Spirit’s Power in our own personal lives and the life of our church.  What will that look like? I’m not sure.  But I am excited.

Outside of our cell group two other things are making me convinced that God is wanting our attention with this – firstly, Sunday morning past, our minister preached powerfully on our great need for the Holy Spirit backing up all of what we have been going through and secondly, this Sunday evening we move onto the next session (for the same group of 19-25 year olds) in the Francis Chan BASIC series and the topic is………….the Holy Spirit.

When God is trying to get your attention, yeah…sit up, open your ears, minds and hearts and get ready to let him do what He alone can do with your life.  I for one don’t want to miss out on this.

If you read this blog, any thoughts, opinions or questions would be really appreciated!

Last night we had our second cell group on the Holy Spirit – ‘Meet the Holy Spirit’  was the title of the session.  This morning I’m trying to gather my thoughts about what we discussed…to say I feel challenged, stretched, out of my depth even, would all be fairly accurate.  This is challenging stuff. Something within me also feels that it’s hugely significant for us.  I love the group itself – all late teens/early twenties – those who I believe will be the ‘shapers’ of days to come.  A privilege to be amongst them…

Let me try to pull together and articulate some of the main points:

The Holy Spirit is divine. He is God.  This reality is contested and denied by many, but it has to be foundational to what we believe about the Holy Spirit. ‘…the Trinity….three distinct divine Personalities, each wholly God, yet one essence’. Some verses we looked at where Psalm 139:7-10, Luke 1:35, 1 Cor 2:10-11, Heb 9:14.

The Holy Spirit is personal.  Not a force.  Not far off.  Not just a symbol.  Personal.  Not an  ’it’ but ‘He’.  He is within us. He brings God close.  Often we don’t acknowledge this, perhaps we don’t think enough about the personal nature of the Spirit of God within us.  He can be lied to (Acts 5:3), grieved (Eph 4:30), quenched (1 Thess 5:19), resisted (Acts 7:51), blasphemed (Matt 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29, Luke 12:10).  We should live in a way that acknowledges the personal nature of the Holy Spirit.

Divine and yet personal. How can that be? Part of that is the beautiful mystery that is God: Father, Son and Spirit. Almighty, eternal God…and yet desiring a close and personal relationship with his children.

One comment was made that perhaps it’s ‘comfortable’ to keep God at a distance.  And yes, it probably is. That would be ‘safe’.  But for God to be so personally interested and involved in our lives by his Spirit adds a whole new dimension to life.  When telling his disciples about the Holy Spirit who would come to be with them, Jesus says that the world will not accept or know Him.  But he says these four words to his followers: ‘but you know him’.

I believe the challenge for us is this:  do we know Him? Do we want to know him?  Do we want to know more of Him and His presence in our lives?

Next time: the Work of the Holy Spirit.  I’m already looking forward to it!

(Maybe you’ve read this and have all sorts of questions…I’ve definitely not got all the answers but I’d love to chat to you about it, so please get in touch)

Last night our cell group met for the first time this new term.  This group consists of 20+, 19-25 year olds…yeah, a bit big for a ‘small’ group but such a hugely significant group of people.

Last year we completed a 12-session (should have taken 12 evenings…took us 24!) study on Zechariah.  Yes, Zechariah!  Heavy going but really, really good stuff.

Last night we began a new series – the introduction to a 6-part study on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Our opening conversation was incredibly stimulating.  We began by asking the question that Francis Chan asks – is the Holy Spirit the ‘Forgotten God’, the neglected member of the Trinity?  The conversation flowed from there….we looked at a few key Bible passages, some hugely challenging questions where asked, a sense of anticipation and expectation was present in the room.  When discussing our ‘expectations’ for what might lie ahead, one group member shared his desire to see ‘results’ from what we study, as in the visible outworkings of what we discover and learn from this study.  This desire was echoed by pretty much everyone else.  Exciting days ahead?  Hopefully.  I’m praying so.

I haven’t blogged in a while…I’m hoping to commit to blogging my thoughts after each of these evenings.  Of course, this will be without breaching any group confidentiality but will hopefully help me note down and share the ‘big’ thoughts God imprints upon my heart each time we meet.

Next time…_Holy Spirit // 2…