From the Rector: Father Chuck Mann

"For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." Acts 2:39-42

Probably one of my favorite feast days is that of Pentecost. Whereas all of our celebrations have deep meaning—the birth of our Savior, the suffering that Jesus took upon himself for our sake through His death, the new life we have in His resurrection, and more, it is Pentecost when Jesus tells us, okay now you go and do it.

I shared with you before that great final scene in the movie "Jesus of Nazareth" when the character portraying Caiaphas, seen peering into the empty tomb, said, "Now it begins."

How true! Nothing could hold back Jesus and the plan that had been set out for Him from the very beginning. Nothing could not, and will not, stop what God had set into motion. And the first evidence of that was the releasing of the Holy Spirit into the world— empowering the church to continue the work that Jesus had begun. But the empowerment did not stop with the disciples; it has continued through the generations.

Most of the church hears a good bit about the Father and even the Son. But less is said about the Holy Spirit. The biggest reason may stem from the term "Spirit" or as some translate "Ghost." But these are not terms to be frightened of as many have grown up believing. What we are dealing with is a loving God who wants to continue the work in the church through His people. That work can only come about through the working of the Holy Spirit. Those who say that they can do the work of the church without the Spirit are only kidding themselves. They may be doing work, and some of it may appear good in the eyes of man. But we can only know God’s plan by listening to Him, moving when He says move, and doing what He says through the power He gives us.

That may seem too simple. However, God really isn’t complicated. Take a journey through the book of Acts, particularly the first couple of chapters. These simple men and women could not do the things they did without the Spirit active in their lives. First they were taught. Next they listened, prayed, and were empowered. Then they went out and did it. They could only do what they did through gifts that God poured out on them.

I will be the first to tell you that I could not be where I am today with all you good folks without the Spirit active in my life. I would be just another ship waffling out there in the sea of life without the Holy Spirit’s work in my life. Do I slip and fall from time to time? Of course, I do. Do I make mistakes, sometimes on a daily basis? You betcha. But I know that if I keep my focus on Him and continue to seek His presence in my life, He will pick me up, dust me off, and send me on my way to the next task. We are all growing and His desire is to continue to teach us. That will only come as we open ourselves more and more to the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

I say all this with a word of caution as well. I have recently read some bad teaching on the Holy Spirit—taking personal feelings and experiences that make us feel good and saying this is the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. That would be like having a really strong desire to go surfing, going to the beach, seeing fins swarming in the water and seeing signs posted of shark infested waters, and then saying to yourself, "My desire to surf is so strong, it must be the Holy Spirit. I will go anyway." The Holy Spirit does work many ways in our lives, but God will never ask us or direct us to do anything that is contrary to His Word given to us. Notice the phrase "…those who received His word" in the verses at the beginning of this article from Peter’s sermon in Acts. The Scriptures are given to us to keep us in check, to hold us accountable to Him and to one another.

As I mentioned in a recent sermon, the Scriptures are for our learning, our rebuking, for instruction, and for our growing. The disciples went out under the instruction and authority of Jesus and did the work through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we have accepted Christ into our lives, we have accepted His teaching and authority, and we move under His power. It is a wonderful relationship.

As we move into this season of remembering new beginnings and as we remember what God the Father has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ, let us move further into ministry knowing that He will guide and keep us through the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to challenge each of you to pray that a hunger for God’s Word be given to you. I want to challenge each of you to seek a deeper walk with Christ like you have never done before. I want to challenge each of you to kneel before God and ask Him to empower you by His Holy Spirit. God is true to His word. He will bless you in ways you never thought possible. God bless you all, and Happy Birthday Church!