The Holy Spirit – Page 2

Another helper

Whilst working through Mark’s Gospel in early 2015 at Bearwood Chapel, we kept coming back to some questions that followed a theme: “What stops me?” “What stops me from seeing God for who He is?” “What stops me from worshipping?” “What stops me from truly knowing God?” “What stops me from trusting and taking God… Continue reading Another helper

A receiving church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

Having discerned that it is God’s Holy Spirit at work and not an evil Spirit, we can move to see what the Spirit is doing and saying. One of the key things that the Holy Spirit does is to give gifts to the Church. Prioritise the giver (v4-6) We can become focused on the gifts… Continue reading A receiving church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

Reaping what you sow

This next section reinforces the point that we’ve seen developed through chapter 5-6, we cannot fix our lives and our relationship to God by making external adjustments to our behaviour through rule keeping and rituals. Instead, our lives will bear fruit in accordance with the roots. A look at the text (Read Galatians 6:7-10) An… Continue reading Reaping what you sow

Filled with the Spirit

Paul’s solution to the question of Christian obedience and holiness is not to impose laws and rituals (legalism), nor to say that grace means we can do what we please. Instead, he sees our true hope being the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:2-23, he says that the result or fruit of receiving the Holy Spirit… Continue reading Filled with the Spirit

Fruitful

So, if Christians are to be godly and to say no to sinful desires and temptation? How are we meant to go about that? Paul has been clear throughout that it isn’t by legalistic means or ritual that we pursue godliness.Is there a better way? A look at the text (Galatians 5:22-25) Paul contrasts “works… Continue reading Fruitful

Your sermon was too short

I saw a quote the other day “If you have a 4 minute sermon, speak for 4 minutes. Don’t waffle for 40 minutes.” There’s good advise there. One mistake we can make as preachers is to go on for too long. We can go on beyond the attention span of the congregation but we can… Continue reading Your sermon was too short

Bewitched

Do you enjoy magic tricks? Are you left amazed by how the magician manages to get the right card every time, pull the rabbit from a hat or make his assistant disappear. Of course, no one really thinks that it’s real magic. We know that the magician relies on slights of hand and diversion tactics… Continue reading Bewitched

The Coronation, the Archbishop and the Holy Spirit

Did you watch the coronation of King Charles III yesterday? What did you make of it? Personally, I thought it was an impressive spectacle. We do ceremony and pageantry well, here in the United Kingdom. It was at times moving. There were those little individual moments set against the pomp and circumstance, a son kissing… Continue reading The Coronation, the Archbishop and the Holy Spirit

The Lord’s favour

We now arrive at one of those big hitter chapters in Isaiah, one of the best-known parts of Scripture and the bit that Jesus takes and makes his manifesto at the outset of his ministry. Having seen how Isaiah has built up to focus on the Servant as the one who ushers in God’s reign,… Continue reading The Lord’s favour

The Trinity in Isaiah

If we want to discover what it means to believe in the Triune God, then the clear revelation of this truth that there is one God in three persons is found in the New Testament, especially but not exclusively in John’s Gospel. However significant foundations for this revelation were already laid in the Old Testament… Continue reading The Trinity in Isaiah