Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2016 8:11:37 GMT
This evening’s discussion about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the perfect follow-up to the service last Sunday which was about the Spirit dwelling within us (based on Romans 8:11). On Sunday we heard about the need to believe in the Spirit, listen to his counsel, and respond with actions; that is a parallel to the verses tonight when the crowd believed in the activity of the Spirit, listened to Peter’s sermon, and responded by boldly sharing the news with others.
What does it take for us to be bold in our everyday life, outside church services and activities? Do we grasp what we hear in service to embolden us to share our experience with others? We talked at length about the reaction of the new Christians in the time of the first church, and their perspective compared to ours 2000 years later. One impression was that they seemed to have the Holy Spirit active all the time, guiding them, and their behavior expressed joy. Our challenge is to give the Holy Spirit control in us all the time, not just tap in here and there when we are not distracted or focused on doing things our own way.
Tonight was the final discussion on the Spiritual Gifts topic, so a wrap-up question was to ask what new insight we gained into the idea of Spiritual Gifts. A major expansion of our understanding has been that with the Spirit, ALL gifts are available to us, not just some set of three characteristics we “discover” by doing personality assessments. Rather, with the Spirit’s help and our willingness, we will be able to let flow through us the right gift will for the opportunity presented to us.
What does it take for us to be bold in our everyday life, outside church services and activities? Do we grasp what we hear in service to embolden us to share our experience with others? We talked at length about the reaction of the new Christians in the time of the first church, and their perspective compared to ours 2000 years later. One impression was that they seemed to have the Holy Spirit active all the time, guiding them, and their behavior expressed joy. Our challenge is to give the Holy Spirit control in us all the time, not just tap in here and there when we are not distracted or focused on doing things our own way.
Tonight was the final discussion on the Spiritual Gifts topic, so a wrap-up question was to ask what new insight we gained into the idea of Spiritual Gifts. A major expansion of our understanding has been that with the Spirit, ALL gifts are available to us, not just some set of three characteristics we “discover” by doing personality assessments. Rather, with the Spirit’s help and our willingness, we will be able to let flow through us the right gift will for the opportunity presented to us.