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Weekly Update | March 9, 2023
Weekly Newsletter 03/09/2023
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!
Beloved, last week there was a conference at the church “Word of Grace” called “Holy Spirit,” and since not everyone was able to attend, here are some notes, observations, and conclusions that I’d like to share with you.
Overall, there is very little mention of the Holy Spirit’s role, work, and goals behind the pulpit and in Scripture itself; and there’s a reason for this! The function of the Holy Spirit is not to bring attention to Himself, but to focus it on the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This explains how the Holy Spirit works, he leaves Himself in the shadow.
In the Gospel according to John, in chapters 14-16 we find that the Holy Spirit functions as a Helper. He truly helps us by opening to us the truth, directing us to Christ, and making us more like Christ. This reminds us that our spiritual walk is greatly dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit. His work is essential! Without it, we will continue to seek our own, do things using our own power, and ultimately search out glory for ourselves.
In John chapter 3 we come across a unique dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. This discussion reveals a unique function of the Holy Spirit in the process of being born again. Rebirth means a new life within us. How valuable is it to notice that salvation does not mean just a change in status, but also an inner change inside a person. This happens when we stop resisting, running away, and fighting, but instead give up and realize that only He can truly change us and give us a new life. This is humbling and also gives hope to absolutely every sinner that it is possible to be born again. This work of the Holy Spirit does not depend on how sinful a person is, even the most unrighteous sinner can receive life!
In 2 Peter 1:19-21, we find another important doctrine about the Word of God, that God is in control of the universe not by thoughts or desires, but by the Word—the Word in which the Holy Spirit participated to write and pass on. The Bible is the only thing on Earth that was not invented by the human mind. Everything else was created by the imaginations and desires of people, but the source of Scripture is God Himself, the Holy Spirit. This is why Scripture is self-authenticating. In other words, it confirms its own godly nature. How? We understand the sweetness of honey by tasting it for ourselves. We understand that it is the Word of God through how it penetrates into our minds and hearts and how we then experience its sweetness and godly nature. This is all made possible by the Holy Spirit!
When we talk about revivals in the history of the Church and the role of the Holy Spirit, we come to only one conclusion—His work can be described using one phrase “in spite of.” No matter how much we would like to be those who somehow kick off a revival, the reality is that great revivals in history had to do with the work of the Holy Spirit, independent from the efforts of people.
The topic of evangelism is also directly tied to the work of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 2:1-5, we find that the weakness and inability of one preaching the Gospel is able to and will lead to salvation because of the Holy Spirit’s work. The sermon becomes an instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit when it is focused on the cross of Jesus Christ. A sermon about Jesus Christ goes against a person’s inclination to save oneself. The Gospel talks about how God saves sinners.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 is a text that talks about the gifts of the Spirit. Unfortunately, people are able to take even the most holy things and distort them with their pride. This is exactly what the Christians in Corinth did with spiritual gifts. In this text we find that spiritual gifts are not given for self-affirmation or for serving oneself, but they are rather given for serving and blessing others! A spiritual gift is a gift from God, and it is important not to confuse this with spiritual maturity or a person’s character.
In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus explains through an interesting and unusual parable how to depend on and trust the Holy Spirit in ministry and evangelism. A Christian is merely a sower who sows seed, but God causes the growth! Having sowed, we can be calm and able to sleep and rest because we know that God will cause the seed to grow. Understanding that only God can cause fruit to appear, we will “shrink to our rightful size.”
Oh how wonderful would it be to see more of the Holy Spirit’s work in each of our personal lives and also in the church as a whole.
Link to all conference sessions:
https://www.slovo.org/ru/propovedi/series/conf2023
Continue supporting the churches working among the people who have suffered from the war in Ukraine.
The Scripture memory text – Numbers 6:24-26
Below are the services and meetings for this weekend:
- Thursday (6:30 PM) – Children’s Bible School (open to all but required for parents), followed by Bible Study (Proverbs) for the whole church at 7:30 PM.
- Sunday services:
- Worship Service in Russian at 9:00 AM
- Worship Service in English at 11:15 AM
On behalf of the elders of GFC