Untitled Sermon

We should start noticing the ways God is working in our lives and give the Holy Spirit credit for this.

Background

It had been a few years since Paul had led many Corinthians to the Lord during his second missionary journey… and the young church was experiencing growing pains.

The believers were living in one of the most prominent cities in Greece. They were surrounded by temples to pagan gods whose followers engaged in sexual practices as part of their worship, and that moral confusion was influencing the church.

Corinth was also a bustling commercial center, and the moral failings that often characterize those striving for personal economic advancement were also seeping into the church.

Paul writes to his spiritual children to help them recognize and deal with these dangers …and to guide them back toward healthy growth in and experience of the life God had given them in Christ and equipped them for by his Spirit.

Let me ask you

· Are you a mature Christian?

· Do you focus more on satisfying yourself or on satisfying the needs of others?

· Which is more important, the presence of spiritual gifts or the use toward which those gifts are put?

· How do you measure maturity?

· How does God measure it?

· Would there even be new life in Christ if Jesus focused his life on the same things you do?

For those of us who maybe grew up where the Holy Spirit was tragically neglected, we may feel a little intimidated about learning who this person of the Trinity really is.

But we should be encouraged that we already know him: any experience we have had or will have with God on earth is actually through the Holy Spirit.

We might not have recognized that he was the one at work, but if we are born again, our history with God is saturated with experiences of the Holy Spirit. We are just learning now to give him the credit.

“The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. He does this both before we initially enter into right relationship with God and as we journey through this life as believers” (Francis Chan)

If we have been convicted of sin, we have heard the Holy Spirit. In fact, according to this passage in Corinthians, if we have ever understood anything that God is teaching us… we have received that from the Spirit.

Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is often neglected (or maybe even avoided) because he wrongly gets blamed for “the weird stuff.”

But just because someone says the Holy Spirit is who motivated or led them to do something doesn’t mean it was really him.

It might have actually been their immaturity or flesh. We can’t throw out a whole person of the Trinity just because people misuse his name and reputation.

“Human ears cannot hear high-frequency radio waves; deaf men are unable to judge music contests; blind men cannot enjoy beautiful scenery; and the unsaved are incompetent to judge spiritual things, a most important practical truth” (S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.)

Mercy Me has a song about the Holy Spirit Called Ghost. This song is really all about giving credit where it is due.

Video

Spirit fill

I want to go through some of the Lyrics

There's a ghost

There's a ghost inside of me

Not like those drips in old bed sheets

Saying "trick or treat"

Different

Oh, this ghost is different

Not one that leaves me scared to death

But one that puts my fear to rest

It is God’s Spirit that will take all of our fears away. And shoud receive all the credit.

Oh, holiness keep haunting me

Oh, you're my hope, you're my peace

Ironic in a way

I'm no longer afraid

And the ghost is to blame

It is through the spirit that we can find peace. We can find our piece of mind knowing we need not be afraid any longer. Blame the Gohst… lets give the credit to him.

There's a ghost

Not something from some campfire story

Where I'm terrified to sleep

Opposite

This ghost is quite the opposite

He came just like a welcomed friend

And I was comforted

And the ghost is to blame

I'm not afraid

I'm not afraid

No longer…

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence on earth and God’s presence inside of believers. Any experience we have had or will have with God on earth is through the Holy Spirit.

We should start noticing the ways God is working in our lives and give the Holy Spirit credit for this.