During the pandemic I have been writing “notes” to you. I started this because I literally couldn’t be with you or see anyone and I was encouraged by others to, at least, write some “notes” and share my heart in this way. So, I’ve been writing.
Now that we can join as a community and I’m also able to come visit you, I am going to scale back on these notes and not write as frequently.
We’ve begun a series on the Holy Spirit, and I will be honest and say, it’s a good but hard series for me. I’m not doing most of the messages (only 3) but nonetheless I feel the challenge. I have often fallen into the category of giving lip service and intellectual consent to the presence of the Holy Spirit. I heard another pastor say it has been like: “God the Father, Son, and Self-Reliance.”
Maybe I’ve been this way because I find the work of the Holy Spirit to be quite mysterious, in a good way. For example, the gospel isn’t just information; it’s also “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). That involves a set of skills that I don’t possess. Only the Spirit of God can usher people into the power of God. And that is such a mysterious and yet wonderful thing to observe.
Pastor and author Matthew Kim says, “Preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit recognizes that the Spirit works mysteriously and in ways that we can’t fully comprehend.” I certainly find this especially true when I preach. At times it’s even overwhelming to experience, and it brings me to a good place of humility.
As we go through this series, I’m asking God to keep stretching me AND you! To overwhelm us. I also want to ask you to open your hands and heart to a posture of learning and receiving this mystery from God.
