Wait For The Spirit

El Greco’s 1597 painting, “The Pentecost”, shows people responding to God’s spirit descending upon His followers. Some lift their hands in praise to God, others look at each other, and others are totally distracted. It’s a true-to-life representation of how God works amid our chaos.

We’re starting a series on the book of Acts, which focuses on three big themes: the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ, and boldness. Acts focuses on the time after Jesus’s ascension to Heaven. However, his deeds have only just begun (Acts 1:1-2). His death and resurrection were climactic, but they aren’t the end of the story. Jesus assigned us to continue his mission to save the world (Matthew 28:16-20). It isn’t our mission, it’s Jesus’s mission, which is why things go wrong when we do them our way. We can’t complete the mission ourselves—we just don’t have the power. Moreover, we tend to misunderstand God’s plan, especially when it involves doing things we don’t want to do (Acts 1:3-8).

That’s why the Holy Spirit is so important. It is God's Spirit living inside us, like our spirits inhabit our bodies. Jesus works through us when we do things in his name, and we mess things up by going our own way. So, listen to the Spirit. Don’t be passive, but don’t try to take control. Wait for God’s call and pursue it with everything you’ve got. Jesus treated his mission with urgency, and we should, too. Listen to the Spirit and boldly act as Jesus’s body.

Watch the full sermon here.