INTRODUCTION...

-Depending upon your church background then you may notice that different branches of the church seem to focus upon different persons of the Trinity.

-If you were in a mainline traditional liturgical church this morning, (Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians etc.) in all likelihood, you would hear an emphasis on God the Father! Creator of heaven and Earth! God almighty we are humbled by your majesty! Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come! Even the architecture and the stained glass speaks to the majesty of God the Father!

-If you were in an Evangelical, a Baptist, or even a non-denominational church, then we like to talk about Jesus! In fact, if you were down south in a Southern Baptist church, you might even have to say it that way… “Jee-sus”. We LOVE to talk about Jesus! We proclaim Christ!

-If you found yourself in a Pentecostal or a Charismatic church this morning, then guaranteed, you’re going to hear about the Holy Ghost! Come Holy Spirit come! Fill us with your Spirit! Empower us by your Spirit! Rain down upon us!!

-Which is of course what brings us to this Pneuma series, because if we want to gain a clearer picture and a deeper understanding about the nature and character of God, then we better not skip talking about the Holy Spirit! Because the Holy Spirit makes up a full 1/3rd of who God is!

-Pastor Mike started us off a number of weeks back by talking about how the Holy Spirit is not just some mysterious unknowable force, but a distinct and equal part of the Godhead. The 3rd Person of the Trinity! Unique and separate from the Father and the Son, and yet still fully God! No less personal! No less powerful! No less important!

-If we don’t talk about the Holy Spirit then we’re NOT getting a full picture of God. And without the WORK of the Holy Spirit in our lives then we will never gain an understanding of Christ either, because it’s the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that points us to Jesus!

-Over the last few weeks, Pastor James taught us how it is the role of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth. It’s the Holy spirit that allows us to understand God’s Word! It’s the Holy Spirit that teaches us! It’s the Holy Spirit that Gives us wisdom and understanding. Its even the role of the Holy Spirit that draws us to Christ in the first place.

-In fact, you might find yourself here this morning because you’re just checking things out. You don’t know why, but for whatever reason you feel drawn to give this religion thing another look. You still have lots of questions, but for whatever reason, you feel drawn to be here. That gentle prompting is the voice of the Holy Spirit.

-Jesus said in John 12:32, that “When I am lifted up, (speaking about His crucifixion) I will DRAW all men to myself.”

-The Holy Spirits work IN YOU and THROUGH YOU...

-That ‘drawing’ and that ‘knocking’ is the voice of the Holy Spirit! It’s no accident that you are here! He’s drawing you to Himself!

-If you were with us 2 weeks ago when I spoke, I talked about how another role of the Holy Spirit is to ‘Convict the world of sin, and righteousness, and judgement.” And we learned that when it says He ‘convicts the world’, that it DOES’NT mean that God just roves around the planet making people feel guilty. It means that the Holy Spirit speaks TRUTH into the world. And not only does the Holy Spirit speak truth INTO our lives, by drawing us to Himself and pointing out our own sin and guilt, but the Holy Spirit also desires to speak truth THROUGH our lives. That we would be salt! That we would be light! He speaks truth INTO our lives, but He also speaks truth THROUGH our lives! And the fact that Holy Spirit desires to speak THROUGH us and to enable us to be SALT and LIGHT leads us directly into our discussion today.

The Holy Spirit as UNIFIER...

-This morning we get to talk about one of my favorite aspects of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as UNIFIER. And as we will see this morning, it is the Holy Spirit, that not only draws us to Himself, but also binds us together as ONE BODY! We are no longer separate autonomous individuals. If you are in Christ, then you are now a part of the Body of Christ! It’s the Holy Spirit that unites us with Christ, but it’s also the Holy Spirit that binds us together with one another!

-What’s interesting, is that this unity of the Body is actually the PRIMARY WAY that we share the good news with the world around us, and I’m not just talking about organized church outreach programs or mission projects. I’m talking about how we are supposed to live as Salt and Light!

-I think if I was to ask each of you HOW exactly we live as Salt and Light, I think most of us would instantly think of individual things that we could do in our lives to show or speak the love of Jesus to others. “I could carry that old ladies groceries.” “I could let that family borrow our extra car while their vehicle is in the shop.” “I could tell my coworker about Jesus.” All true! All wonderful examples of how we can be salt and light to those around us. But I think sometimes we think of being Salt and Light as solely individual undertakings and we miss the PRIMARY way that we are supposed communicate Christ to a lost world. I’m talking about how we function as a body! How we interact with one another! How we LOVE one another! This body is a picture for the world to see of the Body of Christ!

-Which is why every time we see divisions and church splits happen, we also see people leave the church and leave the faith!
-The opposite is also true! When this body unites together in Christ and allows all of our various parts to use all of our various gifts to encourage and support one another, then this church becomes a beacon of light in a dark world! In fact check out what Jesus said on the subject…

The Great Unifier...

The way we love one another is the way we communicate God’s love to the world! We are a picture of the Body of Christ! And when this body operates the way it is supposed to, then people are drawn to that kind of love! I think the ultimate picture of this is back in Acts Chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit first came down. And this morning as we talk about the Holy Spirit as UNIFIER, take note that the very 1st thing that the Holy Spirit did was that He fell on them like tongues of fire. He enabled them to talk with one another! All of these different nations and languages suddenly through the work of the Holy Spirit were now able to understand one another. All of these different cultures coming together and finding themselves united through one spirit and through the one common message of Jesus! And then, by the end of the chapter, we really get a good picture of what this is supposed to look like.

The way it's supposed to be...

Wow… talk about an active loving church! Did you notice all of the different ways they were loving and supporting one another? It says they were meeting together daily! It says they were devoted to one another! Eating in one another’s homes and sharing with one another as anyone had need. It says they were together and held all things in common. And then did you notice the result of that kind of unity? End of verse 47… It says that “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
-When the church comes together and actually loves one another the way we were intended to, we become a beacon of light in a dark world! People want a piece of that! What do they got, cuz I want some!?!
-Not because of some cool outreach program or mission event that we do. It’s simply by loving one another the way we are supposed to!

We were made for each other...

We were never called to be solo artists! We can’t do this on our own! We are part of the body! And the idea that you can thrive as a believer without plugging in to the life of the church, makes just about as much sense as if you were to lop off your own finger and then trust that it’s going to do just fine out there on its own! It won’t! Saying I want to be a Christian but I don’t want to be a part of a church is a bit like saying I want to be a part of the Body of Christ but I don’t want to be a part of the Body of Christ! It doesn’t make a lot of sense!

-This is why you regularly hear us talking up here about getting plugged into a Missional Community. And it’s great that we can all come together here on Sunday mornings, but the unfortunate reality of a church this size is that it is also easy to remain anonymous. To come and to go without ever truly plugging in and engaging! To come and listen without ever using the gifts that God gave you to build up and support the body! That is not what we are called to!

-We are called to be ONE BODY! To support one another! To encourage one another! To meet one another’s needs. To love one another! And if you are anything like me, then that’s not easy! That takes effort. That takes time. That takes intentionality! But this isn’t an optional part of being a Christian. It’s foundational!

-If you look at the words of the Apostle Paul throughout the New Testament, I would venture to say that this idea of the Body of Christ working together was probably his most prevalent teaching. And over and over again… church after church Paul implored the believers to be of one mind. To be united in Spirit and purpose! To work through our differences and to love one another!

-I think this was such an important theme for Paul because of how he met Jesus in the first place. Do you remember that? Of course, his name was Saul at the time, and he was actually notorious for persecuting and killing Christians! And then suddenly one day, on the road to Damascus, he was suddenly blinded by a heavenly light. And then came a voice from heaven…

"Why are you persecuting ME?"

-Quick question…when was it that Saul ever persecuted Jesus? The answer is he didn’t! He persecuted Christians! He persecuted THE BODY of Christ! To Paul, there was no division between Christ and His body! We are united in Christ, through his Holy Spirit as ONE BODY!

-Repeatedly, Paul emphasizes this foundational truth, and when divisions, disagreements, misunderstandings, and conflicts arose…. Paul implored the church all the more…

The Holy Spirit unites us as ONE!

-The word here ‘urge’, some of your Bible’s might interpret that as ‘beseech’, or ‘appeal’, or ‘implore’. Essentially, he’s saying… “I’m begging you guys!” Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And did you notice… not only does he implore them to keep the peace between themselves, but he also tells them how to do it! Look at it again. He says with all humility and GENTLENESS and with PATIENCE, that we should bear with one another in LOVE, and to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of PEACE! Do you guys notice anything about all of those things? They’re all fruits of the Spirit!

-When we allow God to take over our lives, he begins this lifelong process of shaping us into the image of His son. The churchy word for this process is sanctification. The more we grow in maturity, the more we begin to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our lives! It’s the fruits of the Spirit in our lives that actually enable us to live in unity with one another! This is what the Spirit does! He unites us as one!

'Oneness' and 'Sameness' are different things...

-Whenever scripture repeats itself, it’s always a good practice to pay close attention to what is being said! If God chooses to repeat Himself, we just might want to take note of that! By chance, did you notice how many times Paul repeats this idea of ‘oneness’ in these verses? 7 times!! He says there’s ONE body, and ONE Spirit. ONE hope, ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, and ONE God!! And for those of us that are in Christ, he says that that ONE God is father of ALL, and above ALL, through ALL, and in ALL.

-If you are a Christian, then plugging in and being a part of the church is not an optional suggestion! It’s foundational to who we are! We are the body of Christ! We are a picture of Jesus to a dark world in which we are supposed to shine like stars!

-The fact that we are supposed to be ONE, does NOT mean that we are all the same! Don’t mistake the idea of ONENESS as SAMENESS! God made every single one of us unique and different. We come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors! For many people in our culture today, the word ‘diversity’ has taken on negative politicized connotations, and yet God made us oh so very diverse!!! There’s not a one of us that is the same! He has gifted us with so many unique talents and abilities. Different gifts…

For the Common Good...

-Once again… don’t miss the repetition here. We’re all different, and yet we have the SAME Spirit! We’re all different, but we serve the SAME Lord! We all have different gifts, and yet we worship the SAME God! And did you notice why God gave us all of our diverse giftings? Verse 7… “A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person… FOR THE COMMON GOOD!”

-God gave us all of our various diverse giftings so that we could use them to SERVE ONE ANOTHER!! And then Paul goes on to speak about all of those varying gifts.

Don't Buy the Lie!!

-Don’t ever buy into the lie that the gifts that you have are less important than somebody else’s! By that measure, don’t ever buy into the lie that your gifts are more important either! And certainly, never buy into the lie that you must not be part of the body because you don’t have a certain gift that somebody else has!

“God has arranged each one of the parts of the body just as he wanted them!”

-You are NOT less than!!! God created you unique and special just as He wanted you! He gave you unique and diverse talents and giftings so that you could use those gifts to serve the body! He gave them for the common good! He gave us those gifts so that we might serve one another! Which was precisely Christ’s example to us! They expected that the Messiah would come as a conquering king and instead Jesus came as a sacrificial servant that knelt down and washed His own disciples’ feet! He served the body!

-Even though you and I are ALL wired differently and given all kinds of diverse talents and abilities… we are ALL called to use those giftings to serve the body of Christ!

-God pours out giftings upon us as He wills, for the common good! He doesn’t give us all the same gifts, but we are all supposed to use whatever gifts He gives us to serve His one body!

-Whereas the Gifts of the Spirit are all doled out by God as He sees fit, the Fruits of the Spirit are given to ALL OF US! It doesn’t matter if you’re in New York or New Deli; it doesn't matter if you’re in South Korea or the South Side of LA… you will recognize a true believer in Jesus by their fruits!

-It’s through the Fruits of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit that we are called to love and serve one another! “They will know that you are my disciples by how you LOVE one another!” This is the work of the Spirit in our lives!

RESPOND, REFLECT & COMMUNION

I would like to give you a chance to respond to God…

-- What did God reveal about who he is to you today in our time in God’s word?
-- What did God reveal about what he has done or is doing in our time in God’s word?
-- What did you learn about who you are as we looked at these stories today?
-- What did you learn about what you are supposed to do?

—> Let's take a minute to thank Him, respond to Him, confess our sins to Him, examine our hearts before we take communion...

—> WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TODAY?
—> WHAT IS JESUS ASKING YOU TO DO?