The Holy Spirit and the Church Today
Sermon Summary
On Sunday, Elder Greg Cryer closed the series with the road his family traveled up the mountain to Turpin, Haiti, more than ten years ago. It had a destination and it had been cleared, but it was never paved, and the ride was all ruts and gravel and dust. He said many of us travel the Christian life the same way: Father and Son, but no Spirit. Working from Ephesians 2:8-10 and the good works God prepared beforehand, Greg walked three stops. First, I am secure. John 1:12-13 gives us a birthright as children of God, and Ephesians 1:13 says the Spirit seals us. Satan's lie is that we are insecure. Second, I am significant. 1 Corinthians 12 says the Spirit gifts each of us for the common good, and no gift outranks another. Here the lie sends us to people, circumstances, or self instead of Christ. Third, I am dependent. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says power is perfected in weakness, and we resist that because independence lets us keep control. Drawing on Dr. Bill Yarger's Biblical View of You, Greg said we can never earn God's love or lose it.
Discussion Questions
- What is the worst road you have ever driven on?
- Greg said we have human pictures for a Father and for a Son, but none for a Spirit. Has that made the Holy Spirit harder for you to relate to?
- Read John 1:12-13 and Ephesians 1:13. Greg carried a rock for almost thirty years to remind him he is secure. What do you reach for when you doubt that you belong to God?
- In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul honors the members we might consider less presentable. Where have you seen a behind-the-scenes gift carry something the up-front gifts could not?
- The Corinthians looked to people, circumstances, and self for significance. Which of those three pulls hardest on you?
- Dr. Bill Yarger taught Greg that we can never do enough good to earn God's love or enough bad to lose it, which means we have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. What gift have you held back from using because you were afraid of failing at it?
- Dependence and independence can look identical from the outside, and the difference is a posture of pride or humility. Where do you need to step into something this week from weakness rather than strength?
Extra Credit
Look up Romans 8:16-17, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Zechariah 4:6, and Philippians 2:13. Romans anchors the security Greg started with, the Spirit Himself bearing witness that we are God's children; Peter names the significance, every gift given to be spent on one another; and Zechariah and Philippians name the dependence, work accomplished not by might nor by power but by God's Spirit, and God Himself producing both the willing and the doing in us. How do these passages together shape the way you understand the good works God has already prepared for you, and what would it look like to tell one person this week what gift you see the Spirit working through them?
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