The Holy Spirit and the Church Today

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.