Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? How does He work and why does this matter? What difference does He make in my daily life?
For the next 8 weeks on Sunday mornings at 2 Pillars Church we’re going to be asking and wrestling with these questions.
WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?
As we get ready to start this series we want to acknowledge that we all have different understandings, backgrounds, questions, and experiences that shape how we enter into this. Some of us, if we’re honest, we get a little nervous when we start to hear about the Holy Spirit.
Maybe you, or your family, or your friends… you’ve seen some things go terribly wrong. Perhaps you’ve seen Scripture abandoned or heard a preacher say something like, “God is speaking in a new way now!” And the result is that you’ve got some wounds. Maybe some confusion. It’s difficult for you to figure out what’s real, what’s true.
For others, the Holy Spirit is like a far-off, distant third person of the Trinity. And sure you might mention Him, vaguely, in passing with other Christians in the context of God-talk… but the whole concept of God the Holy Spirit, if you’re being truthful, is pretty ambiguous. And the result is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t factor much into your daily life. You’re not really sure you need Him, and even though theologically you know He’s in you, you really don’t know what you’re supposed to do with Him.
For still others, the Holy Spirit isn’t far off and distant, because you’ve put Him in a box. You’ve concluded what He can and cannot do. You think you’ve got Him all figured out. You’ve read some books and so you know… what things He used to do but doesn’t any more. Maybe you’ve whittled Him down to His “primary work” and focus solely on that.
Or maybe you’re reading this and you’re actually still reading the reviews on Christianity—you’re not sure what to make of it all just yet—Jesus, the church, God. You’re not really sure if it’s all real. And yet there’s a part of you that’s intrigued by this idea of the Holy Spirit… and another part of you that’s simultaneously weirded out.
WHERE WE ARE GOING?
At 2 Pillars, one of our core values is that “we embrace the mess.” We realize people within our body and visitors to our church are all over the place when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We embrace that.
At the same time, another of our core values is that “we seek depth.” We go deep. We search God’s Word. We wrestle with theology and don’t shy away from difficult topics because they're messy.
Regardless of where you fit in the above descriptions, we invite you to journey together with us for the next 8 weeks in our series, By the Spirit: Exploring God’s Indwelling Presence. It’s our hope that as you do, you’ll come to a richer, fuller understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and how that makes a difference in your life.
GO EVEN DEEPER
If you’re someone who likes to get in deeper than just Sunday morning sermons, we recommend reading one of the following two books alongside this series:
- Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, Francis Chan. A good, popular-level read that is accessible to anyone.
- The Holy Spirit (Contours of Christian Theology Series), Sinclair Ferguson. A deeper, theological (and therefore more difficult) read for those wanting to exercise their minds a bit more.
Both of these titles will be for sale in the Geneva House on Sunday mornings.