THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

I am personally very excited to begin this journey with you as this format allows the teaching of the Holy Spirit to go beyond head knowledge into lived daily practice and deeper inner communion. As a pastor, I yearn to see God’s people living full lives in the power of the Spirit who is at work to renew the whole of creation. Yet, the Holy Spirit can be the most elusive person of the Trinity, and it is puzzling to many why Jesus would say it would be better for Him to leave so that we could receive the Spirit (John 16:7). Do we experience the Holy Spirit in such a dynamic way that we could not imagine this life without His presence? I hope that we can all say at the end of our time together how inexplicably grateful we are to have the Spirit powerfully at work in each of our lives. – Rev. David Kim

We will spend the next four weeks looking upward, inward, outward, and forward as we contemplate and experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our world today:

Week 1: Upward–The Empowering Work of the Spirit

Week 2: Inward–The Humanizing Work of the Spirit

Week 3: Outward–The Freeing Work of the Spirit

Week 4: Forward–The Perfecting Work of the Spirit

During these weeks, we will be exploring not only the Spirit in the Scriptures, but how the Spirit has been at work in each of our stories. We will be looking back upon our lives dividing our past into four seasons of our choosing. Each week we will examine a particular season, taking some time to write as we grow more attentive to the Spirit’s voice. We will consider what we were hearing and believing during those times and how those beliefs have played out in our lives. The goal for this writing exploration is to see how the Spirit was and continues to be at work in our lives to bring order and flourishing in the midst of the chaos and brokenness in and around us.

Our Sunday sessions will introduce the theme for the week and will be accompanied by some introductory and relevant teaching on the Spirit. Obviously, we will only be able to scratch the surface from a teaching perspective as our focus is more holistic than a class on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. However, for those who want to dig deeper theologically, here are some recommended academic resources:

• Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Great theological overview of the Spirit)
• Steven Guthrie, Creator Spirit (The Spirit from an artistic perspective)
• Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence (Paul’s doctrine of the Spirit)
• Donald Bloesch, The Holy Spirit (Historical overview of this doctrine) 

A key framework for this journey is Hearing-Believing-Responding. Simply put, what we hear shapes what we believe which in turn affects our responses to life situations. The most important voice in our lives is God’s and each week begins by exploring what we need to hear from God.