More Th>n a Presence

More Th>n a Presence      Acts 1:6-8  Vs. 8 “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.”
 
Sunday’s sermon message had a different scenery, Pastor George spoke to us around a burning fire, with the smoke rising upward.  Was this just a comforting scene on a cool Sunday morning? Or is there more to this picture?
 
In the message we read about receiving power when the Holy Spirit comes, and to be a witness.  Have you given much thought to the power of the Holy Spirit?  We hear much about God, and his son Jesus but what about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit?
 
One of the video’s we watched this week in RNM is titled Earth – Wind – Fire, learning from and listening to the Holy Spirit by Jason Nelson.  He addressed the nature of the Spirit, a separate essence of God.  God three in one: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  First Jason addresses EARTH – We have all read and/or heard the Genesis account of creation. God created. Did you also catch in reading, the Spirit of God hovering over the Earth?  We are referred to as mortal clay, earthly vessels of which God breathed life into, the very breath of God, the Holy Spirit breathed life into us, filling people with the power and presence of God.  We are temples of the Holy Spirit.  Jason Nelson then addressed WIND – His daughter, when asked to describe the Holy Spirit saying, “I see something invisible, I see air, but I know He’s there”.  The Divine Wind.  We can see, feel, or hear the effects of wind.  Jesus, in his Word confirms the Divine Wind, the Holy Spirit.  There is no life apart from the Spirit of God.  How do you receive it, Nicodemus asked? Jesus replied by believing.  Place your faith in the Son of God. Be Born Again, Born of the Spirit. The Spirit of God swirling within the depths of our soul.  We can hear this wind, the Spirit, be still and know.  It is through the Spirit giving us wisdom, insight, guidance that we can also breath this message of faith into our family, neighbors, strangers.  A breath of fresh air in a spiritually polluted world.
 
A second video we watched this week was Working for the Man Upstairs by Rev Tim Radkey.  He quoted Martin Luther who said “Our occupation is a mask behind which God hides himself, working through our lives – our hands, our feet, our head – doing great and wonderful things for people He placed around us.”  Martin Luther also said, “God does not need good works but your neighbor, community, family do”.  Rev. Radkey wants us to think on the work that we do. Do we enjoy it? Or do we put in our time looking forward to clocking out for the day?  We can look at our jobs as an occupation – earning a living – filling up with stuff that could fill a U-Haul. Or we can look at our jobs as a vocation – living your life for God.  Striving to do what the creator of the universe wants you to do – that which fills into the lives of people that God has placed in our paths.  Rev Radkey went on to say that each of us have a part within God’s society. Colossians 3:23… “whatever you do, do for the Lord”.  We are conduits that God works through, to love and serve.  As we interact with others, we can tell of all that Jesus has done for us. We have Ten Thousand Reasons for our heart to sing! A song that we sing, with words that hold so true.  We show a fire that is burning within us.
 
FIRE is the last attribute of the Holy Spirit that Jason Nelson addressed.  We are all familiar with fire.  We see its presence and know its power. Jason stated that with a fire you need heat, fuel, and oxygen. Without one there is no fire.  In referring the Holy Spirit in relation to fire, there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Without the three there is no Trinity.  Is there a fire burning within you?  Have we caught on fire with enthusiasm?  He said the fire of the Holy Spirit will never go out.  Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, God in three persons, Blessed Trinity, all powerful, all knowing, ever present wants to work in and through our lives.  On Sunday we sang Soul of Fire.   Burning for Jesus?  Pastor George talked around the fire on Sunday as we witnessed the smoke rising.  The smell of smoke. That smell gets on us, our hair, our clothes.  The Aroma that identifies.  In burning for Jesus are we emitting an aroma? The same aroma as that of the Disciples? Are we part of the Gospel wildfire?  Referring to Sunday scripture passage, to be a witness in Jerusalem, where you live, work and play; in Judea, our surrounding communities, our state; in Samaria, people who we tend to avoid, don’t like to be around; even to the ends of the earth.  Let’s spread the wildfire!
 
The aroma of fire,  the aroma of Jesus, is what lingers on…………………. As we live for Jesus, we want to be More Th>n a Presence. We want to smell like Him!
 
Larry & Darlene