SESSION FOUR: The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church

I. Introduction:

A. “My faith is private”. “I don’t attend a church”, “I relate directly to the Lord”. These are common comments we hear more and more. Barna predicts that a growing number of people will have their Christian spiritual community on the Internet. Is that possible? Biblical?

B. The life of the believer, who has been drawn to salvation by the Holy Spirit, given spiritual gifts, and then placed in the process of sanctification, is called to be in the community of the Body of Christ. It is in this context, the church, that the Holy Spirit continues the work He has begun in the life of the believer. Wayne Grudem in fact indicates that the Church is the special workplace of the Spirit.  “The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church”. (Systematic Theology, page 634).

II. Key Passages – 1 Cor 12:13, Ephesians 4:3, Philippians 2:1 – Unity and Fellowship are the core design mandates for the church, both of which are centrally empowered by the Holy Spirit.

1. Unity – We are told that we have all been baptized by One Spirit into one Body. For salvation to be genuine, we must join the Body and serve in it, with no prejudice based on our background racially or spiritually.

2. Peace – we are to maintain unity through the bond of peace. Are we at peace with one another?

3. Fellowship – the Greek “Koinonia” – word study indicates a broad number of activities, all bathed in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Includes evangelism, communion, sharing together, partnership in the gospel, and tenderness, compassion and care among believers.

4. Application – How are we doing on the dimensions of unity and inclusiveness, peace and true fellowship in our families, this group, and our churches?

III. Key Church/Body/Believer activities impacted by the Spirit

1. Worship – We “worship by the Spirit” (Phil 3:3) – we are unable to worship properly without His presence. This has major implications for preparing our hearts for worship every time we do so, including confession, seeking of filling by the Spirit, and being blameless to participate in the power of the righteousness of the Spirit.

2. Prayer – Prayer is empowered at all levels by the Holy Spirit. How is the prayer life of our church?

A. The Spirit intercedes for us with “groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).

B. We are asked to pray for others needs in the “love of the Spirit” (Rom 15:30).

C. We are commanded to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Eph 6:18). There is no doubt that prayer is to be permeated with the power of the Holy Spirit. As we pray in the Spirit, we should pray for our leaders to become people of prayer, and for the Spirit to gift and draw those who have the gifts of healing and wisdom and knowledge to our church’s prayer ministry.

3. Ministry of the Word – Not only is the basic gift and activity of Bible teaching governed by the Spirit, we also see the power of the Spirit in the broader ministry of the Word of God. Paul also commands believers to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph 6:17) as a routine action in spiritual warfare and spiritual vigilance. The Spirit teaches (Acts 28) and brings the ord of God (1 Tim 4:1).

4. Evangelism – The power to witness (Acts 1:8)

IV. Conclusion – Developing a bigger vision for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our churches!

Application: What can you do to practice and discover greater intimacy with other believers through the power of the Holy Spirit? How can the Holy Spirit empower radical discipleship? How about explosive evangelism? What will you do differently? Try this experiment: journal in the Holy Spirit. Ask God any question you need His guidance on…..and then listen for 10-20 minutes, writing everything He tells you down, and then act on it! Try the folowing prayers, too!