Church is Powered
Welcome Questions:
How does your experience of your home change when the power goes out?
When you hear the words "Holy Spirit," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Be honest, even if the answer is excitement, confusion, a specific experience, or hesitation.
Read Ephesians 2:19-22 together.
"So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)
Paul doesn't say you will be built into a temple someday if you get enough things right. He says you already are, right now, a place where God actually lives by his Spirit.
What's it like to hear that you're not working toward being filled, you already are?
Read Ephesians 3:16-19 together.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Paul isn't praying that this church would try harder. He's praying for power. Wesley mentioned on Sunday there are two distinct groups of people who believe:
A - The Holy Spirit’s Power must show up THIS specific way.
B - The Holy Spirit might be real but the power isn’t accessible or relevant to our lives today.
What are the potential concerns of either approach?
Wesley said REUNION is learning a middle open position towards the Spirit.
What does being “open” mean to you?
Are there any potential concerns/hesitations re: this approach?
Finally: What would it look like for you to move towards an openness to the Spirit this week?
