Triune God: Holy Spirit Series

The Truine God: The Holy Spirit

08.13.06

**NOTE: THIS IS A CONCEPT OUTLINE FOR THIS MESSAGE, NOT THE FULL MANUSCRIPT. GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA ARE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THIS SERIES.

Video Clip: “The Chronicles of Narnia – You Have to Lead Us”

In this clip from the Chronicles of Narnia, Peter is struggling with the loss of his leader, Aslan the Lion. There is about to be a battle between good and evil. But Aslan has left them. Peter suddenly finds himself thrust into a moment of decision, and he must choose to either wait for Aslan’s return, or step up as the leader of the army and go head on into the overwhelming odds that are lined up against him. He must face his fears and doubts. He must act.

I have days like these. I have days where I feel outnumbered, overwhelmed. I have days where I face the impossible. I have moments that seem to last an eternity.

I experience this in my faith, when I am faced with a spiritual challenge, when I try to live like Christ, but I seem to always fall short in my love towards others, or even in the way I follow Christ.

I experience this in my home when bills are due, and my daughter is sick, and my wife wants that one thing that I can’t afford.

I experience this in my work, where there are so many ideas, and dreams, and visions, and challenges but it seems that we are always short the money, or the people, or the time, or the space.

I often find myself in the same moment that we saw Peter find himself in: sit and wait for someone to save the day, or step up and act.

I’m sure you know what I mean. Life is a challenge. It can be overwhelming. It can be frustrating. And our response is to try to do something, anything to fix the problem. To meet the need.

The Waiting Room

In this morning’s opening song, the chorus says, “and they say that a hero will save us, but I’m not gonna stand here and wait.”

I am not a “wait-er.” I do not do well with the instruction “just wait.” I’m like a little kid who’s constantly asking, “Can I do it now? I want to do it now! I can’t wait!”

I like to be pro-active. I like to initiate movement. I want action.

People love action.

Most people are not wired to “sit and wait.” That’s why we find it so hard to do. That’s why the idea of letting things go and allowing someone else to take care of them is a challenge. Most people like to be in control of their lives, their situations, their decisions.

We like to “do”, even if we are not “doing” a lot.

One of the best phrases that we have come up with is “God helps those who help themselves.”

A lot of people believe that quote is actually found in the Bible. It’s not. But we want to believe it. We want to believe that we are capable of helping ourselves. Of solving all our problems. Of finding our own solutions. That if we try hard enough, work hard enough, and maybe if God helps a little bit, we can fix everything.

But when we face a situation that we cannot handle alone?

When we face a crisis with our family, or our jobs, or our finances, or our health, or any number of situations that require a solution greater than what we can provide by ourselves?

When we are one day faced with an impossible challenge with overwhelming odds against us?

What happens? Who do we turn to? What are our options? Is there anybody out there who cares and is listening, and understands and knows that we need to see something happen in life, and we need to see it soon or else we are going to lose it?

We are continuing this morning our series, “The Triune God.” And we are looking at the person of God the Holy Spirit.

We agree on God the Father: that He is overseeing all things; that He loves us as His children; that His desire is to have a close relationship with us.

We agree on Jesus the Son: that He was sent by the Father to us in order to make a way for us to be right with God; that He walked in humanity and divinity; that He willingly sacrificed Himself so that we could find forgiveness from sin; that He rose from the dead so that we could experience the hope of eternal life.

But what about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is probably the most misunderstood member of the Trinity.

Often we are more interested in his works and gifts than in the person of God the Holy Spirit himself. But the Bible teaches us that He plays a vital role in our daily lives and in our spirituality.