Imagine that you’ve decided to go sailing. The problem is that you know next to nothing about sailing. So you go to the store and purchase several books to find out what’s involved. You carefully read them, and then you talk to a veteran sailor who answers questions for you. The next day, you rent a sailboat. You examine it closely to make sure that everything needed for a successful sailing experience is present and in good working order. Then, you take your boat out onto the lake. Your excitement is at a fever pitch, though you’re also afraid. But you follow the instructions you’ve read and the counsel received from the experienced sailor, and you launch your boat into the water. You carefully monitor each step and hoist the sail.

At that precise moment, you learn a crucial lesson. You can study sailing. You might even be able to build a sailboat. You can seek from the wisest and most veteran of sailors. Under a bright and inviting sun, you can cast your boat onto the most beautiful lakes. You can successfully hoist the sail. But—and this is a big “but”—only God can make the wind blow!

We are in the third week of our series on The Holy Spirit. We pray that we might become a people and a church that depends on the presence of the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives. Two weeks ago, Pastor Neyda shared that the Holy Spirit is God’s living presence at work. Last week, I shared that the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing and that we must cultivate a friendship with the Holy Spirit. This morning, I want to look at some scriptures that help us to see what the Holy Spirit does in us, through us, and in our world.

The Holy Spirit Gives Us New Birth

One of the better-known scriptures in the Gospels is John 3, where Nicodemus approaches Jesus at night. John 3:16 is found in this story. Before that verse, Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above (or born again). Nicodemus asks Jesus how someone can enter their mother’s womb a second time. To which Jesus replies,

“Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

John 3:5

We have this problem in our humanity where we believe that we can achieve the things of God or enter the kingdom of God on our own merit. There is a fallacy. On our own, apart from Jesus, we are entirely unable to enter God’s kingdom. It is necessary to be reborn or made new through the power of the Holy Spirit. Human nature is so tied up in sin that it takes the activity of the Spirit to set us free and to enter the Kingdom of God. The Spirit gives us new birth.

The Spirit Gives Us a New Family

When a child is born, they are born into a family. We are given a new family when we experience new birth through the Spirit. Paul writes, in Romans, that we are adopted into God’s family when we live by the Holy Spirit. As an adoptive father, I love when we encounter adoption language in the Bible. For an orphan, many come to an orphanage without a family, name, or hope. Through adoption, children are given a family, a name, and hope for the future. It is a complete reversal of the story.

 When you and I are filled with the Holy Spirit and given new birth through the same Spirit, an adoption occurs. We are children of God in the family of God. Without this new birth or adoption, we have no Kingdom family, we have no name, and our eternal future is hopeless. Through the Spirit, we are brought into a new family and given a new name (Children/Son/Daughter of God), and we hope for eternity with God. In this new family, there is deep intimacy because of the rescue that took place and the love that is shared.

The Spirit Creates a Family Likeness

While it indeed happens for biological children to take on the appearance and actions of their parents, over time, adoptive children begin to sound like their parents. Just like biological children, adoptive children start to pick up on their mannerisms and speech patterns. 

 When we are reborn through the Spirit and adopted into God’s family, the Holy Spirit creates a family likeness in us. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

“And all of us…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Through the Holy Spirit, a transformation will occur in our lives. We will begin to look and sound more like Jesus. It doesn’t happen all at once, but the Spirit shapes us over time. How do we see the likeness of God in us? Paul writes that through the Spirit, we will develop the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control. We know that the Spirit is at work in us as we exhibit these characteristics in our relationships.

The Spirit Gives Gifts to the Family of God

The anticipation and beginning of the celebration of Christmas begins this month, whether we like that or not. The other day, my boys started their Christmas wishlist. They know the family will want to know what they want for Christmas because they often give gifts. The family of God is no different. Our Abba, Father, gives gifts to those born again through the Spirit. Paul writes,

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. Each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Paul lists these spiritual gifts in several places in the New Testament. They include words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, gifts of miracles, words of prophecy, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues. These gifts are all activated by the same Spirit for the common good- for building up the church and ministry.

Finally- The Spirit Empowers Us for Ministry.

We spent some time on this last week in Acts 1- but it bears repeating. As we are reborn through the Spirit, brought into the family of God through the Spirit, and transformed into the image of God through the Spirit- we are empowered for ministry by the same Holy Spirit. A ministry that is filled with the Holy Spirit is a ministry that is transformational and life-giving. It will emphasize God’s redemptive work through Jesus and a call to holiness in the practical ways we live our lives. The Book of Acts never happens without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The church will be impotent in our ministries without leaders and ministries filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

You and I are called and invited to be part of a new family- the family of God. We are initiated into this new family when we are born again. We are no longer slaves to sin but are children of God. It is the Spirit that helps our lives to transform and conform to the image of Christ. The Spirit gives us gifts, as every family does, for the good of our new family, and we are empowered for ministry that invites others to join the family of God through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

I want to experience the Spirit’s power in my life and ministry. I want us to cultivate a deep friendship with the Spirit to where our church desires and longs to look more like Christ. To hunger and thirst for a more profound encounter with God. I want to be part of a community operating through our Spiritual Gifts for the common good- to serve, encourage, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. I want to know the Spirit’s power in ministry, where lives are changed and transformed. Where marriages are reconciled. Where illnesses are healed- people come to Christ because the power of the Spirit in this place is apparent.

In our community, some saints before us testify to the power of the Holy Spirit. Their lives are examples of the Spirit’s presence and power. I am grateful for the example of numerous saints who have shared the Spirit’s power with me. My life would not be the same if these saints did not cultivate a friendship with the Holy Spirit and walk with the Spirit daily.

For those of us who grieve the loss of a loved one today- whether we read off the name in a little bit or not- Jesus promised the Holy Spirit for a time like today. Jesus promised the Spirit as an advocate who would bring peace. Not peace like the world gives- a more profound, complete peace. Jesus pledged to peace- or wholeness- through the presence of the Holy Spirit. As we remember our saints today- let us seek the Spirit’s presence and power to comfort and bring us peace. Amen.