Pneuma
The Breath of Life
March 25, 2024 • Colby Dorcely • Ezekiel 37:1–14
Holy week seems to always come around when there are all sorts of painful things happening. The image of Jesus riding into Jerusalem challenges our hopelessness, our belief that God has forgotten us and has left us in our despair. In Ezekiel's incredible vision of the valley of dry bones, God asks him an almost ridiculous question: "Can these bones live?" Can God bring resurrection when these bodies have been dead for so long? Is resurrection even possible in this circumstance? Or is the situation too far gone? In this Sermon given on Palm Sunday, Colby finishes up our series on the Holy Spirit by showing us the Holy Spirit's role in resurrection— how God restores the muscles and skin of the dry bones while Ezekiel prophesies, but they aren't truly alive until the breath of the Spirit fills them—the Breath of Life.
The Witness
March 18, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Acts 5:17–32, Romans 8:12–17, Hebrews 10:15–17
Imagine that you are a defendant in a courtroom, and you are called to the stand to give your side of the story. No matter who you are or how well spoken you are, it would be foolish for the jury to just take you at your word without anyone else corroborating your story. That is why witnesses are so important in a courtroom. In Acts 5, Peter invokes the Holy Spirit himself as a third witness to all that Jesus had done. In that text, as well as several others, the Holy Spirit is described as a "witness." And as we find out by digging into the scriptures, the Holy Spirit's role as a perfect witness to the gospel and to what is true is extremely vital to us and our faith, especially considering how untrustworthy our own emotions and thoughts can be.
Fruit, Not Fruits
March 11, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • Galatians 5:16–24
We are all living in the middle of a great battle—a battle that rages inside each and every one of us; the battle between the Holy Spirit and our flesh—the natural desires that are in all of our hearts, running counter to God's will for our lives and for human flourishing. And it is into that battle that Paul gives the command to the church, "Walk in step with the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." As it turns out, walking in step with the Spirit is not about modifying our own behavior from our own strength, but instead comes from our identity, and where we are planted. And it is after he gives that command that Paul gives his famous contrast between the "works of the flesh" and the "fruit of the spirit." But instead of contrasting all of the behaviors in those lists, what can we learn by contrasting the names of the lists themselves? What is the difference between "works" and "fruit?"
Four Important Truths About the Holy Spirit
March 4, 2024 • Brock Tharpe
It's a little bit of a mouthful, but the official working title for this sermon is "Four Important Truths About the Holy Spirit that I Think are Significant, but I haven't Been Able To Fit Them in a Sermon Yet." It may not be a great title, but it does get at the heart of this message. Over the course of our teaching series on the Holy Spirit, there have been several significant, biblical truths about the Holy Spirit that Brock has felt led to share, but they haven't really fit in with the topics of each of the messages so far. This message is straight from the cutting room floor, in hopes that God can take the scraps left over and turn them into the entree.
From Wine to Worship
February 26, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • 1 Kings 19:11–13, Ephesians 5:15–21, Psalm 33:3
It can be very easy to confuse the effect of something with the thing itself. There is a beautiful moment in the story of Elijah where God tells Elijah to come out of the cave he was hiding in to meet with Him. The Bible says that the Lord passed by, and with that there were several effects of his presence: a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire. But Elijah knew the difference between the effects of God's presence, and God himself. It is especially dangerous in worship to make the same mistake. In Ephesians 5, Paul tells us that our songs of worship are to be an effect of being filled with the Holy Spirit. If our worship doesn't come from a lifestyle of being filled with the Spirit, and if it doesn't lead us into further submission to the Spirit, then our worship can become something altogether different.
Chained to a Ghost
February 19, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Acts 20:22–24
The Apostle Paul saw the Holy Spirit much differently than many of us do. While many of us see the Holy Spirit as a sort of adviser, Paul saw Him as his Master. While many of us see the Holy Spirit as a supplement to our faith, Paul sees him as central. A great example of this is in Acts 20, where Paul says that he is literally "chained to" or "bound to" the Holy Spirit, even when the Spirit leads him to places where there will be hardship and suffering. It's obvious that the majority of us don't submit to the Spirit in this way, but we are invited deeper into submission. We are all on a journey of relying more and more on the Spirit, from being curious about him, to being led by him, to being bound to him. And it is through being bound to the Spirit that God can use hardship and suffering in our lives to produce power in us to reach the world.
Too Deep For Words
February 12, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • Romans 8:18–28
Last time Cody preached, we went through the first section of Romans 8 together, and broke down how the Holy Spirit helps us to lay down our own brokenness in exchange for the new life God has invited us into. But Romans 8 has so much more to say about the Holy Spirit! In this message, Cody focuses on the middle section of Romans 8, which is all about prayer from within suffering. When we as believers stand prayerfully in the spirit at the places where our world is in pain, the Holy Spirit takes those cries for redemption and intercedes for us with groans that are “too deep for words.” Because of that, it is very possible that prayer plays a deeper role in our mission as Christians than we originally thought.
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
February 5, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Matthew 12:22–32
Jesus told the Pharisees and teachers of the law in Matthew 12, that "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." Because of that statement, many have come to refer to "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" as "the unforgivable sin." But what exactly does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Is it possible that we have done it unintentionally, and in so doing, disqualified ourselves from forgiveness? Questions like this have led many people to view this passage through a lens of fear. In this message from our series on the Holy Spirit, Brock digs in to what Jesus was getting at when he made this incredibly bold statement against the religious elite of his day.
The Armor of God
January 29, 2024 • Colby Dorcely • Ephesians 6:10–17
Living in a modern, fast-paced culture can make it easy to forget that we are in the midst of a battle. And Paul reminds us in Ephesians chapter six that it is not a battle against people who believe differently than we do, or people who persecute us for our faith, or even against unbelievers. It is a spiritual battle against the dark forces of the world, our own sinful natures, and the devil himself. To fight in this spiritual battle requires preparation: being equipped for what is rising against us. In Ephesians six, Paul gives an incredible roadmap of what it takes to navigate the spiritual warfare that we each must face if we intend to follow Jesus, culminating with our one offensive weapon: the sword of the Spirit.
By The Spirit We Die, By The Spirit We Live
January 22, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:5–14
There is a lie in the church that many of us have come to accept as truth: Jesus is one of many different things that can bring us lasting satisfaction, peace, and fulfillment. The truth is, while there are all kinds of good things in the world that can bring us pleasure, the things that are appealing to our human nature don't bring lasting joy. Ultimately, God has a better definition of what it means to be human than we do. Paul talks a lot about this in Romans 8, and he tells us that it is by the power of the Spirit that we can step out of the corrupt side of our humanity, and into the glorious purpose and life that He has for us. And again, this is only by the Spirit. Many people have tried to do it on their own strength, and that always ends badly. In this message, Cody explores the early verses of Romans 8 which tell us that it's by the Spirit we die to ourselves, and it's by the Spirit we live in our new role as renewed humans in a world that is on its way to being redeemed.
The Helper, The Advocate, The Comforter
January 15, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • John 16:7–15
Jesus told his followers in John 16 that it would actually be to their advantage that he go away, because of who he would send in his place: The Holy Spirit. He then went on to describe the Holy Spirit with a word that we don't really have an equivalent for in English: paraklētos. Paraklētos can mean a "helper." It can also mean "an advocate," and it can mean "comforter as well." Most literally, it means, "Someone who comes alongside." Jesus knew that for all those that followed him, there would be times that they were mistreated, times that they felt alone, and times that they needed someone to advocate on their behalf. In this message, Brock talks about how in the Holy Spirit, we all have the promise of a helper, advocate, and comforter who will be with us even on the darkest of days.
Pneuma - An Introduction
January 8, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Acts 2:32–41
For many christians, the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood and most neglected member of the Trinity. When you look at all of the promises in scripture about the Holy Spirit and compare them to how most of us interact with the Spirit, the difference is absolutely tragic. Our church is in a very interesting season right now. Externally, things look really good. God is doing incredible things. People are being served and loved in our community. We are witnessing miracles. But for many of us, internally, we are having a rough time. That is why it is so important for every believer to prioritize their own relationship to the Holy Spirit that has been poured out on us. In this message, Brock introduces us into our next sermon series on the Holy Spirit. In this message, he answers the questions: Who is the Spirit? Where does the Spirit come from? And how do we receive the Holy Spirit?