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The Missing Person at Your Church

We have started our fall series as Legacy Church. We call it SENT. We are walking through the first twelve chapters of Acts as a reminder of how--like the first followers of Jesus--we are a sent people to tell His-story and demonstrate His life-changing power.

Last Sunday I tackled the topic of the Holy Spirit and how important that Person of the Triune God is to the church, or, ekklesia.(You can hear the full message here.)

I am convinced that no matter the programs, excellence factor, buildings, location, personalities, or marketing you have as part of your church, you will have little to no impact in touching or changing the hearts of those you seek to serve and reach without the Person of the Holy Spirit. You can gather a bunch of people to meet their felt needs and feed them good advice, but without the presence of the Holy Spirit you are only a helpful religious organization.

A body without a breath is only a body. A church without the Holy Spirit is only an interest group. The difference between the Ekklesia as Jesus commissioned it and any other service organization or religious group is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who assemble as the "body of Christ." Churches can do good things for its members and for the community, but without the presence of God's Holy Spirit it is not the Ekklesia.
Read the Acts of the Apostles again if you are a follower of Jesus. Heck, read if you don't trust Jesus and see what's up. Watch and listen to the roll the Holy Spirit plays in the explosive movement of God's People called the church. Watch and listen to how you are the church and see how they match. 

One note: The Holy Spirit in Acts empowered Christ Followers to act and speak boldly as witnesses to who Jesus is. He still does today. All the pew jumping and strange voices in the crowd in some churches who claim the Holy Spirit is in the house are a far cry from what God did to empower His People as the Church.



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