Power Couple
“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of Spirit and life.”- John 6:63
“We make a great team!”
These words have been uttered countless times by those celebrating a victory, those completing a project, and complimenting the other person’s strengths and contributions. Best friends would say it after transforming a backyard into a fort; Co-workers would high-five it after making a high-level sale or a high-pressure deadline; a married couple is encouraged by it as they tackle parenting, keeping a budget, and dealing with family drama.
In the month of October we are beginning a new teaching series on the greatest tandem, duo, and tag-team champions known to the universe. When God’s SPIRIT and TRUTH are at work in our lives we will be forever filled, changed, and established. Spirit and Truth flows perfectly and powerfully from Father God. It delivers newness to our beings, security to our hearts, light to our eyes, truth to our lips, and hope to our minds.
When Jesus spoke the above words to a crowd of confused followers, He was not calling the flesh worthless or wicked. Rather, Jesus, the giver of the New Covenant and New Life, wanted them to know that fleshly works and outward presentation is not the means by which our relationship with God is defined or our worship of God is accepted. The people were used to the old code which was never meant to be the source of faith, rather a path to it. Jesus was calling the people beyond physical mechanisms such as circumcision, cleanliness, and good deeds as a measurement of holiness. Paul, a former pharisee and expert in the Law, said it this way in Romans 2:29, “No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”
Not only does the Spirit and Truth ESTABLISH us in Christ, it ELIMINATES lies, counterfeits, and darkness. In this month that promotes and celebrates darkness, let’s enter into His glorious light, where the Spirit overcomes the works of the flesh and the Truth delivers freedom from the work of the enemy. Every Sunday in October we are making room for the overflowing and overcoming work of God’s Spirit and Truth. Join us as we together experience this powerful combination where…
1) Our WORSHIP is with a full heart.
“Yet, a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind for worshipers the Father seeks.”- John 4:23
2) Our PRAYERS are aligned with God’s will.
“So what shall I say do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.”- 1 Corinthians 14:15
3) Our FAITH is being sanctified and purified by the Living Word.
“For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
- Hebrews 4:12
4) Our WITNESS is marked by more than human means.
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:4-5