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Mini-Worship
May 21-26, 2024
Enter the Presence of the Lord
(All) How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
(Men) The earth is full of your creatures.
(Women) There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
(All) All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
(men) When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
(women)When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
(men) When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
(All) May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
(Psalm 104: 24 -25, 27-31, NIV)
Prayer
The Lord of our Hope, we praise you for being our help and shield. Our hearts will rejoice in you, and we put trust in your holy name. May your unfailing love be with us. We pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Scripture Reading: Gospel of John 14:16-17a; 26-27; 15:26, 16:7-15 (NIV)
14: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.
14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
15:26 26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
16: 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Thoughts to Share: Jesus prepared all people to receive the grace of salvation
Jesus understood well that his suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection were the most important work during his time on the earth. But this work was only the beginning of God’s salvation plan to humankind. He had one more work to do. That is, how to get this finished redemptive work to distribute to all people and to pass it down generation after generation. At the Last Supper night, he prepared his disciples to take on next step of God’s mission. After his resurrection, he further prepared these disciples and authorized them to carry out his great commission.
What did Jesus do at that Last Supper time? According to the Gospel of John, Jesus taught his disciples about the Holy Spirit. We get the most comprehensive understanding of the Holy Spirit in entire the Bible. We discover-
1)What or who is the Holy Spirit? Jesus called the holy Spirit as the Advocate or Comforter. He represents Jesus after he is gone from the earth. His presence means the presence of Jesus Christ.
2)What are the features of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the spirit of the Truth. He has completely identical nature of eternality and divinity as God the Father and God’s Son Jesus Christ. In our term today, he is the third person in Trinity God.
3)What are the works of the Holy Spirit? We learned that the Holy Spirit has his own works. (1) He reveals the love of God to people. (2) He encourages and helps the believers to know God and the truth to become holy. (3) He teaches the disciples to remember and to understand the word of God. (4) He gives the heavenly peace from Jesus Christ. (5) He convicts people that it is sin to not believing God. And He teaches people to understand that it was a right thing that Jesus returns to God the Father. (6) He shows people that Satan, the king of this world was judged. (7) He testifies and glorifies Jesus and God the Father. (8) He represents the presence of God the Father and Jesus with us. (9) He lets the disciples know the things to come, as we see in the Book of Revelation.
4)Who will get the Holy Spirit? Every believer who comes to Jesus Christ. Remember, at the time of our baptism, we all receive the Holy Spirit.
Then as Jesus promised, those disciples received the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost Day. They conducted the very first great commission meeting right away. As Jesus explained to them, the Holy Spirit empowered them, released the spiritual gifts to them, caused them to understand and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands, convicted the hearers of the Gospel, and gave the birth of the first Christian church.
Isn’t it so amazing that Jesus did not leave all who come to him as orphans in the world? The Holy Spirit dwells in believers and ensures that our initial salvation received at our conversion time will continue to work in our lives. He leads us into the intimacy with God the Father and Jesus. He causes us to obey Jesus Christ and grow into maturity. He empowered us to serve and to love.
Prayer suggestions-
Do you know if you have the Holy Spirit in you? Do you know the role of the Holy Spirit in the design of God’s salvation? Have you experienced his various works in your walking with God?
The Holy Spirit, we welcome you into our lives. Fill us. Cleanse us. Regenerate us. Renew us. Pour the love of God to us. Let the power of life overcoming death uphold us. Cause us to know God and love Him more and to walking with Him more closely. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
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