The Citizen, 2019-06-20, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2019. PAGE 17.
By Ernest Dow, Exec. Pastor,
Huron Chapel EMC
Talking about the Holy Spirit
often tends to make us a little bit
nervous. Are we afraid of going off
the deep end? But we daresn’t limit
God in terms of the possibilities of
what He can do. As A.W. Tozer put
it, “Anything God has ever done, he
can do now. Anything God has ever
done anywhere, he can do here.
Anything God has ever done for
anyone, he can do for you.”
Yet, we still get nervous about the
Holy Spirit and the supernatural.
Could it be we get edgy because
some gifts require us to yield
complete control to the Lord, even
the ability to control what we say?
Does our pride get in the way? Pride
loves to be in control.
For the Holy Spirit to be operative
in our life, we need to be willing to
give Jesus control. The Apostle Paul
writes, “Therefore I tell you that no
one who is speaking by the Spirit of
God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no
one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except
by the Holy Spirit.” (1Cor 12:3)
When we say, “Jesus is Lord,” we
are saying in effect, “Jesus, I want
you to be in total control of me,
directing my life: I belong to you, I
want to do whatever You want.” It’s
hard to say that when you’re proud.
How can we get our doctrine of
the Holy Spirit, on a firm footing? Is
the teaching about the Holy Spirit an
obscure side doctrine, a quaint add-
on to the Christian life; or is the
Holy Spirit something more central
in the view of the authors of
Scripture? The Bible is clear that the
Holy Spirit is an indispensable part
of the Christian life, not some
optional add-on. As the Apostle Paul
points out, “...If anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ.” (Rom 8:9b)
In fact, the Holy Spirit is not just
central in a Christian’s life: He (the
third Person of the Trinity) is crucial
to understanding the whole thrust of
salvation history, from Old
Testament to New Testament. When
God delivered the Hebrews from
slavery in Egypt, He gave a moral
code, the law of Moses, at Mount
Sinai before they entered the
Promised Land. But over the next
thousand years or so it became clear
their stubbornness had them stuck in
disobedience. It just wasn’t working.
So God revealed the next phase to
His prophets. The Holy Spirit would
be the means by which God writes
His law on our minds and hearts.
Ezekiel prophesied in 36:26f, “I will
give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep
my laws.” The prophet Joel foretold
a time when God would “pour out
[His] Spirit on all people” (Joel
2:28) – this is the very prophecy
Peter picks up on the Day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:16ff).
It goes back even further than the
giving of the law at Mount Sinai.
Paul sees God’s interaction with
Abraham as pointing toward the
Christian experience of having the
Holy Spirit in our lives: “The
Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and
announced the gospel in advance to
Abraham: ‘All nations will be
blessed through you...’ He redeemed
us in order that the blessing given to
Abraham might come to the Gentiles
through Christ Jesus, so that by faith
we might receive the promise of the
Spirit.” (Gal 3:8,14)
So, salvation history from
Abraham through to the early
church, in Paul’s perception, is
moving towards believers having the
indwelling Holy Spirit. It’s the
Kingdom project God is working
towards, restoring the communion
that was lost back in the Garden of
Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.
Paul writes, “...Through Christ
Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set
me free from the law of sin and
death.” Here the Spirit’s ‘law’ is like
a controlling power, rule or
governing. Do we allow the Holy
Spirit to have influence in our lives?
To have sway, control? God
implores through the Psalmist, “Do
not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding but
must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.”
(Psalm 32:9)
My fiancée has a pasture out
behind her barn to which she takes
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com
519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn
Sat. June 22, 7 pm - FAMILY GAMES NIGHT
July 8-12 “ROAR” Vacation Bible School - register FREE online
(huronchapelkids.com)
Evangelical Missionary Church
10:30 a.m. Worship
Pastor Phil Delsaut -
“‘I Will build My Church’
- The Living Witness to the Living Christ”
Sunday June 23
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, June 23
at 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Coming Soon!
VBS July 1-5 for ages 5-12 ~ 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Worship and shared picnic
at Camp Menesetung
Accessible
Sunday, June 23
Worship Service at 11:00 am
Blyth United Church
Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
SUNDAY, JUNE 23
Morning Service 10:00 am
Sunday School Graduation
Evening Service 7:30 pm
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
Upcoming Event:
Sunday, June 30 - Outdoor Community Service at 10:00 am
at the Blyth Lions Park. Please bring lawn chairs.
Blyth Community Outdoor Service
Sunday, June 30, 10:00 a.m. at Blyth Lions Park
(rain location Blyth Christian Reformed Church)
Message by Pastor Ernest Dow
Offering to Salvation Army Foodbank
and
North Huron Community Food Share
Please dress for outdoors,
bring a lawn chair and disposable plate
of goodies for snack.
Sponsored by Blyth area churches.
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JUNE 23
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Worship & Sunday School - 9:30 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
We invite you to join our church family in:
The Regional Ministry of Hope
BLYTH BRUSSELS
Trinity St. John’s
9:15 am 11:15 am
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector
519-357-7781
email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca
TheRegionalMinistryof Hope
St. Paul’s Trinity
WINGHAM 11:15 am
These Anglican Churches
Welcome You
From the Minister’s Study
Your secret power source
BRUSSELS
United Church
Sunday, June 23
11:00 am Worship and potluck
picnic at Camp Menesetung
Meet at Brussels United by 10 am
to share rides to Camp
All are Welcome
Continued on page 18