Rev. Judy Tefteller was our guest speaker today and taught the lesson on the Holy Spirit.
We've learned about God as Father and Creator, God as Son and redeemer through Jesus Christ and today we will talk about God as Holy Spirit and sustainer.
We can't see God but God is always present with us and within creation. God is not a physical object or person that can be located in time and space right now (he was in Jesus when he walked on the Earth, but not right now). God is more than even the universe. He is beyond time and space. He is Spirit. Throughout the Bible people have experienced God as Spirit. In Genesis 1:2 (Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.) the Holy Spirit is present and involved in the creation of the universe.
Judy told us at her lake house on of her favorite things to do is sit on her porch and watch the trees blow in the wind. She doesn't actually see the wind but she sees the trees moving which is witness to the wind blowing. The Holy Spirit is like the wind-- you can't see it but you know that it is real by the effect it has on other things. The Spirit moves like the wind. Jesus talked about this in John 3:8- "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." One image then that we have of the Holy Spirit is wind. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Breath of God. The Hebrew word for breath is ruach which also means wind. In Genesis 2:7 it says: "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Breath is a special kind of wind; it gives life. When we stop breathing our life here on Earth is gone. God breathed into each of us the breath of life, and breathed into us his Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is known as wind, as the breath of God and one other image-- Fire. The flame of a candle is real, has great power but no substance, no mass, no weight, yet it is still very real. After Jesus' death and resurrection the Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples as tongues of fire. In Acts 2:1-4 we read: .... Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a vviolent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. The saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." Wind, breath and fire-- all images for the Holy Spirit-- ways to help us understand One who comes in various ways.
The Holy Spirit was involved in Creation and also involved in people's lives throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came to particular people at particular times for particular tasks to give power to do something for God. Look at Exodus 31:1-5 and Judges 15:14-15 for two examples of this. We also see in Ezekiel 36:26-27 that God promises that the Holy Spirit will come to all people. In several passages in the New Testament we see how the Holy Spirit was very active. See Luke 3:16, Luke 3:22, and Luke 4:1. We also see in the Bible how the Holy Spirit worked through the Disciples and Paul to tell people about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is God with us, to guide, counsel, give courage and hope, to give us faith, to empower us to do great things for God, to comfort us and to correct us when we have sinned.
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