Dear Cornerstone brothers and sisters,
Greetings in the name of the Lord. This week you have been on my heart and in my prayers. Also, this week may we be reminded of Paul’s command to us in Gal 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Just as Christ bore our ultimate burden – the burden of sin, judgment, condemnation, and the wrath that we deserve – so we are to bear one another’s burdens. We are to walk side by side as the body of Christ day in and day out, week in and week out!
Spring is a busy time in the life of our church – please note the events and dates below:
1. Men’s breakfast this Saturday (5/11) at Denny’s on Gessner b/w 249 and Mills Rd. We will meet at 9:00am. Men, please take a moment to read through Isaiah 6; and consider how the holiness of God is to affect our worship and Christian service!
2. Ladies’ fellowship. The ladies will gather next Thursday night (5/16) at 7:00pm at the Mamacitas at Hwy 6 & 290. Please mark your calendars for this time of fun, food, and fellowship. More info to come!
3. Church Picnic. Our spring picnic will be next Saturday (5/18) at the McDonald’s home. Their address is 36914 Anglers Way, Pinehurst, TX, 77362. They have a pool – so bring some swimming gear!! They will provide hamburgers and hotdogs, but we will need families to help with sides, drinks, and desserts. The picnic will start at 3:00pm – so plan to join us!!!
4. This week’s devotional is a reflection on the often misunderstood third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit. I pray it would be a blessing and a challenge to us all.
From the Pastor’s Desk
Mid-week Devotional
“The Holy Spirit”
John 16:14, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
It seems everyone these days is ‘spiritual.’ How often do we hear so-and-so is a spiritual person? But what exactly does that mean? What does it mean to be spiritual? Does believing in a higher being qualify one as spiritual? The question we want to ask, however, is this: what does it mean to be spiritual in a Biblical sense (e.g. 1 Cor 2:13; Eph 1:3; Col 1:9)? Or to ask a more fundamental question: what is the purpose and function of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us insight into this question in his Upper Room Discourse of John 14-16. Specifically, in chapter 16 Jesus speaks of his ‘going away’ (v. 7); and in fact, he states that his ‘going away’ (referring to his Ascension) is to the disciples’ advantage! And why is it to their advantage? Jesus tells us: “If I go, I will send him to you” (v. 7b). In other words, it is to our advantage that Jesus ascend to heaven where he presently reins as our glorious King; because as the risen and ascended King he pours out his Spirit – his representative agent – on the church!
Now that the Spirit has been poured out on the church … what is it that he does? What is the Spirit’s primary function as Christ’s representative agent in the church? Again, Jesus tells us: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (v. 14). Put simply, the primary function of the Spirit is to give glory to the Son. The Spirit’s primary function is to exalt the Son – to shine on the Son. To use a metaphor, the Spirit is like a great spotlight shining on Jesus Christ. In future devotions, we will consider a few of the ways in which the Spirit does this; but for our purposes in this study, the over-arching truth to consider is the Spirit’s primary function of pointing away from himself to Jesus Christ.
There are at least two applications that I will make from this truth – and in so doing we will return to our original question of what it means to be spiritual: first, to those involved in church leadership positions. Let me ask you this question: do you consider your church to be a Spirit-filled church? If the answer is yes; then the next question to ask is this: is Christ front and center in your worship? Is the worship focused on Christ – who he is and what he did? Is there more talk and focus on the Spirit or on the glory and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ? A truly spiritual church and worship service will be preoccupied and consumed with the glory of Christ! And second, we can follow the same line of reasoning when reflecting on our individual lives? Those who are truly spiritual in the Biblical sense are those who make much of Christ! Their lives are filled with Christ! Their conversation is filled with Christ! To put it plainly, if the Holy Spirit is powerfully present in the life of a Christian, then his time, conversation, and focus will not be first and foremost on the Spirit; but rather his time, conversation, and focus will be centered on his Lord and Savior. Oh dear readers, may we be a truly Spiritual people; that is, may we be consumed with and dominated by the glory of our King – Jesus Christ!!
God bless,
Pastor Robert