Dear Friends in Christ, I am privileged to serve on the Advisory board of Candler School of Theology on the campus of Emory University. Recently, I attended a meeting where we heard about a new piece of technology that the seminary had invested in. It was a million-dollar, high-tech machine that Dr. Davis Chappell could scan a thousand-page volume in a manner of minutes and send it across the globe. The digitalization of information staggers the mind. As we continue our study in the book of Acts, this piece of technology seems to me to be an appropriate analogy for the work of the Holy Spirit. In a sense, the Holy Spirit digitalizes the person and work of Jesus Christ and enables the Gospel to become infinitely available and transferable across all human barriers. The Holy Spirit is the spiritual technology through which God enables the good news to extend to the ends of the earth. This technology is not an extra for super-spiritual people. It is standard to the Christian faith. When we initiate a person into the kingdom of God, we baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a second blessing. When Jesus Christ is Lord of one's life, the Holy Spirit prepares, endows and equips us with gifts and fruit that contribute to the advance of God's kingdom. Wesley would say that along with prevenient grace (grace before conversion), and converting grace, God gives sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is the continued work of the Holy Spirit in our lives enabling us to live like, and look like Jesus Christ.
That's a lifelong process. As we continue to consider what it means to be a Spirit-led people, may God find within us a submissive heart and a deep desire to be digitalize into service! Finally, it was good to welcome new members Jack and Janis Meyer, Steve and Trudy Johnson, Eric and Mandy Grau, Sherre Chappell, Brett and Anne Peaks, Mary Chappell, Joseph and Roberta Daws, Tom and Judy Walton, Jeffrey and Tiffany McDougal, and Jeremy and Tonya Meadows. Welcome to our church community. See you Sunday!
Davis