Small, Local, Holy Spirit....

Well, welcome back me!Thank you for your welcome home. Many have asked how I enjoyed Israel. It was a 15 out of 10 experience - absolutely fantastic! Being with a Pastor who loves Jesus and is a trained archaeologist was amazing. Having a hotel room about 50 metres from where Jesus died and was resurrected was surreal!So, what was the main thing I learned? Three simple words: Small, Local and Holy Spirit.Let me explain briefly.Small: The Jerusalem city walls, porticos and temple of Jesus’ day were so imposingly immense they conveyed an unmistakeable message of power and authority. The whole infrastructure was threatening. While the temple was a Jewish thing, it was really all about Rome - they'd allowed it and to some extent funded it. The New Testament isn't interested in the power politics and economic drivers of Palestine but I think we should be. Why? Because it shows us just how inconsequential Jesus was, how small, how unimportant. To walk through the gates up, up, up onto the temple mount and announce your Messiahship was like a mosquito announcing it is about to tear your house down. Small -amazingly inconsequentially small - was God's way of introducing his salvation plan.Local: The builder from Nazareth (what good could come from there?), alias the Son of God, chose to spend two thirds of his ministry time in the boondocks. He also chose small villages where Peter, James and John at least made him welcome. From there he spent most of his time in the triad: Capernaum - home base; Chorazin, a few kilometres away; and Bethsaida about the same distance away.Peter's house operated like a small business community and Jesus became a part of it. He just changed the business from fishing for fish to fishing for people. A lot to think about there. The neighbours were right next door -no big gardens. The synagogue in this small Jewish town is 40 paces from Peter's house - paces not metres. The lakefront where Jesus invited Peter and the others to follow him and change history eternally is 70 paces from Peter's house. The work God has for you and me is probably local. The tools we need to be Christian must work in our own households and for the people in the streets where we live. It's a local venture.Holy Spirit: As I considered the momentous obstacles Jesus faced to be noticed let alone heard, as I considered the inevitable preoccupation with life, the economy, the political situation etc. etc., it became blindingly apparent that, if God is going to be treated as God and is going to rule in people's hearts, and if our lives are to have any quality of his love and joy, he will have to do it. It is all a work of God's Holy Spirit.Those are three thoughts for today.Several people have asked me to share some insights while they are fresh. My immediate response is, "Not the slide night!" However, if folk would like some reflection on a few spiritual highlights with some pictures and an opportunity to ask questions of interest to you, I suggest we meet in the church next Tuesday 11th June at 7:45pm for an hour or so.Good to be back. Have been praying for you all.In Jesus' AdventureMalcolm