Malcolm Potts May 22nd 2016 ~ Gift of the Spirit

Today is our AMEP.  It will be held in the church at 11:30am.  It does not need to be a long meeting since the business is very simple this year.  It is great when many people come.  Your interest encourages the church staff greatly, it also affirms the new Parish Council who give their time and skills to lead a significant-sized ship.  I give thanks to God for them.  I would encourage you to thank and pray for them too.As we have been teaching around the early chapters of Acts, we have encountered the bible's revelation of the Holy Spirit.When I became a Christian at 22, my experience of church and discipleship was rationalistic and intellectual.  The bible was a collection of scriptures to be studied academically.  This was a great start for me.  When it came to the Holy Spirit, he was taught ‘about’ - someone to be known about and studied but never a person to be encountered.In the Hebrew Scriptures, truth is understood in two ways: truth as knowledge as well as truth as experience - that, I-know-this-in-my-knower type of truth. God was more than a thing to be known about.Since Pentecost, He who dwelt among us now dwells in us by his Holy Spirit, Person to be experienced, lived with, alongside.  The Holy Spirit in the gospels descended on Jesus as a dove.  A dove is not a pigeon.  A dove is a flight bird.  When it is frightened or offended it flies away.  Our experience of the Holy Spirit is similar. Those who quietly cultivate a relationship tend to be the ones who are aware of their experience of his empowering presence.In recent weeks, during the 9.30am service, we have experienced manifestations of the Holy Spirit in languages other than English.  This is described in scripture as “a gift of the Spirit”,  yet the bible is clear that it is "the least of all the spiritual gifts". Why? Because the Spirit’s gifts - healing, prophecy, helps etc. - are for the building up of the church.  Tongues can confuse, frighten, even lead people to worship the gift not the Giver, which is why some churches decry it.1 Corinthians 12-14 teaches very clearly about spiritual gifts, especially the problem of tongues.  The theme of these chapters is the building up the body of Christ - do all things to lovingly build up the body; put the brakes on things that tear it down.Some people [even unlikely ones] at St Philips have the gift of tongues.  It is a gift; it does not make them superspiritual in any way.  It is the least of the gifts because it can be so divisive but it is still a gift from God.At St Philips we welcome all the gifts of God's Spirit but we do so as his instruments, to build up the body.If manifestations like tongues concern or frighten you, do not be diminished.  James or I would love to sit with you and normalise this gift by looking at scripture together.  If you want to see how the gifts are to be used, 1 Cor 12-14 is very clear on the issue and is the template for this church.If you are saying, “More, more, more”, calm down and focus on your role of submitting to Christ and building up the body through love and service.Expect to hear more on these issues as the Acts of the Holy Spirit continue to unfold.BlessingsMalcolm