Jan. 2: Ignoring Pentecost/ Ignoring God

 As Christians, many of us have the main themes of Scripture down...at least for the most part.  We understand that God is Creator of all things.  We find it easy to accept that Jesus was born of a virgin.  And, for the most part, we understand the Cross and Jesus' resurrection, and what those events mean for us. 

However, many of us tend to overlook what happened after the resurrection of Jesus, and probably have spent very little time thinking about His ascension into heaven and the gift that God has given to us.  I am talking about the Holy-Spirit.  Many of us live life in such a way where we ignore Pentecost (Pentecost was the day when the Holy-Spirit was poured out upon the early church).  And, especially as Reformed Christians, we tend to leave the Holy-Spirit out of our worldview. 

Here's the deal:  Whenever we ignore the Holy-Spirit we ignore God.  Whenever we leave the Holy-Spirit out we are leaving God out, since the Holy-Spirit is God.  This has HUGE consequences for us, especially our prayer life.  It is only through the Holy-Spirit that we can have a direct relationship with God.  This is exactly what Jesus tells the Samaritan woman in John 4:21-24.  He says in one part of that passage:  "True worshipers will worship the Father in the SPIRIT and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the SPIRIT and in truth."  In the past, He says, people worshiped and prayed only in temples.  Now, though, people can come directly to God because the Holy-Spirit is meeting people where they are at. 

Who does the Father seek?  Those who worship in the Spirit and in truth. 

Do you worship in Spirit and in truth?  Do you worship truly in the Spirit of God?  Shouldn't that be one of your concerns, especially since God seeks out people who worship and pray in this way?

What would it look like if our whole youth group prayed and worshiped in this way?    

What does it look like to worship truly in the Spirit of God?  Find out next week. 

Check out this video:

Mark Driscoll


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewv2eMABvYo