Westcity Church

The biblical backdrop for this series is John 16 and the Nicene Creed.

John 16:7
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

John 16:13-15
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak only what he hears; and he will make known to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and make it known to you. All that the Father has is mine, and that is why I said, “He will take what is mine and make it known to you.”

Nicene Creed
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.

Context

The first thing to say is that the Holy Spirit is God, not a “presence”, or even as some have suggested, the “love” between the Father and Son. He is the third person of the Trinity, identified in the beginning Genesis narrative and active throughout scripture.
In both the Old and New Testament the metaphor of wind is used to describe his freedom and majesty, the Hebrew word rauch in the old and pneuma in the new. He is unfettered, powerful yet gentle.

The second, as John 16 attests, is that He is deeply involved in life in all its aspects and complexities. He is with us and is working on our behalf even when we don’t fully understand how. And when He works He is unlimited (Eph 1: 19-20, Rom 8:11).

In Peterson’s words, “Resurrection is the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus, raising him from the dead and presenting him before the disciples; resurrection is also the work of the Holy Spirit in those of us who believe in and follow Jesus."

Sarah Coakley beautifully says, “The Spirit, then, is what interrupts the fallen worldly order and infuses it with the divine question, the divine lure, the divine life.

The third thing is that the Holy Spirit is also a mystery. No matter how close and how deep we go in knowing Him, we will still have vast unreached depths to plumb. But that shouldn’t stop us getting closer and going deeper, and we will experience unreached treasures of every kind if we will make knowing him our life’s quest. In fact, human life is only truly life when we are doing so.

Teaching Goals:
This series aims to:
1) Invite people into thinking deeply about who the Holy Spirit is to them, to the faith community and to the world.
2) Each week highlight how we can respond honestly to the conversation with the Spirit that the message has invited us into.
3) Motivate listeners to memorise scriptures that speak into their spiritual life.
4) Encourage the Westcity community that following Jesus is not a Sunday thing, but an everyday authentic conversation that leads to worship in words, songs and action.