We Are The Community That Glorifies

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

 

Gathered, we proclaim.
Dispersed, we proclaim.

"This is what God is like."
"This is what God has done."

Gathered, we become us,
Proclaiming, "Come and see."

Dispersed, we remain us,
Proclaiming through life and word,
"He came and saved!"

Though distorted by sin,
The whole Earth is filled
With God's singular, astounding glory.
Refracted through creation's variety,
Glory sings God's divinity and power.
Reflected by his people,
Through brokenness made whole,
Glory declares God's amazing grace.

Gathered or dispersed,
We are his people.
We are the ones who trust and obey.

We trust Jesus, God himself, who came
Robed in flesh.

We obey the Spirit, God himself, who has come,
Indwelling our hearts and our community.

We are the community that glorifies.

Trust the Spirit

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

Key Passages: Ephesians 1:13–14; 1:15-23; 2:11–22; 3:1-6; 3:14-19; 4:1-6; 4:17-24; 4:30–32; 5:15-21; 6:10-20

 

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 ESV

 

God has given us a tall order: Love God, love people, and teach others to do the same. We cannot do this alone.

We need the Spirit. We need one another.

Let us pay attention to the Spirit. First, let’s recognize that the Spirit is God among us. He is the one who binds us to Christ and one another. Second, let’s seek him out and learn to recognize his voice and differentiate it from the pizza we had last night. As a community of siblings, let us engage Scripture with an ear to the Spirit and remain open to giving one another the gifts of instruction and correction.

Let us obey the Spirit’s illumination of Scripture. This side of heaven, we always understand through a glass darkly. We need to partner with the Spirit, who helps us see what matters. After working alongside the Spirit to understand the ideas and priorities in a passage, talk with other believers to get their take.  In doing this, we train ourselves to recognize his voice and distinguish it from all other voices--including our own. And because Scripture is the voice of God in written text, understanding must be followed by trustful obedience.

Let us trust the Spirit to tune our focus on Jesus. Paying attention to the Spirit and recognizing his illumination of Scripture are the means to a glorious end: seeking Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith. We trust the Spirit to train us as individuals and as a community to distinguish Jesus from the false gods held up before us by the world, our desires, and the forces of evil. The Spirit works to maintain our focus on Jesus, conforming us into his image and beautifying us as his Bride.

Only by trusting the Spirit can we fulfill our mission as TFB, for the Spirit takes our individual capacities and creates a community of love and faith that goes out into God’s world and declares his glory. Trusting the Spirit, we are equipped to communicate the good news of Jesus in ways that are clear to family, friends, and neighbors.

 

Following the Spirit in Mission

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

Key Passage: Ephesians 6:10-20

Supplementary Passages: Matthew 28

 

The world is messy; parts of it are downright evil. Amid the mess, God is at work, God is good, and God is in control.

Let us make disciples amid the mess. In the context of this mess, our God-given mission remains to make disciples, and God’s enemy opposes this mission. But the battle belongs to God, and he has supplied us with the necessary defensive and offensive equipment. Our part is to take up this equipment and be in constant, trusting contact with the Spirit.

On our own, we are too weak. Our human weapons do not work. Our only option is putting on the new humanity and taking up the armor of God. We must also gain skill in the Word of God and maintain constant prayer. Then we can minister alongside the Spirit in the context of this battlefield.

Let us follow the Spirit. As those who follow the Spirit, we remain watchful to the point of sleeplessness. We study and think together to increase our understanding of God and his ways. We learn to consider others as more important than ourselves. We increasingly rely on the Spirit, who makes us able.

As those who follow the Spirit, we pray as worship, proclaiming God’s wonder and works back to him. We fill the gaps in knowledge that our prayers have exposed. We trust the Spirit to help us sharpen and teach one another. We realize that no one of us is sufficient to display before the world God’s amazing glory and grace.

As those who follow the Spirit, we pray out of need. We know our perspectives need correction. We come to see that we all have needs and that Jesus is willing and able to help in time of need. We stand alongside any brother or sister whose life has made worship difficult. We rely on God and one another as we together live out the great variety of gifts the Spirit has given.

As those who follow the Spirit, we stand for truth. We see that all truth is God’s truth, for he is the creator and ruler of all. We submit to the Spirit, for only in him can we know and do the truth.

As those who follow the Spirit, we wield Scripture as God’s chosen weapon. We come to trust the Spirit’s illumination of Scripture, and we know that we cannot stand against the darkness unless we partner with him.

Let us be on mission with the Spirit. The mission is not optional, nor is it cozy.  But Jesus commanded his followers to join his mission. Father and Son sent the Spirit to fill, enable, teach, guide, and partner with us on this mission. As we obey the Spirit, we partner with him and carry out God’s mission in this messy world.

 

Choose to Follow the Spirit

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D

Key Passage: Ephesians 5:15-21

Supplementary Passages:  John 14:15-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 12:7–11, 12–27; Romans 12:4–8; 1 Peter 2:4–5 ; 4:10–11; Ephesians 4:15–16

 

Decision-making can be hard, leading us to take shortcuts. We look to ourselves and make choices based on preferences or guesses or culture rather than God and his wisdom. We give control to lesser things. Continually looking to ourselves leaves us with an increasingly dulled ability to see God’s point of view. Choosing just gets harder.

 

Handing over control. Giving control to lesser things, to that which dulls our capacities, is foolish self-indulgence. Our God-given mission to make disciples is too important for us to waste time trusting ourselves when we could be trusting the Spirit. Wisdom is found in obeying Jesus, who commands us to live wisely by submitting to the Spirit, the one who gives, empowers, and guides our abilities as we do God’s work in the world.

 

Outcomes of trust. Continually giving the Spirit control aligns our praise and gratitude with Christ and his mission. It helps us encourage and submit to our fellow believers. When we give control over to the Spirit, he changes our thinking, feeling, and doing. He makes gratitude a way of life. He teaches us to worship God from the core of our being, whether alone or gathered with our fellow believers. He teaches us to address one another in words that bring God glory and to submit to our brothers and sisters, even when it’s hard.

 

So, whether faced with simple choices or impossible decisions, let us hit pause on seeking our own wisdom, and seek God’s face together. Let us submit together to the Spirit, who opens up our capacity in Christ, enabling us to make wise decisions toward missional actions. Let us partner with the Spirit, putting his grace gifts to good use in our life together as the body of Christ at TFB. Let each of us and all of us together take up the responsibility to follow the Spirit’s commands, while teaching one another to do so.

 

God the Spirit Makes us Able

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

 

Key Passage: Ephesians 3:14-19

 

“…that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…”

 

The world seems out of control. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of whatever issue, there are those whose beliefs and actions seem to mess everything up. It's hard to find stable ground. But all is not as it seems, for God is always in control: he is always right here with us, in us, and among us.         

         

On-mission. Whatever is happening, the Spirit helps us remain steadfast and on-mission. As we rely on him, we can follow Jesus in the messiness of the dailies. As the Spirit strengthens us, we can carry out God's mission, for he gives our small actions influence and effectiveness beyond what we could ever imagine.         

         

Shining goodness. The Spirit develops each believer's heart, helping each to live faithfully and well. As we trust him, he helps us to shine goodness amid the darkness. He strengthens us and helps us to live out our identity in Christ. Every faithful, Jesus glorifying action that we take or word that we say flows from our Spirit-indwelt hearts.      

         

So, when everything seems out of control, the Spirit reminds us that God is always in control and that he always gives us the ability to trust and obey.    

         

So, let us follow the Spirit as he works within our life together in Christ, helping us to embody Jesus in the context of our messy world. Let us follow him as he helps us to comprehend the immensity of Jesus' mission and the realities of our context. Let us follow him as he helps us to understand and feel God's love for us so we might, in turn, love others. Let us follow him as he makes it possible for us to joyfully obey the Father in all that we do and say.         

         

The world may be out of control, but God is always in control, and we are always in him.

 

The Spirit Renews our Minds

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

Key Passage: Ephesians 4:17-24

 

 Humanity is amazing. Just think about it: pyramids, going to the moon, farming, Shakespeare. The list is endless. Yet these accomplishments can feel insufficient. We can enjoy all the fantastic ideas and inventions of humanity, spend lifetimes with friends and family, enjoy nature, and make a lasting contribution yet still feel like there should be more.

 

The Need. Truth is, without new life in Christ, the human mind is futile. It is burdened by a lifeless soul. It is stretched in too many directions to count. It is pounded by conflicting messages from every side. On top of all that, the human mind is futile because it cannot know anything beyond what it can perceive or conceive. Indeed, apart from Christ, the human mind is both incapable of knowing eternal truth and stubbornly resistant to it.

 

The Solution. Only life in Christ by the Spirit can fill this need. Christ is life, and all begins with him. The Spirit renews the mind, and his renewing work develops the Christian’s capacity for godly understanding, reasoning, and valuing. He gives us the ability to understand the truth that is in Jesus. He enables us to practice eternal thinking and reasoning. He aligns our values with the values of God, reorienting our minds toward God and the good of the other.

 

Our Part. Brothers and sisters, futility of mind is not the way we learned Christ. Therefore, let us submit to the Spirit and put on the new self. Let us partner with the Spirit as he carries out his continuing work within us. Let us cooperate with him by engaging Scripture, reasoning through God’s truth and its implications, and orienting our values and responses accordingly. Let us cast off the dead weight of the old self by putting on the new self. Let us counter the constant barrage of conflicting messages by considering the truth he reveals.

 

As we go forward in the Spirit, let us reject complacency and strive toward what is true and right and good, thinking clearly about God and partnering with the Spirit in the company of our Christian siblings.

The Spirit Makes Us God’s Dwelling Place

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

Key Passage(s): Ephesians 2:11-22

Supplementary Passage(s): Isaiah 28:16; 1Corinthians 3:10-17

 

God’s dwelling place has never been bricks and mortar. He has always dwelt among his people. But once Jesus came, lived, died, rose, and ascended, something changed: where God once dwelt with his people, he now dwells in us. The community of those who trust Jesus is and is becoming the dwelling place of God.

 

This dwelling place is built on the foundation of the good news of Jesus, written down in the words of Scripture. It is held up by and measured against Jesus himself, for he is the cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10-17). The Spirit who dwells within us also works in and with us to build us from the inside. So, if a church intends to look and act like God's dwelling place, we who are the church must choose to live by the Spirit, tending our lives toward him, submitting to him, and partnering with him.

 

Tend toward the Spirit. Let us tend toward the Spirit by reminding ourselves that he is God with us, forming us to become the church Jesus saves us to be. Let us remember that the Spirit teaches us Jesus through the Bible and our brothers and sisters. Let us learn Jesus with all that we are in the company of our sisters and brothers in Christ. Let us learn to recognize the Spirit’s voice by slowing down to listen and testing each prompting against the Bible and in conversation with our fellow believers.

 

Submit to the Spirit. Let us submit to the Spirit’s tools and methods and set ours aside. Let us submit to his design for the structure of the whole and for how each individual believer functions in the context of the unity that is in Jesus.

 

Partner with the Spirit. If the dwelling place is to be a sound structure, we who are its living stones must submit to the Designer. Let us partner with the Spirit and one another to develop and live out our calling as the dwelling place of God in the world.