Sermon Synopsis for September 14, 2008

“Keeping In Step With the Spirit” – Galatians 5:16-25 (Romans 12:11)
A healthy church has passionate spirituality.

The story is told …
A Catholic church was on fire. The priest risked his life to save the communion host and the crucifix.

Sometime later a Synagogue caught fire. The rabbi braved the flames to save the torah.

Not long after that a Mennonite church was burning. At first the pastor didn’t believe the news (“When has our church ever been on fire?”). When he realized it was an actual fire, he went in to save the coffeepot!

Did you hear what the firefighter said when the church caught on fire?
Holy Smoke!

A church fire is no joke; it’s a tragedy (Recently a sister church, Conestoga Mennonite burned).

Four times the Maple Grove building burned. (Oct 1922, 1940, May 1952, and Dec 1967)
Kevin King, Executive Director of Mennonite Disaster Services told us that the last fire at MG inspired him to minister with people in disaster situations.

A building fire is a tragedy, but a church on fire is what God wants.

I want to focus on passionate spirituality.

A HEALTHY CHURCH
We want to be healthy; we want our church to be healthy.

I am in the midst of a series of sermons centering on being a “healthy church” from the Natural Church Development study.

The study discovered 8 characteristics common to healthy churches. We have looked at two specific points.

First, a healthy church has leadership (at all levels) that empowers every member for ministry, and Spiritual Gift centered ministry. In healthy churches, the leaders encourage and empower the members to be ministers of Jesus Christ.

Second, a healthy church has spiritual gift centered ministry. When we become Christians (accept Christ) each of us receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to do the ministry of Christ, not in our own strength, but in the power of God.

Now, I want to look at a third characteristic of a healthy church. A healthy church has “passionate spirituality.”

PASSIONATE SPIRITUALITY

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase passionate spirituality?

Perhaps you remember a time in your life when you first became a Christian.
You realized that God loves you unconditionally; you just couldn't get enough Bible study.

Perhaps passionate spirituality makes you think of people you know who are still excited about their Christian faith. They're always talking about it, even though they have been believers for years. Their eyes light up when they talk about their faith.

People get passionate about many things: football (Go Eagles!), hunting, quilting, etc.
You can see the passion in their eyes when they talk about it.

So what about passionate spirituality?

Passionate spirituality has less to do with strong emotions and more to do with "the degree to which faith is actually lived out with commitment, passion, and enthusiasm." When it comes to passionate spirituality, we need to ask: "Are the Christians in this church 'on fire?' Do we live committed lives and practice our faith with joy and enthusiasm?"

It certainly makes sense that if church members are living out their faith with commitment and passion, the church would be growing. Faithful discipleship is contagious. How can you measure passion? How do you measure Spirituality? It’s the kind of thing you know is there, by the effects it causes (in your life, and in the lives of those around you).

PASSIONATE SPIRITUALITY IN GALATIANS CHAPTER 5

The Apostle Paul visited the region of Galatia on his first missionary journey. A number of new churches were established.

Afterwards, many people came urging the Galatian Christians to modify their faith by submitting to all the Jewish laws and regulations.

Much of the letter Paul wrote later is dedicated to understanding: Legalism vs. freedom in Christ

Some used that freedom to mean, “We can do anything we want as long as we call ourselves Christian”

Paul lets us know that we are “Free in Christ” but that our freedom cannot be used to “indulge the sinful nature” (5:13).

The young churches in Galatia – central Turkey in today's world – had been deceived by some theologically confused Christians who had taught them that faith in Jesus wasn't enough. If you really want to experience God, they said, then you have to keep the whole Jewish law, especially the ceremonial parts. Legalism was their path to passionate spirituality.

Legalism continues to lure many Christians today. It's a trap we easily fall into.

People come to God through Christ, receiving salvation by grace through faith.

But then someone comes along to tell them that if they really want to have a relationship with God, they have to do all sorts of things to earn God's favor. The Christian life becomes a long list of things to do, and especially things not to do.

Soon, people who began their life in Christ with a passion for him and his mission become weighed down with endless dos and don'ts, and the life of Christ gets sucked out of them. That's what was happening with the Galatians

LIVE BY THE SPIRIT

In response, Paul pointed to a new way of living, something he might well have called passionate spirituality.

"Live by the Spirit," he wrote in Galatians 5:16, "and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (flesh)."

V. 16 – “Live” = Greek “peripateite” literally “walk” or “move forward” It means “continually live.

Passionate Spirituality is not something we “have” (like something on a check list or grocery list), it’s something we “live.”

v.16 continues – “and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

This is not a promise, but a result. By living “passionate spirituality” you will not fall into sin. Do you want to be sure you don’t give in to temptation? Don’t focus on the sin; focus on your spiritual walk.

Maybe someone once said, “Don’t think about elephants.” (you’re thinking about them aren’t you?)

The more you live by the spirit, the less you will be given to sin. Focus!

BE LED BY THE SPIRIT

v. 18 – “led” = be guided by. This implies something outside ourselves.

What will that be? The Judiazers suggested it should be the Law.

Paul tells them it should be the Spirit of God.

The result of being guided by the Spirit is that there is no need for the law. If God is in control, why do you need a set of regulations? Paul is saying, “Ask God, don’t consult a rule book.”

GENUINE SPIRITUALITY

Spirituality is in. People want to be spiritual (not religious). Mystical transcendence, meaningful living, eastern meditation, motivational talks, crystals, incense, etc. are all used to find higher meaning.

For a Christian, Spirituality must begin with the “Spirit.” It is Spirit (or God) centered.

Spirituality is living each day in the power of God’s Spirit who dwells in us.

Paul tells us that the more you live in the Spirit, the less you will engage in the so-called works of the flesh, including (Paul liked to make lists): "fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing" (vss. 19-21).

On the contrary, as you live in the Spirit of God, you'll find that your life is increasingly characterized by what Paul calls the "fruit of the Spirit": "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (vss. 22-23).

True spirituality, therefore, isn't something hidden away in our souls. It impacts how we live in relationship with others: offering love, seeking peace, treating folks with patience, kindness, generosity and the like.

GPS AND GOD’S SPIRIT

I showed the children a GPS device. It took them a while to figure out what it was. Once we identified the device as a GPS, they knew exactly what it was and what it did (It belongs to their generation).

The GPS reminds us of what God wants to do for us.
Psalm 23:3 “He guides me in paths of righteousness” (NIV)

Maybe you’ve heard the story (from an insurance agent) of the man whose car was pulled out of a river – the GPS told him to turn. (The Spirit is a perfect GPS device; properly used, it won’t lead you astray)

When we become a Christian, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is a little like a GPS device. As we pay attention to the Spirit, we receive divine guidance for our actions.
Guided to help others, guided to teach, guided to serve on a commission, etc.

KEEPING IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT

Galatians 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."

“keep in step” = greek “stoichomen” = advance, go forward. It implies movement.
Life with the spirit is not stagnant.

We can see God walking ahead of us, leading us. We are keeping up, going the right path.
Children do this sort of thing on the beach. You' may see a dad walking across the sand, leaving large footprints as he walks. Then, several feet behind, a little boy will be following along, stretching his legs in order to put his feet in the footprints of his daddy. Similarly, we can be led by the Holy Spirit, who shows us where to step, helping us to walk in God's ways each day.

Keeping in step with the Spirit means not falling too far behind or getting too far ahead of God.

PAYING ATTENTION TO THE GRAMMAR

verse 16 – you “live by the spirit” (singular)
verse 18 – you “be led by the spirit” (singular)
verse 25 – “we live by the spirit” “let us keep in step with the spirit” (plural)

The greek word (stoichomen = keep in step) is plural and has the meaning of unity, “together” we keep in step with the spirit.

To be in step with God, we need to be in step with other Christians who are also “in step” with God. It is the spirit that keeps us together.

Spiritual passion is not just an individual thing. To be effective, it must involve the whole church.

A CIRCUS STORY
Some people have a real passion for the circus … it excites them …

The story is told …
Years ago, the circus came to town. Bobby went into town to see the circus. His dad gave him a dollar to see the circus. Bobby rode his bike into town, and watched the circus parade – there was lots of excitement, it was an amazing thing. There were clowns at the end of the parade. Bobby went up to the last one, handed him the dollar, and raced home to tell everyone about the circus.

But Bobby hadn’t seen the circus, he only saw the parade.

Bobby needed to follow the parade to the show – where the real excitement and joy is.

How about you? Are you watching the parade? Or have you joined the circus.

How is your walk with the Lord?
Does walking with God excite you?
What is guiding you?
Are you in step with the Spirit or are you going your own way?

God wants you to follow the Spirit to the eternal circus.