God-Centered in a God-Ignoring World

Jesus told the disciples that when the Spirit of truth comes “He will guide you into all the truth…He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and disclose it to you” (John 16:13-14).  Whatever it means for a people of God to be present in a community in the name of Jesus the Holy Spirit will make clear.  He is the Guide.  He is the One who, in the midst of God’s people, takes what Jesus has given and discloses it to the people of Jesus.  He will guide the people “into all the truth,” about what it means for Jesus to be who He is and what it means for Him to be in the midst of a people who call Him Lord.

All that the presence of the Holy Spirit means is focused toward glorifying Jesus.  As the people of God we are present to be guided by the Spirit to take what Jesus has given us and to use it as the source and foundation of our being faithful in this place at this time.  True to the Spirit, we also seek to glorify Jesus.  This is our mission, and it is our passion.

If someone asks you what the church is supposed to be doing just tell him or her that we are here to glorify Jesus.  We are here to be a recipient Christian community, who takes what we are given by God and then lives here in faithfulness to God and His Word.  That is why we worship and give ourselves to hearing and obeying the Word of God.  That is the context in which we fellowship and live out the implications of being a God-centered people in a God-ignoring world.

The key to our being present for God is for us to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit’s presence.  He knows what Jesus has, takes of it and then guides us into all the truth concerning it.   We are a Jesus-glorifying community because the Spirit is the Jesus-glorifying Spirit of God among us.