SUMMER IN THE SPIRIT: SPIRIT ON YOUR SIDE!

We hope you are having a spectacular summer!  We pray that you are encouraged and blessed as you enjoy the change of pace in the summer months.  There is a local news program, “5 On Your Side.”  Their goal is to “come alongside” of people who are struggling with wrongs, injustice, or unfair treatment and help them find a remedy.  These programs can bring to bear the power of the public spotlight, the expertise that the individual cannot afford, or seek the involvement of local officials to address the need.  Most of all, when everything works as it should, they bring greater power to those who are powerless. The new program becomes an advocate for those who are struggling.  Our summer sermon series is Summer in the Spirit, and the sermon for this week is The Spirit On Your Side!  Our scripture is John 14:15-27.  Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death and resurrection, but they cannot fully understand what he is saying. After the first Easter they begin to understand these words in an entirely new light, especially the last words of verse 27:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27b)  We are many centuries removed from when Jesus spoke to his disciples but these words are no less true and far more powerful because we have experienced resurrection power in our hearts and lives!  However, most of us still experience troubled hearts and fear!  It is clear that Jesus spoke these words to every believer so that they would find that the Holy Spirit is on their side.  More than this, the Spirit is the source to find the strength of a powerful peace for every circumstance.  If we will incorporate these words more fully into our lives, then we will experience hope and joy even amid turmoil and fear!  We pray that this Spirit that the Father has sent at the request of the risen Jesus will fill your heart to overcome the deepest fear, to challenge the hardest regret, and forgive the darkest moment in your life as you read John 14:15-27:

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.