When I was young, my sister and I used to make bread. Nothing fancy. Quite the opposite. This bread had no yeast. It was just flour and water made into small buns about the size of a golf ball, baked in the oven and only edible if eaten when hot. To be honest, the only reason we ate it was because we had made it ourselves. If anyone else had given it to us we’d have spat it out! A bit of yeast would have made all the difference.
It only takes a small bit of yeast to make a large lump of inert dough rise. The arrival of Holy Spirit at the very beginning of the life of the Church was intended to have the same effect . Without the ‘yeast’ of Holy Spirit, the Church is an inert lump. With Holy Spirits active presence Church rises into life. (The same is true for us as individuals). Sadly, the church has often perfected the art of bread making without yeast and what it presents to the world is an inert lump.
The world deserves better. The world deserves an encounter with God. They have a right to have an encounter with Him. Actually, we have the right to give them that encounter. It is time to release the power of the ‘yeast’ that is already within us – the power of Holy Spirit in each one of us.
It’s at this point that many people suddenly feel inadequate, or unqualified. How do I release the power of Holy Spirit in a way that will give a not-yet-Christian an encounter with God? Let’s deal with this in two parts; what God says about you and secondly the practical issues.
In Colossians 1 v 12 it says “……The Father…..has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” A major part of that inheritance for us believers is being filled with Holy Spirit. Not sure how full you are? Ask Him now to fill you again. Takes seconds – can affect lifetimes. So now you are qualified.
In 2 Peter 1 it says ….“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life….” We often make the mistake of thinking “a godly life” means behaving, “being good”, keeping to a list of do’s and don’ts which the church prescribes. Actually it means so much more. It means to live like God lives. Ah yes, but we are only humans. Ok, so live like God lives when He lived on this earth in a body. Live like Jesus lived….and that is so much more than just being good or nice. Heal the sick, set the captives free, open blind eyes, raise the dead. Part of what Jesus came to do was show us how to live as humans full of and dependent on Holy Spirit in us. So we are qualified and equipped.
That wasn’t difficult.
The next step is to deal with the sense of inadequacy. The only way to do that is to try stepping out and then we discover that Holy Spirit in us is keener and quicker than even we are to work through us to reveal Jesus to those who don’t yet know Him.
We don’t need to have lots of theological answers, we just need to carry and release what is in us.
Christians can be the weirdest people on the planet! We have tried all sorts of tactics to “win people for Christ”. We have tried argument, being weirdly religious, dropping the name of Jesus into conversation at peculiar moments connected to nothing at all that the other person is saying. We have tried to persuade people to ‘go to church’ leaving them to think that Church is the answer, not Jesus. We have tried highlighting our own righteousness and correct belief system in order to show up the sin of ‘the world’. We have separated ourselves and then rushed to involve ourselves with social action schemes with an underlying message of emphasising that ‘we are different’ so that they will be driven to ask what makes us different. By and large they are not driven to ask. Maybe they have a good nose for weirdness? Jesus never had this problem – but then He wasn’t weird was He. Neither was He at all religious.
When people met Jesus they encountered first hand the powerful all consuming love of God for them. Nothing changed as the Church started life on earth, as we see in Acts. Paul sums it up later when he says ……“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,”
In the Firestarters Course which we will be running in Hexham starting in the week beginnining 13th Sept (exact day to be confirmed) we will be looking at how we can bring to people around us the encounter with God that they deserve to have, in ways that are easy, non confrontation and which allow people the opportunity to “taste and see” that God is Good, and that He is good to them.
I’m just going to finish with a super-quick story. I was in a cafe with a guy who was telling me that he had one leg shorter than the other and wore a build-up in his shoe to compensate. I offered to pray for his leg. He said yes. I got hold of his feet and prayed on the cafe floor for the short leg to grow – and it did. Why? Because of me? No. Because God is faithful, loving and He loves to reveal Himself and His majesty to people. What if I had bottled out? My sense of self preservation would have been more important than letting someone have a real encounter with Jesus who loves them. And I would never have had the pleasure of partnering with Him in what He loves doing.
It’s time to stop being an inert lump of dough. It’s time for the church to let the yeast of Holy Spirit rise up in and through us. Come to the Firestarters course and get kickstarted into and adventure.
- FIRE-STARTERS Course.
- Starting third week in September (exact day to be finalised)
- A practical ‘hands on’ course
- Plenty of opportunity for feedback and discussion
- Become a Fire-starter in the Kingdom of God
- Do what Jesus was doing (and still is!) Jn. 14 v 12
- Know your identity in Christ and your authority in Him
- Share the gospel easily and in a non religious way
- Healing not-yet-Christians; power evangelism that works
- Prophecy – how Jesus speaks to non believers
This will be a 5 week course with a practical outing at the end. It will be run in Hexham, in the evening – venue to be confirmed in the week commencing 13th September. Each weekly session will be 2 hours. Tea/coffee/soft drinks/ biscuits provided. If you wish to join this course can you please email me at williamskev2020@gmail.com and let me know if there is a night that you can’t possibly do (not because you have some other social arrangement). I will try to fit round as many people as possible but I can’t guarantee to make it possible for you to come. There will be no charge.
Church is out there 
Even better! You have such a gift with words. X