Holy Spirit You are welcome here; Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by Your presence, Lord.
In the first reading from the book of Acts, we hear how the early disciples were overcome by the presence of the Holy Spirit. A lot of the language is figurative, meant to connect the event with Old Testament events where God’s presence was made known, but the big point is that the Holy Spirit filled them with a change in their hearts not to be stuck thinking that God is “out there” somewhere but instead is inside them. To give them courage and confidence to go spread the good news.
(vs 1) There's nothing worth more, that will ever come close. No thing can compare; You're our living hope. Your presence, Lord.
Holy Spirit You are welcome here; Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by Your presence, Lord.
The amazing aspect is that this was not the ONE AND ONLY time the Holy Spirit came to the disciples. The rest of the book of Acts continues to describe countless situations when the Holy Spirit came to them and to those they encountered.
Basically, in all the situations the Spirit moves them forward to the next moment of grace and development.
· from being afraid to becoming bold and public witnesses
· from cowering under the threat of persecution to proclaiming Christ freely
· from existing solely in the Jewish world to embracing the world of the Gentiles
· from being only focused on the land of Jesus to burst into Greece, Turkey and eventually Europe
Now I know that many of you here can describe a “God moment” when you felt the Holy Spirit move you.
But you don’t just get ONE spirit moment. Heck like the disciples, the Holy Spirit keeps coming. We just need to be open and receive, just like the song says, “You are welcome HERE” Inside you. The Holy Spirit is welcome to guide you in your next moment of grace and development:
· from being afraid of acknowledging your limitations and wrongs, to admit your sins to yourself, God and maybe to one other trusted person.
· from being stuck at one level of your spiritual journey to going to a new and deeper place.
· from seeing your life from only one perspective (that you want to keep comfortable and safe) to allowing the Spirit to nudge you to cooperate in what Christ needs you to do.
· from living in only one “way of praying, or showing devotion” and trying new types, being open to other ways.
We do this by welcoming the Holy Spirit to guide us (just as we have been doing with our new church project).
For you, it means getting back to the basics of who you are called to be . . . stop doing that thing, start that thing you’ve been putting off. Get back to better sleep, better meals, more exercise. More fun.
And it means having the openness for God’s presence in your life. When you pray, talk to God just as if you were talking to your best friend. Tell the Holy One everything. Dedicate a specific time each day when you tell
God about all your worries, all your hurts, all your problems. Take off your mask and just speak. If you do that, if you really let your whole essence speak to God like that, some days there will be a lot of tears. But that’s a good thing. And when you are done telling God about your hurts, … just silently rest in God, letting God hold you. And then for the next 24 hours, think about how God is enough for you. And then for that next 24 hours practice joy and optimism knowing that you are God’s beloved child, knowing that you are loved, and knowing that you are carrying a great gift in your heart . . .
(vs 2) I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves, where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone Your presence, Lord.
Holy Spirit You are welcome here; Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by Your presence, Lord.