I'm sure that most people have heard the song, "Holy Spirit." The youth at TBC sang it on Youth Sunday when Bryan Good preached and you could tell then that God was present. The lyrics to the chorus are here:
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.
I may end up answering my own question by the end of this post, but right now I'm wondering this; What does it really mean to say to the Holy Spirit that he is welcome?
I can't help but feel like this is a subtle alarm to the church that this is even necessary. Before thinking I don't want the Holy Spirit involved in worship services, let me explain. As we get closer to finishing our house, I don't plan on telling Brittnee and Thomas that they are welcome to come in. My parents don't have to be told they're welcome, even some of my closest friends and family don't have to be told that they're welcome to come visit. They know by my actions, by my open invitation of their welcomeness. It's people who I'm not that close to that I may have to tell they are welcome to stop by, but not my closest circle.
Are we singing to the Holy Spirit now that he is welcome because we have drifted away, out of his close presence in church? A.W. Tozer writes, "The notion that anyone can worship without the Holy Spirit is not only wrong, but dangerous." Over even the past couple weeks I've found myself some mornings not knowing what to pray to God, or what Word of his to read. I failed in relying on the Holy Spirit as Romans 8:26 says that we should do - "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words."
Have we as the church become so good at being good people that we think we can worship on our own? We spend time practicing and planning services to make sure they go off right and entertain people. But Tozer states, "The best preparation for worship is not rehearsal, but surrender." The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers, and he not only helps us but is necessary in our worship.
Holy Spirit, you are welcome here...in my home, my heart, my car, my workplace, my gym, my church, and anywhere else I may venture to. I pray that by my actions you know that you are more than welcome, that I WANT you here all the time, that you will never wear out your welcome and that I will never take you for granted. Thank you for helping my in my weakness. Amen.
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.
I may end up answering my own question by the end of this post, but right now I'm wondering this; What does it really mean to say to the Holy Spirit that he is welcome?
I can't help but feel like this is a subtle alarm to the church that this is even necessary. Before thinking I don't want the Holy Spirit involved in worship services, let me explain. As we get closer to finishing our house, I don't plan on telling Brittnee and Thomas that they are welcome to come in. My parents don't have to be told they're welcome, even some of my closest friends and family don't have to be told that they're welcome to come visit. They know by my actions, by my open invitation of their welcomeness. It's people who I'm not that close to that I may have to tell they are welcome to stop by, but not my closest circle.
Are we singing to the Holy Spirit now that he is welcome because we have drifted away, out of his close presence in church? A.W. Tozer writes, "The notion that anyone can worship without the Holy Spirit is not only wrong, but dangerous." Over even the past couple weeks I've found myself some mornings not knowing what to pray to God, or what Word of his to read. I failed in relying on the Holy Spirit as Romans 8:26 says that we should do - "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words."
Have we as the church become so good at being good people that we think we can worship on our own? We spend time practicing and planning services to make sure they go off right and entertain people. But Tozer states, "The best preparation for worship is not rehearsal, but surrender." The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers, and he not only helps us but is necessary in our worship.
Holy Spirit, you are welcome here...in my home, my heart, my car, my workplace, my gym, my church, and anywhere else I may venture to. I pray that by my actions you know that you are more than welcome, that I WANT you here all the time, that you will never wear out your welcome and that I will never take you for granted. Thank you for helping my in my weakness. Amen.
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