Years ago, I preached a sermon on why good things happen at church. The sermon fit what God was doing at First Baptist Church during that time. We had just begun to grow and had started a second worship service.

The sermon came from the Book of Acts and we looked at the qualities of the first century church. The sermon pointed out how the early church in Jerusalem emphasized the work of Christ, the teaching of Scripture, and the importance of people.

I wanted to paint a picture of how God works in a church and how we are to be instruments of God’s purpose. In addition, I wanted the church to emulate those qualities. Thankfully, the people picked up on all those traits and we were blessed with other good things happening at church.

In spite of the truthfulness of these previous paragraphs, there is something else that makes good things happen at church–the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.

This weekend’s message has to do with God bestowing His Spirit on the church. On earth, Jesus was limited in space because of his humanity. He could only be one place at one time.

With Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father to make intercession for the saints, God bestowed His Spirit on the church to be an ever present blessing as the church presents the truth of the Gospel.

If we work in our own power, we will accomplish what we are able to do. If we work in God’s power (the Holy Spirit), we will receive what God can do. God spoke to Zerubbabel, the rebuilder of Jerusalem after the exile, about depending more on God and less on ourselves: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

May we seek to follow God and yield to the leading of God’s Spirit.

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