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Sermon

#1047. The Spirit gives overflowing hope to build a church of joy and peace (2/5/24)

Community Church Putney Sermons

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  1. On Sunday we had Dale Barlow, from the New Ground leadership team speaking on The Holy Spirit. This week’s devotionals are loosely based upon his message. Today we reflect upon how the Holy Spirit fills us with hope that Jesus is building a church of joy and peace out of diverse people.

  2. ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ (Romans 15:13)

    Romans 15:13

  3. Lesson: The Holy Spirit wants to fill us with hope (expectation) that Jesus will build a church community of joy and peace out of people from diverse backgrounds.

  4. To listen to this devotional, go to:

  5. https://youtu.be/XoMQynN5dDM

  6. The God of hope

  7. Yesterday, we saw how God is termed, ‘the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort’. Today, we read that He’s called, ‘the God of hope’. What does it mean for God to be the God of hope? We get a clue as to what this means, in this context, from the previous verse - a quote from Isaiah:

  8. ‘And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations;  in him the Gentiles will hope.”’ (Romans 15:12)

    Romans 15:12

  9. The ‘hope’ that Christians are to share is that all nations and people-groups will be brought together, by the gospel, in one church that, ultimately, reflects the new heavens and earth they will share together. In a world that was, and is, riven by ethnic, religious and cultural tensions, God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, wants to fill us with the ‘hope’ that He can build this kind of united church and will restore creation under His rule.

  10. God wants to Fill us with Joy and peace

  11. Paul prays for them to be filled with ‘all joy and peace’. What does this mean? In this context, this seems to be about having a joyful and peaceful community. The Holy Spirit wants to help us to take joy in one another and to be at peace with one another no matter our differences.

  12. As you trust in Him

  13. We are told that God fills us with joy and peace as we trust in Him. In this context this, it seems, is about trusting Jesus to be able to unite such a diverse group of people into a community of love and peace. To build a joy-filled, peace-filled and loving church requires that be believe that Jesus wants to do this and that He can do it by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.

  14. Response

  15. The Holy Spirit wants to fill us with hope (expectation) that Jesus will build a church community of joy and peace out of people from diverse backgrounds. I guess that many of us as we read a text like Romans 15:13, apply it to our own need for joy and peace. This is okay, but I hope we can see that God wants us to be like Christ and to take joy and seek to be at peace in our diverse church family. The Holy Spirit wants to fill us with hope that God can build such a church - a church that reflects that future eternal state. He wants to fill us with His heart that such a church be filled with joy and peace for each other. The Holy Spirit wants to us excel at doing what we read earlier in this chapter:

    Romans 15:13

  16. ‘Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.’ (Romans 15:7)

    Romans 15:7