Life on the West Side
Life on the West Side
Performance: The Spirit Empowers You
I want to talk about "living water" and Jesus' miracle in Cana. We already know from John 4 and John 7 that stories about water that “come alive” are stories about the Spirit. Look at five things we see in the story of water turned to wine in John 2. Abundance. Fullness. The Good the Best. A Power that Changes and Overwhelms. This is how we are supposed to think about what God provides. And what God provides for his people is His Holy Spirit. It’s not a coincidence that we meet that abundant, full, good and best changing power of the Spirit when we go down into the gallons of water.
Paul actually makes this connection in one of his prison letters (Ephesians 5:18): “Do not get drunk with wine,” says Paul, “because in that is debauchery” (he means “filling yourself up with wine can lead to a change of behavior that is not what God has in mind). But, in contrast, “be filled with the Spirit.” The comparison is apt.
Sin is a master. It isn’t just an infection; it’s a disease. Romans 8 says whatever we yield our bodies to is our master. So don’t yield your bodies to sin. Instead, yield them to God’s Holy Spirit. Why? We know why. Because the Spirit represents abundance. Fulness. It is God’s good and best gift. And the Spirit is the overwhelming power that can change how we think, how we act, and (on the day of Jesus) how we look (1 John 3:2). To paraphrase Paul, “Don’t look to wine to change your life; instead, be intoxicated with the Spirit.”
We have already had a lesson in this series about “power.” We know the Spirit works in us and for us. But I wanted to highlight an important corollary: The Spirit empowers us.
The sermon today is titled "Performance: The Spirit Empowers You." It is the fourth installment in our "This Present Strength" Series. The Scripture reading is from John 4:10-13 and Romans 8:1-11. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on September 25, 2022. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under Begin: A Faithful Presence.
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