Vicar's February's letter

      

As I write this we have had two days and nights of gale force winds, the sound of the wind is howling down the chimney and the rain is battering the front door. Charlie is disturbed by the noises and keeps thinking someone is at the door. It is dark outside but Charlie needs to go out, so for the umpteenth time this evening I don the coat and wellies, put on his lead and brave the weather.
As I stand in the garden waiting for Charlie, I am amazed at the force of the wind. There is enough moonlight to see the clouds moving swiftly across the sky. The trees are taking a real battering as they sway to and fro. Leaves and other debris fly past at an alarming rate. Charlie startles as suddenly the bushes come to life and move too quickly in his direction. I pull the hood of my coat up tighter around my head and pray that Charlie will hurry up and do what he needs to do so that we can retreat back inside to the warmth, comfort and safety of our home.
What a force to be reckoned with. The next day saw many trees uprooted and brought down; one in each of our two church graveyards as well as broken branches everywhere and much damage to property.
But it got me thinking!
And it made me think about the power of the Holy Spirit, who is often described as a mighty wind.
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting…All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit …
 The Holy Spirit; the third person of the trinity or Godhead. He is often overlooked, or rejected through fear of what he might do. And yet the Holy Spirit is the power of God, and without him we can do nothing of value. When Jesus Christ began his ministry on earth he submitted himself to baptism by John (Mark 1:9-11) The Holy Spirit came upon him to anoint him with power from on high so that he could do the things that God had called him to do.
If Jesus; the Son of God, needed the power of the Holy Spirit in his life and ministry how much more do we who are human?
Full of the Spirit, Jesus began his ministry of healing, deliverance and raising the dead. He performed many miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was with his disciples he taught then each day to do the same things that he did, they were to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead too. The power of the Holy Spirit was available to make them bold in preaching the message of the kingdom of God so that others may hear and be saved.
In fact when Jesus was about to leave them he gave them certain instructions, not to leave the city (through fear of the Romans) but to wait for the gift that God the Father would give them, the promised Holy Spirit.
So they waited…altogether behind locked doors in the upper room of a house…and true to his word the Spirit came and filled them as we have just read in Acts 2:1-4.
They were transformed by that experience from fearful individuals hiding behind locked doors to a bold force to be reckoned with. They went straight out onto the streets and started preaching the gospel boldly despite the threat of death by crucifixion.
And it doesn’t end there with just the twelve disciples. Jews and Gentiles all start to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Even when the apostles were preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the message. (Acts 10:44)
The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father to all his children so that they may fulfil their calling to do the things that God asks them to do. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot function as we should.
And the promise of this wonderful gift was not just for a few specially chosen individuals like the 12 disciples or people called into leadership roles within the church, this gift is for all people.
But, just like the disciples we must ask and wait expectantly until we are clothed with the Spirit from on high by Father God.
Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
The promise of the Holy Spirit is however, for those who are God’s children by faith in Jesus Christ. For all those who believe in his name. In order to receive this wonderful gift we must first surrender our hearts to the Saviour Jesus Christ and acknowledge him as Lord and Saviour and then we are to go on to receive the Holy Spirit who confirms in us that we are indeed children of God.

I started this by watching the fierce winds and I am aware that many people are afraid of the Spirit of God; Just like we can feel afraid of the force of the wind because we cannot control it. The wind blows how and where it will and so does the Holy Spirit.
People are sometimes afraid that they will be out of control or that the Holy Spirit will make them do strange things that they do not want to do. But we need not fear, the gale force winds that we experienced recently only brought down trees that were diseased, dead or which had very shallow roots. Brittle, hard branches were broken off not the supple. Those trees that withstood the force were the trees that were supple enough to bend with the flow.
Rather than resist the Holy Spirit, we need to learn to go with the flow, to be flexible and bend. To allow God to move through us and with us in this way we will not be out of control. I will be seeking more of the Spirit’s power in my life this year, will you join me? I would love to talk more with you and pray for you to receive the Holy Spirit if that is helpful please do not hesitate to ask.

May many rich blessing flow your way in 2012
Revd Angela Walker