We’ve just experienced a fantastic Easter at St. Anne’s. I hope you managed to come along to some of our Easter services. I also hope that you have managed to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine that we experienced over the Easter period.
Usually in May I am lucky enough to spend a few days touring around the Scottish Highlands on my motorbike. Its always fantastic riding, the views are amazing and the bright sunshine and clear skies make things even better. I remember a couple of years ago, however, as we headed off up the M6 in bright sunshine, I was a little caught out by the cool wind. Underneath my riding jacket I was only wearing a lightweight top and after only a few miles I found myself shivering. A quick stop, a warm cup of coffee, an extra layer and things were much better!
As I began to look forward to this years trip, I began to think of what I need to pack in my luggage to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again but at the same time praying the weather will be hot, hot, hot!!!
Maybe, this spring, God is telling us to ‘turn the spiritual heat up a little bit!’. Maybe it’s time to open up to God and to allow him to ‘warm you up’. As we head towards Pentecost, we remember the Holy Spirit was Christ’s promised gift, 50 days after Easter the Spirit was given to believers.
The gift of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling and empowering presence of God, transformed those early Christians – lives were changed, the world was changed for the glory of God. That same Holy Spirit is still active, present and at work today, He still enters people’s lives and changes them and all we need to do is ask Him into our hearts.
In our preaching series throughout May and June, we will be considering the person and the work of the Holy Spirit in more detail. It is my prayer that as God’s people here in Aigburth, we will find our ‘Spiritual temperature’ turned up as the warmth of God’s spirit continues to transform us into the people that he wants us to be. I pray that we will become increasingly open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
One Characteristic of a spirit filled church is to be a praying church. Our parish weekend in September 2015 is going to be built around the theme of prayer. Can I encourage you to pray about the weekend away and to seriously think about signing up. I am passionate about this weekend and firmly believe it will be hugely important for us as a church family. I am also passionate about prayer and firmly believe that prayer is the powerhouse of everything we do as Christians. How is your prayer life? Perhaps this summer its time to deepen your prayer life.
This summer, lets allow the warmth and the love of God to literally soak deep into our very being, so that we may be transformed into the people that God wants us to be. And let’s allow the Holy Spirit to set us ‘on fire’ so that we may be effective witnesses for him here in Aigburth.
I look forward to seeing you in and around the parish.