Holy Spirit: What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

Well, it's good to be together this morning. If we've never met. My name is Josh, and we're going to have some fun today. We got a lot of work to do, but first, we're going to talk about Tom Brady. Yeah.

Hey, say what you want. Tom Brady, by every metric, is widely accepted to be the greatest football player of all time. You can hate him if you want, but the math says he's the greatest football player of all time. And so if we look at Tom Brady and we say, what does Tom Brady do? We might say, well, he throws a football really well.

But lots of people throw a football and they are not Tom Brady, right? And we might say, well, he leads a whole team, he runs an offense, he reads defenses, he wins games, and that kind of gets you more. But what does Tom Brady do? What actually makes Tom Brady great is that he has this entire arsenal at his disposal. And in every moment, against every kind of defense, in every situation, every time, of every type of team he has around him, he did whatever the moment required.

Sometimes it was a deep pass, sometimes it was handing the ball off, sometimes it was sneaking up the middle on 4th and 1. Same player, same game, completely different actions depending on the situation. Now imagine, you ask the people that knew him, played with him, played against him, coached him. What does Tom Brady do? A wide receiver might talk about a perfectly placed pass in tight coverage.

A running back might talk about the timing, the trust to hand off the ball. A coach, a fan, a defender on the other side of the ball. Everyone would give different answers, wouldn't they? Same quarterback, different answers. Why?

Because each person experienced him through the lens of how they interacted with him. They'd all define him based on their slice of the experience. And everyone's experience of him was shaped mostly by their own position, their own role, their own gifting, their own specific experience and situation that they were in with Tom Brady. And reality is, none of them are wrong, but all of them are incomplete. Because Tom Brady is at least what they each experience.

But he is far more than that, too. Well, today, as we set out to answer the question, what does the Holy Spirit do? I think it's important for us to recognize that each of us instinctively approaches the answer to this question through our own limited perspective. We highlight the things we have seen him do. We emphasize the things that line up most clearly with our giftedness.

And we answer this question with a very incomplete answer. We're not necessarily wrong, but all of us only hold a partial answer. Because while the Holy Spirit is perhaps at least what we've experienced him, at least the things we've seen him do, at least who the Bible says he is. He will always be infinitely more than our limited experience and understanding of Him. But there's something else to note here.

Because we are humans and we tend to see the world through our own lens, there's a real tendency and a real temptation for us to not only shrink the Holy Spirit down to less than what he is completely, but also to quietly, or sometimes not so quietly, discount other people's experience of him, understanding of him. Just this past week, we were sitting out on the deck and we were having a conversation about what the Holy Spirit does. And another guy and I were talking about how the Holy Spirit often interacts with us. And we agreed, yes, it's like that, that the Holy Spirit deals assertively and aggressively with us. The next day, Heidi shared with me.

She's like, well, the Holy Spirit doesn't deal with me like that at all. The Holy Spirit's very gentle with me. So who got to experience the real Holy Spirit? Well, obviously her.

No, both. Both. Because the Holy Spirit knows exactly what each of us needs. Apparently I need a swift kick more often than she does. Heidi's more mature and agreeable, so he can be gentle with her.

The Holy Spirit meets us differently, not because he changes, but because we're different. NT Wright, he's an author and theologian and professor. He talks about this by imagining a conversation between two people from the Book of Acts who came to faith in two very different ways. First, you have the Philippian jailer. If you know this story, Paul and Silas are in prison and there's an earthquake and the doors fly open and the walls crumble, and the jailer assumes that the prisoners are all going to leave.

And so he's about to fall on his own sword and take his own life. And Paul's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let me tell you some wonderful news. And Paul tells him about Jesus and everything changes in his life. It's like this dramatic, loud, intense, miraculous moment.

And then you have a woman named Lydia. She's a businesswoman, and she is there with Paul. Paul explains the gospel message to her. The Holy Spirit opens her heart to respond, and she says, I like this idea. No chaos, just super quiet, uneventful belief.

Now imagine these two comparing stories. The jailer looks at Lydia and says, wait, that's it. There was no earthquake. There was no, like, miraculous, loud thing going on. You weren't on the edge of your life.

And she says, well, no, he just said the truth. And I thought it made sense.

Now imagine they walk away from that conversation, and the jailer says to his friends, I. I'm really concerned about Lydia. I'm just not sure that she has experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I mean, there was nothing miraculous. There was nothing interesting. It wasn't big.

That's not how the Holy Spirit works. And then Lydia goes to her friends and she goes, I'm a little concerned about the jailer. He's so dramatic. I mean, he insists that the Holy Spirit requires some big, loud earthquake. Like, that's not how the Holy Spirit works.

You see where I'm going? Each of us has this great tendency to either discount someone else's experience and answer to this question, or feel deeply insecure because we haven't experienced the Holy Spirit like someone else has. Same spirit, same gospel, totally different experiences. So what does the Holy Spirit do? Well, last week we said that we were going to look at the Bible and let the Bible answer the questions for us.

And what we find is not one clear, simple answer, not a list of things that the Holy Spirit will always do. These things all the time, we find something way bigger than that. So what does the Bible say from COVID to cover? That the Holy Spirit does well again. Cramming the Holy Spirit even into three weeks is a daunting task.

So I'm going to ask for some help. Let's pray. Holy Spirit, good morning.

We are so grateful that you are here with us, among us and in us. Would you teach us through your word today? Would you use me miraculously to impart understanding? And would you open up our minds and our hearts and our own spirit to resonate with what you have to teach us today? In Jesus name, amen.

All right, put your seatbelt on. You ready? We're going to cover everything the Holy Spirit does in the entire Bible. Not even kidding. Let's go.

All right. In Genesis, the Spirit is hovering over the waters, bringing order out of chaos and life out of nothing. He is creating and forming and giving life. As we move into Exodus through Deuteronomy, he's empowering people with skills and wisdom. He fills Bezalel with the supernatural ability to be an artisan and craftsman.

To build the tabernacle, he shares his presence from Moses to the elders and leads and establishes a people. In Joshua through Kings, the Spirit empowers leaders. He comes upon judges with strength and boldness and authority. He rushes upon Samson, providing superhuman, miraculous strength. He anoints Kings Like Saul and David, he enables leadership and military victory and governance.

In the Psalms and wisdom literature, the Spirit gives life, sustains creation, renews the earth, grants wisdom and understanding. In the prophets, he speaks and reveals. He carries Ezekiel in visions. He inspires prophecy and convicts and warns and promises a future where he will eventually dwell inside of God's people. As God's people return from exile in the post exilic books, he strengthens and restores.

He's making it very clear that this restoration and work of rebuilding doesn't happen by human strength, but by his power. Then we get to the Gospels and the Spirit is present everywhere in the life of Jesus. He is the one who conceives Jesus inside of Mary, descends on Jesus in baptism, leads him into the wilderness, anoints him for ministry, empowers everything he does. In the book of John, Jesus makes it even clearer that the Spirit teaches, reminds, guides into truth, speaks, reveals what's to come, testifies about him, convicts the world of sin and opens up people to belief. Then you get to acts and it all explodes.

The Spirit is poured out, filling people with power to do miraculous things. He gives boldness, provides words to speak, directs mission, forbids certain paths to sends people, appoints leaders, warns of suffering. He speaks clearly to the church. As you move into Romans through the Epistles, the work of the Spirit becomes deeply personal. He gives new life, indwells believers.

He sets us free, leads us, adopts us as sons and daughters. He assures us that we belong to God. He pours God's love into our hearts, helps us in our weakness, intercedes for us when we don't know how to pray. He sanctifies and transforms us, produce fruit in us, gives spiritual gifts, unites us in one body, and he seals us as a guarantee for what's to come. And then all the way at the end, in Revelation, the Spirit is still speaking.

He's speaking to the churches. He carries John in vision. He continues to invite, calling people to come according to the full sweep of Scripture. He creates, gives life, empowers, speaks, reveals, leads, convicts, comforts, regenerates, indwells, sanctifies gifts, unites, sends, sustains, transforms, intercedes, assures and invites. That's the point.

You don't get one simple answer.

What we get is a living, active, personal God who is doing exactly what is needed in every moment, across all of time, in every page of Scripture, in the exact infinite combination of actions that is the will of God. Any attempt to reduce the Holy Spirit down to just one thing or Even a list of things will always leave us short of who he fully is. But we don't want to walk away from a sermon like this with the only answer. He does lots of stuff.

That's true, that's true. But for the rest of the time that we have together, here's what I want to do. I want to narrow the focus. I want to walk through what, to the best of my understanding, the Bible clearly says the Holy Spirit does in the life of every believer. Not just the special stuff, not just the select few, not the especially gifted every believer.

These are the 10 things I believe that every one of us can and should expect as the normal work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We'll only be able to cover these at a high level right now with the time that we have. But I hope this just stirs up everybody's curiosity to dig in a little deeper into the pieces that pique your interest or the ones that you have a little more question about. So first, the Holy Spirit enables us to discern truth and confess Jesus. In 1st Corinthians 2, Paul is talking about this hidden truth, this wisdom of God that's been revealed to people by the Holy Spirit.

Here's what he says. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the Spirit of that person which is in Him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person doesn't accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he's not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He does this work.

Then we hop ahead to chapter 12, verse 3. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. So if you have the Spirit, you can't curse Jesus. And if you say Jesus is Lord, you must have the Spirit.

Here's what this means in real life. If you are a believer now, there was a time when you were not when Jesus didn't make sense to you. Maybe you even heard the gospel and it Just kind of bounced off and hit the floor.

And then something changed. There was a moment, maybe you know the exact moment, maybe you can't remember the exact moment. Maybe it was a bit more gradual. But you eventually saw him. You saw your need for him.

You recognized the sin in your life and his grace more clearly. Jesus became personal. Jesus became something that you desired. That moment that Jesus goes from an idea that you're resistant to to a Lord that you want to follow, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. That wasn't you figuring it out.

That was the Holy Spirit opening your eyes, this reality. And even now, every time something clicks in Scripture, every time something comes out of my mouth and makes it into your spirit and changes something in your life, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. That is not the work of this church. That is not the work of Josh. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

This is what he does. Second, the Holy Spirit gives new birth and new life. New birth and new life. In John chapter 3, Jesus is talking to a guy named Nicodemus. He's a religious leader, and he recognizes that Jesus is someone special.

But he can't quite make heads or tails about him. He asks him lots of questions. Here's how Jesus answers him. John 3. 5.

He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Paul echoes this idea in Titus 3. He says, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is not behavior modification. This isn't us squeezing really hard. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Suddenly realizing we want him, we're drawn to Him. We care about things that we didn't care about before.

We're willing to put down things we were not willing to put down. Before we can look back and say we are not who we once were, our desires have shifted. Our heart changes. There's something alive in us now that wasn't alive in us before. So the Holy Spirit turns on that opportunity and gives us new life.

That's what Jesus means when he says, born of the Spirit. Titus says it clearly, this is not because of anything we've done. Mercy. This is God washing, regenerating, renewing us by his Spirit. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Third, the Holy Spirit indwells or lives inside of every believer. John 14:16 Jesus says, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper. That's a capital H. That's the Holy Spirit to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be you.

Romans 8:9 you, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of God does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 1 Corinthians 6:19 or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Spirit within you whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. The promise of the Bible is that all those who believe and come to salvation receive the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We'll talk about this more next week as we talk about walking in the Spirit. But fourth, the Holy Spirit seals believers and guarantees their inheritance.

Paul uses this language multiple times through the New Testament. Ephesians 1 He says, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him that's Christ, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, sealed with the Spirit, who is the guarantee inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. 2nd Corinthians 1:21 and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. One more Ephesians 4:30 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. When Paul uses this word, seal, he's using a language that people in that day and age would understand.

Letters were often Sealed with a wax seal and stamped with a seal that was individual to the person who sent it. And that seal is the authentication that that it came from the authority and was sent by an individual. When we believe, God marks us, not outwardly in a way everyone can see, but inwardly, spiritually. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is God's way of saying, you belong to Me, and I'm promising that. And then Paul uses that word, guarantee.

Some translations say deposit or down payment. It's a promise. The idea is that God has already given us something now that is a deposit for what's coming later. The Holy Spirit is not just a sign that we belong to God. It's the beginning of what our life with God will be.

So when we experience his presence, when we feel conviction, when we see real life change, when we experience the things that we've already talked about that the Holy Spirit does, this is the seal. It's the promise. It's the guarantee, the reminder that we are authentically His. And the seal is a preview of a future that's coming where we will be fully with him, fully like him, and and fully alive in Him. Still, it's my experience that most, if not all of us struggle with this question.

Am I really saved? I mean, because I keep sinning. Am I really saved? Will I make it? Have I failed too much?

Church Our confidence was never intended to be on our ability to hold on to God. Our confidence is in the fact that God has already put His Spirit in us. That's the guarantee. He has sealed us and marked us. That's the guarantee.

Fifth, the Holy Spirit brings us into adoption and continues this assurance in us that we are children of God. Romans 8, 14, 17. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear. Again, rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship and by him we cry abba Father.

That's an intimate language with a father that you know. The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs. Heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We are not the least favored adopted kid that lives in the basement. We are co heirs with Christ. Galatians 4, 6. Because you are his sons and daughters. God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

The Spirit who calls out abba Father. This means the Holy Spirit doesn't just inform us that we belong to God. He helps us experience intimacy with God before Christ. There's distance, there's uncertainty. There's a sense of trying to earn something.

There's the law only. And we all fall short. We're all left wondering where we stand. But when the Spirit comes, something shifts. We begin to experience God not just as powerful, almighty, Creator and judge, but as Father.

The Spirit creates this connection in us. He assures us when doubt creeps in and he reminds us that we're not on the outside trying to get in. We are family. We are sons and daughters of the King.

Sixth, the Holy Spirit unites us into the Body of Christ and gives us collective access to the Father. First Corinthians 12:13. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. And we were all given the one spirit drink. Ephesians 2:18.

For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Both. There is Jews and Gentiles that Paul is talking about here. His point is that wherever we came from, whatever our background, whatever we have believed before, this time the Holy Spirit brings us together as one. There's no more separations.

Ephesians 2:21 and 22 says that we are being built together into a dwelling place where God lives by his Spirit. So what does this mean in real life? It means our salvation is not just personal, it's communal. It's communal that moment the Spirit comes into our life. He doesn't just connect us individually to God, he connects us to a people.

We are brought into something bigger than ourselves. This is the unity that's based on. That isn't based on personality, background or preference. It's based on a shared life in Christ. Maybe you have experienced this, you've gone into a place that you've never been before and you end up interacting with another Christian.

We've done this across the world in other countries. We run into Christians and we're like, it's the same thing. These are my brothers and sisters in Christ. It's this connection that's unexplainable. It's a unity in the Spirit.

It's what binds us together. And we also have direct access to the Father through the Spirit. We have access right now, anytime, anywhere. The Spirit is the very presence of God in us. It makes that relationship real and ongoing and accessible.

Seventh, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer. Say every. I think it means every in First Corinthians 12. Paul tells us there are a multitude of gifts, all given by one Spirit, and that these manifestations, these outpourings, these physical representations of these spiritual gifts are given for the common good. Not to some, to each one.

Romans 12:4,6. For as in one body we have many members. That's body parts, arms, legs, head. And the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one, one of another.

We belong to each other, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let us use them first. Peter 4:10 as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. This means if you are in Christ, you are not empty handed. You don't just get to come sit.

That's not how the Holy Spirit was designed to work inside of our lives. The Spirit has given you a gift that is for the purpose of building others up, for strengthening this body, a way to participate in what God is doing. You are not a spectator. You are not unnecessary. You are not an appendix that nobody needs.

Okay? You're not just someone who attends when we walk in the Spirit. The Spirit has intentionally equipped us and we are called to use these gifts not for our platform and recognition. Some of us need to hear that this morning. These gifts are given for the common good.

They are meant to serve and build and strengthen others.

This also means that when you don't step into that gift, something's missing here. I say it all the time. I believe that you are here on purpose, with a purpose, that you are part of this community of believers. God has gifted you and brought you here. We pray for this all the time.

God, would you send every resource, every worker for the harvest, every person that needs to be here so that we can accomplish what you have called us to accomplish. We are dependent on the work of the Spirit that's active in you. And if you are just holding that in a box, then you are withholding something that God has designed to be in this body. And maybe you don't know what it is. Maybe you need some help with that.

We would love to help you figure out what that is, but it's not built just for you. It's built so that others can see the Holy Spirit actively in this body and so that people who do not know Jesus will come to know him and so that this body of believers will be built up. The Spirit distributes gifts on purpose.

Every one of us has them. Who has the Spirit and every One of them is needed in this body. More on that next week. I'm just going to keep punting.

8th the Holy Spirit empowers every believer for witness and mission Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. Dynamite. Dunamis Is that word Explosive power. Awesome for what? To be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

This is not a command for a few people. This is the normal expectation for every believer. In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out his disciples and he sends them with the power of the Spirit. And he says, this is going to be hard. Go do it.

And when you are persecuted, and when it gets difficult, and when you don't know what to say, don't worry about it. The Holy Spirit will be the one who speaks for you. He will empower you to be my witness. This means the pressure isn't on you. The Spirit gives us boldness and power when we would normally stay quiet.

He brings words to mind when we don't know what to say. He nudges us into conversations we would have not even noticed or avoided altogether. The Spirit doesn't just change our life internally. The Spirit doesn't just change our lives together communally. He turns us into gospel epicenters from which the good news reverberates and echoes out in every direction wherever we go.

This is what the Spirit does. He makes us participants in God's mission. He has empowered us for boldness to be his witnesses. Let's not miss that. Ninth the Holy Spirit sanctifies and transforms us.

Sanctification is just a fancy word that means we are becoming more like Jesus little by little through the working power of the Holy Spirit over time. There are certainly spiritual practices that can aid in this process. Studying the Word, gathering in community like this. Worship, generosity, serving, practicing what we've learned. But without the Holy Spirit, without His power in our lives, all of that is for nothing.

It's just work for work's sake. He is the One who makes real, true sanctification happen in our lives. Galatians 5 tells us to walk in the Spirit and we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit grows in us when we walk in the Spirit. These are the things that are like Jesus.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. You don't grow those things on your own. I don't know if you noticed that stuff comes from the Holy spirit. Then in Second Corinthians 3:18, Paul says we are being transformed into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another. And this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

All this means that through the Holy Spirit, real change is possible. Not surface level behavior management, not white knuckled trying, but deep internal transformation. That transformation that all of us are hungry and longing for. The kind where our desires begin to shift, where things we once loved, we begin to let go of. That's the kind of transformation that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives.

And it's not instant, it's often messy. It's one of those things like the stock market that if you zoom in real close, it is a mess, but you fly out and look at the thing on a 50 year span and it is this beautiful upward trend. This is how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, actively forming us into the likeness of Jesus.

Tenth, the Holy Spirit helps us pray and intercedes for us. That means he comes on our behalf to pray for us. This is a really interesting idea. Romans 8, 26, 27. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought.

But the Spirit himself intercedes for us. With groanings too deep for words, the Spirit intercedes for the saints. Believe it or not, we are saints according to the will of God. This means even your prayer life is not something that you carry alone. There are moments we don't have words, we don't know what to pray.

Maybe we're exhausted, maybe we're confused or overwhelmed or grieving. Maybe we're just stuck in those moments. The Spirit isn't distant, he's active, interceding for us, praying in alignment with the will of God on our behalf. Think about that. When you don't know what to say, the Spirit does.

When you don't know what you need, the Spirit does. When you feel weak, the Spirit steps in. You're never alone in prayer. So for everyone in this room that says, oh, I'm not good at praying. If the Spirit is in you, he's praying on your behalf.

Even when you're not good at praying, the Spirit is at work, drawing you into deeper communion with the Father in ways that you can't even comprehend.

Now, we have covered a ton of information today. There's no way we could swallow it all and digest it. But I hope that it has shown you this broad picture of what the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of every believer. Yes, you. Everything I just talked about should be expected as normal Holy Spirit activity in your life on A daily basis.

But the question is, are you paying attention?

What if he is actually doing all of this in your life? Are you paying attention? And are you stepping out in obedience to his leading?

Because our problem isn't that the Holy Spirit isn't speaking and leading and prompting and convicting and guiding. Our problem is we are really good at ignoring him, at stalling just long enough that that nice quiet nudge fades off. We're really good at it. I know I am.

We feel the nudge and we move on. We sense conviction and we justify it away. We feel prompted to speak, to start, to stop whatever it is, and we just stall. Anybody else?

So here's what I want us to do this week. I want us to stay doing what we talked about last week before our feet hit the floor. Every morning when we wake up, we say, good morning, Holy Spirit. And I just want us to add one simple thing to that. I want us to say, Holy Spirit, good morning.

Help me notice what you're doing and be obedient to respond. Help me notice what you're doing and be obedient to respond.

That's it. All that stuff narrowed down to that. What if the Holy Spirit is actually active in doing something in your life today and we're missing it now? Maybe you do not have the Holy Spirit in you. That means all of this stuff that we have access to in Christ, you don't have it.

And that's okay. That's okay. We want to invite you to step toward Jesus in some way today. We're going to sing. We'll have our prayer team up on either side of the room.

They'd love to help you take a step. Maybe it's just asking a question. Maybe it's being aware, willing today, whatever that is. We hope you'll take that step. But good morning, Holy Spirit.

Help me to recognize the work that you're doing in my life and be willing to take the step that you're calling me to take. And as we step into every moment, every day this week, open your eyes, open your ears, pay attention, and be obedient.