Tag: Holy Spirit

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Fire in the Desert – Isaiah 63:11-14 & Exodus 13:20-22

We’ve been exploring the Holy Spirit as person of the Trinity and member of the three-in-one Godhead. But where do we see this in the Old Testament, or was it purely an innovation of the early church?

But in the story of the Exodus, we do get a look at what the prophet Isaiah calls “the Holy Spirit.” The people of Israel have just come out of bondage, which should be a good thing, but it also means that they are leaving the world they knew and entering the unknown. This is something we all relate to, as we are constantly in transition from one thing to another, whether jobs or relationships or just phases of life. Like the Israelites, we need the Holy Spirit to go before us and lead us into that unknown.

In the narrative, the people of Israel have gone through the experience of Passover and are fleeing Egypt. But God did not lead them on the shortest path – this is often the case with God. He very often leads us in directions that seem entirely illogical and difficult. But that leading is part of the relationship – if it were just a simple if-then statement, we wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit, but just a piece of paper with a decision tree.

And so the Holy Spirit led them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Spirit provided direction, shade and light even as it led God’s people into an unknown land.

Hundreds of years later, the prophet Isaiah (possibly the third one using that name) used this as an example, likely following the exile of many of the people into Mesopotamia. The Israelites would be asking questions about where God is and what He is doing in the midst of all the turmoil. And so Isaiah points them back to the work of the Holy Spirit in the past, as a promise of what He will do in their context – and in ours.

And so we see what the Spirit offers. He offers personal guidance and protection in real-time. This guidance is step by step and unconventional – we don’t get the entire story all at once, just the next right thing that we are called to do and be. We are incapable of seeing the full picture, spread across space and time and billions of souls. But the Holy Spirit sees and leads us in a way we can trust.

And finally, the Holy Spirit is an unfailing and ongoing presence that provides us not only with guidance but enlightenment, protection and peace.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood, WA, June 21, 2026

Images by Gemini.

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A Spirit-filled Mosaic – Exodus 3:1-12

We state that we believe in the Trinity, but in practice we often neglect the Holy Spirit, demoting a full person of the Godhead to the status of an impersonal force. Even our language is inadequate to this task, calling this active, personal deity “it.”

But the Holy Spirit is the real presence of God at work. We see this in the story of Pentecost, when the church erupted out of a scared group of blue collar men and women. This is the same presence we can experience today. Anne Lamott writes:

It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.

We are here to ask and learn, as communities and as individuals, are here to learn what it means to be Spirit-filled, and how to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit. This search is of a piece with the deconstruction many of us are going through, taking apart the human structures that make up church in the wake of failure, betrayal and hurt that many of us have experienced. We are seeking to strip away the accretion of man-made structures that have not up and to come as we are to God as He is, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s scripture is the “origin story” of Moses, whet he fist encountered the living God. The people of Israel have moved into Egypt, a relationship that started well but over the years had degraded into slavery and infanticide. We see this people group described in two ways in the story – the Israelites, when describing them as the people of the covenant God made with Israel, or the Hebrews, when describing them as the ethnic community being oppressed by Egypt.

Moses was one of these Hebrews, who escaped the campaign of infanticide and was adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, raised in the royal court Egypt. As the original “third culture kid” Moses is caught between two worlds, which boils over when he kills an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, only to find himself rejected by those people as well. And so he flees into the wilderness, marries into a community of itinerant herdsmen and lives as a refugee for many years.

And that is where God meets him, and where his origin story begins.

God calls to him, repeating his name in a pattern we see throughout scripture, calling from a fire that burns but does not consume. He calls to him to put off his sandals because he stands on Holy ground.

This combination of protection and awe, of safe and holy, is key to understanding the nature of God. The fire burns but does not consume, the ground is holy but we are called to stand upon it.

This is how the Holy Spirit approaches all of us, and the safety God provides to each person means that that each person is accepted in their diversity and identity, and the community of faith is made up of an infinite combination of holy, safe relationships between believers and the Holy Spirit.

We see this play out directly centuries later at Pentecost, when fire again burns but does not consume, and deity again calls frightened refugees into His service, again empowering men and women to spread His message. This was promised by the prophet Joel:

I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

As we as a church move forward, whatever changes come, this should be our focus and our goal. We are called to be a place that is safe and holy, a place where people between identities, like Moses can come and find their new identity in God.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood, WA, June 7, 2026

Images by CHATGPT.

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Resurrection Life – Listening to the Spirit – Acts 10:44-48

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come and instruct the disciples after He ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit is the real time presence of God working and and through us to do His work in the world. This passage gives us an example of this.

Christianity began as a sect of Judaism. At the time, Jewish religion, ethnicity, culture and language were all very tightly tied together, so the early movement of gentiles into the sect of The Way, it created tension. Many of the Jewish Christians considered these converts to still be outsiders.

This tension is addressed head-on in Acts 9 and 10. In Acts 9:8, Saul, who had been persecuting the church, is blinded after ‘seeing’ Jesus. Meanwhile, the Christian man Ananias has a vision telling him to go to Saul. In 9:18 after ministering from Ananias, scales fall from Saul’s eyes and he is baptized. Then in 9:40 we get the story of Peter raising a little girl from the dead. He says “Tabitha, get up.” She opens her eyes, and seeing Peter she sits up. Then in Acts 10 wet get Peter’s vision that leads him to understand that the gentiles are loved by God and that “God does not show favoritism” even to His chosen people. This is a key pivot point for the Church that ultimately transformed it from a sect of Judaism into the global body of believers it is today.

We have those same transformational moments in our own lives, where the paradigm we have operated by is disrupted and overturned by the Holy Spirit. Consider Peter, looking at this collection of unclean animals, age being told to eat, against a thousand years of culture and religion. Consider him entering the house of gentile, uncircumcised Cornelius, and sharing a meal.

What would be similarly kind blowing today? What could the Holy Spirit do today that would be a similar paradigm shift? On the one hand we must be alert to people claiming the leading of the Spirit, and use the boundaries of scripture, tradition and the discernment of the community. At the same time, we must be open to be challenged in church – church is not only able feeling safe.

So we must find ways to listen to the Spirit and listen to those around us but who may be moved by the Spirit. This takes trust and patience, but the more that we grow in that practice is spiritual formation and discernment, the more we can accomplish for God. The Spirit is moving and speaking all the time, if we are open to listen.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, May 5, 2024

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Resurrection Life – Philip and the Eunuch – Acts 8:26-40

This is a story of God pulling Philip out of his standard routine. Philip has been preaching in Samaria and has just had his ministry blessed by Peter and John. But now God calls him away to a completely different place, the road from Jerusalem out to Gaza, where he meets an Ethiopian official.

The official had been castrated as many were in order to keep their full attention. He also must have been either a convert to Judaism or someone curious about it because he was reading Isaiah, specifically chapter 53, the “suffering servant” passage that is one of the clearest prophecies of Christ.

The passage may have had special resonance for him, especially the line “In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants?” As someone bodily humiliated, someone who would have no descendants, he wants to know more about who is being discussed here.

Given this perfect setup, Philip spikes the ball and walks the Ethiopian through the story of Christ, and he immediately jumps to wanting to be baptized in a pool they just happen to be passing.

For some additional context, this comes shortly after some trouble in Jerusalem where the Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked by the Aramaic-speaking church leadership who then put in place Greek-speaking deacons, of whom Philip was one. The apostles were “oo busy teaching and preaching to” wait tables” so they put in place these deacons to work out the logistics. But then the next two chapters are all about two of these deacons teaching and preaching! Stephen becomes the first martyr and Philip gets teleports all over.

This is a story of the Holy Spirit pushing on our human boundaries. God wants us to move beyond our central comfort zone, to leave our holy huddle and get out on the road to Gaza.

We are called to live a Spirit-Led Life. The Holy Spirit continues to work powerfully today, but at do need to work the muscles that He wants us to use.

But beware, the spirit filled life can take you off track, disrupting your plans and putting you in an entirely different place and directions.

This may happen through timely and crucial interactions. Philip never saw the Ethiopian again, but tradition holds he went on to found the Ethiopian church, among the oldest in the world.

This happens because God has been working ahead of time, moving eunuchs to investigate the Jewish religion and page through Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit will prompt you to push to the margins and boundaries, which means we must practice listening and trying.

God is calling people from the ends of the earth and we all have roles to play in that great work.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 28, 2024

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Something New Piercing Through – Luke 2:25-35

On New Year’s Eve we naturally want to take the time to consider both the past year and the year ahead, and how to improve ourselves. The concept of New Year’s Resolutions is a normal one. Many of them spring from internal desires for real change in our behavior. Usually we start strong and then it peters out after a while. We can get cynical, even, about our or others’ ability to change.

But real change is what Simeon speaks about in this passage, and real change is what Jesus offers us. Simeon’s song here in one of four songs in the first two chapters of Luke – we discussed Mary’s song, the Magnificat, a couple of weeks ago. Before that, we had Zechariah’s Song and afterwards the Angel’s song.

But in this moment we have this incredible juxtaposition of a newborn baby with the ancient prophet. We have the child who contains all the power of Creation and the old man who has been waiting for the “consolation of Israel”.

The Holy Spirit looms large in this story. The work of the third person of the Trinity is a consistent theme throughout both Luke’s gospel and his book of Acts. In chapter 1, there are four separate references to being filled with, strong in or overcome with the Holy Spirit. In this passage, we get three references in quick succession – the Holy Spirit was on him, truths were revealed by the Holy Spirit and he was moved by the Holy Spirit. These are all ways the Holy Spirit interacts with us today.

We all have the capacity to access the Holy Spirit, we all have the potential to be drawn into the work and story that the Holy Spirit is doing. Jesus was and is destined to bring change, as Simeon said. He will pierce through our souls and bring us new experiences, new opportunities, new parts to play in the work that He is doing. It may start as a pinprick or a mustard seed but that can grow into something mighty.

As we look at the year ahead, there are disciplines we can practice to foster this. First, we can listen – listen for what God is teaching, listen for the opportunity He sends your way. Second, gratitude – be actively thankful for what you have been given.

One way to do both of these The Prayer of Examen a spiritual practice of reviewing the day to retune ourselves to the sacred in ordinary life. This can also be done as a look at the past year. Others ask God for a theme word or verse for the year ahead, using that to center their relationship and growth.

Often we strive to change ourselves and the world. Often, we fail. But when we work empowered by and led by the Holy Spirit, we can live more fully and abundantly than we can on our own.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 31, 2023

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Touched by the Resurrection – John 20:19-31

Children generally want to know they have a base of security and safety. They want to hide behind their parents’ legs until they have gained the confidence to go play – and they want that base to run back to.

As adults, we are often this way with God. When we hear from God and feel the touch of God it gives us the confidence to take the steps of faith He has called us to.

That’s where the disciples are in this story, and Thomas in particular. Thomas gets something of a bad rap as “doubting Thomas” but in fact Thomas is no different than the rest of us who doubt and yet are loved deeply by Jesus. He gives Thomas the gift he needs in that moment – he provides the leg for Thomas to wrap his arms around.

But of course we don’t see Jesus like Thomas did. We don’t see thousands fed by a few loaves and fishes, miraculous healing, storms calmed and dead raised. And yet, they doubted. That must mean it is ok if we do as well. We are real people like they were, with normal reactions, and like them the Holy Spirit can take us and redeem even that doubt and use us to do His work.

Back in the passage, in verse 19 it is still the same day that Mary discovered the empty tomb. The disciples are still hiding in fear behind closed doors, even though Peter and John saw the tomb empty as well. Why is this? This is a moment we can reflect ourselves. What are the closed doors we hide behind? What is it we fear? The disciples hid in fear of the authorities, both religious and secular, the very real fear of torture and execution. What are our fears? Where do we need Jesus to touch us?

In the passage, He appears among among them and says “peace be with you.” In fact, He says that three times in this passage. What did He mean by peace? The opposite is war, violence, anxiety, rage. Where do we need peace? On the road, at work, in our family?

Imagine Peter in that room, having denied Jesus three times, hearing “peace be with you” three times. We also can hear from Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, the word and believers around us.

On that note, Jesus here breathes on the disciples, breathing the Holy Spirit into them. It’s recalling the story of creation, when Adam is formed but does not live without the breath of love breathed into them; or in Ezekiel, when the army of bones is raised but does not truly live until the four winds breathe the breath of God into them.

Then Jesus empowers then further, passing along the same authority to forgive sins that He claimed for Himself. We as the church have that same authority.

Back to Thomas – he may have been an analytical person, naturally skeptical, or a visual or tactile person. And Jesus meets him where he is at, just as He meets us – “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.”

It’s not like there are tiers of faith. In fact, we have a huge advantage – we have the Holy Spirit. However, we also find that the Holy Spirit is marginalized in today’s church, treated as a second-rate member of the Trinity. It may be because the work of the Spirit is by its nature egalitarian, empowering the young, women, the marginalized in ways that can be deeply threatening to entrenched power structures.

But the deeper power of the Spirit is available to us, even in our fear, even in our doubt. Thomas himself is the first person to declare the deity of Christ and ultimately becomes the Apostle who goes farthest, bringing the truth he encountered on that day as far as India. We never know what God will do or who He will do it with.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 23, 2023