Hello family and friends.  It was good to see you all yesterday back in the nice cool building.  The rain may have kept a few people home, but we still had a good group.  Linda helped us to look for the peace of God even in the face of unexpected trials and Pastor David urged us to consider carefully the questions we are asking.  We missed Priscilla.  Keep praying for her father Glenn and all of the family during this time.

A couple of months ago on Pentecost Sunday, we looked into the significance of the coming of the Holy Spirit to all believers and touched on some of the issues raised by the account in the second chapter of Acts.  This Sunday, I would like to help us to gain a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit.  To do this we’re going to ask some questions similar to those any good investigator would.  Who is He?  What does He do?  Where, when, how, and why does He do it?  I hope that by the end of the day we will all have a deeper knowledge of and openness to this person of the Trinity who is often misunderstood, misrepresented, or ignored.

⁷ “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. ¹² I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:7-15 NASB)