Theology Responses
Question #1: What changes has the practice of ministry had on your interpretation of (a) the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and (b) the work of the Holy Spirit? Beside my grandmother, front pew on the preacher’s right, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Ocala, Florida (hereafter referred to as St. Mark’s). That’s where I began to confess the Lordship of Jesus. In the earliest formative years of my life, I stood with those precious folks and recited, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord”… “I believe in the Holy Spirit” (emphasis mine). I confessed those words with my mouth, but believing them in my heart has been a long journey (Rom. 10:9-10). Looking back now I understand that even then the Holy Spirit was …show more content…
To say that Jesus is Lord means that Christians put our whole faith and trust in him, surrender to his authority, and agree to let him be the ruler of our lives. Throughout the practice of ministry, I have seen individuals accept Jesus’ Lordship in both subtle and dramatic ways. Some of our most stable and devoted leaders are baptized as infants, raised lovingly by a community of faith, and grow lifelong into that Lordship. However, those folks are fewer in number at the closing of this declining age of Christendom. I must confess I get really excited about those who encounter Christ in palpably transformative ways. At Wildwood United Methodist Church (hereafter referred to as Wildwood), we have joined close to 200 new members in four years. Many by profession of faith—brand new Christians, turning their lives over to Christ in dramatic …show more content…
In fact, the apostle Paul says no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). Hence, the lordship of Jesus is inextricably linked with the work of the Spirit. This third person of the Trinity, is affirmed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, as the one who “proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.” The years I have served as pastor have deepened my conception of the work of the Holy Spirit in the arenas of personal faith, the community of believers, and responsible living in the world. Before we are even aware, God is initiating a relationship with us through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes life in Jesus possible. The Spirit convicts us of our sin and convinces us that Jesus is necessary for salvation, woos us to embrace God’s free offer of love, then comes to indwell us in an intensely personal way (Rom 8:16). The Spirit awakens our hearts to the love of God (Rom 5:5), thus beginning the transformative process of renewal from a current fallen nature into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). This transformation is not an event, but a process. God is working within us to accomplish a total restoration—new
Question #1: What changes has the practice of ministry had on your interpretation of (a) the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and (b) the work of the Holy Spirit? Beside my grandmother, front pew on the preacher’s right, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Ocala, Florida (hereafter referred to as St. Mark’s). That’s where I began to confess the Lordship of Jesus. In the earliest formative years of my life, I stood with those precious folks and recited, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord”… “I believe in the Holy Spirit” (emphasis mine). I confessed those words with my mouth, but believing them in my heart has been a long journey (Rom. 10:9-10). Looking back now I understand that even then the Holy Spirit was …show more content…
To say that Jesus is Lord means that Christians put our whole faith and trust in him, surrender to his authority, and agree to let him be the ruler of our lives. Throughout the practice of ministry, I have seen individuals accept Jesus’ Lordship in both subtle and dramatic ways. Some of our most stable and devoted leaders are baptized as infants, raised lovingly by a community of faith, and grow lifelong into that Lordship. However, those folks are fewer in number at the closing of this declining age of Christendom. I must confess I get really excited about those who encounter Christ in palpably transformative ways. At Wildwood United Methodist Church (hereafter referred to as Wildwood), we have joined close to 200 new members in four years. Many by profession of faith—brand new Christians, turning their lives over to Christ in dramatic …show more content…
In fact, the apostle Paul says no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). Hence, the lordship of Jesus is inextricably linked with the work of the Spirit. This third person of the Trinity, is affirmed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, as the one who “proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.” The years I have served as pastor have deepened my conception of the work of the Holy Spirit in the arenas of personal faith, the community of believers, and responsible living in the world. Before we are even aware, God is initiating a relationship with us through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes life in Jesus possible. The Spirit convicts us of our sin and convinces us that Jesus is necessary for salvation, woos us to embrace God’s free offer of love, then comes to indwell us in an intensely personal way (Rom 8:16). The Spirit awakens our hearts to the love of God (Rom 5:5), thus beginning the transformative process of renewal from a current fallen nature into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). This transformation is not an event, but a process. God is working within us to accomplish a total restoration—new