Port Ann Wesleyan Youth Group for June 17: Savoring the Spirit

Hello, everyone. Hopefully everyone is doing well and keeping busy. We’ll start tonight off with a song we’ve shared numerous times before, but still is very powerful, “Holy Spirit” by Francesca Battistelli:

We continue to pray for the COVID-19 situation and all the people connected to it — from first responders and front-line medical staff to those who have dealt with the illness directly to those impacted via financial, emotional or other avenue.

Please continue to keep Pastor Paul and Sally in prayer as she faces the next step decisions on cancer found in her pancreas. Tests earlier this week confirm its presence, but doctors share that it is treatable. Obviously, there are a lot of questions and uncertainties as Pastor Paul and Sally head to an appointment tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss what’s next. Please shower them in prayer.

Our annual youth officer elections will be next Wednesday. Please get nominations to Michelle or myself as soon as possible! The President must attend our church regularly Sunday mornings along with youth on Wednesday nights. He/she help run meetings and also represent the youth to our church board quarterly (once every three months) at the beginning of board meetings. The Vice President also must attend our church Sundays and Wednesdays, and fills in for the President if he/she can’t run youth meetings and represent the youth at quarterly board meetings. Treasurer also must attend our church both Sundays and Wednesdays. He/she also helps handle the finances from fundraisers and other programming. The Secretary takes notes for any meetings, maintains the attendance book and handles photos/updates for social media. He/she needs to attend regularly on Wednesday nights. The Ministries Coordinator should also attend regularly on Wednesdays and helps create ways for our youth to work with other ministries (kids, adults, etc.) while participating in quarterly church meetings for the planning committee.

If you have any questions about any of this, please let us know.

A hula hoop attached to a post, a bottle of bubbles and some eager “bubble directors.” Those were the ingredients Wednesday night for our activity/competition where youth raced to guide a bubble using only their breath through a hula hoop target.

The concept was pretty simple, the view fairly comical. Teens blowing bubbles, guiding them through a steady breeze and around other obstacles until reaching the hula hoop goal. We know bubbles are very fragile — any bump against a foreign object usually ends with a pop.

As Christians, we can also be pretty fragile, and easily led off course by a variety of trials, temptations and other worldly influences. However, there is one invisible force that can help us navigate our daily obstacle courses while staying on God’s course — the Holy Spirit.

After His resurrection and eventual ascension into Heaven, Jesus left behind the third in a trinity of God’s being. Jesus’ disciples were imbued with the Holy Spirit while together on the day of Pentecost, and the experience caused such a commotion, it drew nearby people to see what was happening. From Acts 2:14-15 (NIV):

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!”

Peter then ministered to the crowd, talking about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross and the prophecies that led to that moment. The people ask Peter how they should respond. He then shares what we find in Acts 2:38-39 (NIV):

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Who exactly is the Holy Spirit, and what role does He play in our lives as Christians today? Check out this video from Allen Parr who offers seven reasons on why we need the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit forms a godly inner-voice that helps keep us on track as we work toward God’s purpose in our lives. However, there are times it can be harder to hear that internal nudging from the Lord. Allen Parr shared this video more recently on four ways we can better understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to us:

Ultimately, we should all strive to better connect with the Holy Spirit, something Francesca Battistelli yearns for in her song shared above. As Peter shared in Acts 2:38, the gift of the Holy Spirit goes to those who genuinely repent and are baptized in the name of our God. The Holy Spirit then helps foster a variety of fruits in a Christian’s life, as shared in Galatians 5:22-23: “Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Ultimately, the Holy Spirit keeps God with us in our daily walk, and gives us a line of defense against the worldly obstacles we face. Beyond our repentance and baptism, we should continue to seek the Holy Spirit in our lives through regularly reading our Bibles and staying connected to God in prayer.

If you have questions about the Holy Spirit in your life, reach out to me (John), Michelle or Pastor Paul.

We’ll leave you with a newer song shared last week from Zach Williams and Dolly Parton called “There Was Jesus.” It is a great reminder that God is with us through all phases of life: