[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 15/Jun/2025]
Last week on Pentecost Sunday we were reminded that the resurrected and ascended Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit into His early followers. That was the birth of the Church of which we are a part, and gave each one of us various gifts of the Spirit to serve Him in His kingdom.
I remember that in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s there was a mini pouring out of His Spirit in which He showed His power in the Church. The many ways in which He showed Himself were surprising and unbelievable. I can remember falling to the ground in a service and found myself lying in God’s arms, and we were saying how much we loved each other.
Another way was that many Christians were being filled with laughter and joy in their daily lives. One day we were going to a Christian meeting in Tunbridge Wells. As we walked from the car park, myself and another man realised that we were going to the same meeting. It turned out that he was a publisher of Christian books. We sat next to him and his wife, and as we worshipped the Lord he suddenly started laughing and ended up rolling on the floor with laughter. His wife was very embarrassed at what was happening to her middle aged husband, but I felt that Jesus was telling us to let go and rejoice in being filled with His Holy Spirit.
A little while later I was preaching about Peter seeing a vision of a sheet being let down from heaven full of unclean animals for Jews. God told him to feed from any of the animals there. He refused but later realised that God was telling him to share the Good News of Jesus with people who were not Jews, which he did shortly afterwards. As I told this story from the Bible in Acts 10, I asked everyone what they would find difficult to do to serve Jesus, in the same way as shown to Peter in that sheet. I gave various ideas and suggested that for me it would be to worship Him by dancing, which was popular at that time. A few weeks later I was in church and suddenly I was filled with the Holy Spirit and began dancing. Apparently everyone there was amazed as it was so much out of character for me, but I am sure that it showed that God has a sense of humour and was laughing in heaven.
Can I ask the same question and ask what would be difficult for you to serve Him even in the power of the Holy Spirit? You may not imagine what you could do, but God knows and will give you the power you need.
At the end of each message on Sunday mornings, we have a number of questions to think about how we respond to the challenges of what we have heard. I must admit that I often think the answers are just what applied to me in past years, and I have often responded to since. But many of you are much younger and you are able in new ways to surrender your lives to our Saviour in praise, gratitude and service.
As a result of those questions, I have begun to think if there is a new way in which I can begin serving Him now? Even though I am old, physically weak, and forgetting the words I need to express myself verbally, how can I serve Him in a new way? That is my prayer for now. It may be that God’s answer may be in the future and will be to call me to His home, in which case I shall find myself doing things for Him that I could never imagine now. When I share this with God, I am sure that we shall have a good laugh together.
In the meantime, “Come Holy Spirit come!“
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Last Sunday’s reflection: What’s in a Name? by Martin Shorey
Contributed by Michael Goble; © Michael Goble