What will empower the church to do it's ministry?
The Glorious Church
May 31, 2026
Rev. Tim Sharpe
The sermon teaches that the Holy Spirit—the distinct, divine third person of the Trinity—empowers the church through gifts given for communal service, explaining how the church endures and urging dependence on the Spirit while calling believers to repentance and participation in the Lord's Supper.
Summary
Asking how Christianity has endured and spread for two thousand years, the sermon cautions against both denying our need for divine help and credulous excesses, then affirms the Holy Spirit as a real person of the Trinity equal to Father and Son. Drawing on 1 Corinthians 12, it explains that the Spirit gives diverse gifts that equip believers to function as parts of one body, making ministry possible only in community. This understanding reconciles God’s sovereignty with our responsibility: we are useful because the Spirit empowers us. The message closes by welcoming all joined to Christ to the Lord's Supper and urging repentance for those not in right relationship with Christ or his body.
Key Points
- The central question: how has a first-century movement endured and grown?
- We must not ignore our need for the Spirit, though claims of excess demand discernment.
- The Spirit is a person of the Trinity, fully God and distinct from Father and Son.
- 1 Corinthians 12: the Spirit gives diverse gifts to believers to serve the world through the church.
- Gifts function within community—believers are parts of one body, each necessary for the whole.
- This empowers the church’s mission and answers concerns about human usefulness under God’s sovereignty.
- Weekly Lord’s Supper: all joined to Christ are welcome; those not in right relationship are invited to repent.
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