Built by the Spirit

The Village Church bases its theological footprint on the Nicene Creed. It is roughly 1,700 years old, it moves through Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the church, and it has held the Eastern and Western church together through every heresy that tried to pull them apart. Pastor Brady called it a good place to start any theological conversation.

The men and women who shaped it argued, fasted, prayed, and came back together until every word was right. So the order matters. The creed speaks of the Spirit right after the resurrection of Christ and right before the church, because the Holy Spirit is the link between the risen Christ and the living church.

Before he ascended, the last thing Jesus told his disciples was to go back to Jerusalem and wait, because he was sending the Holy Spirit. They did exactly that. They gathered, prayed, and waited in unity, and the Spirit came with a rushing wind and tongues of fire. The crowd outside heard the gospel in their own languages, and thousands came to Christ.

There is no church without the Holy Spirit. Pastor Brady said many churches are in decline because they are trying to carry out a religious responsibility without his power. Their commitment and morality may be real, but you cannot follow Jesus unless you keep welcoming the work of the Spirit.

For about nine years, before his feet touch the floor and before he looks at his phone, Pastor Brady has prayed the same three words every morning: Come, Holy Spirit. He has plans on the books, but he does not want to attempt the day without the fullness of the Spirit.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in his church. Jesus died a real death. He was not in a coma and he was not resuscitated. The Holy Spirit went through the walls of the tomb and brought his body fully back to life.

Some people are in tomb spaces right now: dark, disorienting seasons where the walls close in and the future disappears. Pastor Brady said he knows that place well and has come through it himself, and that what carried him day after day was the presence of the Holy Spirit.

His word to anyone in the valley of the shadow of death is simple: keep walking. He has not abandoned you. Psalm 23 does not end in the valley. There is a table prepared in the presence of your enemies, an anointing, a cup that overflows, and a lifetime in the house of the Lord.

The creed calls the Spirit the giver of life. Pastor Brady said a church without the person and power of the Holy Spirit is just a legal and lifeless institution. On every continent there are churches growing, baptizing, and seeing salvations, healings, and breakthroughs, and there are churches that have pushed the Spirit away. The church is exploding across Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, and even in Europe there is a small flame of revival. Everywhere God is moving, the church has invited the Spirit in.

The Spirit shows up two verses into the Bible. The earth was formless and empty, and the Spirit was hovering. If your life feels formless, empty, or chaotic right now, the Spirit is hovering over it whether you feel it or not. He shows up in places everybody else has given up on.

No one comes to Jesus without him. You do not even know you are lost until the Spirit shows you, and then he offers hope. Like the prodigal son in the pig pen, there is a moment you come to your senses and turn toward the Father’s house. Pastor Brady spoke that over every family praying for a prodigal: they will come to their senses.

The Holy Spirit is not a mystical force, pixie dust, or a Jedi power. The Spirit is God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons. Many people quietly replace the third person with something easier to understand, even with their Bible.

Following Jesus means embracing mystery. A man once told Pastor Brady he would not follow Jesus until he could figure it all out. That day will never come. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, and walking with Jesus often means seeing only the next step.

The creed says that with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is worshiped and glorified. So welcome the person of the Holy Spirit, not just a feeling or a power. Pastor Brady asks the Spirit to walk with him the way his wife Pam and his children have walked with him. We talk to the Father and to Jesus. We should be talking to the Spirit too.

The creed says the Spirit has spoken through the prophets. God does not go mute for long in the Bible, and Scripture is alive with his voice. That is why Pastor Brady said, call it old school, Christians should read their Bibles every day. Read with a listening ear and the Bible starts talking back.

It will not only teach. It will rebuke, correct, and train. After 37 years of marriage, Pastor Brady said nothing has corrected him about his marriage more than the Bible. The enemy wants you distracted from Scripture, because when you stop reading, you stop being rebuked, corrected, and trained in righteousness.

Jesus said the Spirit would teach us all things and remind us of everything he said. Most Sundays, preaching is not new revelation. It is a reminder of what we already know but may not be obeying.

Right after promising the Spirit, Jesus promised peace, and not the kind the world gives. The world’s peace depends on circumstances going well. His does not.

Pastor Brady’s concern is the wider body of Christ. When we push the Spirit away and lose our fascination with the Word, something fills the void, and it will not be holy. The Spirit teaches, rebukes, and corrects, and he leaves a peace and a fearless heart you cannot find anywhere else. Why be afraid when the Spirit is standing next to you?

God gives the Spirit without limit. So the question is personal: have you put limits on how much of the Holy Spirit you want? Not wanting to be weird is understandable, but are you willing to take bold steps of faith and obey when God asks for something outside your bounds?

At almost 60, Pastor Brady said he is hungrier for the Holy Spirit than he has ever been. The service closed with the congregation standing, hands turned up, praying three words together: Come, Holy Spirit.