The Holy Spirit in Corporate Worship
There are many ways in which the Holy Spirit moves during corporate worship, which are the following; empowering, enabling worship, and giving spiritual gifts. First, the Holy Spirit moves by empowering believers by simply calling it “power.” In 2 Corinthians 12:7–9, it speaks about power for Christian living as enabling grace. Moreover, Paul is given “a thorn in the flesh” and asks God to take it from him, however, he tells him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Meaning that God’s grace goes hand in hand with his power because it is helping him overcome all difficulties. In other words, the Spirit is the one that empowers us to continue with our day to day routine even when difficulty arises.
Second, the Holy Spirit enables our worship by guiding our prayers. Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) says,
“ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
In other words, Paul urges us to pray repeatedly, attentively, and purposefully in the Spirit. With this in mind, when we are gathered our pastors, leaders, and volunteers are being lead by the Spirit with the gifts God has granted them. Another example of the Spirit empowering our prayer is seen in Jude as he wants us to be defend our faith and be alert of any false teachers. Jude 1:20–21(NIV) says,
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
In other words, Jude also wants us to strengthen ourselves, pray, and remain in God’s love as we stand by Christ’s mercy. Also, by praying in the Spirit it will be clear who is a false teacher and who is walking with Christ.
Third, the Holy Spirit moves by giving spiritual gifts. They reflect the Trinity’s unity and are used to serve others. First, they reflect the Trinity’s unity because there is only one Father, one Son, and one Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:4–6 says, “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person.”
In other words, the same Spirit’s different gifts are used in different ministries to serve the same Lord Jesus and the same Father who activates the gifts. Second, spiritual gifts are used to serve others because God has given his children the authority to do so.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.”
In other words, we are given these gifts to serve others because of the grace given to us by our Father. When we gather, we can use the gifts of service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and showing mercy. These are used in different ministries as mentioned before.
To conclude, the Holy Spirit in the corporate church moves through empowering believers, guiding our prayers, and using the gifts God has granted us. In doing so, we are being obedient to Him and it is evident that the Spirit is always with us. Moreover, he is our Helper, comforter, and instructor.
