Spirituality Topical Study

<h2 class="heading-lg"><strong>What does the Bible say about spirituality?</strong></h2><p><span class="body-copy">The Spirit, or Holy Spirit is, as one theologian said, &quot;the shy person of the Trinity.&quot; The standard Biblical term for spirit in both Hebrew and Greek is wind or breath, which does express a mysterious quality of unseen power and vitality.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">Because spir<span class="body-copy">ituality, in the biblical context, is tied to the Spirit of God, it cannot be conceived as merely non-physical. The Spirit of God is deeply involved in creation, hovering over the original chaos (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Genesis%C2%A01%3A2">Genesis1:2</a>). When God creates humans, God &quot;breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.&quot; The close association of breath and spirit, invites us to see spirituality in both the spiritual and physical aspects of human existen</span>ce.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">The Psalm<span class="body-copy">ist also expresses the creative energy of the Spirit: &quot;You send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.&quot; (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Psalm%20104%3A30">Psalm 104:30</a>) Spirituality draws us into a deeper connection with cr</span>eation</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">In a dramatic and powerful evocat<span class="body-copy">ion of spiritual renewal, Ezekiel is led into a vast valley of dry bones, symbolizing the deadness of Israel in her relationship with God. (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Ezekiel%C2%A037%3A1-14">Ezekiel 37:1-14</a>). As instructed by God, when he speaks the word of God over the dead bones, they come alive and rise up as a mighty army. And God says: &quot;I will put my Spirit in you and you will live&hellip;.&quot; (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Ezekiel%C2%A037%3A14">Ezekiel 37:14</a>) Israel&#39;s &quot;spirituality&quot; can only be renewed by the bre</span>ath of God that comes in God&#39;s word.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">The Holy Spirit is the on<span class="body-copy">e by whom God enters the creation through the Virgin Mary (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Luke%201%3A35">Luke 1:35</a>), and the Spirit descends on Jesus in his baptism. Jesus&#39; own &quot;spirituality&quot; is inextricably tied to the presence and power of th</span>e Holy Spirit.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">As an extension of the ministry of Jesus,<span class="body-copy">the Holy Spirit fills the church on Pentecost (<a href="https://preachingandworship.org/search/Acts%202">Acts 2</a>) . From then on, the Spirit guides and empowers the church (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Acts%2010%3A19%2C%2044">Acts 10:19, 44</a>, <a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Acts%2015%3A28">Acts 15:28</a>), and provides leaders for it (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/Acts%2011%3A24">Acts 11:24</a>, <a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/1%20Corithians%C2%A012%3A11">1 Corithians 12:11</a>). True spirituali</span>ty is pictured here as operating within the growing and developing &quot;institutional&quot; church and for its growth and welfare.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">In h<span class="body-copy">is great chapter on the resurrection Paul distinguishes between the &quot;spiritual&quot; body or resurrection body and the &quot;natural&quot; body. (<a href="https://zeteosearch.org/search/1%20Corinthians%2015%3A%2044-49">1 Corinthians 15: 44-49</a>) Clearly he does not mean that the &quot;spiritual&quot; body is </span>entirely non-physical, but that it is completely under the control of the Holy Spirit.</span></p><h2 class="heading-lg"><strong>Sermon ideas about spirituality</strong></h2><p><span class="body-copy">Clearly, the biblic<span class="body-copy">al meaning of spirituality is neither entirely non-physical nor outside of institutional expression. True spirituality is live life gifted and governed by the Holy Spirit. Subversive, Anti-institutional There is also a</span> subversive and anti-institutional aspect to spirituality. The Holy Spirit often seems to wake up the institutional church from the outside in.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">Many people <span class="body-copy">find their spirituality strengthened by their institutional involvements, as well as threatened by it. Spirituality and religious institutions are not polar opposites; religious institutions are the inevitable physical</span> expression of spiritual reality.</span></p><p><span class="body-copy">&quot;You can safely assume you&#39;ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.&quot;<span class="body-copy-sm">(Lamott, Anne.<em>Bird by Bird</em>.Knopf Doubleday, 2012, pg. 22.)</span></span></p><p><span class="body-copy"><span class="heading-sm"><span class="body-copy">&quot;My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.&quot; <span class="body-copy-sm">(Albert Einstein, quoted in Moshe Ben Chaim,<em>Judaism, Religion of Reason</em>, Mesora of New York, 2011, pg. 64)</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">&quot;Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God&#39;s being present in the mess of our unfixedness.&quot; <span class="body-copy-sm">(Yaconelli, Mike.<em>Messy Spirituality</em>.Zondervan, 2009, pg. 6)</span></span></p><p><span class="body-copy">&quot;I&#39;v<span class="body-copy">e decided that if I had my life to live over again, I would not only climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets&hellip; I would not only go barefoot earlier in the spring and stay out later in the fall</span>; but I would devote not one more minute to monitoring my spiritual growth. No, not one.&quot; <span class="body-copy-sm">(Manning, Brennan.<em>The Furious Longing of God</em>.David C. Cook, 2009, pg. 43)</span></span></p>