“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:about sin, because people do not believe in me;about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:7-15)

While there are many debates and discussions about the Holy Spirit’s role in our worship I want to focus on some things that Jesus tells his disciples right up front about what the Holy Spirit will do in their lives. Rather than sift through meaningless debate let’s look to the source and see what Jesus has to say about it (I’m crazy right? See what Jesus has to say!?!? Weird I know but go with me on this one).

I would encourage you to read John 14-16 before you read here any further. Then grab a pen/pencil and mark every time Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit (Advocate, Counselor) and mark what Jesus says about the Spirit’s role in the lives of his followers.

Here is what I found.

The Counselor, the Spirit of truth- lives in those who love Jesus and is with them (14:16-17)
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit- teaches us and reminds us of what Jesus said and did (14:26)
The Counselor- testifies about Jesus (15:26)
The Counselor- convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgement (16:7-11)
The Spirit of truth- guides us into truth, speaks what he hears (16:13); brings glory to Jesus by taking what is Jesus’ and makes it know to the world (16:14-15)

So how does this knowledge help us as we gather together for worship? It means that as we worship, as we focus on glorifying God in Jesus Christ, the Spirit is there with us. He teaches us and reminds us of who God is, what his Son taught and accomplished, and how dependent we are on the loving and powerful God. The Spirit allows us to testify to Jesus and the saving power of the cross. The Spirit convicts me and everyone else about their sin and calls us to righteousness. Ultimately it is the Spirit in us and working through us that empowers our worship to make Jesus known through our lives and throughout the world.

That take a lot of pressure off me as a leader. I humbly submit to the Spirit knowing that it isn’t the powerpoint, lesson, or even the songs that glorify God and change lives. It is the power of almighty God in Jesus Christ through his Spirit that allows us to worship in spirit and truth. If we fail to recognize this than we are merely relying on man-made tricks to get people feeling “worshipful.”

Kauflin ends the chapter by challenging leaders to ask the following questions:

1) Next Sunday, if the Spirit stopped empowering your worship, would anyone notice?
2) Would you?

The questions are to you and me. Would we notice? I hope so. I hope we would notice and then humbly submit to God to send a fresh outpouring of his Spirit so that we might be changed – “for the good of the church and the glory of the Savior.”