Having already looked the past couple weeks at the role of the Father and the Son in our salvation, we turned our attention last Sunday morning to the role of the Holy Spirit.

God the Holy Spirit was instrumental in the creation of the universe (Gen. 2:2), the inspiration of the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21), the virgin birth of Christ (Matt. 1:18), His public ministry (Matt. 3:16), and the resurrection (Rom. Rom. 1:4). But the Holy Spirit was also deeply involved in our salvation. In fact, without His miraculous, transforming work in our hearts, none of us could have been saved. Using Titus 3:5-6 as our main text, we studied the Spirit’s work from two angles:

1. There is a complete change. Paul’s phrase in v. 5, “washing of regeneration,” pictures a dramatic rebirth, a divinely wrought change in our nature that produces a spiritual “bath.” Simultaneously, there was a “renewing” that took place, meaning we were completely revived and transformed. This was not a mere remodel of our nature with a few cosmetic changes. It was a complete rebuilding. As the early church father John Chrysostom said, “For as when a house is in a ruinous state no one places props under it, nor makes any addition to the old building, but pulls it down to its foundations, and rebuilds it anew; so in our case, God has not repaired us, but has made us anew.” This change, which took place solely by the mercy and kindness of God, is what suddenly caused us to desire faith and repentance.
2. There is a compelling call. The Bible also speaks of the Spirit’s work in salvation as a “call” upon our hearts. Sometimes, the Bible speaks of a “general call” made freely to all who hear the preaching of the Word (Matt. 22:14). But the call we are speaking of here is a special, inward call (Rom. 1:6-7; 9:23-24). This call is not an audible voice, but a divine tugging upon our heart. It is God the Spirit drawing us and wooing us and reeling us in to Himself. This call is directly linked to our election (Rom. 8:29-30), and is just as powerful and irresistible as when the Creator rebuked the waves (Mk. 4:39) and raised the dead (John 11:43).

Questions for thought and discussion:

• How is the Father involved in our salvation? The Son? The Holy Spirit?
• Why do you think there is so little emphasis on the Holy Spirit today among many Christians?
• Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. Do you see evidence of this transformation in your life?
• Does regeneration mean we are now perfect and free from sin? cf. Rom. 6:12-18.
• What’s the difference between the “general call” and “special call” of God?
• Write a prayer to the Holy Spirit, thanking Him for the work He has accomplished in your heart.

Sunday’s sermon is now available for free audio download from our podcast site.

Justin Taylor points out a great resource to keep in mind for evangelism…

If you or your ministry or your church are looking for inexpensive copies of the NT to give away to folks for evangelistic purposes, you may want to look at the ESV Outreach New Testament. You can get 300 copies for just over $200. Or you can order them individually at $1.19 a piece.
Here are the specifics:

• 8.2-point type
• Words of Christ in black
• 222 pages
• Size: 5.25″ x 8.25″

And here’s the supplemental material included:

• Short intros to each book
• How to Read the New Testament
• Where to Find Help When You Are . . .
• What the New Testament Says About . . .
• Getting Started: A 30-Day Reading Plan
• God’s Plan to Save You
• Six-Month New Testament Reading Plan

HT: Justin Taylor

J. D. Greer has some good thoughts on day to day evangelism – taking advantage of all those little ‘divine appointments’ God brings our way where we can be salt and light.

How do you witness to your waitress? The check out clerk? Your barber? Barista? Mechanic? Co-worker? In our culture, cultivating these relationships is probably far more effective than a Monday night door-to-door visitation program or handing out tracts to strangers. Here are Greer’s thoughts.

• Frequent the same places
• Ask people how you can pray for them
• Invite people to church, over and over
• Use an acrostic like F.I.R.E. to help spur conversation. (I personally like to use R.O.C.I. – Residence, Occupation, Children/family, Interests)
• Read a good book on evangelism by someone like Bill Hybels (I also recommend Mark Dever and Becky Pippert)

Greer closes with this:

Gospel people are to be people of extraordinary generosity, extraordinary answers to prayer, and extraordinary joy. Look for ways to really put the generosity of Christ on display, because laying down your life can really get someone’s attention; look for places to ask God for miracles; and thank God for chances to suffer before your friends, because only in suffering can you put on display that you have a joy that is better than anything life can give and that death cannot take away.

You can read the whole thing here.

HT: Justin Taylor

The International Missions Board has put together several tools to help you pray, give, and even volunteer in Haiti. Here’s the information copied from their site:

You can give

• Haiti Response Fund: 100 percent of your gift will be used for meeting needs of earthquake victims in Haiti.

You can pray

• CompassionNet: Watch for daily prayer updates.
• Twitter: To watch for latest updates from the Haiti follow @IMBconnecting. Please use #haitiprayer for your updates and prayers.
• Blog: Join those adding their prayers to the IMB Prayer Director blog.

You can volunteer

• E-mail: E-mail haitiresponse@imb.org. Indicate your name and contact information, what skills you have and when you are available. Southern Baptists interested in donating supplies or offering other assistance also can send an e-mail to this address.

You can mobilize others

• Videos: Download and show these videos to your church or others who may be able to help:
  • Mark Rutledge, long-time missionary to Haitians, speaks out from Port-au-Prince asking you to pray and give to help earthquake victims.
  • Gordon Fort, IMB vice president for global strategy, asks Southern Baptists to pray and help victims in Haiti in other ways.

Southern Baptist disaster relief assessment teams have arrived in Haiti to plan volunteer deployment.

Disaster relief volunteer efforts will be coordinated among Southern Baptist entities, including Baptist Global Response, North American Mission Board and Baptist state convention disaster relief teams.

Source: http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/fa/store.prod/ProdID/2825.cfm

Here’s part 3 of an interview I had last November with a student from Cal Baptist University. This section actually shifts from reading habits to other forms of education and enrichment available to pastors.

4. Do you attend professional meetings, seminars, and conferences? How often? How helpful are these?

Meetings and conferences are another great way to be sharpened, while also networking and establishing good Christian fellowship. Here are the meetings I typically attend:

Morongo Basin Evangelical Pastors Fellowship – President is a local EV Free pastor. We meet once a month for business and prayer, and we meet a second time in the month strictly for prayer. I am the secretary for this group and take all the minutes.

SBC pastors luncheon – once a month, our Director of Missions comes up to the high desert and the local pastors get together at Sizzlers with our families. Very informal.

SBC annual meetings – this year, I attended our associational, state, and national SBC annual meetings. These have not always been as enriching and biblically centered as I would prefer, but I saw a definite improvement this year. I also believe if young pastors are going to make a positive impact in our convention, we need to be supportive as team players and attend our regional meetings.

Bible conferences – as money and time allow, I like to attend other conferences. This year, I attended:

• Truth  Life Conference at The Master’s College (speakers were John MacArthur, Erwin Lutzer, and Sinclair Ferguson). This conference is free for alumni.
• Shepherd’s Conference at Grace Community Church (speakers were John MacArthur, Al Mohler, Tom Pennington, Phil Johnson, and Rick Holland). I attended this by myself for spiritual renewal, but met up and ate meals with many pastor friends while there.
• Men Discipling Men Conference at The Master’s College (speakers were Carl Hargrove and Stuart Scott). I attended this with three men from our church as a way to expose and equip them in biblical counseling issues.
• CSBC Pastor’s Conference at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church (speakers were Mark Dever, Jeff Lewis, and the presidents of IJM and Voice of the Martyrs)

In 2008, I attended Together for the Gospel in Louisville, which was outstanding.

On top of conferences I have attended, I’m also blessed to live in a day and age when a ton of free conference podcasts are available right over the internet. I like to listen to sermons and lectures on my MP3 player while exercising.

Related post:

• Reflections on my first  years as pastor