Denver Community Church

November 3, 2013: Rules of the House – Michael Hidalgo

The term koinonia was popular for a time in the church. It is translated in our Bibles as “fellowship.” It was a term, and an idea, that was espoused in the world at that time beyond the Christian community. In fact, it spoke of everything belonging to everyone else. All people, having the same rights to the same things. Socrates kicked this idea around, even going so far as to suggest sharing spouses. 

As utopian as this idea seemed, for the first believers it was there reality. What belonged to one belonged to all. It was more than sharing, it was releasing the rights of ownership. Which raises the question for us – how do we release what we possess to be owned by all people?

October 27, 2013: Where Have You Been All This Time? – Michael Hidalgo and Dave Terpstra

There is a group of people who are Jesus followers, dedicated to God and yet they do not even know the Holy Spirit exists. So much so when asked about the Spirit they say, “What? There’s a Holy Spirit?” How is it that people can follow Jesus, love God, love others and somehow not have the Holy Spirit?

A couple of things to remember. First, let’s not forget that Luke is telling a story of how God moved in the first century church. A movement that started with the Jews. It then went to the Samaritans – a group that the Jews did not like at all. But when Luke tells this particular story it sounds strangely like the story that unfolded in Jerusalem. A story that happened at the temple – now it happened in Samaria. The day that Jesus spoke of had come. God is spirit … and we need not worship on this mountain or that one. We worship in spirit of truth.

October 20, 2013: The Voice of God – Michael Hidalgo

Over and over again we read the words “the Spirit said …” How is it that the voice of the spirit was so obvious to so many? Moreover, why does it seem to have fallen so silent in our day? What does it mean to even hear the voice of the spirit? Is it an audible voice? Is he always talking? Is it just that we are not listening? And what if we try to listen and do not hear anything?

When it comes to hearing the voice of God we need to recognize that this was something the community always heard. It was not isolated individuals who heard God speaking. More than this, there was a sense of participation in and with the Spirit of God. They heard God, but also made decisions based on what they heard. Sometimes the best they could come up with was to say “it seemed good to us …”

October 13, 2013: Fifty – Scott Oppliger

The celebration of Pentecost was one of the high holy days for the Jewish people. In celebration of it the people would gather and would read from Exodus and remember the giving of the Law to Moses and the people who were gathered at Sinai. It was in this context that the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus - they spoke to all people. And the connections are endless.

What they experienced was, once again, the giving of the Word of God to his people. This time however, it was not a one that was written but one that gave life and breath and everything else. It was his new covenant with his people – filled with echoes of the covenant he made with his people. It was a gospel – good news – which is why those who heard were cut to the heart.

October 6, 2013: Filled With Life – Michael Hidalgo

The Holy Spirit can seem like a shifty, hard-to-pin-down member of the Tri-Une God. I mean, how do you capture the wind and store it for a later date? What is a breath that is here and gone? Honestly, this is how it seems much of the time with the Spirit of God. Here and there and gone and again. However, what we have to remember is that the Spirit was there at the beginning. And he has been with us ever since.

He has appeared as the voice of God, the Glory of God, the Wisdom of God … and still is all those things. However, instead of being outside of us, he is now within us and on us so that we can accomplish the task to which God has called us. Perhaps it would do us well to know that as the Spirit is in us we also are invited to be in the Spirit. It is an invitation to experience deep, lasting union with the Triune God. 

September 29, 2013: The Power of Power – Michael Hidalgo

The disciples are more than aware of the fact that they are going to need help in the days to come. While they are not entirely sure of what will face them – they know they will face insurmountable situations in which they need supernatural strength. Remember, we were not given a spirit of timidity …

And this is exactly what Jesus promises them. He says they “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes” to them. This is not just a promise for them, but for all of us. For throughout the book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit does bring power for the people of God to do what God has called us to. Which means, that we really have all the power we need – rather than ask God for it then, we need to ask him to wake us up to the fact that it is already here.

September 22, 2013: It's Better That I Leave – Dave Neuhausel

Jesus told his disciples, “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.” I’m not sure any of them would have believed him. Jesus was flesh and bone – and, at times, that is far better than anything we could ask for or imagine. But this is not true in the mind of Jesus. 

He says that he will send an “another Advocate.” The word there for another means “one who is like the other.” So wait … the Spirit is like Jesus? Well yes, because the Spirit is God just as Jesus is God. He is one who brings comfort, guidance, illumination and one who suffers with us (Romans 8). This is the one Jesus spoke of. 

September 8, 2013: Wind and Water – Michael Hidalgo

Jesus promised his disciples they would be baptized in the Spirit – comparing it directly to John’s baptism with water. John’s baptism was a tradition of inauguration. For those who participated in John’s baptism, it was a symbol of their repentance and readiness for the Kingdom of God.

Jesus evokes this language to speak of what will happen to his disciples, and to all people. We will be immersed in the Spirit so that we can participate together with all believers in the new covenant that God has made with humanity. For John, it was a symbol of what was to come. Jesus speaks of the new reality that will come from the Spirit of the Living God.

September 1, 2013: All Things New – Jon Gettings

The Spirit of God is as close as our next breath, because he is the one who gives us our life and our breath and everything else. So we breathe and have life, and when we stop breathing we have death. Which means for us there is a continual process of renewal within us. With each new breath we experience the life of God.

But what’s really fascinating is that to breathe in, we need to breathe out. And the stuff we breathe out is poisonous to us. It would kill us to only breathe the air we are breathing out. Which raises the question, “What do we need to breathe out?” What are the things in our life we need to get rid of to open up space for the breath of God? The breath that gives life.

August 25, 2013: Life, Wind, Breath – Michael Hidalgo

The Spirit of God is first seen in the biblical narrative as one who hovers over the waters – the chaos. It is this spirit of God that gives life through the breath of God to all living creatures. He is the wind, the life, the breath, the Spirit of God. So how do we understand the Holy Spirit? Who is he and why is he important? If he is so important then why have we heard so little about him.

As an introduction to spending some time learning about the Spirit of God we will begin at the beginning. We will contemplate the Spirit’s presence from chaos into creation – the one who gives life and how that same Spirit is here today.