Sadly, Many Americans Do Not
A 2021 survey indicates that sixty percent of Americans who regularly attend church believe there is no such thing as the Holy Spirit. According to the survey, these churchgoers believe that the Holy Spirit is merely a symbol of God’s presence or purity or power. As pastor and author Matt Chandler points out in this sermon, the survey indicates that a majority of American Christians do not have a trinitarian understanding of God; most of us don’t know the God we worship.
Equally alarming is the trend of Christians leaving churches to join other churches based on political or social ideology rather than attending a church based on theological beliefs and practices. Chandler argues that these two trends go hand in hand; the American church is caring less and less about knowing God and orthodox Christianity and choosing to attend churches in which their social and political preferences are aligned with others.
America has never needed the Holy Spirit more.
In this recent sermon from the summer of 2021, Chandler preaches on the person of the Holy Spirit: who He is, what He does, and why we cannot believe in God without knowing the Spirit. Most importantly, the Holy Spirit is a person; a He. Not merely a force or power or presence. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as Jesus or the Father. He is the agent of Creation, separating chaos into order. He illuminates the word of God, He is the one who opens every believer’s eyes to understand the gospel and believe in God. He is the transformer, the empowerer, the helper, and our spiritual equipper. No Chrisitan can afford to live without the Spirit; no Christian can call themselves a Christian without Him.
Christian Union is a trinitarian ministry, teaching the entirety of the Scriptures and especially teaching students to walk in the Spirit by learning the voice of God, seeking Him through prayer, worship, and fasting, and depending on the Spirit for all things. Christian Union Universities and Cities regularly invite speakers to share about healing ministries, the ongoing and present power of God to heal, perform miracles, and set his people free from bondage to sin and the demonic. The Holy Spirit is active in the lives of believers, and Christian Union wants more American Christians to depend on Him and seek him for renewal and greater joy in Christ.
Watch the full sermon here.
