Update from the President

June 9, 2016
5 minutes read time
Upclose photo of water.
In multiple places in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is compared to water which cleanses. We don't yet fully understand all the working of this great Power. But, through the Holy Spirit in us we do get closer to God.
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UCG President, Victor Kubik, shares plans about upcoming trip to Europe and thoughts on doing more with the Holy Spirit as we observe the Feast of Pentecost.

From the home office we wish you a wonderful Pentecost weekend. Our prayers are with you for your safe travels and gatherings over the Sabbath and the Holy Day.

Beverly and I will be traveling to Europe on Wednesday, June 15, and will return on June 27. We will first visit our office and congregation in Bergamo, Italy. We look forward to being with Carmelo and Antonella Anastasi as well as all our brethren on the Sabbath.

We will continue on to Ukraine. While I have traveled to Ukraine many times over the years, I have not been back in seven years. The occasion is the 20th anniversary of the "Revival" Centre of Rehabilitation of Disabled Children that we have been involved with since before it officially opened in 1996. This project led to the founding of LifeNets, which has served the church and public over the years.

Finally, we will travel to Holland where, on the Sabbath of June 25, we will have a combined service with our Dutch brethren and the Dormagen, Germany, congregation.

You can follow our reports on this trip by going to our TravelPod blog at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/victorkubik/18/tpod.html.

"You Can Do More With the Holy Spirit"

When visiting Sabbath-keepers in Ukraine whose beliefs are similar to ours, we often like to compare our beliefs and discuss their application in our lives. Conversations could go on for hours. I marvel at how many of their teachings and practices are similar: Sabbath, Passover, the nature of God, the state of the dead, the Kingdom of God, etc.

The Holy Spirit, containing God's limitless power, can manifest itself through ways that you would not have dreamed of. It can do this for you, personally, as well as for the Church at large.

They did, however, make an observation about how we describe the Holy Spirit. They also believe that the Spirit is the power of God and not a third person in a trinity. Their comment to me was, "You can do MORE with what you say about the Holy Spirit." While we both regard it as God's power, they were saying that it has far greater significance.

The Sabbatarians spoke of the Holy Spirit as empowering, emboldening, revealing, protecting, and intervening for them. They spoke about how their spiritual and even physical survival was dependent on the continual action of the Holy Spirit in a hostile former Soviet society. In spite of obstacles, the Sabbath-keepers grew to 3000 in western Ukraine, 4000 in northern Romania and another 3000 in Moldova--all by networking and relying on the day to day actions of the Holy Spirit upon them.

They make a good point about "doing more with the Holy Spirit" and expanding what that Spirit is able to do for us. In a cursory study of the Spirit of God in the scriptures we have a volume of descriptions and applications of this aspect of God.

Consider this sampling of weighty biblical statements about the Holy Spirit:

• God IS Spirit (John 4:24).
• First appearance of the Spirit is in the second verse of the Bible as the Force of Creation (Genesis 1:2).
• We receive the Holy Spirit of God at baptism (Acts 2:38).
• A Christian is defined as one who has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-10).
• In multiple places, the Holy Spirit is compared to fire which purifies, water which cleanses, and blowing wind.
• The Holy Spirit brings things to remembrance (John 14:26).
• The Holy Spirit grants us spiritual understanding and wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).
• The action of the Holy Spirit shows itself in the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
• The gifts of the Spirit are knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, faith, healings, working miracles, discerning truth, diverse tongues and their interpretation.
• The Holy Spirit gives us a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

We don't yet fully understand all the working of this great Power. But, through the Holy Spirit in us we do get closer to God: "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit" (1 John 4:12-13).

We should always allow ourselves to grow in knowledge and accept the power that is given to us to be Christ-like and to be overcomers. Paul triumphantly wrote in one of my favorite scriptures: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). I know my limitations, but I also know that Christ living in me through His Spirit can do wonders.

The Holy Spirit, containing God's limitless power, can manifest itself through ways that you would not have dreamed of. It can do this for you, personally, as well as for the Church at large. It did this for the Church on the first Pentecost with explosive growth from 120 to 5000 converts in short order. The Holy Spirit can do this again.

We will be observing Pentecost, the day on which Peter described an outpouring of God's power. He quoted Joel 2:28-29: "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."

This can and will happen again as this prophecy was ultimately for the very end times. Let's pray for God's Spirit to become a greater part of our consciousness. Yes, the people in Ukraine we talked to were right. We can do more with the Holy Spirit.