: : THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT : :

The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world and especially in the church by empowering believers for Christian witness and service for the sake of the Gospel, and to bring Glory to the Father in Heaven. We believe every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion (Spirit Filled) (1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13). Subsequent to conversion, it is essential for every believer to thirst for fresh encounters with the person of the Holy Spirit (Spirit Led) (John 7:37‐39). The Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each believer with power to witness and imparts His supernatural gifts for the edification of the body and the work of ministry in the world. The Holy Spirit performs many necessary ministries in the believer’s life such as Counselor (John 14:16), Teacher (John 14:26), Revealer of Jesus Christ as Lord (1 Cor. 12:3), Empowerer (Acts 1:8), Guide (Rom. 8:14), Intercessor (Rom. 8:26‐27), Giver of Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. 12:11; 1 Cor. 14), and the One who brings conviction (John 16:8; Acts 7:51), and produces spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22‐25) and spiritual passion (Luke 3:16). 

: : SPIRITUAL GIFTS : :

All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the church of the first century are available today and are to be earnestly desired and practiced in an orderly manner. The gifts are essential to the mission of the Church in the world today. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. These gifts are to be exercised according to biblical guidelines and priorities (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12, 14). We believe the Holy Spirit is sovereign and may give any gifts He wants at any time He wants (1 Cor. 12:11). We believe the gift of tongues is a spiritual gift that may be used for cross-cultural evangelism (Acts 2:1-11), private prayer (1 Cor. 14:3, 14-19, 28), or for ministry to the body when an interpreter is present (1 Cor. 14:5). We do not believe everyone must speak in tongues (1 Cor. 12:30).