St Saviour's Holey Spirit, Lewisham

When last in the capital, I saw an advert for an event entitled ‘Come, O Holy Spirit, Come!’. While away from home, I seek opportunities for fellowship, and this caught my eye. The poster continued: 'A prayer vigil was arranged to invoke the power of the Holy Spirit', after a talk on His fruits. This was all due to be held at St Saviour's, Lewisham, a brick-built Roman Catholic church dating to the Edwardian period. Inside was rather stately, a grand setting to pray for so grand a personage as God the Holy Spirit Himself.

Yet the Holy Spirit primarily speaks to us through the words He breathed in scripture. To set them aside, to add to them, to negate them, to nullify them with human glosses- all this denies Him and His work. These meetings, and especially the ones held in larger, brasher charismatic gatherings, often deny the very One whose beautiful words they marginalise and neglect. A church rooted and grounded in scripture is a church in which the Holy Spirit is heard the most and ignored the least. Making the biggest noise and repeating His name is not the same as quietly obeying Him. Seek His filling, desire His fruit, but unless you purpose to obey His word, such desires will come to nought.