Read: Luke 2:8–14

Our God is joyful! We discover joy is at the very heart of God’s nature of God and in the expression of God’s being. "God our Father, will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17). Jesus gives joy: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). The Holy Spirit grows joy: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Galatians 5:22).

Read: Romans 15.1-13

If you were to ask me, where does your hope lie? I would answer, my hope is in God. If you were to ask, how does God give you hope? I would answer, God inspires my hope through you, the people of this church. I have hope because I see the Holy Spirit active in you strengthening relationships, inspiring worship, creativity, outreach and loving service towards our community.

Read:  John 16.5-11
 
Unseen, unheard and often unnoticed by us, the Holy Spirit is actively revealing truth about Jesus to the people of this world. Jesus told us the Holy Spirit would do this by convincing people of sin, righteousness and judgement.

Read: 1 Kings 3:1-15; Isaiah 55:8-9; James 1:5-8
 
We learn about the wisdom of God through the book of James starting from 1:5. Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God and it will be given to him” In the bible, Solomon is another great king and is known as the king of wisdom. And we learn many things from Solomon.

Read: John 14:15–21; 15:26–16:7

How on earth is a Christian meant to fulfil the expectations Jesus has for those who follow him? It appears to be an impossible task! The answer is found in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit picked up where Jesus left off. This is similar to a sports team when one member leaves the field of play and another takes his place. The Holy Spirit is not a second-string player. This is a tactical substitution where the Holy Spirit has been held in reserve for this moment when his skills are particularly needed.