All of us are spiritual beings. All of us have been created with a part of God in us. All of us, as the Scripture says, should long for spiritual milk, that our spirits may be lifted up inside of us, that our spirits may grow and be nourished by God. All spiritual beings are made for the works of God. We ourselves are those spiritual houses of the Lord made for service and sacrifice that is pleasing to God.

We hear about an ultimate example of Christian faith in the New Testament letter today. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, provides an example for us of what it is to be built up with spiritual nourishment from God. Reading between the lines, this first Christian martyr, in his service to God, had grown in spirit enough that he was able to see into the heavens from earth. And moved by the vision of what God had opened to him through the Spirit, he stands there proclaiming the vision of heaven to his ultimate demise as the people found what he was saying to be too troublesome. "Who is he to see these things of God?Stephen pays with his life for the blasphemy of seeing into heaven, the ultimate example of faith, the giving of his life. Or that's what we see at first glance. But a more poignant example of Stephen growing his spirit comes toward the end of that lesson, that even while he is being stoned he cries out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them.In the midst of his pain and anguish, being persecuted and killed, Stephen never lost his vision of God's love, even for those that persecuted him, a Christian example for us to follow.

So for us as spiritual beings, being made into a holy habitation of God, it is part of the design of God that we would serve God. As Jesus says, "And you will do works greater than I do because I am going to the Father.So Jesus spells out very clearly to his disciples that they will do great things, that they will continue building up this house of God within themselves, that they will continue to grow in the Spirit as they do what he had done, and that they would do even greater things. And even if they were doubtful, in the end of our Gospel lesson in John Jesus says, "And if you ask anything in my name, I will help you. It will be done."

Are we that infused with the Spirit of God's love and the Spirit of Christ that we can hold onto those words, that we can just ask Jesus to do for us and it will be done? Much of Christian history has been about churches, much like our own, going back hundreds of years, discovering that there is more to life in the Spirit than just that one moment of salvation where we realize God's true love in our life, God's true compassion and forgiveness that goes beyond anything we can imagine, that God wants us to have life, and new life, and well-being now and always, the transformative and powerful moments of faith. And I see them capitalized on all the time by other Christians in faith. And there's nothing wrong with that, except that is only the beginning of life in the Spirit. If we simply take what God has offered to us, and Christ in this new covenant and do nothing with it, we will not grow in the Spirit. We will be left wanting. We will be left feeling our faith is shallow and unsatisfying. But we have directions from Jesus on the things to do that are of the Spirit, the things to do that are of faith that will help us grow.

I don't know about you, but I often yearn for spiritual milk. I can take regular milk and bless it, but it's not going to give me that which I long for, which is feeling God's presence guiding me, comforting me, giving me direction in what I should say and what I should do. Now, you might say, "You're the pastor so it's part of your job to be able to always say and do the right things.But I'm human, I'm not a perfect person. Even my prayer life suffers from time to time. But I long for that. And part of what all of us long for as Christians is to have God notice us, to know that Christ is in us and carrying us. And when we feel that in ourselves, it frees us up from fears, it frees us up from some of our sorrows, and it gives us the ability to then say, "I am a spiritual being. I was created to do the works of God.And then if we follow up on that, that is the spiritual milk. The works and the things we do are spiritual milk that feed us and begin to deepen our faith.

And this church does a lot of works. I hear from many in the church...sometimes new folks, sometimes folks who have been here for a long time...that they're not sure what our church does. What are some of our works of faith? (among those mentioned by the congregation)

• Opening our building to community organizations: Moms Club, Daisies, A.A.
• Worship, gathering the body, learning, praying together in faith
• Responding to crises (Letters to Sudan, Katrina, the tsunami)
• Youth events: 30-Hour Famine, CROP Walk, etc.
• Grace United Learning Center
• Our Church's Wider Mission
• Homewood at Plum Creek
• Hoffman Homes for Youth
• Taneytown Blood Bank
• Sonshine Committee
• Carpenter's Table
• Prayer Chain
• Scholarships
• Fellowship

Speaking of fellowship time together and growing in the Spirit, last Sunday was the Carroll County UCC Worship Event. And this banner up here let them know that, 'Grace UCC Lets It Shine In Taneytown.' The theme was a carryover from the General Synod of 'Let it Shine.' Our churches shared with each other what some of these missions are that say, "We are letting the light of Christ shine in our community.We had 21 people from our church at the event. It would have been nice to have more. I was very impressed with the service and found it to be very meaningful, and I hope they do it again next year.

Think about these things that you've heard mentioned. They are all spiritual milk. They are events that nourish us at the same time as they help others. They are the works of God that bring glory to God because we are serving on God's behalf, doing as Christ would have us do, and sometimes more. That doesn't mean that, in doing more, that we will raise the dead to life as Christ raised Lazarus. But in supporting the missions we do, especially hunger relief, we are keeping people from dying. The God who loves us and wants us to have life can get that perspective into us through the mission of sharing with those in deepest need and providing hunger relief. And God is glorified that they live another day.

So growing in the Spirit, being nurtured by the Spirit comes in a variety of ways. It comes through our serving others on Christ's behalf. It comes through worshiping together and giving thanks to God. And some Sunday one of you might get hit with a word in the sermon and something happens, and it's a wonderful, beautiful thing. So worship does nourish and feed our spirits. Fellowship time is crucial and feeds our spirit as a family and helps us to share the joy of who we are and to help bear each other's sorrows. I hear on occasion people saying, "I want to grow in the Spirit.My response to you is, "Come! Let us find out where we can plug you in to the Spirit that is happening here.And you too may find an area where you will receive that spiritual milk that you need so dearly. Let us pray.

O God, in John's Gospel Jesus told his disciples that if they know him, they know you. We know Jesus, and so we know you. Let your Spirit, O God, fall upon us, that we may be faithful in doing the things that Jesus has taught to us. May we find the spiritual nourishment that we seek that brings us here to Grace. May we find it through prayer and worship. May we find it in fellowship with each other. May we find it in service to others who need. May we find you in the depths of our hearts and souls, that we may know a peace and joy that we long for every day. Gift us with that, O God. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Read other Sermons by Pastor Steve