A Renewed Spirit
by Conference Minister Ron Hamilton
The 65th annual meeting of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference was held in St. Paul, Minnesota last month. It was an exciting time of fellowship and learning, and many people said that it was among the best annual meetings that they have attended as they sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit in our gatherings.
The theme for the meeting was “Being Changed” and the theme verse was
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
We have faced some challenging circumstances in the past three years as we prepared for our annual meeting. In 2011, we were forced to switch venues for our meeting due to an HVAC failure at our hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2012, wildfires in the Colorado Springs area threatened the region close to our meeting place and were not brought under control until a few days before our meetings started. This year our featured speaker was unable to attend due to illness. In the face of these challenges, we committed all of this to the Lord in prayer and were dependent on Him for His work. God clearly heard and answered our prayers and we experienced wonderful annual meetings in spite of the adversity.
We should be reminded that the life-transforming work of God that is promised in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This produces a spiritual energy to do the will of God and an earnest desire to see Him work in a new and fresh way in our lives. I believe that our dependence on the Lord in these challenging times opened the door for us to experience a special work of the Spirit in our Conference.
This lesson reminds us of the promise of spiritual transformation flowing from the saving work of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God desires that such energy and desire is the norm for our lives of faith. We should not be surprised when God shows up in a mighty way. Rather, we should expect His life-changing work in our lives each day.
