Introduction
Are you trying to follow Jesus in a way you can do “in your sleep”, or in a way that forces you to depend on the Holy Spirit? The central teaching we need to grasp is this: the risen Christ calls us into life together that reflects the Trinity, and real love for Jesus shows up as obedient, cross-shaped discipleship that requires the Spirit’s power.
We’re in a post-Easter reflection on who we are as a church: “life together.” That isn’t just a nice add-on or a helpful program. It’s meant to mirror the God we worship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, eternally communal. Since we’re made in His image, the way we gather, know each other, and share life becomes a living reflection of Him. Easter isn’t merely a private inspiration. Jesus rose to reconcile people to God, and also to reconcile people back to each other, then send a unified church out to reconcile the lost. After the resurrection, Jesus gathered scattered disciples, told them to wait for the Spirit, and at Pentecost the Spirit ignited a unified witness. So if we want a proper response to Easter, we must receive the Spirit’s power for obedient, communal, mission-shaped living. This week our focus is the often “forgotten” person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.
Main Points
Are you trying to follow Jesus in a way you can do “in your sleep”, or in a way that forces you to depend on the Holy Spirit? The central teaching we need to grasp is this: the risen Christ calls us into life together that reflects the Trinity, and real love for Jesus shows up as obedient, cross-shaped discipleship that requires the Spirit’s power.
We’re in a post-Easter reflection on who we are as a church: “life together.” That isn’t just a nice add-on or a helpful program. It’s meant to mirror the God we worship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, eternally communal. Since we’re made in His image, the way we gather, know each other, and share life becomes a living reflection of Him.
Easter isn’t merely a private inspiration. Jesus rose to reconcile people to God, and also to reconcile people back to each other, then send a unified church out to reconcile the lost. After the resurrection, Jesus gathered scattered disciples, told them to wait for the Spirit, and at Pentecost the Spirit ignited a unified witness. So if we want a proper response to Easter, we must receive the Spirit’s power for obedient, communal, mission-shaped living.
This week our focus is the often “forgotten” person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.
Community Mirrors the Triune God
I want you to see this clearly: God is not solitary. The Father loves, the Son serves, and the Spirit empowers, one God in perfect fellowship. When we pursue “life together” as a church, we aren’t just doing what’s practical; we’re reflecting what’s true about God.
After Easter, Jesus’ movement was not “go be inspired privately.” It was “come back together.” The scattered disciples were gathered, taught, and then told to wait for the Spirit’s power (Acts 1:4–8 implied). The Spirit came at Pentecost to unify and empower the church for witness. Resurrection power is not merely personal energy; it’s reconciling power, God bringing His people together and sending them out.
So when we talk about the Holy Spirit in community, we’re not chasing a side topic. We’re talking about what makes the church the church.
Jesus Promises “Another Helper” Forever
In John 14:15–18, Jesus prepares His disciples for life and mission after His departure:
- “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
- Jesus will ask the Father.
- The Father will give “another Helper” to abide with them forever, “the Spirit of truth.”
- The world cannot receive Him, but believers know Him because He dwells with them and will be in them.
- Jesus will not leave them as orphans.
Notice the Trinitarian shape: the Son asks the Father, who gives the Spirit. And notice the tenderness: the Spirit’s coming is part of Jesus’ promise, “I will not leave you orphaned.” The Spirit is not an optional upgrade for advanced Christians; He is God’s provision for disciples who must keep following Jesus when they can no longer rely on His physical presence beside them.
If we treat the Spirit as distant, confusing, or unnecessary, we misunderstand what Jesus is giving: a permanent Helper for a lifelong obedience.
Love Means Obedience and Submission
Now I want to press this into your heart: Jesus begins this promise with a condition, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Love is not merely a feeling, a vibe, or a slogan. Jesus defines love as obedience.
We often say “love God, love people” like it’s automatically easy. But Jesus’ version of love is not thin or sentimental. It’s covenantal. It’s loyal. It listens. It submits.
I want you to hear this plainly because our culture fights it: you can’t define love as “love is love.” Jesus gives content to love: obedience to His voice. If you love Him, you don’t treat His words as suggestions or nice religious advice. You receive them as the King’s commands.
And yes, this confronts the instinct in us that says, “Don’t tell me what to do.” But discipleship begins where that instinct dies. Real love says, “Yes, Lord.”
The Greatest Command Is Not “Easy Love”
Jesus summarizes the law in Matthew 22:37–40:
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
- Love your neighbor as yourself.
- On these hang all the Law and the Prophets.
This is “Christianity 101,” but that’s exactly why we’re tempted to tune it out. Familiar truths are often the first truths we forget.
Loving God with all means we don’t offer Him a divided life, some for Him and some kept back. And loving neighbor as self is not a vague humanitarian sentiment; it’s costly and concrete.
If you treat this as simple, you’ll assume you can do it without help. But Jesus doesn’t simplify the law into something shallow, He concentrates it into something total. That total love is exactly why we need the Holy Spirit.
Cross-Shaped Discipleship Requires Power
Jesus makes the love-command even more “street level” in Matthew 16:24:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”
So when Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” He is not inviting casual admiration. He is calling you to self-denial, to a life where your will is not king.
And this is where we finally understand why Jesus immediately promises “another Helper.” Because cross-bearing love is not something you casually add to a comfortable life. It costs your preferences, your schedule, your comfort, your reputation, your cherished sins, your very self.
God regularly calls us to do things we can’t do in our own strength so that He gets the glory, not us. If we only attempt what we can accomplish naturally, we don’t need God, and even our “success” will be hollow. The Spirit empowers us to do what love requires.
Sleepy Christianity Forgets the Spirit
Let me show you the contrast that exposes so much of our need.
Jesus, on the way to the cross, goes into the garden and prays in agony. He says, in essence: “If there is another way…yet not My will but Yours be done.” That “nevertheless” is one of the purest expressions of love the world has ever seen, obedient submission.
And Jesus doesn’t go alone. He brings Peter, James, and John, His closest friends. But while Jesus is praying with sweat “like blood” (Luke’s account implied), they fall asleep.
That picture explains a lot: when we try to live a Christian life we can do in our sleep, we won’t feel our need for the Holy Spirit. If our “discipleship” never asks us to deny ourselves, never confronts our sin, never costs us anything, never stretches us beyond human strength, then of course the Spirit will feel irrelevant.
But Jesus’ promise is for people who are actually going to follow Him to the cross, not just sing about love, but obey in love.
And this is why churches (and Christians) that never call people to repent, change, grow, and obey eventually become unnecessary. If nothing requires the Spirit’s power, you can stay home and do it all in your sleep.
Conclusion
I’m calling you into something deeper and more real: a Trinitarian life together shaped by the Father’s love, the Son’s servant-hearted leadership, and the Spirit’s empowering presence. Easter power isn’t just for your private encouragement; it’s for reconciled community and courageous mission.
Jesus does not leave you as an orphan. He gives you “another Helper”, the Spirit of truth, so you can actually live the obedient love He commands. When you pick up your cross, you’ll discover you were never meant to carry it alone. On the other side of every cross is joy and life, and the same Spirit who raised Christ will meet you with resurrection power as you die to self and follow Jesus.
So don’t settle for a Christianity you can do in your sleep. Choose the path that makes you say, “Holy Spirit, I need You.”
Father, thank You for loving us and sending Your Son to pay for our sin and rise in victory. Jesus, we confess that we often say we love You with our lips while keeping our lives comfortable and in control. Forgive us for treating Your commands like suggestions and for avoiding the cross-shaped life of discipleship.
Holy Spirit, we welcome You as our Helper and the Spirit of truth. Make us a people who obey from love, who submit with trust, and who live in real community that reflects the life of the Trinity. Give us power to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus with joy. Unite our church, reconcile relationships, and send us out as bold witnesses to the risen Christ.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
I’m calling you into something deeper and more real: a Trinitarian life together shaped by the Father’s love, the Son’s servant-hearted leadership, and the Spirit’s empowering presence. Easter power isn’t just for your private encouragement; it’s for reconciled community and courageous mission.
Jesus does not leave you as an orphan. He gives you “another Helper”, the Spirit of truth, so you can actually live the obedient love He commands. When you pick up your cross, you’ll discover you were never meant to carry it alone. On the other side of every cross is joy and life, and the same Spirit who raised Christ will meet you with resurrection power as you die to self and follow Jesus.
So don’t settle for a Christianity you can do in your sleep. Choose the path that makes you say, “Holy Spirit, I need You.”
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for loving us and sending Your Son to pay for our sin and rise in victory. Jesus, we confess that we often say we love You with our lips while keeping our lives comfortable and in control. Forgive us for treating Your commands like suggestions and for avoiding the cross-shaped life of discipleship.
Holy Spirit, we welcome You as our Helper and the Spirit of truth. Make us a people who obey from love, who submit with trust, and who live in real community that reflects the life of the Trinity. Give us power to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus with joy. Unite our church, reconcile relationships, and send us out as bold witnesses to the risen Christ.
In Jesus’ name, amen.