Star Wars Day

Today has been called Star Wars Day. May the fourth be with you! You do need to have some knowledge of Star Wars to understand.

Acts 2:1-13

The Holy Spirit lives with us and indwells us. We have become the temple of the living God.

In Star Wars there is the Force. The Force indwells people and gives them power to do certain things. The blessing is “May the Force be with you”.

Star Wars is science fiction and so I understand a reference to a god-like thing called the force. In the past some Christians have objected to the force reference. But it is science fiction. You can’t very well have references to the Christian God.

Today we also start an 8-week series called “Fan the Flame”. It is a journey through Acts with a focus on the work of the Holy Spirit and spread of the gospel. The Holy Spirit and the force are very different. The force seems very impersonal and more of a thing. Whereas the Holy Spirit is one person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is a ‘he’, not a thing. The Holy Spirit lives with us and indwells us. We have become the temple of the living God. There is no longer a need for an earthly temple.

The force seems to be given to special people and not generally available. The good guys with the force are Jedi knights. But bad guys also can harness the force, most notably Darth Vader. This is very different to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells believers.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. It doesn’t matter how dark the valley is, God the Holy Spirit is with us.

Pastor Andy