Welcome to the Spirit series! In this series David examines the essential role that the Holy Spirit plays in every aspect of Christian life.

If you scroll down, you will see that each audio teaching has a title and a brief description followed by an audio file where you can either listen to the teaching from our website or download the Mp3. Please note that if you choose to listen to the file, it sometimes takes several seconds to start playing the audio after you click on the play button. To download the file to your computer, simply click where it says "download" at the bottom right hand corner of each audio file.

Note that there are 30 audio teachings in this particular series, and to access the last several audio messages, you need to scroll down to the very bottom of this page and click "Older Posts >" at the bottom right hand corner.

Or you can click here if you would like to view a summary list of the titles in this series.

David Cwir - The Importance of Shameless Audacity

Expectancy is synonymous with faith. In this week’s message, David teaches about the importance of raising our expectations and believing God for the impossible. There are absolutely no limits with God, as Jesus tells us in Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for him who believes.” If you would like hear about the importance of believing God for the impossible, scriptural promises that will absolutely transform your life if you get a hold of them, and how to get breakthrough in your prayer life according to Jesus, then check out this week’s message “The Importance of Shameless Audacity” at the following link:

David Cwir - The Story of the Restoration of the Lost Presence of God

The theme of the presence of God is crucial to both the Old and New Testaments. The main calling and purpose as the people of God is to be a people of His presence. In the New testament, there is a very explicit equating the now present Holy Spirit with the same Holy Spirit who led Israel out of Egypt into the promised Land and who was present among them in the tabernacle first, and then in the temple. And it was that presence that was lost in the exile that was now restored: first in the coming of Christ and then in the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you would like to hear more about the importance of our calling to be a people of God’s presence, then you can check out the message at the following link:

David Cwir - What is Spirituality?

The word "spirituality" has been shipwrecked! Because the term can mean anything these days, it has totally lost its meaning. However, originally the term Spirituality was all about God’s Spirit (according to Paul who coined the original Greek word in the Bible). Yet in our common speech, we no longer see the Spirit in Spirituality, because the word has become mostly about us as individuals. This even shows in the way many English Bibles have translated the word “Spiritual” with a small “s” in texts where the Holy Spirit is clearly in view. If you would like to learn more about the meaning of Spirituality according to how the Biblical writers originally intended it, check out David's message at the following link:

David Cwir - He is not an “It”: Understanding the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit

Within Christian theology, the role of the Spirit has often been given short shrift and been left on the periphery. As a result, many people have difficulty seeing or relating to Holy Spirit as a Person, which is often reflected in erroneous beliefs that He is some kind of “impersonal force” or “influence” or “it.” In the final analysis we live out what we most truly believe, and relating to Holy Spirit as a Person becomes crucial in our own relationship with God. In fact, your entire walk with God will be transformed if you begin to relate to Holy Spirit as a Person as He empowers us to live the entire Christian life! Check out this week’s message if you would like to learn more about Holy Spirit as well as a major key to living a Spirit empowered life:

David Cwir - Spirit Ministry: Power or Still Small Voice?

For the early church, the Spirit meant God’s own personal presence, and because God is all powerful, they always thought of the Spirit as the presence of God's power. Yet for some reason, later Christians developed a quiescent view of the Spirit that is more like a “still small voice,” which is not at all the New Testament experience. The early church wouldn't have understood our later ideas of a quiescent Spirit: They knew that when God was present, there was power present. The difference between them and us lies in many ways in this latter reality. Check out this week’s message if you would like to learn more about the central and crucial role that the Spirit played in the life and theology of the early church:

David Cwir - The Spirit and the New Covenant

Christian Theology in general has neglected the central and crucial role that the Spirit played in the life and theology of the early church. From their Jewish heritage, they understood that the Spirit was part of the promise for the future (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Joel 2:28-30) and the gift of the Spirit is the crowning evidence that God’s end-time promises are being fulfilled (Acts 2:15-18; Ephesians 1:13-14). The gift of the outpoured Spirit meant that the Messianic Age (“The Kingdom of God”) had already arrived, that God had ushered in the new covenant, and that He had renewed the lost presence of God to His people. Check out this week’s message if you would like to hear more about why the Spirit is so crucial the early church's understanding of Christian existence:

David Cwir - The Spirit as Evidence of the Presence of the Future

The resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Spirit marked the beginning of the End—the turning of the ages—and God has set the future in motion, so that we are already citizens of our new homeland (Philippians 3:20)! By the Spirit’s presence, believers taste of the life to come and become oriented toward its consummation. The Spirit is the down payment of the future inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14), He is the seal of that Day of the Lord that is to come (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), He is the first fruits of the final realization, the now and the not yet (Romans 8:23). Check out this week’s message if you would like to hear more about how the Spirit is the present evidence of future realities and the assurance of the final glory:

David Cwir - The Fulfilled Realities of the Promised Holy Spirit

The Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise that God Himself would once again be present with His people. The implications are considerable in terms of what it means for us individually and corporately to be the people of God. The whole existence of the church is to be a colony of heaven living out the lifestyle and the values of eternity in the present age by the Spirit. This is where the Spirit becomes key to the Christian walk, because without the Spirit we cannot live this eternal existence in the present age. Check out this message if you would like to learn more about how the coming of the Spirit into the life of the believer and the community fulfilled three critical dimensions of the promised New Covenant and how that changes our present existence

David Cwir - What is the Temple of the Holy Spirit?

In the New Testament, the local church is referred to as God’s temple because it is the place where His presence dwells by His Spirit. The implications of this central matter are considerable for us. We are called to build the habitation of the Lord, the dwelling place of God, the place where He wants to dwell. Check out this week’s message to learn more about the importance of the local church as God's temple, the implications for us in terms of how we are to understand the local church, and our mandate to be a people of His presence:

David Cwir - The End Time Realities of Salvation, and the Metaphors that Express them

What is salvation? The early church understood salvation in Christ as a thoroughly End Time reality. However, they also understood that believers live “between the times” with regard to the two resurrections, so that salvation is to be understood as an “Already/Not Yet” reality. That’s why you see the language of salvation is sometimes a PAST EVENT (“we have been saved;” Ephesians 2:8), it is sometimes spoken of as a PRESENT PROCESS (“we are being saved;” 1 Corinthians 1:18), and sometimes the CONCLUSION OF THE PROCESS that is yet to be completed (“we shall be saved;” Romans 5:9). Check out this week’s audio message if you would like to learn more about the multifaceted realities of salvation and the biblical metaphors that are used to express those realities:

David Cwir - Understanding Salvation: The Threefold Activity of the Triune God

How is salvation brought about in our lives? According to scripture, God is the initiator, Christ is the one who has effected it historically, and the Spirit is the one who brings it experientially to bear in our lives. Salvation in Christ is not simply a theological truth, based on God’s prior action and the historical work of Christ. Salvation is an experienced reality, made so by the person of the Spirit coming into our lives. In fact, Scripture says that you have not experienced the work of Christ if you have not received the Spirit (Romans 8:9). One simply cannot be a Christian without the effective work of the Trinity. Check out this week’s audio message if you would like to learn more about the absolutely vital role the Spirit plays in our salvation in Christ

David Cwir - The Spirit and Conversion: “Did You Receive the Spirit?”

The Spirit is the absolute key to understanding Christian conversion in the early church. In fact, conversion was primarily understood as the work of the Spirit. So much so, that when inquiring about people’s conversion, no one in the Bible ever asks “Are you saved?” rather they asked “Did you receive the Spirit?” (e.g., Galatians 3:2; Acts 19:2). Why? Because the evidence that they were saved in the early church was whether or not they had the Spirit (Romans 8:9; John 3:5). Check out this week’s audio message if you would like to learn more about how the Spirit plays a central role every step in the process of conversion:

David Cwir - The Spirit of Revelation and Faith

Conversion is the work of the Spirit, beginning with the proclamation and revelation of the gospel. Faith occurs at the point between and our hearing the gospel and our calling on God and is in some mysterious way the working of the Holy Spirit as both cause and effect: The Spirit is the one who initiates our faith and is also received by that same faith. So, faith itself, as a work of the Spirit, leads us to receive and experience the Spirit who also comes through that same faith! The Spirit is also the One who reveals the mystery of the gospel to us so that we can believe and receive salvation (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Check out this week’s audio message if you would like to hear more about the Spirit’s role in revelation, faith, and identifying the people of God:

David Cwir - The Experience of the Spirit and Belief in the Truth

The scriptures speak of salvation in terms of God the Father as initiating it, Christ as effecting it historically through His death and resurrection, and the Spirit as the one who effects it experientially in the individual's life. Although important, Salvation in Christ is not simply a theological truth, based on God’s prior action and the historical work of Christ. Salvation is an experienced reality, made so by the Spirit coming into our lives. Check out this week’s audio message to learn about how crucial both the objective, historical reality of what Christ accomplished and the subjective, personally experienced dimension of salvation are for understanding what happens at conversion.

David & Trisha Cwir - Our Journey in the Spirit: How the Lord Led Us In Encounters, Marriage, and to Ministry

In this message, Trisha and David talk about their story of life in the Spirit and share their journey about the call to ministry. It includes the story of how they met at the Lakeland revival, and reunited at Bethel Church in Redding, California, where they were eventually married. Check out this message if you want to hear the story about how The Lord led them together, how He fulfilled specific promises about where they would live and what they would do, and how He ultimately led them to plant a church in Ottawa. Through their story they share why they have a passion for living Spirit-led lives, the fruit it produced in their own life, and why they love to see people transformed by His glorious presence:

David Cwir - Life in the Spirit: Jesus Is Our Example

From His conception to His resurrection, everything about Jesus Christ’s life and ministry was a result of the Spirit’s work: He was conceived by the Spirit (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35); He was led by the Spirit (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1); He was empowered to do ministry by the Spirit (Luke 4:14-20); He spoke the Word of God by the Spirit (John 3:34; John 6:63); He was raised from the dead by the Spirit (Romans 8:11). Check out this week’ message to learn more about how Jesus was the ultimate man of the Spirit, how He is our example of what it looks like to live life in the Spirit, and how we are called to follow His example of a Spirit-empowered life:

David Cwir - How to Know God’s Will

As soon as Jesus was anointed by the Spirit, He immediately began being led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1-2). This is exactly what we are supposed to do as Christians: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14). In this week’s message, David gives a scriptural foundation on hearing God’s voice, knowing God’s will, and being led by the Spirit. If you would like to learn more, you can download David's message at the following link:

David Cwir - Prayer as a Key to Intimacy with Holy Spirit (Lessons from Paul’s Life in the Spirit)

One major key to being led by the Spirit and hearing His voice is through fellowship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts gives us a glimpse into how much communication happened between the Holy Spirit and the early believers and shows how the early church expected the Spirit to be intimately involved in their lives. The cool news is that the Spirit desires to walk in equally close fellowship with us today! This week David examines a key from Paul’s life in the Spirit that can help us to develop the kind of intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit that the early believers had. You can download the audio message at the following link: