Title: Our Spiritual GPS

Theme: The Holy Spirit is our Guide.  Trinity Sunday, Yr. C

Object: A GPS and a map

Scriptures: But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. John 16:13a (NIV)

How many of you know what a GPS is?  GPS stands for Global Positioning System. Many of us have a GPS in our car. If you have a smartphone, you may have a GPS application on it. When you want to go somewhere, you put the address of the place where you would like to go into your GPS, and it will give you turn-by- turn directions and put a picture on the screen showing you how to get there.  Isn't that amazing? How does it do that?  Well, first of all, the GPS device must have a map of the area where you are located installed. Then it connects to satellites orbiting the earth and the satellites send back information to the GPS which shows the directions on the screen.

That is amazing, but wait, there is even more. The GPS will help you find your way - even if you get lost. If you make a wrong turn, the GPS will adjust the directions to get you back on the right track.  It tells you how fast you are going, how far it is to your destination, and what time you will arrive!

In trying to find our way through life's journeys, God has given us a spiritual GPS to guide us. That guide is the Holy Spirit. When we don't know what to do or which way to turn, the Holy Spirit always points us in the right direction.  Do you remember that I told you the GPS needs a map to be able to show us the way?  Well, that is true of our spiritual GPS as well.  The map we must follow in our daily life is the Bible. It is the map that shows us how to live life in a way that is pure and good.

Some people rely on their feelings to help them make decisions. That's no good. Our feelings may change from day-to-day, so they cannot be trusted to guide us in the right direction. Besides, just because we feel good about something doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do, does it? We can always trust the Bible to help us to make the right decisions.

Some people look at what others are doing to help them make important decisions. That is no good either. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do. Tomorrow everyone might be doing something else.

Jesus knew that we needed help in making the right decisions in life.  He promised that God would send the Holy Spirit "to guide us in all truth." That means that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand God's Word which always points us in the right direction.  It points us to Jesus who is "the Way, the truth, and the life."

I can't imagine taking a trip without a GPS to help me find the way - and I can't imagine trying to navigate life's journey without the Holy Spirit to guide me.  Whenever I don't know which way to turn, I can always turn to God's Word and let the Holy Spirit be my guide.

Heavenly Father, we are thankful that when our Lord Jesus went away, he sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper, our teacher, and our guide in our daily journey.  Help us to follow his guidance.   In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.