Andrew Wilson - Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship

I cant think of anyone more qualified to address this challenging topic than Andrew Wilson. He writes on the convergent themes of spirit and sacrament with remarkable clarity and precision. As a fellow continuationist, I found his treatment of spiritual gifts altogether persuasive. As one who is less inclined sacramentally/ liturgically, I was challenged and stirred to think more deeply about the relationship between these two aspects of Christian and local church life. Regardless of where you land on these twin topics, no one can afford to ignore Andrews pointed and thoroughly biblical treatment of them.

S AM S TORMS , Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

This is the book Ive been waiting for! Spirit and Sacrament dismantles dichotomies that pit the good gifts of God against each other and invites us instead to feast on the whole enchilada Jesus has prepared for usthrough worship that is (I love Andrews new term here) eucharismatic: integrating both liturgy and levity, deep roots and ecstatic experience, formative practice and fresh divine power. For what holds both Eucharist and charisma together is, at their center, Gods charis: grace.

J OSHUA R YAN B UTLER , pastor of Redemption ChurchTempe, author of The Skeletons in Gods Closet and The Pursuing God

Drawing from the richness of the Pentecostal-charismatic and sacramental streams, Andrew Wilson offers a theologically rich and pastorally wise way of holding the best of both worlds together. Best of all, he helps us find both grace and joy at the core. This is the book weve been waiting for. It is clear and compelling, thoughtful and pastoral. I kept thinking as I read it, Yes! Thats who we are! Thats what we do!

G LENN P ACKIAM , associate senior pastor of New Life Church, author of Blessed Broken Given and Discover the Mystery of Faith

ALSO BY ANDREW WILSON

Incomparable

GodStories

If God, Then What?

The Life We Never Expected

Unbreakable

Echoes of Exodus

ZONDERVAN

Spirit and Sacrament

Copyright 2018 by Andrew Wilson

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ePub Edition November 2018: ISBN 978-0-310-53648-2

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For Samuel James Wilson
You make me happy when skies are grey

I spent the early years of my Christian life passionately in love with Jesus. I bought a shirt that said, I heart Jesus and wore it as often as I could. The grace of God flooded my soul (by his grace and mercy) and everything changed. The Bible was living and active and the verses would jump off the page creating awe and wonderment in my soul. I was truly reborn, transferred out of the domain of darkness and into the Kingdom of his beloved Son.

I also spent these early years in a good bit of theological confusion. I was reborn at a faithful Southern Baptist church that was serious about the Bible, did communion and baptisms regularly, and read the Scriptures faithfully in each Sunday gathering. At that time I didnt know anyone my own age that was as zealous about Jesus except for a small group of other young men I met at school. Most of them were from an Assembly of God church in town, and two of them belonged to a Church of Christ Church a few blocks from our school.

Im not sure if you can imagine what the theological collision of one Baptist, eight AOGs and two COCs who were all passionate about Jesus would look like, but it was a mess. Thankfully, that never divided us but instead made us curious about each other. My AOG friends operated in a joy and energy that neither my Church of Christ friends nor I had seen outside of maybe a youth camp or other student event. I was surprised to learn that they also read their Bibles as much as I did and were experiencing the same awe I was. We wrestled through the tribalism of our local communities of faith that would vilify the Baptists or the charismatics as lacking something essential to being a Christian. Our churches would often offer a gross characterization of the others. Meanwhile, we prayed together, laughed together, worshiped together and visited each others churches. We began to long for a combination of our communities of faith. I wanted the joy and energy of my AOG friends church but felt deeply connected to something transcendent in the normal liturgy of my home church.

For the next decade I felt like a theological orphan. I loved and trusted in the Scriptures, had been trained in its sufficiency, inerrancy, and infallibility. I loved the Apostles and Nicene Creeds and longed to take communion weekly, but I also loved watching people come alive in the gifts God had given them, seeing spontaneity in the gathering, and having excited anticipation about what God might do as we gathered. Most often I felt like the child of divorced parents who would bad-mouth each other, as I deeply loved each of them.

It was around 2003 that I stumbled across my first Reformed Charismatic. It was as if I had found a small strand of gold in a dark mine. I have been following that line of gold for the past fifteen years. It is messy and marvelous, fearful and fantastic, difficult but worth it. Andrew Wilson lays before us a compelling vision of what he calls Eucharismatic, which is a term that I hope grows in usage. As he skillfully writes, The triune God is experienced in the church through the physical symbols of bread, wine, and water, through the Word read and proclaimed, and the presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Andrew is right! You dont have to choose. God has graciously given us the historic formalities meant to shape us and the wildness of the Spirit! I pray you enjoy growing in what it means to be a Eucharismatic and that more men and women might be formed through Spirit and Sacrament!

Christ is All,

M ATT C HANDLER