8th June 2025

Have you ever heard of the phrase, ‘in the limelight’? It means that someone is the centre of attention. Limelight is an intense white light which is produced by heating a piece of lime in a flame of burning oxygen and hydrogen. The effect was discovered in the 1820s by Goldsworthy Gurney, and it was widely used in 19^th century theatres to illuminate the stage. 

Leading actors holding the centre of attention on stage were said to be ‘in the limelight’. In other words, the spotlight was on them.

The whole point of a spotlight is to light something up. You don’t look at the spotlight when it’s on, rather you look at what it lights up, whether it be a stage, a path, a building or a person. This idea of the limelight, or spotlight, is a key role of the Holy Spirit. He is the spotlight for Jesus: his work is to illuminate Jesus, by testifying about Jesus and the work Jesus has done.

The gospel writer John records Jesus as saying, ‘…when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.’ (John 16:13-14). In the Message paraphrase, it says, ‘…the Spirit of the Truth…won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I [Jesus] have done and said. He will honor me [Jesus]…’. The Spirit’s work is to take the work of Jesus and make it known to us and in doing that, he brings glory to Jesus.

On the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came accompanied by the sound of a violent wind, and what seemed like tongues of fire and the speaking of different languages, you might have expected Peter’s sermon to have centred on the Holy Spirit, his gifts, or at least the fruit of the Spirit. But the thrust of his message was “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21 NIVUK). The Holy Spirit then goes on to inspire Peter to speak about the life (v.22), the death (v.23), the resurrection (v.24) and the ascension of Jesus (v.33), with the purpose of demonstrating that Jesus is indeed ‘both Lord and Messiah’ (v.36). The spotlight was on Jesus; the Holy Spirit had placed Jesus in the limelight. As a result, the people were ‘cut to the heart’, asking what they should do (v.37).

The way the Holy Spirit penetrates people’s hearts is by shining a light on Jesus. If we are living a Spirit–filled life, our words and deeds will be illuminating Jesus and, as happened on the Day of Pentecost, it will affect people.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead 
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA

Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm

Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:  
wordoflife@gracecom.church