Man, I'm excited about being here today. I'm excited about what we're going to be learning about today. I'm really thankful for Pastor Andrew and everyone who took care of services. Last week, my family and I, we were, well, we were originally supposed to go camping.
That was not going to be a great decision. So we didn't go camping because it would have been very cold and kind of bottled up. But we had a great little staycation and we had a good time. And man, just really enjoyed the time we actually got to visit a friend's church, which is not often that we just get to go and attend someone's church. And that was a lot of fun to be able to go and do and just kind of sneak in there and have a good time. Somehow we were still the last people to leave. No, that's a fact.
The staff was waiting on us and it's like we have to go and we have no excuses. But it was still a great time. You can guess which one of us was staying and talking.
I know me. I know. I know. It was me. I'm very bubbly.
In my personality, I'm looking forward to talking and sharing with you today. I've been looking forward to this for several weeks as we've been just praying through this year and what we feel like God has for us. I knew that this little time to teach and this series or this study is going to be really important in both where we're at today, but also where we're going as a church. And we're going to be taking some time over the next several weeks. I'm going to say how many weeks because I never know.
And we're going to take some time and do some teaching and study and some processing on the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit and what that means to us and what that looks like. And here's what I want to just kind of just start off with, like right away. Like when I said just that those two words, Holy Spirit, some of you were like,
yes, I've been waiting for this moment. You got like a tambourine out and all of a sudden a flag popped out of somewhere, right? And you're just like, you're ready. Like some of you. And then some of you, the moment that I said, Holy Spirit, like something inside of you, like cringed up inside of you. And you're thinking, when can I pretend to go to the restroom and leave?
And that's okay. I've been at both ends of those spectrums in my own life of these places. And we're going to talk about this and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I want you to tell you, we are going to be looking at and studying and processing and walking through what God's word says about the Holy Spirit. And we're going to allow the Holy Spirit to speak for himself. That's what we're going to do. So if you're sitting here like, oh man, I really hope they don't make me come down to the front and shove me over the top of some usher who trips me. And then like something, I had these experience. Listen, I grew up in a time where there was big moves, the Holy Spirit, and they were awesome and they were amazing. And I experienced them. I also grew up in a time where sometimes I think the, the, the, the modus operandi of some places was like, fake it till you make it. Like, I don't think the spirit's here, but we're going to pretend like it is until it is. And if it isn't, it isn't. And those things, those moments were also very traumatic to a young believer because when you really experienced the Holy Spirit, you're like, that is something that is life changing. I can't explain it. And then when you experience human works or abuse or something that was, was conjured or something that was, that was false all of a sudden, that's very damaging for your view of what's going on. And I've experienced both. And maybe you hear as some of the people who've grown up in church, or maybe you've grown up in different churches, or you've been in church long enough that you've experienced both. And what happens as a result of that is sometimes we, we, because we're worried, even though this one thing was so good, this other thing was so bad, we think, well, I just would rather kind of stay away. I would just rather stay away. And I can tell you this, that the enemy would love for you not to live in the power of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, in your life, because the Holy Spirit is the very thing that Jesus sent to transform who you are. And so the enemy of your soul, the very spiritual process that we're talking about, a spiritual means he would love for you to be afraid of the thing that Jesus says is the greatest thing that will ever happen to you. And you know what? We're the spirit of Jesus Christ, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And there's no fear for those who are in Christ, he hasn't given us that thing. We get to walk in those things. And so we're going to take some time. And so maybe if you're here, and you maybe got too excited when I said Holy Spirit, we're going to take a deep breath. And we're just going to calm down.
And maybe if whenever I said Holy Spirit, you got really anxious, and you actually didn't know you were going to get anxious until I said it. Like, that's trauma. And it's okay to admit that that you have something like something with that in your life. We're going to take a deep breath. And we're going to let that go too. Because we're going to allow God and the Holy Spirit to do the work that only God and the Holy Spirit can do. And that's what we're going to walk through. And so here's where I want to start. Here's where I want to start in talking about it. There's this great, like psychologist, a Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, some of you guys know that some of you may be taking the Jung typology test, anyone ever hear a big nerd? Thanks, no one. Cool. I know some of you have taken it. ENTJ, if you're curious.
There's other weirdos like me. Anyways, but he has this very, and he did a lot of work in psychology. But there's one thing that he did that is pretty, pretty great. And he had this definition of psychological health. And the way that he defines psychological health is the gap between our perceived self and our actual self. Meaning it's the gap between the way that I see myself and how I act and behave and how other people actually see me. It's the gap between how I think of myself and how other people think of myself. You maybe met someone who thought of themselves in a certain way and you're like, yeah, no one thinks of you that way. And by the way, that actually can be for like negative. Like usually we think about negative, like there are certain people who think like, I don't know if you've ever had a boss who thought they were the greatest boss in the entire world. And you're like, Hey man, I hate to break it to you, but you're the worst. I had one of those. Like he thought it was like, I don't know, like John Maxwell, you know, Jesus, and then him, like above all, like he thought he was great. And he would bring out like tiger wood illustrations. And we were all just like, bro, you're not him, man. It's not happening. But it's not just a negative thing. It's like there's sometimes that some of you have negative perceptions of how you see yourself and no one else sees you that way. But so, so he talks about there's this gap between how we see ourselves and how we actually are. And psychological health is the distance. Like how big is that gap?
And the more narrow that gap is, he would define it as that's greater, that's greater psychological health. And part of our process and our journey as human beings is to be able to learn and to grow and to mature, to allow that gap to shrink and to get smaller and smaller and smaller. So that the way we see and think ourselves is actually the way that other people preside because a lot of people, they just don't know how to actually behave. And that's part of this, this process.
And I think a lot of times that our spiritual health or our spiritual maturity can be seen in the same light. It's the difference between the identity and the definitions that the Bible gives us through the work of Jesus Christ. And then the way that we actually live, that there's this distance between what we know to be true and what we see in scripture and what we see defined through the work of Christ, and then how we actually behave in our very day today. That the distance between those two things, though no one will ever close that, there was only one man that ever closed that distance and that was Jesus, but the distance between those two things, the biblical identity of who I have through the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, and then who I actually am when I interact with strangers, my children, my wife, the distance there is this distance of our spiritual health and our spiritual maturity. And because the more I become like Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, the more I actually behave and the more I see myself that way and believe that to be true, the more I begin to act like Jesus here in this world, and I begin to live by the work of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit are evident in my life. And so that gap closes and you become to act more and more like that, not only in your own way, but that's how other people see you. And we all have a gap. I have a gap. That gap may be smaller today than it was 10 years ago or five years ago or even a year ago, but there's still a gap because there are still things and ways in which I behave that is not the way that Jesus would behave. I have thoughts or feelings or emotions. I still have to watch and struggle with my temper. I still say things out of anger. I still get frustrated. Like there's still this gap, but in this journey of growing and this invitation that Christ gives us to follow him, we realize that this process of growth is that just like in my psychological health, that gap can, this gap can close and it can become less.
And if we had time today, we could actually study and maybe later we will. So many characters in the Bible, you see that very thing that when you're first introduced to this character, you're like where they should be and where they are is very far apart. And then all of a sudden with the few characters that we get to see time pass, we get to see, we get to see years or maybe even in some stories, decades pass. You see the person at the end of the story, that gap is much smaller now because that time of growth and maturity and the work of God and the wisdom that comes with it, like those things are slowly closing that gap. And that's what we are, we're looking at in this year, we've talked about it. I believe that this is a year for our church, for our members, for people who are here, but from the youngest all the way to the oldest to experience spiritual growth and maturity, to experience that in your life, that that gap begins to close. That I believe there's some people in this room, you've been a follower of Jesus for a really long time. And if we were to be honest with ourselves, we'd say, I don't know if that gap has changed very much in the last couple of years. I maybe feel stuck
or maybe it's closed in some areas of my life, but I've got other areas that they're just as far apart as they've ever been. And I believe that this is a year, this is a time, this is a process that God wants to transform that, that God wants to step in and God wants to begin to close those gaps and to begin to draw you closer and closer to Him. And so here's the thing that we need to realize, the Holy Spirit is the agent that God has chosen to work in our lives to close those gaps.
He is the agent that he sends to transform you, to make that old flesh, that old man, that old man, that old woman, that old way of thinking to become less and less. And this new way of thinking to become more and more the one who works inside of you, the one who works around you, that that is what the job of the Holy Spirit is. But here's the problem. We live in a society and in a church where there are people who are filled with the Holy Spirit and they have no idea how to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. And let me tell you, I can't speak universally, but I can tell you in this church context that I have to repent and say, I've done a poor job as your pastor because I have not taught you well in this because of my own fear and my own baggage and my own things that is like, I don't want to do it. Like someone even mentioned, in fact, Don mentioned it and it bore me. He said, "Hey, you're doing this series. Are you going to advertise about it?" And I said, "No, because I don't want the weirdos to show up." I could put a banner out there and say, "Holy Spirit series." And I know who would show up and my damaged self is like, "I don't want those people to show up." Like, but don't you want more people there? I'm just being real honest with you, church family. Not those people. That's my own baggage. That's my own thing. I get it.
But we have to know that because this person in the Holy Spirit is the most beautiful thing that you will ever experience. The most transformative thing, the thing that ushers the very work of the cross and the grace of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit that reminds you and reminds you and reminds you. It says, the Bible says in the life of the believer, the Holy Spirit's job is to convict you daily of your righteousness through Christ. Wow. Every day it reminds you when you wake up and you take your first breath of the morning, do you know that you're like Jesus today?
Do you know you can go and live like He did? Did you know you can do those things in greater?
Do you know that you don't have to do that? Like that the Holy Spirit is at work inside of you every day. And here's the thing. There's probably three groups of people. I mentioned two, but there's probably honestly three groups of people, right? There's people who we would call them thirsty. They're thirsty for the Holy Spirit. You've had an experience or you've had some things, you've got some stuff and you're thirsty for more and you want to experience more and you want to have a better understanding. And you've had some moments and times, but it just kind of seems like they're sporadic. Or maybe you're like me, you're like, I had these very real experiences, but then I've had these very false experiences and I just, I'm trying to navigate how those things formed who I am. Here's the good news. The Bible, the word of God, it gives you a deep foundation for the person of the Holy Spirit and who he is and how he works. This wasn't just some new thing that popped up. The day of Pentecost was not like the first time the Bible mentioned the Holy Spirit. It was all through the entire Old Testament. Jesus was the person who came in and ushered it away for us to carry it eternally. That is why the dove rested on him as the first act that the Holy Spirit came. We sang about it today and landed on the branch of who Jesus Christ was, the one who came up out of the chaotic waters so that you could have a place in which the Holy Spirit would land inside of you. So there's people who are thirsty. And then there's people who are suspicious. Maybe because you're just unfamiliar or maybe because like me, you saw some things in which you realize they were not a great way for that to be expressed.
And then there's a third group, but I didn't mention the third. And this is more and more prevalent in some of the younger generations because of things that I'm talking about today. They're uninformed. They don't know. They don't know because their parents, maybe like me, had some experiences so they don't share a lot about it. So they don't know about it. And then they go to church and a lot of churches don't touch on it. And so therefore, or the way they touch on it is just strictly some kind of experiential idea. So they're uninformed. So they just don't know. And my goal by the time we finish this is that all three of those people, whether you're thirsty, suspicious, or uninformed, will all arrive at the same place, which is experiencing the Holy Spirit in our lives, experiencing the Holy Spirit in our lives. And this is what we have to know. We are at a, and I've talked about this in different ways and in different series, but we are at this real transformational period or transitional period within God's Word. Within culture, within history, that I truly believe is why we're seeing some of the upheaval and some of the disagreements and different things, because some different things have changed in the way that we approach things as a culture and as people. So basically, from the Enlightenment period all the way till very recently, till probably halfway through the Millennial generation, people were approaching everything from a very logical approach. We approach things through logic and we ask questions. And there could, if you really boil it down to a really simple understanding, the previous generations, and we have people who represent every generation that's alive here in this room, but the previous generations, so probably like I said, halfway through the Millennial and older, right? They had this idea, which is like, if you can win my head in my logic, you win my head, then you can get my heart.
Right? And that was true within the church, which is why we had a profound movement of Bible teaching, of Word-based teaching, this idea of apologetics we're really going through, books like The Case for Christ were super popular, and like this was a very important thing because like you win my head, you win my heart, but that was true not just in spiritual things, it was true in everything. Like it was true in what you bought and how you consumed. Like tell me, give me logically why I should buy that car. Give me all the points. That's why there's still Ford and Chevy people to this day. It's like one of you got, because you got convinced, like someone logically said, this is why Chevy's better than Ford, or this is why Ford is better than Chevy. And like you waited, and then once they made logical shifts to you, they had your heart. And then some of you now are like 65 years old and like, I'd rather die than drive a Ford. (Laughter)
And it's like, now that makes no logical sense, but at the time when the decision was made,
that's what it took. And I could go on and on, but that is how, in a very broad sense of the word,
for a long time, that is how things happen. You win my head, you logically make sense to me, then all of a sudden you have access to my heart, and then that becomes an experience, and then that's my thing. And my children and my children's children, my children's children will drive a Chevy. And here we'd be blessed, Lord.
But here's what's happened. Starting in the millennials, which that's my generation, apparently, and younger, things became to change. And there was this idea, which is, hey, you win my heart, and then you can have my head.
Win my heart. Let me have an experience. Let me see it. Let me feel it. And then I'll believe it.
And that's very different. It's a very different approach, which is why, when you look around, like, listen, like, just think about our world today. Young people, younger people, I don't put myself in that category, but oh, yeah, I do. They're suspicious of experts. I don't need an expert to tell me. I need an influencer on Instagram to tell me, because they'll tell me their experience, and I'm going to live their experience through them living the experience, and then I'm going to go and I'm going to buy that product.
But if an expert tells me, you need to buy this, I'm like, how much were you paid by the man, the government? I don't believe it. Did you get a commission for saying those words? People want an experience, and it's if you can win my heart, then you can have my head.
But until you win my heart, you will never have access to my head. And in fact, my heart trumps my head. I actually don't even need to fully understand it. I'm great with it. I'm great with it. Like, I'm great with it because I experienced it. And so I can move forward. And so I can move forward. So what has shifted what used to be like was, hey, convince me,
convince me is now show me, show me. And the church is struggling with this because we lived a long time with convince me. And it's like, let me show you this logical thing. Let me give you some apologies. Let me tell you this idea. And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't care about any of that. Can you show me why God is real? And we're like,
well, the Bible, no, no, no, I don't need a scripture reference.
Can you show me the transformative power of God in your life so that I can know if that's something that I want in my life? And all of a sudden, certain things that used to work very, very well, not even like belittling them like certain things that used to work very, very well,
don't work anymore. In case you're curious, you're not going to walk up to a 19 year old in the mall and be like, Hey, just real quick question. If you died tonight, did you know? Let me go ahead and get this logical debate about you. Like, cause they're going to be like, I don't care. I literally don't care. But if you can show Jesus to someone, that transforms their life.
That transformed. That's, that's all the proof they need. That's all the proof they need. They need the experience. Experience has become more important than logic. I've shared this story before. One of my good friends, he owns a business and he was trying to do this bonus structure and he's like, I'll give you this much money. If you show up and you do these little tasks, right? Cause no one wants to work. And I was going to, and no one would do it. He's like, I'm trying to give them thousands of dollars and no one would do it. So he's like, all of a sudden I changed it from just trying to give him cash. It's like, Hey, I'll fly you anywhere in the world. And he said, I changed it from a money incentive, which is logical to a experience incentive. And the experience cost less. And all of a sudden a ton of people decided to jump on for the experience because the experience was more important than the logic. Money is logical. I don't care. Oh, an experience that I can take pictures of and I can show my friends. I can do, Oh yeah, I'm into that. We are living in a time where that's transforming. And so here's, here's what's really sad. In some contexts, people have said that like God's word and God's spirit, like we can't have both those things at the same time. We can't have a church that teaches God's word. And then a church that experiences move God's spirit because well, you just, you can't, it's impossible. God made a mistake. Can't happen. And here's the thing. And here's the thing. The word and the spirit are not separate. They are one.
And we don't have to get into this debate of do I need to convince you or because here's the thing. I will tell you the Holy Spirit can work inside of you and you can show God and the Holy Spirit can bring to your mouth what you need to say. And you can convince God. That is the power of what the Holy Spirit can do inside of your life. And so here's what happened. Listen, and I'm already running out of time. So I'm gonna get into it. Jesus told in John 14 through John 17, he was trying to convince his, his disciples of something that maybe you've tried to convince your kids. Like you ever have your kids, like you guys have a really good plan and like it's going to be awesome. And then something happens. You have to cancel that plan. So then you try to transfer to something that you know is not as good, but as the parent, you're trying to hype it up. Like, it's going to be just as good. It's going to be awesome. I know we were going to go to Disney World, but I'm telling you what, bells is pretty great. They got this Himalaya. You won't believe it. You spin around and around. And then just when you think it's over, you go backwards. People throw up. It's awesome. And you can try. And the kids are like, it's not better. I'm not done. And sometimes this is maybe what I feel like Jesus was like, because he says this in John chapter 15. He says in John 16, I'll actually read 16 verse seven for time. It says, but verily I tell you it is for your good that I'm going away. And this I go away. The advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. He's like, yeah, no, no, no, guys, guys, guys, guys. I know you'd rather me stay with you, but I've got something better. I promise I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And they're all like not buying it.
But what I don't care about it. And he's like, no, it's better. It's better.
But here's the thing. Jesus isn't a delusional parent trying to convince you that bells is better than Disney World. He actually means it when he says the one I'm sending to you is better than me. And I want to ask you a question. And I tell you, when I first had this question posed to me, I, it messed me up a little bit.
Because the truth is, if I got the choice to say, Hey, you can just keep your relationship with the Holy Spirit right now, or you can have one conversation with Jesus, which would you choose? I would choose a conversation with Jesus. And if I had that conversation with Jesus, he'd be like, that was the wrong choice. This conversation is not better than what I died for you to have. When I said he's coming, I meant something better. When I said it's better, I wasn't just trying to pull the wool over your eyes or like he's tired and he goes to take an eternal nap. I'm telling you something is happening that is going to change. And here's what's really crazy. I read this, this study, and I should have put it in the notes, but I didn't get a chance to do it. But there was this study in 2022, uh, that they did this study within like the theological health of church and it was kind of depressing. Don't read through it, but I read through it. And one of the part was it asked the question about the Holy Spirit and it says, is the Holy Spirit a person or is the Holy Spirit a force? And over 60% of confessing believers said that the Holy Spirit is a force. It's not a person. And I want to make sure that you understand this very clear. We serve a triune God, a God, the father, I got the son, I got the Holy Spirit that are three and one. They are all people. And the problem, the, some of the context that we grew up in, the Holy Spirit is not a force for you to wield, nor is it an experience for you to have. It is a person to be known by and to know fully. That is who the Holy Spirit is. You would not try to wield God just like you would not try to wield Jesus, but for some reason we thought I can wield the Holy Spirit and that is not your place. But you can be known by him. He wants to know you
and you can know him. You can know him and be known by the Spirit who never leaves you, who never forsakes you. And so here's the thing. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was formless and without void. And the Lord's Spirit hovered above the water and saw that it was broken and in chaos and God began to create creation and he created all living things. And then he created man. And it says that he went and he breathed the breath of life, the rueok of God, the animating force into the very person, the very creation of man. Every time you breathe, it's a reminder that you are alive by the very breath, by the very animating power of the Holy Spirit inside of your life. You do not take a breath that is not given to you by him. The very air that you breathe is him. The very air that you take inside is a reminder of his presence. Every single breath and no matter how many few breaths you get on this earth or how many you get on this earth, that if it's many, you are given them as a gift from God. And we're going to unpack that later. But listen, the breath came and it gets God wanted to dwell in man and be with man and live among men and to be able to share with men. And then the fall happened and fast forward through a lot of time. He says, I'm going to create something new. And he told Moses to build a tabernacle, a tent that my presence can dwell. And he says, I want it to be a twin because I'm telling you something different than every other culture in every other place. I don't need a physical structure that is a move. I want it to be a tent because I want to move with you. I want to live among you. And I want to move where you go, which is why whenever David's like, hey, I want to build you a temple. God said, not only can you not do it because you're too evil, you have too much blood on your hands. He said, I actually really don't want a permanent fixture. I like to be among my people and move. But they did a temple anyways.
And we may study it in this series. I don't know. But you can actually see that even though the temple and the tabernacle, like when you actually read the story of the temple, you realize it was just wrought with problems from the very, very beginning.
But then fast forward, Jesus comes and what does John says? And then the word became flesh and he tabernacle. He pitched his tent among us.
And the reason that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the priests were getting so upset is because Jesus walked around doing things that you were only supposed to be able to do at the temple. You could only get forgiveness of sins at the temple. You could only get sin off reason at the temple. You could only get cleansing at the temple. You can only get healing of the temple because in their mind, that's where God's presence was. But Jesus says, I came down and wherever I am is where God's presence is. And so therefore, wherever I go, that is where forgiveness and healing and cleansing and power and authority flow out of. And so when he went back to the temple and he was there and they were talking about, look how great this place is. Look how big it is. Look how marvelous it is. He says that this place, this thing will be torn down. And he says, but if you tear me down in three days, I'll build it back up again. Because the thing that Jesus knew, the craftsman, the one who always knew how to build, he says that when I die, what I will build is not a temple that stands out of stone, but I will be building new tents that are in the hearts of men and women so that my father can send the advocate, the Holy Spirit who can make his home among these new living, breathing tents, these tabernacles that can carry the presence of God. And finally, once and for all, my father's spirit can infill the people and be brought to men and women everywhere they go. Which is why Jesus said, hey, listen, you're going to be filled with the spirit. And guess what? Whenever you forgive, it'll be forgiven. Whatever you don't forgive won't be forgiven. And when you read that at first, you're like, wait, is God telling me like that? I can't, I can not forgive if I don't forgive. So like what he's saying is that people should experience
God through their encounter with you because God lives in you. You can't forgive anyone.
You don't have that ability, but the Spirit of God can. And the Spirit of God did through the work of Jesus Christ. So you are loosed out in this earth and the partnership with God to be filled by the Holy Spirit and to be able to be a living, dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And so when Jesus said, it's better, it's better, it's better. I can only be with you a little while. I can only be with you at one place. If you go away, I'm not with you, which we saw that he sent the disciples out and sometimes it worked out great. And sometimes they got beaten up.
But whenever the Spirit went, don't you know his words where he says, I'll be with you always, even to the end of the age, because I made a place in your heart so that you can't lose it. Because up to this point through the entire Old Testament, the Spirit of God would fall on someone, would rest on someone, but then it would leave or they would make a mistake or they would fail or they fall short. And God's presence can be there because even when the final tabernacle got built and it got consecrated and it got purified, the presence of God showed up and then no one could go in because it was too holy. But what's amazing is Jesus made a way so that you could be forgiven once and forever by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, so that your tabernacle could be sprinkled pure once and for all time, both here in earthly realms and in heavenly realms, so that now the Holy Spirit has a resting place that no matter what you do, you can't disqualify the Spirit's ability to come and rest in your life. That's the good news of the gospel. It's too good.
So that's why when reflecting on this Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 16 says, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst. And later on first in chapter six, it says, do you not know that your bodies of the temple, the Holy Spirit, you who in whom you have received from God, you are not your own, you were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your bodies.
The Holy Spirit is not something or someone that you need to be scared of.
You may have been hurt in the name of the Holy Spirit, but it was not the Holy Spirit who hurt you.
Just like you may have been hurt in the name of God the Father when they told you something about your past that couldn't be for like, he was painted as some kind of vengeful person. It wasn't God who hurt you. It wasn't Jesus who hurt you. It wasn't the Holy Spirit. Now men and women, they maybe hurt you, but the Holy Spirit, he never hurt you.
He never failed you. He never let you down.
Even in the times when you maybe didn't see what you wanted to see
or hear what you wanted to hear or experience what you wanted to experience. If there was breath in your lungs, the Holy Spirit didn't leave you. And if there was breath in your lungs, the Holy Spirit didn't disappoint you. And if there was breath in your lungs, he didn't forget about you. He's here. Powerful and at work in our life.
And church, I can no longer,
I can no longer not share with you the things that have changed my life
because I'm worried about getting hung up on some kind of whatever theological debate or because somebody maybe got hurt or because somebody came from this thing or someone wants to talk about this really like, I'm not going to deal with that. I'm not going to keep the goodness of the Holy Spirit any longer
because it's too good not to share. And I love you too much not to teach you.
And you know what? There may be certain things that we disagree on
and that's okay. That's okay. I can tell you I'm going to one source, the Bible, that's it. It's my only reference.
And we can walk through it together.
But I think it would break God's, I know it breaks God's heart. I know it breaks Jesus' heart. If the one thing that Jesus died for to sin, to create unity in the church is the very thing that creates the most disunity across the body. And that's devastating.
And not here.
So if you are here and you think I'm going to bring up all these things because I don't think and you so disunity, it will not be allowed. It won't be allowed.
And I've gotten comfortable with the point of saying like, I will not allow it. But that's not what we're here for. Because Jesus said in John 14, very, I tell you, whoever believes in me, whoever, not black, not white, not male, not female, not slave, not Gentile, not educated, not uneducated, not degrees, not this, not this standing, not that standing, not this thing, whoever believes in me will do all the works I've been doing. And they will do even greater things because I'm going to the Father.
And I'm sinning the advocate. Whoever.
You're whoever, if you didn't know. I'm whoever.
We're going to learn and we're going to grow. And we're going to talk about spiritual formation and we've got some great things come up for the second half of this year, post Easter, like it's going to be really I'm I cannot tell you how excited I am, how how invigorated I am by the things that I'm seeing and the things that God's doing. Like we're so excited about it, but I can tell you none of them, none of the processes, none of the classes, none of the groups, none of the things we want to do, none of them will work apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. They just become actions. They just become processes. Paul calls them dead works.
But when empowered by the Holy Spirit, when you know, when you're known,
they become transformative. They become things and processes in which we can take head knowledge and become heart knowledge that we can experience God. And we can experience it so that we can help others experience it so that we can help others see so that we can know Jesus and show Jesus like that is who we are. And it's powerful church. So the next several weeks,
as we continue to study this, come with an open mind and an open heart. Read John chapter 14 through 17. Listen to what Jesus has.
Do some studying, read the, read the word, pray, invite God.
Let me become more aware of your presence. Help close the gap between how I see myself and how you see me.
And we're going to learn and grow and experience some really incredibly powerful things.
That are transformative. Let's pray, Father. Thank you so much for today.
Lord, we thank you for Jesus and we thank you for the Holy Spirit.
You are too good of a God to give us such great gifts.
And as we just take the breathless in our lungs, Father, God, we celebrate your presence. You are good. Your mercy is in door forever.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow after us all the days of our life. And we'll be dwelling in the house of God.
And we can dwell in the house of God because we've become the house of God that the very Holy Spirit has made his residence here inside of us. Lord, let us be aware. Lord, let us be aware. Let us be aware when we're unkind, when we become angry, when we fall short, where we find ourselves, but let us remind ourselves what we carry inside of us. And let your spirit remind us of how great we are. Convict us of our righteousness because of Jesus's work in our life.
We love you, Father.
We praise you. We praise you.
You're welcome here in this place, Holy Spirit.
And anything that tries to strike fear, anxiety,
disunity, anger, we know those things are not from you, God.
So we come against them. We speak peace and love and joy and unity through the body and the work of Jesus Christ.
We love you, Father. It's in Jesus's holy name we pray. Amen and amen. Well, listen, church, we love you. Come on, we can give God some praise this morning.
We love you. Next week's going to be awesome. I don't know what we're talking about, but it's going to be a Holy Spirit. So it's going to be great. Hey, just kidding. It's going to be great. We love you. Have a great rest of your Sunday. We will see you next week.
