Your hunger will determine what you get out of tonight.
· Proverbs 16:26 - A laborers appetite works for him, because his hunger drives him on.
· What do you want for tonight?
· The message is powerful here… but you got to decide for yourself what it is that you want?
John 15:5-8
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:16
6You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:26-27
26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
· Justice = “that’s not right” | “that’s not fair”
THE MESSAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A MESSAGE OF JUSTICE.
Acts 1:7-8
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Story of Jesus being taken to heaven. The disciples immediately went back home and “They all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14).” They planned how they were going to reach the city and the nation and tell people about Jesus.
It made me wonder about what we do after we come to theTURN, meet with God, and then leave?
· Are we linking up with friends and coming up with a way to reach other students and people on our campuses and workplaces?
Talked to Craig about how I am so sick of hearing this phrase:
“Let’s experience God!”
Are we experiencing God? Or are we encountering God?
ex·pe·ri·ence n
1. active involvement in an activity or exposure to events or people over a period of time, leading to an increase in knowledge and skill
en·coun·ter vt
1. to meet somebody or something, usually unexpectedly
IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR A GENERATION OF YOUNG ADULTS TO NOT ONLY EXPERIENCE THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GAIN SOME MORE KNOWLEDGE… BUT HOW ABOUT ENCOUNTERING THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ACTUALLY MEETING HIM AND LETTING HIM TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE.
There are religion majors all over the US in seminary and Bible College who have tons of knowledge about the Holy Spirit, but they haven’t even come close to encountering the Holy Spirit and understanding the real reason Jesus would have left behind such a Counselor and Helper.
Jesus did not just leave behind the Holy Spirit so that we could have really cool prayer lives, speak in tongues, and feel like there is a voice inside of us saying “NO” when we start to sin.
And yes, the Holy Spirit does all of those things and that is a part of it.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit was to take over where Jesus left off!
Well Clay, what was the purpose of Jesus Christ on Earth?
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
And how did he go about doing that on earth?
Matthew 20:28
28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
The message of Jesus Christ is a message of salvation… displayed through servanthood.
The message of the Holy Spirit and the purpose is still a message of salvation… and it’s still to be displayed through servanthood… only now… it’s on us to carry the message.
But the good news is the same power that rested inside of Jesus Christ while he carried the message, is the same power that rests in us as we do the same.
Let me show you.
Acts 2
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians love to look at this passage and say, “Wow, look what the Holy Spirit did… what a powerful day and what an awesome thing that must have been!”
· And yes, yes, yes… the Holy Spirit did do an awesome thing… but what we need to understand as believers is that nobody was saved until Peter decided to open his mouth and be the witness on behalf of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit was given to us to empower us and give us confidence and authority in Christ Jesus… but we still have to make the choice to open our mouths and our actions to display the message of salvation to the world.
The people around you every day aren’t reading you with their little “empowerment-o-meter”.
They need hands and feet actions to be shown in order for the message of Jesus and the message of salvation to get across.
Come on let’s be real with each other tonight… in our culture today and in our age group… nobody gives a crap about what you are saying. IT’S ALL ABOUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Because when the Holy Spirit comes on our lives and empowers us and brings spiritual gifts… all that isn’t just so we can pray better or longer, or have really cool quiet times… He empowers us to change the world around us and to start DOING SOMETHING.
In our quest to DO SOMETHING, we must first understand that it takes the right lifestyle to support it.
And I believe that is the lifestyle of servanthood.
Lots of people want to be at the top… but not a lot of people are interested in serving to get there.
Lots of people would love to be like Peter and John in the book of Acts. When the Holy Spirit came on them, they began to do all sorts of miracles and preach and thousands were getting saved, and so many cool things were happening.
· But people forget, that they first had to sell their possessions, take up their cross, and follow Him.
You see… this Christianity thing… in it’s simplest form… is a movement of servanthood.
The question no one ever really asks is… WHY DID THE HOLY SPIRIT fall in the upper room at Pentecost?
· And I believe the answer is: because it was time for some servants to become leaders.
Story of the BASIN with T.F. Tenny. Leaders can not avoid the basin.
· The master would always have his feet washed by the slave/servant when he came into the house.
· Foot washing was as low as it got.
· But Jesus was the first to grab the basin and begin to wash the feet of the men that he would later die for… and then later reign over.
· Even Jesus became a servant to all.
“Any man who is too BIG to clean up the stage, is too SMALL to stand on it.”
· T.F. Tenny
Our generation needs to understand… theTURN needs to understand that God is not into making awesome leaders… I believe He is into making awesome servants.
In college, when I made the decision to case God and break away from junk, and mediocrity, and negative influences (you see the decision comes first)… I decided I wanted to be used in the Kingdom of God… so I started quoting scripture to myself.
Isaiah 61:1-2
1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
2He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come
It’s time some young adults at theTURN start waking up in the morning, looking in the mirror, and saying…(above verse).
It’s time we start DOING SOMETHING for cause of Jesus Christ.
Jesus died for everything single one of us so that we don’t have to spend an eternity separated from Him. And His last commission to us was to simply go out and tell people about His life.
· I’d be crazy not to do that… after everything He did for me.
It’s time we stopped living for ourselves. It’s for us to encounter God, share His heart, be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and DO SOMETHING for the world that so desperately needs us.
Clay, what am I supposed to do about those people in another nation that I can’t even get to?
· You don’t have to go to another nation… because all of those same situations are happening right here, at your school, in this city, in this state.
· Ex] Boy with mom strung out on drugs; Girl with dad sleeping off his hangover; girl having sex hoping this will be the relationship that sticks.
“If what we are doing inside the 4 walls of the church/THE NINE, is not having an effect on the streets we took to get there… then maybe we have missed the point?”
- Joel Houston
theTURN must be a place a service. theTURN must be a place of change. theTURN must be a place of salvation.
No longer we will just be worried about what’s happening inside the 4 walls of this place… but there is a world of people out there who desperately need to know what we know…and have what some of us have.
But the bottom line for us here tonight is this… before we are empowered by the Holy Spirit… we first have to encounter the TRUTH.
John 8:32 – you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free
Jesus said I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.
But I believe it’s more than that.
In the midst of this passage at think we need to look at truth a little differently as well.
We need to ask ourselves, “what’s the truth about me?”
Because I believe that before the truth, Jesus, sets you free… it’s the truth about you, that is going to get you started in the right direction.
Admitting your realness, your faults, and your weaknesses.
GOD I WANT YOUR WILL FOR MY LIFE AND I WANT TO LIVE FOR YOU WITH EVERYTHING I GOT… BUT I TELL YOU THE TRUTH… I AM MESSED UP AND I DON’T HAVE A CLUE OF HOW TO GET MY LIFE BACK TOGETHER.
That’s all we have to do… and then in the very midst of our weakness, desperation, and humbleness… God is made strong and all sufficient and all-powerful.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NIV]
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
How amazing when we can boast in out weakness… because I know that God going to be shown as all-powerful and sufficient through me.
Tonight we have the opportunity to encounter the TRUTH, and began a life empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the witness that the world needs and bring justice to the life of Jesus Christ.
See you this Thursday night for part four of "Ghost: resting upon us."
Can't wait to share with you,
pcraig
