Before And After

Before and After

Pastor Glenn Newton June 11, 2000

Text Acts 9:1-22

How many of you have seen the pictures in the paper, in the graphic, or probably any paper, in the Weight Loss Ads, we are shown the Before picture, and then so many weeks, years later, We see the After Picture.

Of coarse the catch is that the After picture is supposed to look a lot better than the before picture, the new thinner you is supposed to be in the after picture. Welllllll, I have taken alot of these pictures myself. My problem is I can never get to the After picture, I’m stuck on the BEFORE!!!!!!

We focus alot on our weight and our looks because there important to us, we want to be healthy, and there’s nothing wrong with that by any means. But this morning I want to ask you to shift your focus from your physical self to your spiritual self for a few minutes.

This morning we Celebrate Pentecost Sunday with all of Christians around the world, in one real sense it is the birthday of the Church. The Day of Pentecost was the day that Jesus before he ascended back into heaven, he had promised his disciples that he would send them a comforter, One that would empower them to do great and might things for the kingdom of God. Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem, and so they did. They waited for 120 days I believe, and then God’s promise was fulfilled, listen to the description in Acts 2:1-4

AC 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

This day, this event was the turning point in the lives of the disciples, and for the church.

Can you pick out a time, an event in your life, where you point to that and say, “That was a real turning point in my life.” You hear coaches use that terminology all the time. “When John Elway threw that 80 yard Touchdown pass, that was the turning point in the game.” Or something similar. Who did you expect me to use as an example?

Maybe it was it was the day you first child was born. Life never was the same was it?

Maybe it was the day you finally got the courage to ask Mrs. Right out on a date.

Turning points can be negative things also.

The day you had that car accident.

The day you found out your Mom or Dad had died.

The day the Doctor gave you the bad news.

We all have had turning points in our lives, it’s almost a way of marking our way through this life. But what I want to share with you this morning is that God wants you to have a Turning Point in your Spiritual Life that will empower you to be more than you ever could dream of being on your own.

Let me make some comments that I believe about the Spirit led life that you need to think about, and internalize.

I believe the Word of God teaches us that unless we are living a life LED AND EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit we will not be able to live life to the fullest. We will not be able to experience the greatest things in life without it.

I believe that the Word of God also teaches us that we will not REACH OUR GREAT POTENTIAL THAT GOD HAS FOR US WITHOUT BEING FILLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I want to ask you this early in my message, because I want you to think about it, “Are you Filled by the Holy Spirit today, Are you living a Life Led by the Holy Spirit?”

Saul of Tarsus, one of the most feared men in all of the known world. Who was he feared by? Christians. Saul was on a mission, it was a crusade, and he thought it was a crusade for God. There has been alot of people who throughout history have done some horrible things thinking they were doing for God, when in reality they were fighting against him. That is where we find Saul.

He has just got permission, not that he needed it, but you will notice Saul was a man who lived by a code. Saul was on his way to Damascus to seek and persecute anyone who claimed to be a Christian, a follower of Christ. Saul was one of the ones who had Steven stoned to death because he was a Christian. There had been many others, and that’s why the Christians were afraid for their lives as He was on his way.