Ghostly Gains! Series

Ghost Stories

Pt. 4 - Ghostly Gains

I. Introduction

Open with Campfire Scene - (Lights Dim)

I have an announcement to make. Did you know that for the last 12 years if you have attended Passion Church you could have received a 25% discount at Walmart on any of your purchases and you could have played golf free once a month at Pebble Beach, and been treated to an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii every year? OK, we know those statements are not true. However, if you are a part of an organization and discovered that there were benefits afforded you that you didn't know about or failed to access it would upset you. In fact, if I discover an organization or subscription service or insurance policy has promised benefits for its members and I haven’t enjoyed those benefits I would demand them. I think this is the major issue for us as a church when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Because of confusion, misuse, abuse, what we have classified as weird we have at times failed to access or embrace the benefits of the Holy Spirit. So let's make sure we look at the membership manual and see the benefits of having the Holy Spirit in our life and maybe also address or deal with some of the confusion that causes us to miss all the benefits. However, there are some Ghostly Gains we need!

Text: Acts 1:8 (NIV)

But 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.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NIV)

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Galatians 5:22-23 (TLB)

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

So, for our discussion today I want to talk to you about the benefits of the Holy Spirit. They are clear and they are not confusion or weird. I would say in many cases they are however missing. There are some other benefits that could be listed but I want to focus on the 3 main items/groups of benefits and then make a couple of statements that I hope will help us.

Benefits (Ghostly Gains - Not mentioned in order of importance just in order of mention in Scripture)

1. Power to witness.

2. Gifts of the Spirit.

3. Fruit of the Spirit.

We need power to replace excuses with effective!

I want to submit to you that we desperately need you to embrace and encounter baptism in the Holy Spirit because we need you to have power to witness. I want you to stop just a moment and think about the group that is gathered on the Day of Pentecost. They were probably all outgoing, extroverts right? Bold? No fear? No timidity? Remember this is the same group that ran and hid during adversity at the end of Jesus' life. Even the bravest denied. On the Day of Pentecost we hear from the extrovert . . . Peter. But I want you to notice that after the Day of Pentecost Scripture tells us in Acts 17 that these men (not man - singular - men plural) turned the world upside down. The collectively changed the world. All of them, with different personalities and demeanor were effective! It was singularly because of the power of the Spirit in their life that caused them to be effective witnesses. We need you to encounter the Holy Spirit so that our natural timidity, fear, shyness will no longer be an excuse to not witness. The Holy Spirit can operate through anyone regardless of their natural tendencies. And can I say we need EFFECTIVE witnesses today! Sometimes we have witnesses that aren't being effective. They are bold but they are ineffective (guys on corner)! Even the most outgoing person needs the power of the Holy Spirit to be effective today! Too many of us are power less because we don't have the Spirit empowering us!