Sermon Central
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How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit Series
Contributed by Randy Hamel on Feb 21, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Sermon looks at a daily filling of the Spirit and the steps necessary to become Spirit filled
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What we believe series
How to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acknowledgement - Dr. Henry Schorr, Centre Street Calary AB)
February 24, 2008 Part 8
Matthew 3:11-17
o Were in a series about what Christians believe. What do Christians believe about God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
o I have met many Christian pastors, theologians, and teachers who have differing understandings of the filling or empowerment of the Holy Spirit than I do.
o Many are highly respected in their field
o We have some Christians in our church that have been taught differently than I am teaching today.
o God wants us to be graceful and learn from one another.
o We are not here to discourage one another
o Let us make a commitment that we will not let these things divide us. I have made that commitment. Do you agree?
o The Apostle Paul had the same concern. He was first and foremost a church planter.
o He received opposition his entire life.
o He sought to bring harmony, not division to the local church. All division is a work of the flesh. Paul wrote the works of the flesh (evidence of not being Spirit led) is factions and dissension.
o He implored the church at Corinth not to be divisive
o He implored the church to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
o Have you ever wondered ‘what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit????”
o I battled that question for a long time
o Before I answer what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit lets do a quick review. First
1. Believe that the Holy Spirit is God
o The Holy Spirit is not a force
o The Holy Spirit is a person
o The Holy Spirit was active in creation of the world
o The Holy Spirit was active in the creation of man (let us)
o The Holy Spirit speaks (Acts 15:28)
o The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus (John 15:26)
o The Holy Spirit guides the church
o The Holy Spirit is all knowing
o The Holy Spirit is all powerful
o The Holy Spirit is present everywhere
o If you’re a Christian the Holy Spirit lives in you right now
o You do not need to walk an aisle, you do not need to have special spiritual gifts, you do not need to speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit, although you may have or do some of those things
o Remember it is one thing for you to have the Holy Spirit
o It is another thing for the Holy Spirit to have you
o But understand the Holy Spirit is God
2. Believe that the Holy Spirit is available to you
o You have all the potential to live a Spirit filled life just like Jesus and the Apostles did
o The Holy Spirit has not changed; God is the same yesterday, today and forever
o There was a lot of confusion and frustration about the Holy Spirit in the early church and that has not changed
o I believe many Christians and churches live a frustrated or less than fulfilled life because they are not Spirit filled and Spirit led
o When we owned our first house back in the day I decided to replace the eaves trough and down spout
o In those days I was not Handy Randy
o Tearing the old ones down was easy
o But putting the new ones up was complete frustration
o The truth is I had no idea how to fix the problem
o But I got really frustrated for nothing
o I had friends and all the resources to get it fixed properly
o I just chose not to access them
o Finally I relented and called someone who knew what they were doing
o The tradesman showed up with his truck and tools
o A spirit of despair was replaced with bountiful hope
o It was absolute joy to sit back and watch him whistling while he worked
o There was nothing phony about this guy, he actually enjoyed what he did
o The eaves trough seemed to float into place
o They went up like magic
o Frustration turned to laughter
o The problem was fixed with precision
o Putting up that eaves trough on my own strength with the wrong tools is a picture of how many people and churches live the Christian life
o When we first embrace Jesus as savior people notice some obvious changes. We have a new:
o Love for God
o Joy and a peace within
o Passion to follow Jesus
o Improved attitudes
o A desire to read the Bible
o A desire to attend the local church
