Speak Up! Open your mouth for God! Youth April 22, 2009
Thankful: God is working among you – we can see it! God is not limited by age!
Speak up! Today is Earth Day and people have a lot to say. T-Shirts – say, “Love Her (the earth)” and “Try to Save Yourself” - people say all kinds of things…we should speak for God.
Illus: One person had 217,000 text messages in a month! Cost $26,000. The postage to ship it was $27.55! If we are going to say something, we should speak for God!
Review:
• The Unknown God: Many people know about God but do not know Him personally. We need to know God ourselves and help others know who He is.
• A Smart Christian: We can go to church and know the right things to say, but we must know what we believe and why we believe it.
There must be more to being a Christian than going through the motions…
Paul comes to the Ephesus and meets some new believers…
#1 Question for a Christian: Have you received the Holy Spirit?
Water baptism is for repentance: John the Baptist: Mt 3:11
Have you been baptized in Jesus? Are you just standing by the shore?
(Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple Ezekiel 47)
He laid hands on them: this is still important…we should expect miracles!
Leeland Mooring (from the Christian band Leeland)said, “...my fondest memories were (in the presence of God in church and people) having them lay hands on me and prophesy destiny into (our) lives.” (Today’s Pentecostal Evangel 4/19/09 p. 12)
They spoke in tongues – a new spiritual language that brings glory to God. We cannot experience the fullness of God if we resist the fullness of His Spirit.
Give Up! Erik Estep In water-safety courses a cardinal rule is never to swim out to a drowning man and try to help him as long as he’s thrashing around. To do so is basically to commit suicide. As long as a drowning man thinks he can help himself, he’s dangerous to anyone who tries to help him. The reason why is because his tendency is to grab the one trying to help him and the result is he ends up taking them both under the water in the process. The correct way to rescue someone who’s drowning is to stay far enough away to where he can’t grab you. And then you wait. And when he finally gives up and quits thrashing around, you make your move. At that point the drowning man won’t work against you. Instead he’ll let you help him. The same principle applies in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Until we give up, we aren’t really in a position to be helped. Have you given up ownership of your life to the Holy Spirit who wants to live within you? Because until then you can’t experience His power. (Sermon Central)
Jack Mooring (Leeland): “a lot of kids…are missing out…(on) the gifts of the Holy Ghost.” (Pentecostal Evangel 4/19/09)
And prophesied: They spoke for God. Have you ever spoken for God?
We still need the Holy Spirit.
Christian Cheong: "The human body is a most remarkable machine. It can maintain a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees, no matter what the weather is outside. Whether a man is at the Arctic Circle or the equator, his body temperature is about the same. There is an inner mechanism that makes the difference. For the Christian, the Holy Spirit is that inner mechanism. When the surrounding is cold, He comforts us and gives us warmth. When the circumstance is hot and intense, He grants us peace and calmness of heart." (Sermon Central)
• Even Apollos needed The Spirit.
• We know we have the Holy Spirit when God speaks through us.
• We have to open our mouths in praise.
• We must speak for God. Expect Miracles!
It is time to speak up.
Michael was asked to speak at his youth group. He didn’t know what to say, but as soon as he stood up, God gave him the words to speak.
The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. Luke 12:8-12
You have to step up, then speak up. Stop waiting for someone else.
We need to hear from God!
Ilus: 1 out of 5 teens admit to sexting even though they know it has negative consequences. 90,000 sex offenders have been removed from My Space. (Todays’s Pentecostal Evangel 4/19/09 p. 10-11)
Illus: A Reservoir creates no power until the water is released…Let the river flow. We have to open our mouths for the power of God to be released.
Jack Mooring (Leeland): “What changed us wasn’t just going to church. It wasn’t going to youth group. It was being in the altar and experiencing the anointing and the presence of God. We wanto to bring that to Christian music in a new way and have kids experience the Holy Spirit and not just experience songs or worship moments.” (Todays’s Pentecostal Evangel 4/19/09 p. 12)
John Ortberg shared this in The Life You Always Wanted (p.55-56): "It’s like a motorboat and a sailboat. A person can operate a motorboat without assistance, given the right equipment and effort. Operating a sailboat is different--it is dependent on the wind. The operator of a sailboat does whatever enables him to catch the wind. Spiritual transformation is like this: ...we can open ourselves to spiritual transformation through certain practices, but we cannot engineer it. We can take no credit for it." (Sermon Central)
Excuses: “I am not a preacher…” I am not good enough…I have nothing to say…None of us are perfect…
Illus: Susan Boyle didn’t look like an American idol or a singer, but she shocked the judges on Britain’s Got Talent when she opened her mouth
and sang like an opera star. You may not look like, or speak like, a preacher, but that won’t keep God from speaking through you!
Let the wind of the Holy Spirit, the breath of God; blow through you and to others.
If you are bored with religion, you need the power of the Holy Spirit to overwhelm you.
Start speaking prophetically…GOD WANTS TO SPEAK THROUGH YOU!
