THE SPIRIT FILLED CHURCH IN 2016
Sville – 01.03.16
I am curious to know what your personal thoughts are for our church, NEW LIFE in the year of 2015. What will you remember about last year? What did God accomplish in your personal life last year? What about your spiritual life?
“Let me tell you what God did for me last year…”
Personally – I am pleased overall with what God did. I have no regrets with our response and our commitment to the Spirit of God in 2015. As many of you know, we had to spend most of the year reacting to the many changes that we all went through. It wasn’t always easy and we still have more changes that will come our way this year… Lord willing …
QUESTIONS:
? What should we expect for this New Year?
? I am convinced that our church family has a lot of potential, but what should we do differently this year?
? Or do we keep doing what worked for us in 2015?
Regardless of what we might plan, God has plans for us that are probably bigger than we realize… Here is what I know – I DO NOT WANT TO MISS WHAT GOD WANTS FROM ME! OR YOU!
There is one thing that is absolutely necessary (In order for us) to be everything God wants …
We so desperately need the Power of the Spirit of God in 2016.
We are not (necessarily) a wealthy crowd. We don’t have a lot of resources. We are all very ordinary people… From what I have read and studied, we are a lot like the first Christian church in the Book of Acts. Those folks were faced with a new beginning into the age of the New Testament.
The Power of the Spirit of God was crucial for that church (2000 years ago) for them to become what all they had to be.
Jesus said it all in one single verse: ACTS 1:8
But YOU will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon YOU, and YOU will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the Earth.”
What Jesus said to that early New Testament Church may seem to us beyond our abilities. Here we are planning to be our very best in the next Sunday morning Worship Service, or the next Bible teaching on the next Wednesday night.
It is very important what we do from week to week.
And yet that first church in Jerusalem was planning mission trips all over the world. The New Testament people would walk everywhere they would go.
Try not to let all of that overwhelm you or make you feel any less than the believers of that time. Don’t miss the point here…
What Christ did was send the person of the Holy Spirit to those weary saints of long ago and (furthermore) Jesus wants to do the same for you and me. We may not carry the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea or Samaria. The fact is many world renowned scholars and prophets (of our day) say the Great Commission Christ sent us to do may be near completion.
Consider this: to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ into each of the darkest four corners of the world is easier now than ever before. We could be down to the final hours, or days, or weeks before the return of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Christ can easily get on a jet plane, or be emailed most anywhere in the world.
What does that mean for people like you and me? Is the saving Grace of Jesus any less important to us than it was in Acts?
As well - Is the Power of the Spirit of God any less important to you and I as we walk through this life … in these last days?
I think not. The fact is,
Without the convicting work of the Spirit of God, our preaching and witnessing is in vain.
Without the gifts of the Spirit of God, without the guidance and power of the Spirit of God, our work here is only our effort.
Jesus made the efforts of the Apostle's completely dependent on them being filled with Baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire and the evidences of unknown tongues. Likewise with the doctrines of the Apostle's, comes the requirements for you and I to be filled with the Power of the Spirit of God.
Otherwise our Gospel will surely fail.
If you hadn’t noticed, the Holy Spirit is powerful but He is unseen… He is invisible. You cannot see Him, but you can sense His presence. Someone once made a comparison of the Holy Spirit to electricity. This comparison can make all of this easier for us to understand.
Electricity is in this room. Do you see it? On the platform, electricity powers up the microphones, the guitars and the key board. In the back room, electricity is used to warm all of us.
What specifically is the Power of the Spirit of God doing in your life to use you? Are you tapped into the Holy Spirit? Or did you only come to find a warm place to spend an hour or so?
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “But YOU will receive POWER…”
Some think the Holy Spirit is an intense emotional experience that can feel good for some, while others become fearful …
Regardless – the Holy Spirit is not a momentary event.
We know this by what Jesus said in John 14:16 –
?“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
?Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.”
What Jesus was telling the disciples was that He would direct them to receive the very empowering presence they had already seen/witnessed in His own life.
It was obvious that Jesus was:
? Begotten by the Spirit – Luke 1:35
? Empowered by the Spirit – Matthew 12:27-28
? Led by the Spirit – Luke 4:1
? Anointed by the Spirit – Luke 4:18
? Baptized by the Spirit – John 1:32
? Raised from the dead by the Spirit – Romans 8:11
This was not a mysterious cloud of emotion that did all of these things for Jesus. Rather, it was the Third Person of the Trinity.
The Person of the Holy Spirit is, was and always will be an separate entity, physical form that was here on Earth to conceive the Christ Child.
I have learned a. Lot from my experiences with the Person of the Holy Spirit. We all learn a lot from our mistakes, as well.
There have been times in my life when I have tried to go it alone without the presence of the Person of the Holy Spiirit.
Let me give you just a few of the mistakes I have made:
? I became religious and proud of what I had learned. I never meant to hurt anyone but I was reminded that God gives Grace to the humble and resists the proud.” I made plans for God for my life that did not include humility.
? I lost the Joy of the Lord. I became weary in well doing. Simple tasks became less and less meaningful. Bigger plans for my life became more complicated and overwhelming and less likely to ever take place.
? It became difficult to find Peace during the day to day trials of life.
? I became less trusting in God and more convinced that I could take care of my problems myself.
? Solving other people’s problems was impossible and futile.
CLOSE:
We cannot make it as believers without the presence and power of the Person of the Holy Spirit.
The Children of God failed whenever the Spirit of God was not with them. We have the Holy Spirit nearby us all day everyday, but we sometimes think we can take care of things our selves.
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in John 16:13 –
But when HE, the Spirit of Truth, comes, HE will guide you into all truth. HE will not speak of HIS own, HE will speak only of what HE hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.”
