The Spirit Filled Church In 2016

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.