Pentecost

Today, we celebrate the day that God sent us the Holy Spirit

Jesus had ascended into heaven and made some promises about Something to come
Before we talk about that, let's look at some of the things said about the Holy Spirit by Jesus
John 14:26
In verse 16-17, Jesus begins talking about the Holy Spirit as the Helper.  In verse 26, He says that the Helper will also be a teacher and a guide. 
This is a means of God living in us.  We are given the Holy Spirit as a means of helping us to navigate this world.
2 Timothy 1:7 gives us an idea that we are given even more.  We are not given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind.  That means that we don't go through this world in fear…but in this world with a power like no other.
This power is what brings me to Acts.
First, let's look at Acts 1:8.  Jesus is telling us that we will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon us…power to do His work!
Acts 2:1-8 – this shows the POWER of the Holy Spirit as He fell on the people.
What I want you to hear from this scripture is that they were given the POWER to speak the Word of God so that everybody heard the message.  Everyone was able to hear the message in their language and the Word was spread as a result.  The Power was given, not for edification of the people, but for advancement of the Gospel
So, let's look at just a few of the things that the Holy Spirit does:
1 – Helper – give us aid to live for Him and do the right things

2 – Teacher – so that we might know truth and be able to learn what is truth

3 – Guide – Helps us to navigate this sinful world as a light shining bright for Him

4 – Infuses us with POWER – not so that we look good or sound good, but so that God is praised and the people clearly hear the message of Jesus Christ no matter where we go

5 – Empowers us to be WITNESSES – so that we can tell others what it means to follow Him

What do you not have?  It could be because you are not tapping into the power that is living right inside of you…as a gift from God!

Go…and Do…with the POWER and DIRECTION of the Holy Spirit!

Eagerly Waiting

In this world, we find that we always want something more.  We want to biggie size our meal…we want a new outfit…we want more money…we want the latest gadget…we want something more
While those things will all pass away, I want to challenge you that your body, mind and soul does want something more…and so does all the earth…but it isn't what you might think…

Romans 8:18-24
There is a sequence of lessons contained here and we need to understand each to get the larger picture that Paul is giving in this message

1 – Sufferings here are nothing compared to the glory (vs18)
First, Paul knows suffering and knows that the Romans are suffering for the cause of Christ.  To be a Christian is no small deal.  Paul knows that if they follow Christ, they will suffer for it.

He is providing a reassurance to them that although they suffer here, there is a coming glory.  He has already been teaching them about living in the Spirit.  He has taught them that to live by the Spirit is life and peace.

But, to live according to God is not easy and there will be suffering…however something better is coming…but what?

2 – Creation is eagerly waiting

In this scripture, we see that creation itself (basically everything that is not human) is waiting for something.  It says that creation is in bondage.  To understand this, we would need to go back to Genesis.

If we go back to Genesis 3 (specifically vs 17 and 18), we see that the ground was cursed because of Adam's sin.  So creation is waiting on humanity to be revealed

3 – Humanity is eagerly waiting

So, why is creation waiting for the children of God to be revealed?  In this world of sin and suffering, it is often difficult to see the true intentions of people

There are people who really do love the Lord and want to advance the kingdom…then there are those who just want to do good things…then there are those who just want to muddle through

It can be difficult in this world of sin to tell who are the children of God…and although the fruit should show – suffering can seem to hide that fruit sometimes. 

So when will they be revealed?  Humanity is eagerly waiting to be revealed at Christ's second coming when Christ will reign. 

4 – Hope is now and just ahead

Ok, so does that mean we just sit around and wait for Christ's return?  No! The children of God have work to do until He comes.

We have a hope in knowing that Christ will come again and we will be redeemed.  We will all be with Him – but, until then…we have been put here for a reason.

Two of those reasons we have just talked about…

We are to understand that sufferings for Christ are just for a little while – but that doesn't stop us from serving and following and being His disciples day by day

We are to take care of creation…Notice that this scripture says that creation is being transformed – that means that what we have now will be part of this new earth…which means we have a responsibility as the children of God to take care of it…God's creation…

How can you make a difference?

Victorious?

1 John 4:18-5:6

These verses have a strong message, but one that I think is timely
Here are a few "take aways" from this scripture:

1 – To love God is to love one another

That isn't always easy in a world where there are so many different views and opinions – and people are very sensitive about their views and ideas
The problem is not that we don't all agree.  The problem is not that we have differing opinions.  The problem is that when we allow those differences to keep us from loving others.
I can certainly have a love for others that I do not share the same views with.  Why?  Because I have the love of God that has been given to me and I can then give to others
This is not the conditional love that we see in the world – I love you if you do what I say or you think like I think or you agree with me.  This is a love that is quite different
We see that this love is not out of fear or torment, but we love because God loves us and has given us this love
Love doesn't mean I agree with sins or wrongdoings…but it means that I love despite the fact that we are all sinful people

2 – To love God is to keep His commandments

It is not always easy to keep His commandments because His commandments don't always go along with what the world says.  His commandments are quite different…love God, love your neighbor, don't covet, give up your life for Him…the complete opposite of what we are taught
Plus, it requires some effort.  We live in a world where we don't see any use in putting effort in things that don't produce immediate results…especially things that don't produce results in the here and now.
People who think that following God will bring them $$ are glad to be in church…but are they worshiping God or $$?  Bible says you can't worship both!

3 - Faith is the key to victory

To overcome the world is to live by faith
The world isn't ever going to give us what we deep down desire.  We will never find true peace, love, or joy in this world.  But, Jesus has overcome the world!  We can too with faith in Jesus Christ.
Real truth is through Jesus Christ
If we believe in Him, we love one another, follow His commandments, then we have the victory…does this describe YOU?
Can YOU be described as living a victorious, abundant life?

Be careful not to answer that by the world's standards, but by God's!

The Obedience of Philip

Acts 8:4-8; 26-40

This Scripture has meant a great deal to me over the last semester.  Each week, we had an opportunity to look at these verses and hear what God had spoken to each of us in the class.  It reminds us that God's Word is alive and active and sharper than any two edged sword!  For today, I have narrowed the lessons down to 4.  These are important lessons for anyone who is a Christian…and thus, in ministry.  All of us as followers of Christ are called into some type of ministry.  Some just haven't answered the call and some are just blocking out what God is trying to tell them that He would like for them to do.  So, let's look at just a few of the lessons that this scripture teaches. 

Lessons:

1 – Philip was preaching Christ and things were happening…including GREAT JOY!

Things were happening in Samaria for Philip.  That is so important because this shows that Philip was reaching beyond the traditional Jewish people to the people of Samaria.  Much discussion was had regarding Samaria when Jesus walked the earth.  There was great joy because Philip was doing the right thing and the people were open to the Holy Spirit.  God was there!  Sounds like a great place to stay and continue the ministry, but God had other plans. 

2 – Philip was obedient in going to Gaza, even thought things were going well where he was and he didn't know why he was going. 

God called Philip to go elsewhere…into a desert…when things were going well where he was.  It doesn't say that he questioned God, the Bible just says that he got up and went.  He didn't know what He would find when he reached Gaza.  He was just in tune with the Holy Spirit and he was willing to say yes to the call. 

Philip followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to the chariot.  He didn't just go, but followed the leading of the Lord all the way to the chariot.  Someone important was waiting there. 

3 – The eunuch was ready to hear the gospel…seed had been planted and he was ready to accept what was being told to him…this was God coordinated!

When Philip got to the chariot, there was an official reading Isaiah.  Philip talks with him and finds out that this man is trying to figure it all out.  This scripture pointed to Jesus and so Philip gets the opportunity to tell this man about Jesus.  This man knew just enough to have a craving for the Word…just enough to pick up the Word…but not enough to know about Jesus – which is why Philip is there.  The seed had been planted!

4 – Things happened because Philip was obedient – Because Philip was willing to go and follow God, things happened for God!  If Philip had stayed in Samaria, things might have continued there, but God needed this eunuch to hear.  God had a plan and a purpose and put all this together. 

Would you be that obedient?  God is calling!

Faith In Abraham

Last week, we began looking at faith.  We started with the centurion – how he understood who Jesus was even more than the Jews of that day…probably even more than the disciples.  Because of his faith, his servant was healed.  Today, I want to look at what we call the "faith chapter."  It lists many of the heroes of the faith…those who stuck it out in faith.

Hebrews 11:8-12 (focus on Abraham)

Abraham is one of the people listed in this chapter because he stands as a figure of faith for us all

Let's first look at some of the things that Abraham did to show his faith:

Abraham left where he was and went to a new territory, not knowing where God was leading, but willing to leave everything for the promise of God.  Abraham was told that he would be the father of many nations, but at a very old age, past Sarah's childbearing years, had no children.  Because of his faith in God's promises, Abraham was given Isaac.  God told Abraham to do the ultimate…He told Abraham to take one of his greatest possessions, his son Isaac, and sacrifice him on the altar.  Abraham faithfully agreed and was willing – knowing the promise of God would come through Isaac – EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T SEE ALL THE PROMISE!

Abraham did a lot right...faithfully following God and doing as He instructed.  What makes Abraham even more of a hero of the faith for me is to see that he was human…he was not sinless

Let's look at a few of the things he did wrong:

When there was a drought in the land, Abraham had to go into Egypt.  He asked Sarah to pretend to be his sister so they wouldn't kill him since she was so pretty…where was his faith?  God had to fix the situation for Abraham because Pharaoh wanted Sarah for his own wife.  When he grew old and didn't have any children, he had a child with Hagar named Ishmael…Sarah thought this was a good idea and he did it…Ishmael caused problems in the lineage and descendents because that wasn't what God's plan was.
 

What can we take away today?

First, God asks us to have faith in His promises, even when we may not see the ultimate outcome.  He sent Jesus who provided an atoning sacrifice on our behalf and allows us to live forevermore.  If He can take care of us in death, how much more can he do in life

Second, having faith doesn't mean we always get it right, but it means we always hold fast to the promises and continue to come back to God…not giving up b/c we messed up