3rd May 2026: Receiving the Holy Spirit

Welcome to the podcast of the white Church in Adelaide, South

Australia We're. Going to we're going to jump

straight into the word. So we are, we're going to talk

about the Holy Spirit this morning.

And so in the in the past weeks we talked about, we talked about

who Jesus was. We've talked about the gospel.

We've talked about baptism in water last week.

This week we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit, the

baptism of the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk around some

of these things this morning. This is something that is under

a lot of debate. The I don't think the church

cannot, you know, there seems to be a lot of disunity in in what

we believe and what we how we interpret the Scripture and

stuff like that. This doesn't need to be

something that divides the church.

This is not, you know, one of the foundational truths to

become a Christian. Whether you believe that the,

the, in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, some sort of a, some

sort of an experience after salvation or whether you believe

that it's when you get saved, whatever.

What I'm saying is it's not enough for us to be separated by

these things and, and we, but we, we need to have a clear

understanding of what we believe and why.

And so we're not going to shy away from on, on teaching how we

interpret this, what we believe these things are saying in the

scripture. So that's what we're doing this

morning. We're not going to, we're not

going to hide. We're not going to just put it

aside because people can't agree and we don't want to defend

people or anything like that. We just have to trust the word

of God. We have to just take it as what

God says and get on with doing what he's called us to do.

And so whatever you believe in reading the Scripture, you can't

argue the fact that there is a Holy Spirit.

He does do a work in people and he does manifest himself in

certain ways in the Scripture. Can we agree on that?

Excellent. So we looked at baptism in water

and we talked about how baptism in water is full immersion, full

immersion in the water. You go down into the water.

And so when we talk about baptism in the whole with the

Holy Spirit, it's the it's the same sort of concept, the same

word. So it's to be immersed, fully,

fully immersed with the Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit.

The word baptize and the whole and Holy Spirit together are

only used in seven verses in the New Testament.

Only 7 times we see baptism and Holy Spirit used together.

If you compare that to water baptism that we read about last

week, we looked at last week over 50 times, depending on how

you count 57. So there's a whole lot more

about water baptism than there is about this baptism of the

Holy Spirit, which is interesting.

All four gospels mention the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Usually when something's in all four, it matters, right?

It does matter. It's important.

The writers of the, of the gospels all felt or you know,

they didn't feel it themselves, but the Lord made sure that they

were inspired to put the, the, that that phrase baptism of the

Holy with the Holy Spirit in all of the gospels.

So we're going to read Matthew 3.

The 1st 4 mentions of Holy Spirit baptism are all in the

four gospels and they're all talking.

John the Baptist is saying it like it's all mentioned by John

the Baptist. So this one mentioned in Matthew

3 is one of these times. So I'll read Matthew 3 verse 11.

Matthew 3:11

It says I indeed, this is John. I indeed baptize you with water

unto repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than

I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

So that the first four mentions of this all say the same thing

in all four gospels. It's all John the Baptist

speaking and he's saying that that Jesus, it points forward to

Jesus. It says Jesus is going to do

this. OK, the fifth time that we see

baptized and Holy Spirit together in the Scripture is

Acts one verse 4. We are going to put it up on the

screen. If you've got a Bible there, I'd

encourage you to go there. Acts One verse 4, he says he

commanded them. So now we're talking Jesus, This

is Jesus commanding. He commanded them not to depart

from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which

he said, you have heard from me for John truly baptized with

water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many

days from now. So Jesus is relating directly to

what happens at Pentecost here. That's when this takes place so

that so the disciples, the the, the apostles wait exactly 50

days from the from the day that Jesus was raised from the dead.

This is the day of Pentecost. Pentecost actually just means

50th. So it's 50 days after, after

Jesus was raised from the dead and now baptized with the Holy

Spirit as Jesus promises. The sixth time in Scripture we

see baptized and Holy Spirit is in Acts 11 verse 15.

Acts 11:15

So this is when Peter is recounting taking the gospel to

the Gentiles for the first time. OK.

And Peter says here in Acts 11:15 as I began to speak, the

Acts 11:15

Holy Spirit fell upon them. This is upon the Gentiles as

upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of

the Lord when He said, so he's remembering what Jesus said.

John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with

the Holy Spirit. So this, this mention, the 6th

mention is pointing back to Pentecost.

So you have the 1st 4 which are pointing towards Jesus is going

to do this. You have the 5th mention, which

is Jesus saying it's going to happen then at Pentecost.

And then you have Peter looking back at what he's reminded of

what took place at Pentecost by the things that happened to the

Gentiles. The seventh time and the final

time that we see baptized in the Holy Spirit is in one

Corinthians 12 verse 13. So this is Paul writing now and

he says for by 1 Spirit we were all baptized into one body.

So we all, he's talking about believers now he's talking about

everyone that was saved, that has been saved and that will be

saved, will be baptized by the Spirit into one body.

That's everyone, that's all the Jews, all the Gentiles.

We are Gentiles, right? We're, is anyone a Jew in this

place? OK, so we're all Gentiles.

If we're not Jews, we're Gentiles, right?

So we're all Gentiles. So, so we are baptized as

believers by the Spirit into the body.

So again, just to, to wrap this up, baptism with this Spirit

promised by John the Baptist, given a specific time by Jesus

and fulfilled and then explained by Paul to be the promise of the

outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost to all believers and,

and every, every believer beyond that point, our salvation

experience. There's no other mention of the

term baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's significant to me because

you know, the the apostles in writing the New Testament, they

didn't, they never mentioned it again.

They never said, Hey, you got, you need to be baptized by the

Holy Spirit. Like Paul never said, you know,

when he was addressing problems in the church and he said, you

guys just need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit like so it's

just not mentioned again, which I find very interesting.

So I guess the question now is, if all believers receive the

Spirit at salvation, why don't we always see similar signs that

we read about in Pentecost? So we believe that, you know,

and can I, can I just clarify something as well?

This isn't just like what I believe.

You know, as leaders in this church here, we've actually come

together and dug in here and spoken about it and prayed about

it and tried to understand what we believe and why.

And so Justin and Bianca are away their elders.

Justin is the elder in the church here as well.

But these these things that we're speaking about here,

we've, we've come to believe that this is what the the

Scripture is, is speaking and what it's teaching us.

OK, so God is authenticating and clearly marking the passing of

the old covenant with the new covenant.

This is at Pentecost. And he's confirming that the new

covenant is not just for Jews, that it is for all people.

So let's take a closer look at Pentecost in this.

We read about this in Acts 2. I would love for us just to read

this whole whole Scripture, but I can't.

It's just too long for time's sake.

But go away and read and read it for yourselves.

Acts 2GO and read about what happens at Pentecost.

But I'll give you the highlights.

I'll give you the dot points. I don't like to do this, but

this is how we're going to do it.

So the believers were together. They heard a sound of a rushing

wind and it fills the house. Tongues of fire appeared upon

their heads and they were all filled with the Spirit and they

spoke in other tongues and crowds gathered and they heard

these words being spoken in their own language.

You know, their, their tongues were they, they heard these

people were not Jews. These people, it says that they

were from all different nations and all all around the world.

And they heard these guys speaking the things of God in

their own language. That's a huge sign, isn't it,

that hey, God speaking to us here through these guys, but

then they're not like from, you know, our nation, our place and

and many were amazed. There was great amazement.

There was much confusion. Some mocked, right.

Some said these these guys are all drunk and Peter addresses

all this again, go and read it. Acts 2.

So the Holy Spirit coming upon them is very visible.

You couldn't miss it. It's visible, it's audible, it's

supernatural, it's unmistakable. God poured out his Spirit there,

right? And can I say it needs to be?

It needed to be that way. This is a crucial time.

Some would say that that at Pentecost the church was

birthed. This is a crucial moment.

What was clear that the new covenant is now in place.

We have moved from the old God is doing something new.

The new covenant has been set in place and Peter stands up and

makes it clear what is happening from the Scripture.

So Peter full of the Spirit of God, he gets up and he tells

them what is happening. And what does he say?

He says, you know, this is where he says that some of you believe

that that these people are drunk.

They're not. This is the Spirit of God.

And he says, and it sure come to pass.

This was spoken by the prophet Joel.

It shall come to pass In these last days, says God, I will pour

out my spirit on all flesh. So Peter here tells them what is

happening, What's happening here?

This is the the promise of God in the last days, I will pour

out my spirit on all flesh. This is what you guys are seeing

here. This is the promise of the

Father that Jesus spoke about. And it never happens exactly

like this again. But we do see a pattern and

outward signs when the Holy Spirit is given after this point

in other Scriptures. So we're going to look at some

of these things. In Acts 8, we see the gospel

accepted by Samaria. Samaritans and Jews at that time

didn't get along. They weren't friends, right?

And so Jesus actually makes a point of going there and, you

know, preaching the gospel. So God's not against Samaritan,

some of the Samaritans, but there was a lot of tension

between the Jews and the Samaritans.

And so this is where we find ourselves in Acts 8, verse 14.

Acts 8:14

Now when the apostles were at Jerusalem, they heard that

Samaria had received the word of God.

They sent Peter and John to them, who when they had come

down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

For as yet he had fallen upon none of them.

They had only been baptized in the name of Jesus.

Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy

Spirit. And it says here that when Simon

saw that through the laying on of the apostles hands the Holy

Spirit was given, he offered them money.

So Simon's there and he sees Simon is his, His, I'm not going

to get dug down in that. There's this guy Simon there,

right? He sees the apostles laying his

hands on the people of Samaria and he sees something.

He sees the Holy Spirit come. So he didn't just see, you know,

them laying their hands on them and saying receive the Holy

Spirit and then just going, all right, thanks.

He saw something, something happened because he says, Oh my

gosh, I can I give you some money and you can give me that

power and I could raise, put lay my hands on people and, and and

do that thing that you just did, right?

So he sees something, there's a sign.

There is my point. And so God sent his apostles to

go there. Personally, I believe to lay

hands on the Samaritans, those of Samaria and God confirms with

signs, right? Why does it happen like this?

God is confirming that the new covenant is for the Samaritans.

Also, God is saying it's not just for juice.

I'm going to do it in a similar way so that you guys can

understand that this Holy Spirit is for all flesh.

Those guys are not excluded, right?

That's why I believe that it happens this way.

And as we read on, the Gentiles receive the gospel and the Holy

Spirit. So this happens after Peter

takes the gospel to the Gentiles, non Jews for the first

time. And Peter gives this account in

Acts 10 verse 44. He says while Peter was still

Acts 10:44

speaking the words, so he's preaching the gospel to them.

The Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word and those of

the circumcision. The Jews who believed were

astonished, and many came as Peter as as many came with

Peter, because of the the gift of the Holy Spirit had been

poured out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with

tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answers, Can anyone

forbid water, that these should not be baptized?

Who received the Holy Spirit just as we have, just as we

have. So again, the Holy Spirit comes

in a very similar way that he comes at Pentecost with signs so

that they can know for sure this is God.

God is doing this. You know, there's a whole lead

up to, to Peter going to the Gentiles.

God is all over this. He's orchestrating everything.

He makes sure that Peter knows to go.

He makes sure that the guys where he's going know that he's

coming. They God sends them to get

Peter. God's all over this.

God is making sure that the apostles know that this Holy

Spirit is for the Gentiles. This is the outpouring of the

Spirit to all flesh. Do you see it?

God's all over it. He's making it very clear to

them. So this is the the pattern that

we that we see here. The pattern was for the Jews,

the Samaritans, those of Samaria and the Gentiles, which is

really interesting because Jesus said this.

We read this in Acts 1. I believe we read this, maybe we

didn't read this first. Acts one verse 8 says, But you

shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and

you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea.

Where else? In Samaria, where else?

To the ends of the earth. So this is the pattern God says

in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the

earth, this is the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles.

So this, God's orchestrating all of this, He's said that this

will happen. This is now happening.

It's happened. So the only time after this that

we read about visible signs, I believe it's the only time.

It might, there might be another one, or I believe it's the only

other time that we see visible signs at salvation when, when

people are saved, when the Holy Spirit comes is when Paul goes

to Ephesus and they speak in tongues there.

And it's interesting because Paul's bringing disciples of

John again, old covenant into the new covenant.

He preaches Jesus, they receive Jesus, they receive the Holy

Spirit and they speak with tongues.

It's, it's the passing of the old covenant to the new covenant

again. That's the pattern it would

seem. And so after that, we see many

believers in households saved in Scripture, but there's dozens.

There's no signs mentioned, right?

So you've got the Ethiopian eunuch.

He is saved and baptized in water.

We don't see any signs. We see Saul the apostle.

Now, Paul didn't speak in tongues when he's saved.

When the Holy Spirit comes to him, he clearly speaks in

tongues afterwards because he says that he speaks in tongues

more than all of you, right? So, but it didn't happen.

According to what we read at Salvation, Lydia and her

household are saved. There's no documented signs.

The Philippian jailer and his household saved, baptized.

No signs. Christmas, the ruler of the

synagogue and his household, again, they've saved.

They're baptized. I don't know if it gives an

account of baptism in in water in every single time, but my

point is there's no mention of of tongues or any any outward

expression of the Holy Spirit coming and doing things.

I'm not saying that it didn't happen then.

I'm just saying that from what we read in Scripture, it doesn't

seem to be the normal pattern right after Pentecost, after

Samaria, after the, the pouring of the Holy Spirit on, on all

flesh on the Gentiles. So you might be thinking, well,

we've witnessed something of the Holy Spirit, you know, being

poured out upon people either at salvation or another time.

You might be thinking, but I've experienced the, the baptism of

the Holy Spirit. I was saved here and I've

experienced this Holy Spirit come.

I was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I've received gifts and tongues and stuff like that.

What are you saying, David? I'm not denying that these

experiences happen. We are, we, we just want to, you

know, we want, I'm not denying that they happen and we want

them to happen. We want the Holy Spirit to come

and empower us and pour out his spirit and give us gifts and,

and manifest himself in a real way.

We want to see him working. We believe he does.

We want to see him do that, but we're just clarifying the the

language that we use here. And it's important because it

can be confusing. It can create doubt and genuine

in, in our genuine salvation experience.

If I stand here and say that, you know, we receive the Holy

Spirit when we're saved, but then we need to have the baptism

of the Holy Spirit to be empowered.

And some of us are and some of us aren't.

You know, you won't be starting to question, well, if I don't

have the, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then I'm sort of a

lesser Christian than this person over here.

We start to question, I'm confused, what does this mean?

That does it mean that I actually have the Holy Spirit or

doughnut? You see, there can be some

confusion there. And so we would call these, you

know, for us like we're when it comes to the, the pouring out of

the Holy Spirit, you know, outside of our salvation

experience down the road a bit, we would call this the feeling,

the infilling, that that the Holy Spirit would come and fill

us afresh, you know, fill us and empower us.

And so, and I believe that this is scriptural because this is

the language again, that the Holy Spirit that that the Bible

uses, again, it doesn't use this language of the baptism of the

Holy Spirit came and then the room shook or anything like

that. So that the Holy Spirit filled

them. So we just want to line

ourselves with with Scripture in this.

So let's take Peter as our example here.

Peter receives Peter and the apostles received the Spirit

from Jesus. When does the Holy Spirit come

upon Peter? Well, it's after the

resurrection. Jesus has to be resurrected.

He died and he resurrected and the new covenant starts.

But Jesus in John 20 verse 22, this is after his resurrection.

John 20:22

Jesus is with them and when and this is Jesus, he says, and when

he had said this to them, he breathed on them and said

receive the Holy Spirit. So when did Peter receive the

Holy Spirit from Jesus? We received it in that moment

for sure because Peter, God, Jesus breathed on it and they

received it. So I'm not going to argue with

Scripture. Peter received the Holy Spirit

when Jesus breathed on him and said, receive the Holy Spirit.

He received it, right? And so I believe that Peter,

these guys were saved already. They had the Holy Spirit.

You can't be saved unless you have the Holy Spirit.

We've talked about this in past weeks.

You come from death to life. What is it that raises you from

the dead and makes you alive? It's the Holy Spirit, only the

Holy Spirit. And so I believe these guys were

saved already before Pentecost, but clearly they receive the,

the Holy Spirit comes upon them again and they receive power

because Jesus says this, he says, wait, you will receive

power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Power to be my witnesses. And they do witness when the

power comes. And so Acts 4, they're filled

again. Acts 4, verse 31, it says that

Acts 4:31

when they had prayed. So just to give you some context

here, that Peter and these guys, they come, they've been

persecuted by the rulers. They've they've come, they've

been told, don't you speak of this name Jesus again, they just

go, well, what do you want us to do?

We're going to listen to you or we're going to listen to God,

right? So then they come back to their

own in Acts 4, and it says when they had prayed, the place where

they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit. And they spoke the word of God

with boldness, which is interesting because they were

asking for boldness. And how do you receive anything

from the Lord? Holy Spirit comes and empowers,

right? We can do nothing in our own

strength. The Word teaches us nothing.

You can do nothing in your own strength.

It's by the power of the Holy Spirit that we could do

anything. Do we believe that?

I hope we do, because if you think that you can do anything

on your own for the Lord, you'd be wrong.

It's the Holy Spirit in US and through us that we can do

anything for the Lord, that we can have any sort of success at

all in seeing His Kingdom come in His will be done.

So the pattern seems to be that you receive the Holy Spirit at

salvation, but you can be filled again and again.

And the purpose of power and receiving gifts is for the for,

for works for good works that he has for us.

And I think that's important for us to mention because if we

think that we just come together and, you know, have this moment

of, of come and fill us, Lord, and we get all tingly and we

feel good and we have this Holy Spirit.

I felt the Holy Spirit so strong and then like, like, that's what

all it is. It's always for a purpose.

It's always for a reason. It's just not so that you could

just have an amazing moment and then just go and say, oh, the

Holy Spirit really touched me guys.

It's for power, It's for the for his will.

It's for, for stepping into greater things that you could

see his will be done in and through empowering.

It's for the empowering of his will and not yours.

Like we're laying down our will. We're asking him, you know, when

they asked him for boldness, was it just so that they could be

bold and they could go, hey, like, hey, guys, look how bold

we are now. No, it was for the purpose of

seeing the gospel move forward and for people to be saved.

They were like, we're kind of scared here.

Lord, we're getting persecuted. They, they just had us in

prison. Lord, give us boldness that we

wouldn't shy away that like no matter what they do, we would

have the boldness to continue walking this out.

Lord, please help us. Do you see it was they were

asking for boldness so that they could continue to do the work in

the face of opposition. We need boldness.

So we need the Spirit of God to play our part in his mission.

We do. If we're going to come together

and ask for the Spirit of God, it can't be for any other reason

other than to see the mandate that He has for the church

outworked in US and through us. That's it.

The only thing that the Lord is building on earth is His church.

Why? Because the church is the vessel

that He's reaching the lost people out there.

It's through the church. Jesus built his church.

Jesus came and established his church.

Jesus empowered his church. Jesus is sending His church.

We need to be empowered so that we can be sent and to do His

will. That's it, Not so that you could

feel better, but the Lord will, will comfort you.

He sees the comforter. So when you're struggling, he

will comfort you. But can I say, and I think there

is a difference here as well. I'm sort of, I'm jumping away

from my notes. I didn't want to do this.

But you know, we're in our own personal prayer time when we're

seeking the Lord. It's OK to seek Him for comfort

and for strength, right? You need it.

That's your personal. The Lord wants to change you

from the inside out. The Lord wants to empower you to

be like Him. But then there's something

different about when we come together corporately.

We're not crying out to the Lord to make us feel better and to

fix us in this moment. We are crying out for power that

we could be victorious, that we could rise up, that we could

come into our call, that that the church could be moving in

power and strength and overcoming the enemy.

It's the togetherness now. So when we're praying together,

we shouldn't be praying in our for ourselves.

We're praying beyond ourselves. And if your prayer life at home

is just about you, you've also missed it.

You need to pray beyond yourself.

We should be praying for us as a church.

How often are we coming? Like in our personal prayer

life, are we praying for this church?

Lord, help us, strengthen us. Pour out your spirit upon us.

I hope we are because if your prayer life's just become about

you, you don't understand what you've been brought into.

You are a vine in a, in a, you're a branch in a vine.

That means you're connected, right?

You can't be a branch on your own and be a part of the vine.

The church is a body of believers together.

This is why we're together, and if you if us being together is

not important to you, you are a withering branch on your own.

You are dying. If you're not a part of the

church, you are dying. You are not connected to the

vine. You are not connected to what

God is doing on the earth. It's as simple as that.

We can't be Christians on our own.

A Christian is a part of the body of Christ.

You are a part of his body like it or not be a part of his body.

Get excited to be together and be part of I am way off of my

notes here. I didn't even know, I don't even

know where I am Lord. And, and so, you know, the, the

early church, when we look at what they were doing here, they

weren't chasing a single experience.

They weren't chasing just some moment of being empowered that

would see them through for the rest of their lives.

And I think that when we have this understanding that we're

saved and then we need this baptism of the Holy Spirit, and

if I get it, then I'm done. That's dangerous because you

stop seeking after the Lord, You stop seeking after his power.

And it's dangerous because what if you don't receive it?

Then what? What if you don't have that one

moment? Then what?

Now you're just like, you're not even sure whether I'm a part of

this thing or not. So it's not a single experience.

They were never seeking a single experience, and they were always

together seeking The Lord. Jesus says that He will give us

living water. How often do you need to drink

water? I need to drink right now.

You can't survive without drinking water.

Try going a day without drinking water.

Living water. Guys, we need to drink from Him

regularly. Jesus says that He is the bread

of life. He says that give us this day

Our Daily Bread. What is He showing us?

We have to eat from Him. How often?

Daily, it's like the Lord's trying to show us that this is

not just to have an experience and then that's done.

This is like you walk this out day by day, moment by moment.

You need His water today, tomorrow, the next day.

You needed it yesterday. You need the bread of life

today. You need to open the word of God

every single day. You need to digest His bread.

We need to come together. We need to drink together.

We need to eat together daily, all the time.

That's the pattern from Scripture.

So I am bringing this to a close, and I just want to

highlight again, I've sort of said it here already, but the

times in Scripture when the Holy Spirit comes and fills them is a

corporate time. There's a togetherness when this

happens. And I think that that's really

important. They're not alone in their room

somewhere. I'm sure that God did these

things alone in their room somewhere.

But the Bible, the word of God, what he gives us as a pattern

and how he shows us how that we should live and, and what the

church should be doesn't seem to show you this.

Just go lock yourself away. The Spirit of God will fall on

you and you'll be empowered and you'll come out of that place,

you know, like it's, it's togetherness.

And Paul writes about spiritual gifts.

And what does Paul say the spiritual gifts are for, for

you, for you, for you, for me, are spiritual gifts for me.

What are the spiritual gifts for, for the church, for the

building up of the church. So I think it makes sense that

God pours out his Spirit upon the church when they're together

for a reason, because it's not for you, it's for us together.

And so we should be receiving it gifts from the Lord, receiving

the infilling of the Spirit together so that we could use it

together, right? The togetherness just together,

together, together. You know, every time we read and

now we're together with 1 accord.

They had all things in common, the togetherness of the Lord.

I hope this is this is stirring us up because it's just like

that's sort of another message. But like man, we we've lost the

importance of being together. It's church has become a a, if

it's convenient for me thing like once a week, like we can't

even align our schedules to align with God's schedule.

God's given us a calendar. God's given us a day come

together, the Sabbath day come together once a week.

But we're just like, I'll come to church as so long as there's

not something else on that. I'm interested in God's

calendar. We have made our lives and our

things more important than his calendar.

And that's just one day a week, you know.

But anyway, again, I'm getting off into other things.

It's not about like guys, you just you should have to want to

come to church. We need to have a revelation of

the importance of being together and honouring God with our time,

His time. This is his time, guys.

This day that we're in right now, this moment that we've come

together, this is His time. We've given up our time to Him.

You know, we offer ourselves a living sacrifice to the Lord.

That means that in order for me to be here, I might have to

sacrifice something to be here. Anyway, I'm looking, I'm getting

lost. But anyway, I'm just going to

remind us of something that Tie said to us.

You know, we don't seek after gifts.

We don't seek after power. We don't seek after an

experience of being filled more than we seek after him.

Ty reminded us he is the prize. He is the prize.

Our our relationship with him is what we seek.

Our connection with him is what we seek.

And he gives gifts to those that seek him.

And so we want to be a church that seeks Him.

And so I'm going to close here in Acts 42.

I'm just going to read a couple of verses here.

Acts 42, We've sort of been here already, but just bear with me

for one second. I didn't have this in the notes.

I thought about this later to do this.

OK, So Acts 42, OK, so sorry, 1st chapter 4, verse 23, it

says. And being let go, they went to

their own companions. Everyone say they went to their

own companions. We are with our companions this

morning, right? They went to their own

companions and they reported all the chief priests and the elders

had said to them. So when they had heard this,

listen to what they do. They're together.

And they raised their voice to God with 1 accord and said,

Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and

all that is in them. Let's do that together.

You ready? Have we got it up there with one

accord they said, Lord you God, who made heaven and earth and

the sea and all that is in them, you God, they come together and

they and they before the Lord, they say you are God, you

created all things, you made the heavens and the earth, they

belong to you. So they declare who he is and

they, and they, they go on and, and then they, they quote more

scripture together. It says that they were with 1

accord and they're quoting scripture together.

And then the Holy Spirit falls upon them with power.

And I say all that for us this morning because we have to be

together. We have to be unified and we

have to seek Him together if we're going to receive from him.

It's no good if we're here for our own selfish reasons and

expect that God's going to pour out His Spirit upon us and

empower us for some work that we don't want to do that we don't

even know we should be doing. Do you see what I'm saying?

So I'm just going to close here like we're going to pray

together. We're going to trust that the

Lord's going to do what needs to be done in our hearts.

We're going to trust that He's going to empower us to do what

we need to do. But but more so than that, it

might just be that we just ask God to unify us, that you, he

would unify us in his cause. As a local church.

Let's start there. Can we just raise to our feet?

Let's just pray together, seek the Lord together.

He is listening, guys. The Lord is listening.

We're called to seek him. Let's call him together.

Let's call upon him. Lord Jesus, we thank you for the

word that you've spoken this morning.

We seek you together corporately, one body under the

name of Jesus, your body. And by 1 Spirit, Lord, we ask

that you would meet us where we're at, but that you would

move us from wherever we're at to where you need us to be so

that we could be empowered, so that we could move in power, so

that we could, you know, be, see great success where you've

planted this church, Lord, so that people around us could know

that that you're here, that you're powerful, that you're

working. Lord Jesus, So for my heart, for

every single one of us in this place, we pray, Lord, that you

would reveal yourself in this moment, that you would take us

from where we are to a greater place of fellowship, a greater

place of intimacy, a greater place of unity, a greater place

of purpose, a greater experience of your power.

Come Holy Spirit, touch us. Pour out your Spirit upon us.

Lord, let this church rise up to the call that you've called us

in Jesus mighty name, Amen. Thank you for joining us for

today's message. For more information about The

Way Church, please visit [email protected] dot

AU. Have a blessed day.