Spirit of God Wk3: Justin Huibregetse | June 21, 2026 |

Good morning, Eastridge.

My name is Justin.

I'm the associate.

I said associate.

I did that again.

No, I'm not.

Okay.

Sorry.

It's it's it's it's a it's a habit thing.

So I'm I'm I'm the senior pastor here uh at Eastridge, and I just want to say happy Father's Day to all of you out there.

Um you know this is uh this is a great day for every dad, grandfather, um, you know, uh father figure who has stepped in uh to lead and love and show up, and we are grateful for all of you today.

Um, you know, we'll be coming back to this idea of fathers and father figures in a minute, uh, because the passage we're in today uh has a lot to say about these fathers.

Um first let let's let's do a little bit of catch-up of where we've been here the last couple weeks.

Um, you know, we're in the Spirit of God sermon series for the summer, and in week one, we said the most important thing we can say about the Holy Spirit is he is not a force.

The Holy Spirit is God.

Uh uh He's not a feeling, he is one of the Trinity members of God.

And last week we watched the Spirit breathe over a valley of dry bones and speak into that life.

Um, the spirit brings dead things back to life.

So thank you to Nate for preaching last week, uh, for giving us that wisdom.

And uh and the thread running through all of this is very simple.

The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit forms us.

He forms us.

He doesn't just visit us.

You know, it's not something that uh that that we just have the Holy Spirit for just a little bit of time, and then we kind of move on and say, okay, we have the Holy Spirit, now I'm gonna do my own thing, and I'm gonna invite the Holy Spirit into that part of my life.

That's not how the Holy Spirit works.

Uh, today we are going to take that next step in understanding the Holy Spirit.

Because if the Spirit of God is with us, and then if the Spirit uh brings dead things back to life, then here's the question for this morning.

Now that he lives in us, where is he taking us?

Where is the Spirit of God taking us?

That's our big idea today.

Uh the Spirit of God does not just comfort us, the Spirit of God leads us.

So I have to be honest with you about something though.

Um, you know, I I am I am not very good at at being led, okay, at uh at being led by by someone else.

Um, you know, I I I like to know where I'm going.

Uh we just got back from a trip to Disney in the surface of the sun, um, also known as Orlando.

And, you know, a big part of what I like about you know those trips and the the those things, other than having a ton of fun with my family, is that there's a planning that we have to do with it.

And and I I like that plan.

I I like the um the the map to be open, the route to uh each area to be set, uh the timeline to be figured out.

That that's kind of my thing.

I I I love I love doing that.

And if I'm being really honest, I don't typically love asking for directions, right, Sarah?

Amen.

Yes, see?

Um some of you men know exactly what I'm talking about, okay?

Uh there's something in us that wants to be the one who's in control.

Who uh we'd rather wander around lost for 45 minutes than admit we don't know the way.

Amen?

Uh and and here's what I've really learned about myself is that that instinct doesn't disappear when I became a Christian.

It's not something that's that just went away.

It just gets more spiritual.

I still want the map, I still want the whole plan uh to happen and to be set before me before I take that first step.

And what God keeps inviting me into is something different.

And it's not a map, it's a relationship.

Not a here's the entire route, now you can go.

It's more of follow me.

I will lead you.

There's a difference between being driven and being led.

You can you can drive cattle, right?

You can drive cattle, you can push cattle.

You know, when you're driving cattle, you're doing it from behind.

You know, you're pushing them into the crowd, you're pushing them into the next pasture, you're pushing them into where they need to go.

That's driving them.

But leading them is something that a shepherd does.

A shepherd will lead the sheep.

A shepherd will have the sheep follow behind and say, this is the direction that we are going.

And the question that we are going to be in today, you know, goes to Romans 8, puts it like this: Are you being driven through the Christian life?

Or are you being led?

Because here is how a lot of us are living.

Some of us are standing at a crossroads right now.

A decision about a job, a decision about a relationship, a decision about a move, a calling, a next step, something to do that you are desperately needing to know.

God, what do you want me to do right now?

We treat God's will like a hidden treasure map.

And we're terrified about where we're going to uh go, if we're gonna read it wrong, uh if we're going to not handle it correctly, if we're the symbols are gonna be messed up, if we're if if we just have the wrong map sometimes.

Others of us are not at a crossroads where those decisions aren't really all that happening right in front of us.

We're just tired.

We're carrying a low, quiet fear that we're not doing enough.

That God is mostly disappointed in us.

That we're somehow on probation with God.

That if we're if we mess up badly enough, he might be done with us, where he's like, you know what, I you've done too much.

I can't handle this.

You're not gonna be my servant anymore.

And so we live spirit like spiritual employees rather than children.

Clocking in, hoping the boss is pleased, afraid of being let go.

That is not the life that Jesus died to give you.

And this morning, Paul's gonna take that fear by the hand and walk it out the door.

Because the same spirit who leads us is the spirit who tells us who we are, our identity.

You are not an employee trying to keep your job in the kingdom of God.

You are a child who is being led home.

So today we're gonna be in Romans 8.

Uh, Paul writes this, writes this chapter, uh, starting in verse 1.

This is one of the this is one of the great mountaintops in the Bible.

I will say that.

And it begins with one of the most freeing sentences ever written in Romans 8, 1.

It says this There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Before Paul says a single word about being guided by the Spirit, he settles the question of guilt, that burden of guilt, no condemnation.

It doesn't say less condemnation, or a little bit's taking off the top.

It says not any condemnation, no condemnation.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.

By sending his son, his own son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

Look at that word.

He condemned sin.

The condemnation didn't disappear, it landed.

It landed on that sin, the sin of our lives.

It landed on Jesus.

And here's why this idea of being set free, this idea of not having guilt in our lives, needs to come first.

You cannot be led by the Spirit while you are frozen in fear.

That fear of guilt, that fear that the Spirit is going to move you.

A child who is terrified of his father, doesn't follow him, he hides from him.

If we are walking in guilt with a father who is condemning us, who is going to uh you know punish us for the stuff that we did, we can't be led.

It doesn't happen.

But a child who knows that he is loved, who knows he is safe, who knows his relationship is secure, that child will follow his father anywhere.

So before the spirit ever leads you somewhere, he first settles something in you.

There is no condemnation here.

You are safe.

You are forgiven.

Now follow me.

The spirit leads forgiven children.

He does not drive frightened slaves.

So now we're we're moving in this new direction.

Paul shows us two ways to live.

He keeps going and says in verse 4, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who would not, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

And notice this being led by the Spirit is not at first about big, dramatic decisions where you have to move every single idea, every single life-changing thing.

It's not about that.

It's about daily direction of your mind.

What you feed, what you dwell on, what you keep returning to when no one is watching.

Some of us are asking questions about giant crossroads in the middle of our lives.

And God is gently saying, let's start with something else.

Let's start with where your mind goes at 11 o'clock at night.

Let's start with what the first thing that you worry about in the morning.

Instead of saying, you know, I need to make this big decision, this decision's coming up, I need to make it now, I need to make it today.

Let's start with these little decisions that all add up to where our life goes.

Because the Spirit leads us by reorienting us, transforming our mind.

Little by little, he turns us toward life.

The Spirit's leading usually begins with the direction of your mind, not the drama of your circumstances.

So we keep reading.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law.

Indeed it cannot.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give you life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

That same power that walked out of the empty tomb lives in you.

And then Paul says something that we need to hear very carefully.

Starting in verse twelve.

So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Notice how that works.

We put to death the deeds of the body.

We do that.

It's active, it's obedience.

But how do we do it?

We do it by the Spirit.

We do it by the Spirit of God.

This is the heartbeat of our whole series.

The Christian life is not try harder.

Go and do actions that get you closer to God.

Go and do these things that are that you think are going to make your salvation your own.

But it's also not, let's, you know, let go and do nothing.

It's not the, it's not, you know, both, both, hey, you know what, I'm going to try a lot harder to do my best.

But it's also not, you know what?

I'm just going to let the Spirit lead me and not have any direction at all.

It's depend and obey.

Depend and obey.

We work.

But we work by His power, not our own.

You are not, you know, white-knuckling your way to holiness.

You are not gripping the steering wheel.

You are holding his hand.

Which is always stretched out to you.

Because your father loves you.

You are following the lead of the one who lives in you.

You don't follow the Spirit by trying harder.

You follow him by depending and obeying.

Depend and obey.

And now we come to the heart of this whole idea of where the Spirit leads, how the Spirit leads us.

And on the Father's Day of all days, that is exactly where the text takes us.

Verse 14.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

There's our key verse.

Being led by the Spirit is not a badge that says you're a super Christian.

That you have it all.

Let's start stacking those Bibles.

Let's start seeing how far you can get because of what you have done on your own.

Being led by the Spirit is not a badge, it's a sign that you are a child of God.

It's the family resemblance.

And then watch what Paul does with our fear.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba Father.

Two spirits.

One is the spirit of slavery.

It keeps you afraid.

It keeps you distant.

It keeps you far away from God the Father.

It keeps you performing.

It keeps you at a distance.

The other is the spirit of adoption.

And the spirit of adoption does something remarkable.

He puts a word in your mouth.

Abba.

That is the most tender word a child can say to a father.

And the Spirit of God reaches into the heart of a forgiven sinner and teaches them to say it to the God of the universe.

You know, when you think of seeing, you know, uh the president, or you think of seeing a king, or you see, uh, I think of seeing uh meeting a dignitary of a country, you are going to really bow down and say, Well, I got I bet I better polish up, I better look good, I better, you know, really see, you know, make make sure that I look good to this person and I perform well and that I look good to them.

So I'm not going to mess anything up.

The creator of the universe is with us.

And instead of saying, you know, instead of getting all polished up instead of looking good, instead of saying the exact right things, all we have to say to him is Abba, Daddy, Father.

We get to come to you.

We get to be next to you.

We get to feel your love.

It's the word a little one says, with arms stretched up, asking to be held.

And the Spirit of God reaches into the heart of a forgiven sinner and teaches them to say it to the God of the universe.

The God of the universe.

Now, here's where I really want to slow down, though, because the word father does not land the same way in every heart in this room.

For some of you, that word brings warmth and tenderness, strength.

You had a dad who showed up, who was steady, who led with love, and today you get to honor him.

But for others, the word father brings an ache.

Maybe your father was absent.

Maybe your father was harsh.

Maybe he's a uh he's a wound you never fully closed in your life.

Maybe his chair has been empty for a long time.

So hear me carefully in this.

That the gospel does not ask you to pretend your earthly father was something he wasn't.

The gospel is not asking you to do that.

The gospel offers you a father who has everything you needed and never had, even if you had a great father or have a great father.

The gospel offers you a father who will never leave, a father who is not disappointed in his child the way you fear that he is.

A father who, by his spirit, has moved into your heart and called you his own.

You are not an orphan.

You are not a project.

You are not on probation.

You are an adopted, beloved, permanent child of God.

And he is leading you home.

Our passage ends with this.

And if children, then heirs.

Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him.

You don't just get to follow God.

You inherit everything that belongs to the Son.

The Spirit doesn't just quietly guide your steps.

He tells you whose you are, who you belong to.

The Spirit tells you that.

And this is where we have to be clear about how any of this is even possible.

How does a slave become a son?

How does a guilty person hear the words no condemnation?

How does a sinner get to call God Abba?

There's only one way.

And on that cross, the son, who had always heard, This is my beloved son, he always heard that.

Was treated as if he were the rebel.

He took our condemnation.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

That's all of us.

We have all wandered.

We have all rebelled.

We have all wanted the map instead of the Father.

But Jesus took what we deserved.

He died the death of a guilty rebel.

So that we could be welcomed as forgiven children.

And then he rose.

And the same spirit who raised him now lives in every single person who turns from their sin and trusts in him.

So if you're here this morning, you have never come home to God, the invitation is not clean yourself up first.

The invitation is come.

Be welcomed here.

Repent.

Trust Jesus.

Receive His Spirit.

And be adopted into a family that you will never be removed from.

The son was treated like a rebel so that rebels could be welcomed as sons.

And so how do we respond?

We needed to do a couple things.

We need to know that you are led, not driven.

You are led by the Spirit, not driven.

You are not pushed from behind by fear.

You are led from the front by love.

You need to know that.

Know that in your minds.

Second thing we need to know is we need to feel this.

We need to feel this in our hearts.

The security of a child who is home.

You don't have to earn a seat at the Father's table.

You've already been given one.

You can stop auditioning, you can stop performing, you can exhale.

A loved child is not anxious about whether they belong at the dinner table.

They just pull up a chair.

Third thing, something we need to do.

Let him lead one decision this week.

Don't try to surrender your whole future this afternoon, okay?

It's gonna get overwhelming, I promise you.

Just give him this week.

Give him one decision this week.

Pray the simple prayer that we started back in week one.

Spirit of God, lead me today.

And then take the next step.

You don't need the whole map.

Just the next step.

One step at a time.

That's what children do.

They take their father's hand and they walk.

Being led by the Spirit doesn't require a map, it requires the next obedient step.

And that is why I want us to end this morning at the table.

At this table.

Because the Lord's Supper is where the whole family gathers.

Because think about what's in front of you.

The bread and the cup are in front of you today, the body that was broken and the blood that was poured out.

This is how a slave became a son.

This is how condemnation became no condemnation.

This is the price of your adoption.

When you take the bread this morning, hear the Father say, There is no condemnation in you.

When you take the cup, hear the Spirit say, Abba, you belong here in me.

This table is not for people who have it all figured out.

It's not for people who have earned their seat at the table.

It's for the children of God, forgiven, adopted, led, and loved.

Coming home to the Father's table together.

So if you are in Christ this morning, come to the table.

Don't come as an employee hoping to keep your job.

Come as a son.

Come as a daughter.

Come and be reminded whose you are, who you belong to.

And as the worship team leads us into a quiet space to respond, take a moment and examine your heart.

Receive his forgiveness.

And let the Spirit of God lead you to the table of your Father.

Here at East Ridge, we celebrate what is called open communion, which means that if you are a Christian, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ and He is your Lord and Savior, you can come up to the tables and take the elements and then take them back to your seat and we'll take them together shortly.

So let's do that now.