SPEAKING IN TOUNGES | SUNDAY 7TH JUNE | PS AARON MORE

Good morning.

>> Hey, before we uh get into the message,

uh I just had an announcement to make

and that is that we are proposing to

bring a new elder um into the eldership

team at Tonga Elim and that is Eley. So,

uh that is

that is exciting, but don't clap too

fast because part of our policy is that

um we actually inform the church and the

church has um up to 14 days to come and

see uh me or one of the elders if there

is any reason why you think um Eley uh

would not be suitable for that role. Um

but he's been a key part of the uh

church for over 12 years and so we're

really excited to invite that. So, but

there is it is important to us. We do

have those protocols in place, but

that's around uh a genuine reason not he

cut you off in traffic one time, you

know. So, uh um but so we're really

excited about that and uh we believe

when he's back from Fiji, uh we will

pray him into that position. So, that's

uh really exciting, isn't it?

Uh

I uh a number of years ago I went on

sbatical and as part of my sbatical I

went to a an event called school of the

prophets and uh when you go to an event

called school of the prophets there are

a lot of very spiritual people there. Uh

there's there's lots of things that go

on and there's lots of conversations

that are had. And so what happens is I

turn up to this thing. I'm traveling by

myself. Uh, and what they do is they

it's a school where they want you to not

only learn about prophecy, but get to

activate it. So, they're like, "Hey,

we'll put you in community groups." So,

you'll have a group of about 40 or 50

that are in your group, and you sit

together during the conference, and

during the mornings, we go and have

activation times. And so, I'm like,

"Okay, that's cool." And so, I'm

traveling by myself. So, I end up um

sitting next to four ladies on the first

session. And I'm kind of like, they're

quite friendly, nice. Get to know them.

That's cool. Um they're like, "Do you

want to come out for lunch?" I'm like,

"Sure." Um I don't have a car, so

definitely. And um so, you know, we get

to lunch. And I send myself a picture to

Sarah of me and four ladies out for

lunch. And she said, "You look like

you're enjoying yourself." Um and so the

next day, I'm like, "Okay, hey, I'm not

going to go sit next to the ladies. I'm

going to make sure I connect with a

guy." So we uh it gets to the activation

point. I turn to a guy and and they're

like, "Hey, we're going to do this

exercise where we want you to uh press

in and sense something." So it was this

exercise of prayer and prophecy. And so

I turned to the guy and the guy's like,

"We don't really need to do this, eh?"

And I'm kind of like, "Well, well, I

kind of flew halfway around the world

cuz I kind of want to want to do it."

He's like, "I think this is good for

those other people." Like, okay. Okay.

And he's like, but but not for the likes

of me in UA. It's a bit basic for us,

isn't it? And so, um, the next session I

went and sat with my four ladies and

hung out with them for the rest of the

conference. But

at one stage, um, one of them asked me a

question. She said, uh, do you think

you should consider seriously dating and

marrying someone if they don't speak in

tongues?

Should

you consider dating and marrying someone

if they don't speak in tongues? And

there's all of a sudden silence and all

of the four ladies are looking at me. Uh

two of them were married, two of them

weren't. So, uh they they're looking at

me like wondering what my answer is

going to be.

And I wonder even as I ask that question

this morning, it might elicit a whole

lot of responses, a whole lot of

emotions. Uh different people will have

different thoughts. Some may be

wondering, "What on earth is tongues?"

Like, "What are you even talking about?"

And some may wonder, "Well, uh one

opinion or another." And I'm sure we

could go around the room and there would

be a whole lot of opinions. And the

interesting thing is some of them would

actually be attached to deep emotion

like there would be an emotional uh

attachment to that. And we're doing a

series on things of the spirit. And this

is the third week. Paul done a great uh

a great job last week, didn't he?

Speaking on the Holy Spirit as a

convvictor. Can we uh show our

appreciation for that message? How good

was that?

And uh so this morning we are going to

speak on uh this area of the gift of

tongues. And uh some people kind of say,

"Hey, I don't really know like Sunday

morning. We don't normally talk about

that kind of thing." And I'm kind of

like, "Well, why not?" Um and people can

be like, "Oh, what about um you know, if

we have new people in and it might scare

them off." And I'm kind of like, you do

realize we believe that someone died and

rose again, right? Like I'm like, you

realize what we believe? Like in one

sense it is totally credible, but in

another sense it's like, hey, yeah,

well, we're talking about worshiping a

guy who rose from the dead. I don't

think praying in a particular prayer

language, while it is unusual to the

world system, it is not something that

we cannot talk about. So uh this morning

I I I want to go through and at the end

I'll share the purpose of why uh you

know they normally say start with why

but I'm going to share at the end why

why we're even talking about this. So

what happens is Jesus dies uh rises

again he tells his disciples to go and

wait because they are going to receive

power uh from through the Holy Spirit.

And so the he he dies, rises again, they

wait and they the day of Pentecost

comes. And in Acts chapter 2, it says,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

"When the day of Pentecost came, they

were all together in one place. Suddenly

a sound like the blowing of a violent

wind came from heaven and filled the

whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of

fire that separated and came to rest on

each one of them. All of them were

filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak in other tongues as the spirit

enabled them. Now they were staying in

Jerusalem. Oh, sorry. Now they were

staying in Jerusalem. God-fearing Jews

from every nation under heaven. When

they heard this sound, a crowd came

together in bewilderment. Each one of

their own heard their own language. And

they asked, "Aren't all those who are

speaking Galileans? then how come we

hear them in our own language? So what

we have is uh when the Holy Spirit is

poured out uh these the disciples begin

to and those in the upper room begin to

pray in tongues but kind of the

implication is in this instance they

were actually knowing languages. And so

what's happening is they're speaking in

tonesues but people around them begin to

hear it in their language and they are

like oh my goodness what is going on?

like uh but this isn't the only thing

that the Bible says about tongues. It's

the the the starting point. And so

really quickly, I just want to go over

what a definition of tongues and then

what Paul says in one Corinthians 14

because here's the thing. I think

sometimes uh we think uh what we need is

a theological explanation and I believe

that's important. But I think often in

terms of what actually holds us back is

actually our experiences and what we've

actually encountered and the way things

have been done. And so I want to start

by talking about uh yeah theologically

what is this gift of tongues and then

secondly actually what has this meant

experientially for some of us and what

are some of the things we might have

experienced that may have either caused

us to embrace or hold back and and and

what does that look like? So uh to start

off Gordon Fee gives this definition on

the gift of tongues. a spirit prompted

non-co cognitive prayer language where

the believer speaks directly to God in

sounds intelligible to humans. Okay. So,

again, if you're new to this and you are

like, "What on earth are they talking

about?" Like, uh, we believe the Bible

teaches that the Holy Spirit gives gifts

to believers. And one of the gifts that

he actually gives is a prayer language

which enables someone to pray words that

are directly between them and God. And

many times they will not know what they

are praying, but it is a prayer language

and a connection with God.

And so, uh, there are believers, uh, and

Christians who who don't believe that

this is, um, uh, what what's happening.

And, and some people would even say,

"Hey, no, you guys are just babbling or

you're just, uh, uh, speaking madeup

language." And so, uh, Paul gives this

instruction in one Corinthians. This is

what he says. Follow the way of love and

eagerly desire gifts of the spirit,

especially prophecy. For anyone who

speaks in tongues, in a tongue does not

speak to people, but to God. Indeed, no

one understands them. They utter

mysteries by the spirit, but the one who

prophesies speaks to people for their

strengthening, encouraging, and comfort.

Anyone who speaks in tongues edifies

themselves, but the one who prophesies

edifies the church.

And he goes on to say,"I would like each

of you to speak in tonesues, but I would

rather have you prophesy. The one who

prophesies is greater than the one who

speaks in tonesues, unless someone

interprets it, so that the church may be

edified."

He then goes on a little bit later to

say this, "For this reason, the one who

speaks in tongues should pray that he

may interpret. For if I pray in a

tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is

unfruitful." So what shall I do? I will

pray with the spirit, but I will also

pray with understanding. I will sing in

the spirit, but I will all also sing

with understanding. And so here's this

scripture where one Corinthians 14 where

Paul um outlays what this gift is. And

some people would have theological

objections to what Paul is saying, but I

believe the the the clear reading of the

scripture

is he is talking about a a prayer life

that no one understands but that edifies

the person in their relationship with

God. And uh he encourages us at the

start that all of us should desire

spiritual gifts. and he says, you know,

I am I'm glad that I speak in tongues

more than all of you. And so, while

there are some theological um uh

differences and people who don't agree

with this, I would say uh I don't want

to spend a whole lot of time talking

about that because I actually believe a

plain reading of scripture is actually

pretty clear what the gift is and what

it is for.

>> So, so it it's pretty clear that there

is this gift. But the bigger question is

all of us come with an experience and

with baggage where we have experienced

certain things and what we've

experienced

actually uh uh can taint what what the

word of God says because we've seen and

been in certain environments where

certain things have happened in certain

ways and a and that causes us to judge

certain things and think, "Wow, is this

really what God was talking about. So in

1906, something happened that was called

the ISUsa Street Revival in Los Angeles

in ISUsa Street. Uh there was a um a

black preacher called William Seymour

who had one eye and they began to um

have meetings and the Holy Spirit began

to turn up and uh what happened was

people began to speak in tongues there

and there were manifestations and crazy

things would happen. Seymour would

actually put a box on his head. He would

like he didn't want to be the focus of

things. So you can imagine right now if

I turn to the corner and put a box on my

head like people would be like #awward.

How long do we sit here while the pastor

sits with a box on his head and he would

sit with a box on his head and then the

glory of God would come into the room

and people would be being healed and the

presence of God would sweep across the

room while he's um sitting there with a

box on his head. Maybe some people are

saying that might be an improvement. I

don't know. But uh

and so what happens is uh the the the LA

Times actually begin to report on it and

they begin to report really negatively

about it. And you can actually go back

and see the newspaper clippings and it

says babble babbling of tongues at ISUsa

street the headline in the new in the

newspaper. And then it goes on to

explain all of these things that were

going on and how um crazy they were and

how this is just uh ecstasy with people

clearly out of their mind. It's kind of

interesting because in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

when the Holy Spirit was poured out,

some people actually said, "Hey, I think

they might be drunk. I I think I know

what's going on. They they might be

drunk." Which is really random because I

think you have to drink a heck of a lot

to be able to speak in a language you

don't know. Like

I mean I don't know if you've ever been

that drunk but you you probably got a

few issues if you have.

But the point being you see some people

are like well if this is of God what it

would mean is that it would just

everyone would accept it and it would

never be called into question because

it's God. But that's actually not the

way things work. So what happens is the

media begin to criticize what's going on

and then some other churches begin to go

man we are not really sure about this

and if you've never seen that before and

you go into a room and there are pe

there's a guy with a box on his head and

people are speaking in tongues you can

understand why some people would be

skeptical right I know no one in this

room ever would be but you know uh so

you've got people going what on earth is

going on. And so all of a sudden, people

have to make a judgment call. Do we

think this is God or don't we think it's

God? And so some people are like, "Man,

we believe this is God." And uh and we

want this. And other people are like,

"We don't believe this is God." And some

people are like, "Hey, we think it's

just them, they're a little bit crazy."

Other people are like, "Hey, not only is

it just them, I think it might actually

be demonic." And so they're like, "Hey,

we don't think this is God at all. this

is the opposite spirit and we need to uh

be free from that. So as a result what

happens is now you have this uh these

churches that are getting into arguments

about whether speaking in tongues

whether it's the Holy Spirit whether

it's a man whether it's a demon right so

you actually have some church splits

begin to happen and even in New Zealand

I know through 60s and 70s there were

one of the things that split a lot of

churches was do you believe that

speaking in tongues is of the Holy

Spirit and for today and so you would

have this divide so what happens in that

is some people like they lose their

church because of their belief in the

gift of tongues. So they get kicked out

of their church. Now you can understand

if you got kicked out of your church

because of a spiritual gift that you

believed in, one of the dangers is you

might elevate that gift to an unhealthy

place.

Like you might be tempted to be like,

"Hey, this is GOD AND ALL THOSE people

who don't have this, well, they're just

lesser than us." Because what's happened

is they've been made to feel lesser.

People have said to them, "You're just

babbling. Why don't you just read the

Bible? Do what other Christians do. You

don't need this nonsense. That's just

you." And so, they were looked down on.

And tragically, what happened for some

were they then began to operate in the

same spirit and responded and were like,

"No, no, we actually looked down on you

because you don't have the gift. You're

not like us. You're not spiritual.

You're not following Jesus. You're just

religious." And so, you have this

division that begins to happen. When I

was about 15, I was fairly newly saved.

I uh uh the neighborhood I grew up in

was actually pretty uh pretty rough. Um,

and we had Lynwood Park down the road

and um, you know, you always kind of had

to keep your eyes open when you walk

through Lynwood Park because uh, there

might be a few unsavory characters.

Thankfully for someone with my physique,

I never felt in danger. But um I I would

always walk pretty quickly through

Lynwood Park, you know, whether um you

know, you were going to encounter glue

sniffers or drug dealers or um just any

number of things you may encounter at

Lynwood Park, but it was the fastest way

to the mall. So I would kind of scoot

through and and try and be safe. And one

day uh I was going with my friend, and

thankfully he was much bigger than me,

so I felt really safe. and these uh two

guys came up to us and you always wonder

what you're going to get when two guys

approach you in Lynwood Park. Normally

it's the offer for some illegal

substances, but in this case they were

like, "Hey boys, can we talk to you?"

We're like, "Sure." They're like, "Oh,

do you um have you heard about Jesus?"

And so I'm actually fairly newly saved.

And so I'm quite excited. I'm like,

"Yeah, I have." Like, and so uh they

begin to share. And then um they the

next question they asked me is do you

speak in tonesues? And at that stage I

was like uh no I don't speak in

tonesues. And they're like well you know

in that case we actually don't think you

really do know Jesus. like um you

probably need to leave the church that

you're in and come to our church and

someone will pray for you and when you

start speaking in tongues that will be

the sign that you know Jesus and um I

remember being quite unsettled uh

feeling that it wasn't right but we just

kind of said hey guys it's you know I

didn't really have the words and just

sort of said we we don't really believe

that and just see see you later and we

left and I remember in that moment just

being so confused and going, God, what

what's going on with that? And and maybe

that wasn't your experience, but I know

at one stage there was a uh a belief

because of what happened in Acts and

it's still common in a lot of places,

classical Pentecostal theology, is that

if you receive the baptism of the

spirit, you it's always evidenced by

speaking in tongues. And when you read

the book of Acts, many times when the

spirit came, they spoke in tonesues. So

we we we don't deny that speaking in

tonesues is an evidence of the Holy

Spirit. We just don't think it's the

evidence of the Holy Spirit. Like it's

it's something, but it's not everything.

So it's an evidence, not the evidence.

But what happened for me was a couple of

years later I was pray praying and I

began to just seek the gift of tongues

and uh I began to get some words and

pray them and uh slowly began to develop

a prayer language that I believe is from

the Holy Spirit that edifies me and

enables me to pray. And so this was a a

a a spirit language that I believe God

had given me. But the church I was in

was fairly conservative.

So most people there didn't speak in

tonesues. Wasn't the kind of church that

they would kick you out if you didn't

speak in tonesues. They just kind of um

would prefer to sing a hymn than to

speak in tonesues. And so I'm like,

"Ah." I began to speak in tonesues. And

if I was to be really honest with you, a

little bit of what happened in my life

was slowly I began to think that I was

spiritually superior to some of the

other people who didn't speak in

tongues. So slowly I was kind of like,

well, I've got this gift and uh you

know, I must have been about 18 at the

time and I was like, yeah, you know, I I

speak in tonesues. A lot of these

religious people don't speak in tonesues

and that's okay. One day they can be

like me. You know, you ever know people

who think like that? You know, I used to

be like you once, you know, a lovely uh

the most patronizing thing you can ever

say to someone. I used to be like you

once. Um and so that was a little bit of

my inner posture. And what happened was

we actually had an issue in the church

and with youth leaders and just some

stuff went on and they're like, "Hey, we

have to have a meeting." And so a group

of I was a youth leader at the time. So

a group of us youth leaders met with

leaders from the church and we're

sitting there having this meeting and

it's going back and forth and there's

actually some disagreement. And uh I now

realize that I had all the wisdom of a

donkey. Um but I thought I was wise. And

so we're going back and forth and

there's a just a bit of debate and

argument. Uh not too heated. And then

what I begin to do is just quietly I

begin to speak in tongues. So I'm just

like

and um like I thought nothing of it and

um that's cool. The meeting ends and

then like a few days later um Sarah um

actually says to me, "Hey um one of the

people that were in that meeting thought

it was really disrespectful

the way you spoke in tongues.

And I was like, "Whatever. I just know

they're just religious." Just religious.

Yeah, that I bet you they didn't like

it. Holy Spirit turned up. Of course

they didn't like it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the Holy

Spirit. It was a spirit of stupid that

turned up, right?

Because actually what I was doing

wasn't about inviting the Holy Spirit.

It was about trying to elevate myself

uh about appearing to seem spiritual

about rather than being able to have a

conversation with someone

to actually begin to use spiritual

things instead to shut down my need to

love them.

And I know no one here would have ever

encountered someone who speaks in ch

tongues but acts like a jerk.

You see, it's interesting because Paul

says the purpose of tongues is to edify

a believer. The purpose of tongues is

that you would be edified in your work

walk with God. What's happened in many

cases is instead of it being ed

edifying, people have tried to um say

that it's actually a spiritual status or

it's exalting me. And so rather than

edifying, they believe it's exaltation.

And we need to remember the purpose of

tongues is spiritual strengthening, not

spiritual status.

So it doesn't actually elevate you any

higher than someone who doesn't speak in

tongues, but it is a gift that you can

use to edify yourself.

And so I take you back to that question

as uh my

crazy charismatic friends leaned in and

were keen to hear what my answer was to

should you consider dating seriously and

marrying someone who doesn't speak in

tongues.

And I remember saying to her, "That's a

really weird question.

I said, "If you have to ask that

question in terms of a person that

you're considering marrying, like if

speaking in tongues would be the

difference between marrying them or not,

they're probably not the right person to

marry

because you know in Corinthians it says,

"I could speak in tongues, but if I

don't have love, I am a clanging symbol.

I can tell you I would far rather you

marry someone who loves Jesus and loves

you well rather than someone who

mistreats you but speaks in tonesues

because tongues is a gift. It's a gift

from God and it's a gift we should

treasure but it tells us about the

giftgiver. It doesn't necessarily tell

us about us as a receiver. And isn't it

crazy that we receive a beautiful gift

from God and we think it tells everyone

about how good we are? Like we think it

like results me. Like wow, I got this

gift, man. I'm so spiritual.

Actually, one of the things Gordon Fe

says is the gift of tongues is a sign of

weakness.

God's like, I can't even trust them to

speak of words they can understand. Like

I just need to remove his understanding.

Good grief. Give Aaron the gift of

tongues. I'm sick of hearing HIS

OPINION. LIKE, I'LL enable him to speak

in things. I DON'T EVEN WANT HIM TO

UNDERSTAND what he's saying.

And so we can have environments where

people have done that. But then the

interesting thing is what then happens

is uh people begin to say things like

you know you ever met someone and like I

did in the park and one of their first

questions is do you speak in tonesues?

Can I say with all love if you come here

and you meet someone don't make your

first conversation to ask them if they

speak in tonesues. Like it's a great

gift, but that's also stinking weird.

Like ask them their name before you know

want to know whether they speak in

tongues. Maybe get to know them because

the danger is it's like if I think if I

know this about you then I understand

how spiritual you are and it's not true.

>> But the reality is this. Many people

have encountered people like that and

thought, "Well, I want nothing to do

with this thing of tongues." Like,

number one, it's pretty weird. Number

two, I don't even know how they making

it up. Like a new LA Times babblers.

Like, man, I don't even know about that.

And number three, they think they're

better than me.

So, why would I then want that gift?

Because I'm seeing the fruit of

arrogance, not the fruit of love. And so

I want nothing to do with that gift.

But one of the things we have to realize

as we journey and this is far bigger

than just a gift of tongues. So often

reaction to error actually leads to

error. If we react to error, it often

leads to another error. You see what

does Paul say at the start of 1

Corinthians 14? He says, "Earnestly

desire spiritual gifts."

So if someone was rude to you about the

gift of tongues, that's not right. And

in some cases, people were in

environments where they were made to

feel really small, and that's not good.

And sometimes we actually need healing

from those things. But that experience

does not give us the right to

reinterpret scripture. It does not

actually give us the right to say, well,

even though it says earnestly desire

gifts, I'm not doing it for that one.

Like, oh, actually, yeah, I've seen what

those people are like, and yeah, it

might say earnestly desire gifts, but I

want nothing to do with that. You see,

if every time a gift is misused, we pull

back and no longer desire it, then we

will actually limit the Holy Spirit. And

to be honest with all of us being broken

people, it will not be too long till we

have a bad experience with every

spiritual gift. And before we know it,

we have a church that is just relying on

our own strength because we feel like

it's not safe to step into the gifts of

the spirit. But Paul tells us, hey, I

wish all of you would speak in tonesues.

I know many awesome Christians that have

prayed for the gift of tongues and are

yet to receive it. And can I say you can

live a fruitful amazing Christian life

without the gift of tongues. You do not

need it to live the Christian life.

>> Can I also say though it is a good gift

from God.

And so we need to hold those two

tensions together where hey I may not

need it 100% I can live a Christian life

and you know you can I've got a friend

that actually ministers in healing and

sees way more healings than I see and he

doesn't speak in tongues and I'm like

sometimes I feel like I'm like well how

about we swap gifts like I'd love to see

some of the healings that you're saying

could we swap God just give me that

healing gift for a for a month and uh

and he can have the tongues gift for a

month.

You know, you can live an incredibly

fruitful life without the gift of

tongues.

But every gift that the father gives is

good.

And so anytime the posture of my heart

is well I don't really need that or I

don't really want that or that surplus

to requirements for me when it is a gift

of the spirit then we are entering a

dangerous place and that's what I said

about the why. You see the why isn't

really about the gift of tongues. The

why is are we people that pursue

everything the Holy Spirit has for us?

So,

what is our response?

I would love to encourage you this

morning if you um don't speak in

tonesues

that you continue to seek that gift. I'm

not saying you have to get up every

morning and pray for 15 minutes to speak

in tonesues, but it might be just, hey

God, if that's a gift you've got for me,

I'd love you to give that to me. And

then you might not think about it for a

few weeks and then God that's a gift I'd

love for you to give to me. And I do

believe sometimes we do need to step out

into it that sometimes it comes in

different ways to different people. And

then I also know what's happened in some

environments is they've been like, "Hey,

if you don't speak in tongues, come up

the front and we'll pray for you." And I

believe in that. Like 100% believe you

can receive the gift of tongues in that

way. But I also know sometimes they've

then been like, "Just speak it. Just

speak it." And you feel like someone is

staring at you, demanding a response.

And it is now your job to prop them up

and make them feel spiritual by giving

them the right uh language. And uh you

know, you either feel very silly or you

try and say something and it often

doesn't actually work as the best

environment to receive a gift. I do

believe in that, but I just believe if

we were to do that now, I realize

straight away we've kind of rein, hey,

let's Who are all the people who don't

speak in tongues? Right? Come out. Um,

you know, we might then also have to go,

who are all the people who speak in

tongues and don't love people? Well,

come out. And, uh, you know, we would

kind of end up with a very full altar.

Me and Paul would have to pray for a

whole lot of people. and I'm not so sure

about Paul, you know,

and so this morning, that's not

particularly what we're going to do. But

what I do want to say is maybe you have

been hurt and and this gift has been um

yeah, made you to feel insignificant.

And maybe even you're like, "Hey, I

don't even know if that thing's real."

Like, I've heard you guys and I think

you're just babbling.

Can I say uh in humility this morning, I

think maybe just be open to the Lord.

Like man, I don't have to like we don't

have to 100% agree in this moment, but

what I would suggest is maybe be open to

the Lord.

What about some of us who do speak in

tongues?

And rather than it be a gift to that we

continually use to edify ourselves,

we've actually found that it's a gift

that um has kind of attached itself to

our identity. You see, when a spiritual

gift gets attached to your identity or

worth or your level of spirituality, it

will not be a healthy gift for you. When

a when a when a gift now becomes about

this proves the anointing on my life,

this proves how spiritual I am, then

that thing that's supposed to be such a

blessing will actually rob us of what

it's meant for.

>> And I wonder if some of us uh have the

gift of tongues but have just got out of

the habit of using it. And man, maybe my

encouragement this morning would be this

is a beautiful gift. It does edify. It

shifts something in your life. It's not

the only way God shifts things in your

life. And I believe if he's if you're

seeking the gift of tongues and he's

chosen not to give it to you yet, he

will still shift things in your life

with the gifts that in the ways that he

needs to. But I do believe that all of

us, whether we speak in tongues or not,

should be hungry for more of the spirit.

And if you do have a prayer language,

that one of the ways you engage with the

spirit of God is through using that

prayer language. And maybe for some of

us,

we just need that reset that tongues was

actually there to help us cuz we're

weak, not cuz we're strong.

And that maybe we actually need to

allow that gift

its proper place in our life.

And so I guess whether you speak in

tonesues or don't speak in tonesues, my

encouragement to us this morning is that

we have humility to ask the Lord for

more.

But I do want to say it is an awesome

gift. If you don't speak in tongues,

man, you're not less than. But I would

encourage you, why not desire it? If you

don't prophesy, you're not less than,

but why not desire it? If you don't

think you've got a gift of healing,

you're not less than. But why not desire

it?

>> You know, one of my fears is that

to get to the end of the life and go,

"Oh, I didn't feel like I had that much

anointing." And the the Lord sort of

say, "Well, you had what you desired."

And I, you know, spiritual gifts do

operate in the realm of desire.

>> And so, um, in just a moment, Calvin's

going to close out the service. But

before he does that, I just want to pray

a simple prayer over us that the Lord

would keep us humble, but he would also

continue to have us as a people that are

hungry for all the expressions of the

Holy Spirit

and we will have a prayer team on at the

end. And if you're here this morning and

you don't um you're not in relationship

with Jesus and maybe you're like, "Wow,

this is kind of interesting a prayer

language, but you're sensing that you

need to get your right life with get

your life right with Jesus." Then

there's a team that would love to pray

with you this morning. If you've got any

needs in your life as well, team would

love to pray with you. Um so that

opportunity is open.

But Lord, I thank you that you give good

gifts to your children.

Lord, I do pray for each person who has

had a bad encounter with the gift of

tongues, who's maybe been made to feel

inferior or um Lord, has been um maybe

made to feel like they're not spiritual.

Lord, I pray that you would heal those

hurts.

And Lord, I pray for all of us that we

would remain humble and hungry, Lord.

Lord, would we be humble and hungry for

everything that you have for us,

Lord, I bless each person here in the

name of Jesus

to grow in the things of the spirit,

not for our sake, Lord, but so that you

would be glorified, that we would be

people of love, Lord, that your kingdom

would come. I bless each person here in

Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen.