Sermon
Spirit & Fire Pt. 2 | Chris Gross | Radiant Life Church
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Come on. It is a great day to be in the
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house of the Lord. We're going to spend
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some time at the end at the altars just
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asking Holy Spirit to move and to to
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show himself in a special way. And that
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leads us to today which we're going to
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be in John chapter 16 uh verses 7-1 15.
John 16 chapter mention
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And as I've been thinking about and
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walking through this uh sermon series,
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Spirit and Fire, been thinking about the
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helper, the word that is used here in
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chapter 15 and 16 of John, the helper.
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And I was thinking about a few weeks ago
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I shared and I talked about fixing my
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lawn mower. How many you were here you
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remember the lawn mower story and gas
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and yeah thankfully it's still working.
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Uh nothing no more gas leaks. Nothing is
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exploded. So I think that's a good win.
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Uh but this last week we had a situation
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here where if you can believe it our
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church lawn mower broke down. It's it's
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uh it's an awesome mower but it's
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getting older so it breaks down. You
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know that those things happen. But I
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used wisdom this time. You know what the
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wisdom was is? I called my dad. I was
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like, "Hey, dad, this belt is not
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working." By the time we got around to
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it, like the spindle had fallen off and
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all this stuff. So, um, I fixed this
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lawn mower all by myself with the help
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of my dad. Well, I mean, really what
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happened was he fixed the lawn mower and
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I cheered him on. I did run to the store
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and I went and got the part, but I
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actually went in and got the part and it
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was just the spindle circle piece and I
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was like, "Hey, I called dad after I
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bought it. They said you can get the
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whole unit like it's all attached. He's
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like, "Get that one." Yeah. So, I went
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back in, took it back, got a new one,
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got the part, and my dad and I really I
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did, but we I put it on. I I hand him
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the rich wrench. At least he did the
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rest. But, you know, I got it fixed all
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by myself. It was great right out there,
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and I was so proud of myself. And it
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took like 10 minutes. Like, literally,
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by the time I got back, Dad, I mean, I
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had everything ready to go. And it just
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went on and off and so so quick and so
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smooth.
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And you know when I was thinking about
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it, putting all jokes aside, I was
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thinking about the helper in our life. I
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was thinking about the power of the Holy
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Spirit and what the Holy Spirit does and
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how the Holy Spirit moves in our life.
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And so often in my life, I want to do it
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like just by trying. I'm like, if I just
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watch enough YouTube videos, I can
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accomplish it. If I just have enough
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gumption and just make it happen and try
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hard, I can make it happen. That's what
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I did a few weeks ago when I tried to
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fix my own mower and it did not go well
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and I thought I might start the whole
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house at least the mower on fire which
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thankfully didn't happen. So the Lord
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was gracious. But then when I had dad
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help me, you know what? It was so fast
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and so easy and he had the right tools
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and like pulls this and does this and
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cranks this thing and says, "Hey, can
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you hold this?" And I'm like, "Yes." I
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didn't even get any grease on me. It was
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great. I was ready for church on
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Wednesday night. It was like everything
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was awesome. Everything was moving. And
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something happens when we realize the
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spirit wants to help us. And when the
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spirit helps us, our life is entirely
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different. It works entirely different.
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Everything happens entirely different.
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And I was joking around about saying, "I
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accomplished the mower being fixed here.
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I didn't do anything on that mower." And
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you know what? I think sometimes the
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Holy Spirit wants to help us understand
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that we don't have it. We might not have
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the skills or have the ability or have
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the the uh whatever we need to make it
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happen. But the spirit of God, the
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helper within us, he's got all we need.
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And on the other side of when the spirit
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guides and the spirit helps us, oo,
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anything is possible. You can accomplish
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anything with the power of the Holy
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Spirit. You can accomplish anything when
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the helper is there. And it might be
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just like me with my dad and that mower.
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And all I did is he said, "Hey, can you
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hand me the wrench?" I'm like,
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50/50 chance. This one. I think it's
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this one, right? Or, hey, give me the
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pliers. Okay, I know what those are.
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Something happens when we realize the
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Holy Spirit's the one that knows. He's
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the one that has it. He's the one that
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gives the wisdom. He's the one that
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gives the guidance. And all the pressure
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goes off. And dad and I fix that mower
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in record time because mostly I stayed
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out of the way and dad fixed the mower.
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And the spirit wants to do the same in
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our life. And this morning we're going
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to look at John chapter 16 7-15 and just
John 16 chapter mention
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see how this plays out and what this can
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look like in our life when the spirit
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when the helper moves within us. Now,
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right before this, just to be sure we're
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all on the same page, John 15, John 16,
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John 14, if we go back another chapter,
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Jesus is telling his disciples, "Hey,
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I'm about to be out of here. I'm going
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to be gone, but you're going to remain."
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And the disciples are not liking it.
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They're not a big fan. And then because
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Jesus is just an encourager, he begins
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to tell them that they're going to be
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persecuted and the religious leaders are
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going to hate them and people are going
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to come against them and all of these
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things that the the world is going to
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miss who Jesus is and what Jesus wants
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to do and they are going to have to
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stand strong, right? Anybody? I was
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kidding. Like that's like no Lord, you
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can't. No, don't do it. Don't leave.
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Please God, don't leave. But then he
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gets to verse seven here of John 16. And
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he says, "Nevertheless, I tell you the
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truth. It is to your advantage that I go
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away. For if I do not go away, the
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helper will not come to you. But if I
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go, I will send him to you. And when he
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comes, he will convict the world."
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Concerning sin and righteousness and
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judgment. Concerning sin, because they
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do not believe in me. Concerning
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righteousness, because I go to the
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Father, and you will see me no longer.
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Concerning judgment, because the ruler
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of this world is judged. I still have
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many things to say to you, but you
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cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of
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truth comes, he will guide you into all
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truth. For he will not speak on his own
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authority, but whatever he hears, he
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will speak, and he will declare to you
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the things that are to come. He will
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glorify me, for he will take what is
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mine and declare it to you. All that the
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Father has is mine. Therefore, I said
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that he will take what is mine and
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declare it to you.
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there. I I hope you just feel the the
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richness, the depth like this. This is
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so vital to our walk with the Lord that
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the helper comes and the helper gives us
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what we need. And we're going to look at
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three things this morning that are so
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just they're glaring from this text that
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we can grow in. And I believe the spirit
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that he wants to speak to you and to me
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through. The first is that the Holy
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Spirit awakens need. He says, "I tell
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you the truth. It is to your advantage
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that I go away. For if I do not go away,
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the helper will not come to you." The He
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is saying, "It is a good thing. The
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helper is going to come. The helper is
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going to bring life." And I I just want
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to be sure we're thinking about this.
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They have been walking with Jesus. They
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have been walking with the savior of the
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universe, the one that's about to die,
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that's going to go to the cross and then
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rise again. They've been walking with
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Jesus. And Jesus tells you, "It's better
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if I leave. It's better if I go away
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because the one that is coming."
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We're like, "What? Jesus, how is it
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possible?"
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But the truth of the word comes because
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if I go, I will send him to you. And
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when he comes, he will convict the world
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of concerning sin and righteousness
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and judgment.
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The spirit of God is needed in our life
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just like he was needed in the disciples
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life. And Jesus would even say even the
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fact that I leave that I step out that I
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move and let you then step in and the
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Holy Spirit guide you and direct you.
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Why? Because the spirit awakens the
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need. The spirit convicts the world
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concerning sin, righteousness and
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judgment. The Holy Spirit convict uh
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does something in us and conviction then
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awakens awareness. If you didn't know,
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that's the point of conviction. Not so
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you are condemned and so you're beat
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down. That's the opposite of the word of
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God. But conviction says, "Oh, I need to
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take a step in the right direction."
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Now, how many of you have ever done
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something in your life and you were
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convicted? You knew that was not the
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right thing. Anybody raise your hand
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real high if that's been you? Yes. I I
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think everyone in the room, we've had
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those moments. Maybe as a parent where
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you're like you say something to your
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kid or you are louder, you're whatever.
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You're like, "Ah, I don't know if that
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was my best parental moment." or as a
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spouse or as an employee or employer
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like there's just moments where like
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conviction has awakened awareness but
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it's not only there to just awaken
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awareness but that awareness is then
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created to awaken hunger there's
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something about being conict uh being
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con convicted there's something about
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this awareness that arises within the
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people of God that all of a sudden we
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say Lord Jesus you move I now have a
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hunger for you I have a desire for you I
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have something I need and I realize a
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need that I can't do on my own. We jump
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back in the Old Testament of the Bible.
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Ezekiel 36:26 says, "And I will give you
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a new heart and a new spirit I will put
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within you and I will remove the heart
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of stone from your flesh and give you a
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heart of flesh and I will put my spirit
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within you and cause you to walk in my
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statutes and be careful to obey my
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rules." There's a an awakening, an
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awareness that happens. There's a hunger
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that happens and the spirit then guides
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and helps us accomplish the things of
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God.
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It helps to show us, ooh, my life isn't
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what it should be.
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It helps us to realize and the world
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around us to realize that when we look
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and maybe news or what society would say
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whether it's in the United States of
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America or anywhere else in the world
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that we say oh so often as Jesus had
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just been sharing
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what the world says and what the world
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says they need and who you are and what
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you say is right and what is needed are
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not the same thing.
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The spirit awakens need in our life and
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shows us we need to take a step with
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him. In Acts 2:38, just after Jesus has
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gone to the cross on the day of
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Pentecost, the spirit has been poured
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out. Right after on that day, Peter gets
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up and says, "Repent and be baptized,
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every one of you, in the name of Jesus
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Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
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and you will receive the gift of the
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Holy Spirit." There's an awareness that
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happens. The spirit comes and all of a
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sudden we want to repent. We want to be
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baptized and then we want the spirit to
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move in our life because the spirit
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awakens hunger. So hunger can be met
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with filling. We say, "Lord, I don't
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only want to be convicted. I want to
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have awareness. Lord, I don't only want
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to have awareness. I want to have
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hunger. And Lord, I don't only want to
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have hunger, but I want to be filled."
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This morning I was thinking and I don't
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know why this uh just has escaped me for
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my whole entire life. But chicken
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tenders that have or chicken thighs I
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mean that you grill on a grill that have
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bones in them. If
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Pastor Brian I don't know. I've never I
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don't think I've ever had such a good
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piece of meat. We'll have you over
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sometime. We need to have everybody
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over. Like you eat them and you say I
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need more of these things. They fill
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you. And guess what? The spirit of God,
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he wants to fill us. Not only say, "Hey,
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there's a problem. Hey, here's some
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awareness. Hey, you should do something
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about it. You're hungry. But no, he
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wants you, just like you eat your
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favorite meal, he wants you to
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experience him and to be filled with him
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to the point where you just sit there
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and you're like, "That was awesome." I'm
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sure I'm not the only one that does that
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with food. I definitely do. Just give me
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a little coma moment. It's going to be
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great. Like, praise the Lord. Well, way
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better than that food is the spirit of
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God that fills us and and does something
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because there's a a need that is
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awakened that leads us to hunger and
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leads us to filling. The Holy Spirit
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awakens the need. Second, the Holy
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Spirit guides us into truth. Verse 12
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and 13, I still have many things to say
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to you, but you cannot bear them now.
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Now, we have to stop right there. I just
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want us to remember, put ourselves back
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in that moment.
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Jesus is walking with the disciples.
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Jesus has been with them for three and a
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half years. We're not talking about some
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idea of Jesus. We're not talking about
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even what we have, which is great, the
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word of God. No, he he has been walking
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with them. They are literally together.
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They're seated. They're they're in this
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place. He's teaching them. And he says
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to them, "I still have many things to
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say to you, but you cannot bear them
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now." He's saying, "You're not ready.
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you can't do it. You're not ready even
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though I'm here. And he says that when
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the spirit of truth comes, he will guide
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you into truth. For he will not speak on
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his own authority. He's saying even what
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I could not share with you. But we
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didn't have time and you weren't
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prepared for and you weren't ready to
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receive. Spirit will do that. The spirit
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will work. The spirit will show up. And
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just like the disciples needed the
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spirit, church, we even more need the
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spirit. We need the spirit of God. We
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need his guidance. We need to know the
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truth in our life. Said what for? He
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will not speak on his own authority.
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Whatever he hears, he will speak who
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from the Lord from Jesus. The things of
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God are going to be spoken to us through
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his spirit. And he will declare to you
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the things that are to come. The spirit
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of God is vital for the Christian, is
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vital for the world that we open our
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hearts and say, "Holy Spirit, you are
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the one that guides. You are the one
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that directs." And I want you to know
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just like that lawn mower with my dad if
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I mean it's like it's perfect. He is
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there. My dad was there. My dad says,
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"Hey, go get this part." And I pray that
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we're open when the Lord says move. That
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we get up and move. When the Lord says
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go, we get up and go. When the Lord
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says, "Hey, stop doing that." We stop
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doing that. When the Lord says, "Hey,
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not the spindle, but get the whole unit
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that goes with it." Then we say, "Yes,
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sir." And we do what the spirit of God
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would say because he guides us into the
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truth. And the lawn mower doesn't
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matter. But your heart, your life, your
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situation, your family, the world around
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you, the people that you interact with
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matters in everything. But you know
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what? He'll he'll lead in our parenting.
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And he'll lead us with practical things
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of our life that have nothing to do with
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people because he's with us in all
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things. He wants to guide his church
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into truth.
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Truth in the Christian life. It's not
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discovered by effort. It is revealed by
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the spirit. It's not something that we
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just make happen, but it's revealed by
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the spirit. And so often we say, "If I
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just try one more time, that addiction,
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I can overcome it. If I just try one
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more time, I don't need help. I'm just
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going to work harder." We say, "If only
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I can make this step. If only I can say
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yes. If only I can maybe maybe the Lord
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will help me and I I don't know, but I'm
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going to try on my own." church, we're
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not strong enough.
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I can speak for myself and I'm going to
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speak for you, too. You're not strong
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enough to break the addiction that you
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failed the last hundred times.
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I'm a encourager this morning. But we're
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not called to be strong enough. We're
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not called to know the hows and the wise
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and the whats. What we're called to do
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is come to the spirit of God and let the
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spirit guide us into truth. Let the
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spirit guide us into wholeness. Let the
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spirit guide us into what we should do.
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In fact, in Exodus 13:21, all the way
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back at the beginning of the Bible, the
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children of Israel, they're wondering.
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It says, "And the Lord went before them
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by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them
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along the way, and by night in a pillar
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of fire to give them light that they
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might travel by day and by night." What
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am I trying to say here? God never
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expected his people to find the way
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alone. He doesn't expect you to find the
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way by yourself. He doesn't expect you
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to just try harder, to give a little bit
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more effort. But what he does ask is
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that we come before him and we say,
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"Holy Spirit, I need to be filled by you
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so you would give me the power. You
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would give me the strength. You would
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give me the wisdom." And you know what
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the Holy Spirit does? He guides us into
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knowing what we need to do to accomplish
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it. Which might mean, you know what, our
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marriage, we need to go get counseling.
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It might mean, hey, I need to be a part
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of a group that's pushing me forward in
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my spiritual walk. It might mean that I
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have to get something or ways or, you
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know, real practical, we might need to
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get our phone and just smash them with a
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hammer. If our phone is causing us to
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sin, we don't need that. Get a dumb
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phone, not a smartphone, right? I don't
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know what the Lord is going to speak to
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us, what the spirit's going to speak,
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but he's going to guide us into the
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truth of the word, the truth of who
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Jesus is, the truth of the father, and
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in the process, he'll give us what we
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need to not stay where we are, but to go
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where he would call us to go into
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righteousness and to purity and to
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faithfulness.
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And not because you just try harder, but
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because you submit. And I submit to the
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power of God in our life.
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And then I want you to know you can
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truly accomplish anything with the power
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of God. You can accomplish anything.
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Anything that has bound you can be cut
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off and be no more in your life.
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Anything that you thought was just who
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you were and you couldn't do anything
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about it. No. With the power of the Holy
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Spirit, you can overcome by the word of
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the lamb, by the the blood of the of the
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lamb and the word of your testimony. You
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can experience new life. But not because
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you just say, "I'm just going to do it.
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I'm just going to make it happen because
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I'm too weak and you're too weak. But
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when the spirit of God leads us into
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truth, anything
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is possible for those who believe. And
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the spirit of God is here for us.
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I think there's something about clarity.
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And when I think of truth and I think of
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where we're going and individually but
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also as the church that clarity in your
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life follows spirit empowerment. If you
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feel like I just I'm not sure life is
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difficult. I'm I'm confused or I don't
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know what's the way to go. Or maybe
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you're just doubting even in your walk
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with the Lord and you say I I I'm not
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sure what to do and where to go. I'm not
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sure how to get there. I want you to
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hear today that the God of the universe,
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he went Jesus to heaven and he sent the
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helper to give you clarity, to give you
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truth, to empower you.
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And why would we think that we can do it
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without his power and his strength? If
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literally the disciples walked with
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Jesus and Jesus says, "It's even better
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that I go so the helper can come."
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That's what he leaves for his church.
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The Holy Spirit awakens the need. The
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Holy Spirit guides into truth. And
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third, today the Holy Spirit declares
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Jesus. Verse 14 and 15 say, "He will
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glorify me for he will take what is mine
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and declare it to you. All that the
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father has is mine." Therefore, I said
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that he will take what is mine and
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declare it to you. He declares Jesus
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through you, to you, to the world
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through you. He declares Jesus in a way
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that we cannot understand simply by
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knowledge or reading. And I want to make
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this like super clear. I am so confused
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in life because in times when I think
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about the word of God, there are people
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that go to college for theology. They go
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to college to study the Bible, but they
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are not in a place of relationship with
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Jesus. They're just studying about the
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Bible. And I want you to know today, you
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can know all the information and all the
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facts and all the understanding in the
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world, but if the spirit isn't leading
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us into truth and what that means and
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why it matters, then I can know
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everything and be entirely lost.
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Several years ago, Rachel and I got to
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go to Israel and we had the greatest
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guide that he walked us through the Holy
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Land like almost story by story, space
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by space, situation by situation. He
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very rarely got his Bible out because he
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had it memorized and he could speak the
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truth of the Bible with such clarity and
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it was absolutely amazing. But we found
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out that Ofer his name that Ofer does
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not follow Jesus that Ofer doesn't have
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a relationship with Jesus. In fact,
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being in the Holy Land, he's not a
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Christian nor is he a practicing Jew
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either. He is just a doesn't believe
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anything. It's just knowledge. It's just
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information. And the guy who brought the
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Bible land to life
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completely missed the whole entire
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point.
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And church, it is possible that we can
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be people that even study or know the
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word, but we never let him transform who
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we are. And church, the spirit is here
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to give us and to guide us into truth,
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to declare Jesus to us. That we're not
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here on a Sunday just to sing some songs
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and to celebrate even cool things that
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happen. We're not we don't come to an
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altar just for a special moment, but we
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come because we want the power of God to
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change us, to mold us, to make us. And
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when we're confused or we just seem like
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things are foggy, we come to him and we
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ask, "Holy Spirit, would you give us
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guidance and direction because I need
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clarity and I I might know all the
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things in the world, but I need clarity
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from you." And that's what he does. He
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brings clarity.
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When we think of Holy Spirit baptism and
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what we're experiencing the word of God,
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it's not about a spectacle. Now, when we
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think of Acts chapter 2, it's pretty
Acts 2 chapter mention
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spectacular. They had tongues of fire
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that showed up on their head and people
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are like, "That's crazy." Like fire on
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people's heads. They began to speak in
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other languages literally where people
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around them could hear their language
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that no one knew where they were. and
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they could speak and the wisdom and the
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words of God were being spoken like it
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was spectacular. But I want you to know
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that the spirit of God is not for a
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special moment and a special moment at a
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even a great moment at a stage which I
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love. I mean at an altar in a church
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service.
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It's not about a spectacle, but it's
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about receiving clarity of Jesus.
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Because when we receive clarity of who
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Jesus is, who's revealing God to us, all
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of a sudden we love different. We act
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different. We talk different. Everything
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we do looks entirely different because
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we see Jesus. We experience Jesus. We
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know Jesus. And not only in principle or
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in concept, but we begin to realize in
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deep within our soul, Lord, who he is
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and what he is. And all of a sudden, we
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say, "My life is not my own. I give
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everything to you. I lay it down at your
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feet because you are everything in my
-
life." And not because we read one more
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scripture, although we want to for sure.
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Not because we went to one more group,
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but because the power of the Holy Spirit
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made those things make sense and bring
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clarity to our life. And even when life
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is hard and we don't understand and why
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do we get sick or why do I have cancer
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or why is a relational problem not going
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how I want, we walk and we can even walk
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saying, Lord, I trust you. And even in
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the middle of difficulty, I have clarity
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of who you are. I know who you are. I
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keep my eyes on you even while life
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might be the most difficult.
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I can trust my God, my Savior, and my
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Lord. Isaiah 11:2 says, "And the spirit
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of the Lord shall be upon me, him, the
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spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
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spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
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of knowledge and the fear of the Lord."
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When I think about these words that are
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spoken of Jesus and then to the church,
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the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
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him.
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church, we need this. And why? For
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wisdom,
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for understanding, for counsel, for
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might, for knowledge. Right? Anybody
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need those things? Like, Lord, I need
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that. I need those things in my life.
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But you know, there's one more, that
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last one. It said, "For the fear of the
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Lord, the fear of the Lord." And I think
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we as a church need to get back to a
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place where we understand, Lord, I love
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you and Lord, your grace is enough, but
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Lord, I also am called to fear the Lord.
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the more knowledge and understanding and
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wisdom I have, the more I fear the Lord.
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And not like I'm scared he's going to
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get a sledgehammer and bonk me with it.
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But I mentioned my dad a little bit ago.
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And you know what? When I was growing
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up, uh my dad, okay, he's still he can
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be very intimidating, I think, would be
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a word that I could use if you know him
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well. In fact, I grew up and I had just
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a little bit of a fear of my dad. Not
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like he was going to come and beat me.
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Not that kind of fear, but I didn't want
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to disappoint my dad.
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And as I grew in life, I realized the
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main reason I didn't want to disappoint
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my dad is because if I disappointed my
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dad, I was hurting myself in the long
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run because he had good plans and good
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dreams and good things and good rules
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and the things were all about leading me
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in the things of God and the things of
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righteousness. And I hated it when I
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disappointed my dad.
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I had a little bit of a fear of my dad.
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And I think people that are close to my
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dad, they might also have just a little
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bit of fear like of my dad just a little
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bit in a healthy way and way more
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is God.
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I want to do what God has called me to
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do. I want us as a church to be who God
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has called us to be. We need to have a
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healthy fear of our Lord. Lord, that we
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give you everything. We honor you. We
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give you glory and holy spirit. Help us
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walk in truth. Help us walk declaring
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you and wisdom and understanding and
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counsel and might and knowledge. And
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Lord, help us be in a place where we
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have a healthy fear of our God to say, I
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want to give you everything, honor you
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with everything, give you every part of
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my life. And Lord, I don't want to
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disappoint and I don't want to sin
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against you. And why sin hurts us, it
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hurts others. Like he wants the best for
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us. And when we understand that when we
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fear a healthy fear of the Lord, our
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life is going to go better. Things are
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going to go right. We're going to be a
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to take forward movement in him. Church,
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that's what we desire.
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It's Lord, I want you to be declared in
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my life. Holy Spirit, I want you to be
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declared in my life. I want to walk in
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your power, your wisdom, and your might.
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Peter in Acts 2:36 says, "Let all the
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house of Israel therefore know for
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certain that God has made him both Lord
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and Christ, this Jesus whom you
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crucified." This is Peter who denied
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Jesus to a servant girl. This is Peter
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who went the wrong way, did the wrong
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things when Jesus needed him the most,
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and now stands up not long after. Jesus
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rose again, but he was crucified
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probably within a mile of this location,
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maybe two at the most. Right there,
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Jesus was crucified. And now he stands
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up. Let all the house of Israel
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therefore know for certain that God made
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him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus
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whom you crucified, he stood up with the
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power and the wisdom and the truth of
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God, declaring Jesus because he was
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filled just minutes before with the
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power of the spirit.
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When the spirit fills a person, Jesus
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doesn't need to be defended. He is
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declared through your life and actions.
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And Peter got up and he gave the truth
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of who God was in a powerful and in a
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real way. And that's what we can all
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experience
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here in John 16. Everything Jesus
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promised to them, right? It was a mess
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for John 17 and 18 and 19, but they got
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to Acts chapter 2 and everything
Acts 2 chapter mention
-
changed. And what Jesus proclaimed began
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to happen and be demonstrated
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because conviction awakens hunger.
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Guidance brought clarity,
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revelation of who he is. And the spirit
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made them so powerful. And Jesus
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unmistakable in their life.
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I want you to hear one more time. Jesus,
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he doesn't just ask you to figure it
-
out. He's not telling you today just try
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harder. He's not telling you today if
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you just if you just cared. No, he told
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the disciples and I think he tells us to
-
wait until they receive the Holy Spirit.
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Church, where we've failed and where
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we've messed up and where we've not been
-
good enough, we need the spirit of God
-
in our life. Church, where your
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parenting seems like it lacks, you need
-
the spirit of God in your life. where
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your relationships aren't what you think
-
they should be, you need the spirit of
-
God in your life. Where work or employee
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or employees or your finances aren't
-
what they should be, you need the spirit
-
of God in your life. Maybe you're
-
witness to the world around you. You
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need the spirit of God in your life and
-
watch him give you what you need to
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accomplish his will. But we want to do
-
it without him. And it doesn't work that
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way.
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Peter loved Jesus. Peter had gone allin
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with Jesus. Peter had believed and
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trusted him with everything and he
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failed and he denied Jesus
-
because he needed the power of the Holy
-
Spirit.
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That's what we need today.
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Pastor Rachel and worship team, if you
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can come on back up. We're going to
-
spend some time here as we close. We
-
left some time just to spend in his
-
presence to ask him to move to ask him
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to fill us with his spirit to see what
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Jesus just might do in this place in our
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lives as we continue to ask him. Lord,
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awaken something in me. Show me what I
-
need. Guide me into truth. Lord, I want
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my life to declare Jesus in everything
-
that I do. And maybe you're here today
-
and you say, "I am in a place where I
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just need Jesus." You need to take that
-
first step. step into relationship with
-
him. Repent. It says number one, then be
-
baptized. You need to repent.
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If you're here and you say, "I've never
-
made Jesus the Lord in my life." That's
-
where we're going to start this morning
-
is just by saying, "Lord, what do you
-
want to do? How do you want to move?"
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And the Bible tells us all we have to do
-
is repent. All we've got to do is
-
believe. Confess with our mouth and
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believe that he is Lord and Savior. He
-
welcomes us. And if you're here and you
-
say, "I've never made Jesus the Lord in
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my life." No better time than right now.
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That's why we are here as a church
-
family is to say yes to Jesus, to give
-
him glory, to give him honor just by
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giving him our life. And if you're here
-
and you say, you know what, I've never
-
made Jesus the Lord of my life. Or maybe
-
I did, but I'm not walking consistently
-
with him and I want to rededicate my
-
life to him. If you'd say, that's me. In
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a moment, I'm just going to ask you to
-
raise your hand and I'm going to scan
-
across the room and just that I would
-
see your hand. Then we're going to pray
-
together. one person I see one hand
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we're going to pray in the room you're
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home all you have to do is ask him Lord
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forgive us but if that's you you feel
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him knocking
-
you feel him calling you today this is
-
the moment
-
we can't give our lives or save our
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lives by our good deeds by how great we
-
are we've sinned and we've fallen short
-
of him but he came he died as the
-
perfect sacrifice so that he gives us
-
life he makes us pure he makes us
-
righteous before him. If you say, "I
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need Jesus. I want to say yes to him
-
today." I'm going to ask you to raise
-
your hand. Start on my left side, your
-
right side, over here. Is there anybody
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you'd say, "That's me. I need to say yes
-
to Jesus." Anybody here? I don't want to
-
miss you. I'm scanning across the room.
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Anybody on the right section, your left
-
section, you say, "That's me." Anybody
-
over here, you say, "That's me."
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Most important decision that we can
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possibly make.
-
I love it. There's nothing like it. If
-
you're at home today, if you're in the
-
room, all you have to do is ask him,
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"Lord, forgive me. Make me new. Make me
-
whole." He welcomes you. He brings you
-
into his family and he opens up. Well,
-
we got to celebrate today.
-
I had four people between the two
-
services who said, "I want the world to
-
know I've given my life to Jesus."
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Can be baptized. And then we can be
-
baptized in the Holy Spirit. And today
-
we're going to take a couple of songs, a
-
little extra time as we close and just
-
ask him, Lord, Holy Spirit, would you
-
fill me? Would you make me new? Would
-
you let faith arise? Next Sunday, we're
-
going to be talking Acts chapter 2. Acts
Acts 2 chapter mention
-
chapter 2:4. Be filled with the Holy
-
Spirit. But we don't have to wait till
-
next week. Do we today can can let him
-
speak and let him move in our life.
-
He's so good.
-
He gave the promise. He offered that
-
promise to us. And now we can say yes to
-
him. And maybe you're not filled with
-
the spirit with the evidence of speaking
-
in tongues like in Acts chapter 2. I
Acts 2 chapter mention
-
invite you just to ask him, Lord, I want
-
to be filled. Spirit, would you fill me?
-
Then all of a sudden, you just ask him.
-
Our prayer is you'll sense a moment
-
where you say, "Wow, I I need to begin
-
to speak in a language I don't know."
-
And you have to be the one to take the
-
step. It rises from your spirit, but
-
then you give voice to that those words.
-
And he fills you. We don't speak English
-
then. We don't have to analyze. We just
-
speak what he would share. But it's all
-
about our hearts being in a place of
-
surrender of Holy Spirit, I need to hear
-
you. I need to know you. I need to
-
experience you. Holy Spirit, move in my
-
life. Awaken the need. Show me your
-
truth. And Lord, I want Jesus declared
-
in me and through me to my