Sermon

Come Holy Spirit Part 4 | Who Is Your Teacher? with Chris Schlotterbeck

HCV Hub City Vineyard Podcast

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  1. Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected

  2. or to give online, please go to hdv .church slash

  3. connect or hdv .church slash give. If at any

  4. point during this message you feel called to

  5. make a change in your life, text change me to

  6. 97000. Now enjoy the message. Good morning, everyone.

  7. So glad you're here. If you're joining us from

  8. home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.

  9. Well, this morning is an exciting morning because

  10. we're going to pray over a bunch of young people

  11. and adults that are going to the Dominican Republic

  12. this Friday. So we are having our first ever

  13. overseas missions team going to the Dominican

  14. Republic. If you're on that team, get up here.

  15. We're going to pray over you. And these young

  16. people and adults, of course, are going to the

  17. DR to make a difference. We're believing God's

  18. going to use them and move through them and work

  19. in them to just bring life change to that country

  20. as they travel. All the way through it. And just

  21. serve. Basically they're just going to go and

  22. serve. Serve kids. Serve youth. And make a difference

  23. in that place. Now our hopes is this is the first

  24. of many trips. This is the first that's focused

  25. on teens. Hopefully next year we'll be focusing

  26. on adults. And going overseas as well. So if

  27. that's something you're interested in. Or would

  28. like to be a part of. Stay tuned because it's

  29. coming. So if you could stand. We're going to

  30. pray over them. And join me in praying for this

  31. team. As they go. Wow. a small team. Oh, everybody

  32. took off this week. Yeah, because these are all

  33. adults except for Claire. So Claire is our one

  34. teen being represented and a bunch of adults

  35. that are leading the trip. So great. Excellent.

  36. That's right. They need the most prayer. So let's

  37. pray. Holy Spirit come. God, we are just thankful

  38. for this team that's leaving for the Dominican

  39. Republic this Friday, God. We just pray that

  40. you would empower them, God, that you would use

  41. them mightily. But as they prepare to go this

  42. week, God, I pray that you would calm their nerves.

  43. That, God, that you would give them confidence

  44. and peace in knowing that you're going with them.

  45. That, God, your spirit is moving in them, God,

  46. that they would come home just sharing about

  47. signs, wonders, and miracles that they saw, God.

  48. that as they practically serve, as they serve

  49. kids and teenagers, as they serve the community

  50. there in the Dominican Republic, that people

  51. would come to know you, that people would just,

  52. that families would be baptized, God, that churches

  53. would grow. And we're just thankful for this

  54. opportunity to go overseas and to make a difference

  55. for you. Holy Spirit, come. Rest on this team

  56. and go with them now. In Jesus' name. And together

  57. we say. Amen. So listen, be praying for them

  58. next week. Like I said, they leave Friday. Also

  59. be praying for me. I'm driving the church van

  60. to Dulles Friday morning. I'm supposed to leave

  61. at 2 a .m. So yes, 2 a .m. Thank you, Miss Jessica,

  62. for that early morning delivery of our team to

  63. Dulles so that they can fly. And like I said,

  64. stay tuned because adults, it's going to be your

  65. turn next year, hopefully, in the early fall.

  66. So when Jess and I had the first meeting with

  67. the DR missions team, she actually encouraged

  68. them and their parents to download and begin

  69. learning Spanish on Duolingo. So Duolingo, if

  70. you don't know, is an app that assists you with

  71. learning a new language. So for the last 205

  72. days, I have faithfully been practicing Spanish

  73. every single day. I have improved my learning

  74. score every month. My brain feels stimulated

  75. and fresh. I feel like I'm improving and growing

  76. as I learn all positive experiences with this

  77. app. However, I quickly learned this past week

  78. that I do not know Spanish, okay? Yes, I am learning

  79. and practicing the information about the language

  80. every single day. But when a person speaks in

  81. their native tongue or in the natural language,

  82. I was unable to understand what they were saying.

  83. Now, don't get me wrong. I did understand two

  84. or three words, but could not put a whole sentence

  85. together. The problem is not the information

  86. that I am learning. Information in our culture,

  87. it's a click away. It's literally at our fingertips.

  88. We currently have more access to information

  89. than any other generation before us. The problem

  90. that I am experiencing in my learning is not

  91. information, it's instruction. Because there's

  92. a big difference between information and instruction.

  93. Information, of course, is the facts and the

  94. content, while instruction... is how to apply

  95. those facts and the content to our lives. Instruction

  96. comes from instructors or teachers, and really

  97. good instructors don't want to just teach us

  98. theories or ideas. No, they want to assist us

  99. in applying those theories and ideas to our lives.

  100. They want to teach us the practical skills and

  101. knowledge of the subject that is being learned.

  102. So yes, I've been faithfully learning Spanish

  103. on my own for the last 205 days. But I would

  104. be much further along if I had a Spanish instructor.

  105. Which leads me to a question that I want us all

  106. to wrestle with today as we continue our series,

  107. Come Holy Spirit. Where do we go when we don't

  108. know? Where do we go when we don't know? See,

  109. the answer to this question is actually important

  110. because we're going to find ourselves up against

  111. challenges or questions throughout life. In fact,

  112. every single day. Maybe we would be confused

  113. with a question that is asked us. Maybe we need

  114. to make a decision. Maybe we're stuck in our

  115. faith. Where do you go when you don't know? Do

  116. you go to friends? Do you go to family for advice?

  117. Do you quickly fire off an email to Pastor Chris?

  118. He'll have the answers. What about Siri or Google?

  119. They always have an answer. Or maybe you're the

  120. one that uses the TikTok. It doesn't matter if

  121. it's questions about your marriage or what it

  122. means to be a parent or a new role or responsibility

  123. at work, relationship barriers, or growing in

  124. your relationship with Jesus. Where do you go?

  125. When you don't know. Maybe for some of you it's

  126. deeper issues. Maybe you're learning to deal

  127. and learning to let go of shame. Maybe you're

  128. learning what it means to forgive others and

  129. ourselves. Maybe you're holding on to some grief

  130. and sadness and want to move forward. Church,

  131. where do you go when you don't know? And it's

  132. my prayer that we answer that question this morning

  133. and that the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart.

  134. Let's open in prayer. Holy Spirit come. God,

  135. we just lay this question down at your feet.

  136. We lay this series down and we ask that you empower

  137. us today. Open our ears. Open our minds. Unlock

  138. our hearts and change us. God, I just pray that

  139. you would silence any distractions around us.

  140. that we would clearly hear from you. In Jesus'

  141. name, amen. And that all leads us to our first

  142. thought, you see. The Holy Spirit is our teacher.

  143. See, if you're in a relationship with Jesus,

  144. we must remember that we have an instructor,

  145. a comforter, a teacher that literally lives inside

  146. of us. Toward the end of his ministry here on

  147. earth, Jesus is preparing his disciples for life

  148. without him physically being present. He knew

  149. that he had to die. He knew he had to go to the

  150. cross. He knew that he would rise on the third

  151. day. And he says this in John 14, 26. But when

  152. the Father sends the advocate as my representative,

  153. that is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything

  154. and will remind you of everything. I have told

  155. you. See, Jesus is giving the disciples a vision

  156. of what life is going to look like partnering

  157. with the Holy Spirit. He's giving them a vision

  158. of what to expect. And notice, Jesus is very

  159. clearly saying that we can expect this helper,

  160. this comforter, this advocate to teach us all

  161. things. Not just Sunday morning things. Not just

  162. growth group things. Not just biblical things,

  163. but the teacher will teach us all things. Now

  164. that word teach that is spoken here means to

  165. impart or instill. We've all heard someone say,

  166. well my parents instilled confidence in me. Upon

  167. hearing that phrase or that statement, we immediately

  168. know that it implies that this person received

  169. constant rhythm of investment. in their child's

  170. self -worth from their parents. So what is Jesus

  171. saying to us? He is saying that the Holy Spirit

  172. will give us much more than ideas. The Holy Spirit

  173. will give us much more than theories. The Holy

  174. Spirit will give us much more than doctrine.

  175. The Holy Spirit is going to give us much more

  176. than just information. The Holy Spirit will consistently

  177. instill in us all the things. That we need to

  178. live the life that he's inviting us to live.

  179. A life of abundance. So if you're not living

  180. in abundance this morning, I believe the Holy

  181. Spirit wants to get your attention. 1 John 2,

    1 John 2:27

  182. verse 27. But you have received the Holy Spirit,

  183. and he lives within you. So you don't need anyone

  184. to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches

  185. you everything you need to know, and what he

  186. teaches is true. It's not a lie. So just as he's

  187. taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

  188. To take it a step further, Jesus actually reveals

  189. the assignment of teach your Holy Spirit, which

  190. leads us to our second thought. The Holy Spirit

  191. deposits Jesus' truth inside of us. Again, John

  192. 14, 26. But when the Father sends the advocate

  193. as my representative, that's the Holy Spirit,

  194. he will teach you everything. Now, a few verses

  195. earlier, Jesus shared these words about the Holy

  196. Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into

  197. all truth. See, there is truth in this world.

  198. And that truth comes from the Holy Spirit. Now,

  199. the world can't receive him because it isn't

  200. looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But

  201. you, church, you know him because he lives with

  202. you now and later will be in you. Just think

  203. of that. We have a piece of our creator and the

  204. person of the Holy Spirit living with us inside

  205. of us. Now, towards the end of his life, Peter,

  206. a disciple of Jesus, the one who Jesus named

  207. as the rock of the church, the foundation of

  208. the church, writes about all the things the Holy

  209. Spirit will do for us. And we read that in 2

    2 Peter 1:2–4

  210. Peter. chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. May God

  211. give you more and more grace and peace as you

  212. grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

  213. Now notice, grace and peace comes with growth

  214. and change. By his divine power, God has given

  215. us everything we need for living a godly life.

  216. We have received all this by coming to know him,

  217. the one who called us to himself by means of

  218. his marvelous glory and excellence. And because

  219. of his glory and excellence, he has given us

  220. great and precious promises. These are the promises

  221. that enable you to share his divine nature and

  222. escape the world's corruption caused by human

  223. desires. Now think about this. Peter, he was

  224. at the very table with Jesus as he was teaching

  225. about the Holy Spirit. Peter would have felt

  226. the anxiety in his life of Jesus saying to the

  227. disciples, well, I'm leaving. But I'm not leaving

  228. you alone. Fast forward many years, Peter is

  229. now reflecting in the text that I just read to

  230. you as an older, wiser man that has now lived

  231. his life in partnership with the Spirit. And

  232. Peter is saying to us, through the power of the

  233. Holy Spirit, that we have everything we need

  234. to live a godly life. We have everything we need

  235. inside of us to live a life of abundance. Peter

  236. is referencing that we can know the Holy Spirit

  237. personally, which means that we know Jesus personally.

  238. Peter goes on to say that through knowing Jesus,

  239. we have now received his promises. We have now

  240. received his divine nature living inside of us.

  241. Now hear me out. You may not feel like it every

  242. day, but there's confidence inside of you. There's

  243. days that you feel weak, but there's strength

  244. inside of you. There are weeks that you are called

  245. to lead because there's leadership inside of

  246. you. You may not feel it right now, but there's

  247. a sense of belonging and acceptance living inside

  248. of you because those things are all part of the

  249. divine nature. All of this is possible because

  250. of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit

  251. living inside of us. Remember, he is the third

  252. person in the Trinity that empowers us to know,

  253. experience, and understand everything that has

  254. been made available to us. See, the Holy Spirit

  255. is like the governor of earth. Now when I say

  256. governor, I'm not referring to governors we know

  257. today in our democracy. A governor, as the disciples

  258. would have understood it, means living under

  259. Roman rule. And in the Roman Empire, when Rome

  260. would conquer a new land, the emperor would appoint

  261. a military governor to oversee that new land.

  262. It was the governor's job to make that new conquered

  263. land look and sound just like Rome. So the new

  264. governor and his officials appointed to oversee

  265. this new land, they would build Roman architecture.

  266. They would teach the people the Roman language.

  267. They would share with them about Rome's history,

  268. their belief systems. Essentially, they would

  269. be instilling into these people everything that

  270. was needed to know and become a Roman citizen.

  271. Knowing that, the Holy Spirit does a similar

  272. work inside of us. See, Jesus has already established

  273. his kingdom here on earth right now. I mean,

  274. after all, he told us to pray that the kingdom

  275. would what? Come to earth. As it is in heaven,

  276. may it be done here. So when we come into a relationship

  277. with Jesus and we believe the kingdom of God

  278. and begin to walk in that, That's established

  279. inside of us. We literally become citizens of

  280. God's kingdom. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to

  281. live inside of us to instruct us in what it looks

  282. like to be citizens in God's kingdom. Right?

  283. In the kingdom of God, we all have a new identity.

  284. Romans 8, 16. For his spirit joins with our spirit

  285. to affirm that we are God's children. In the

  286. kingdom, we are taught the values and culture

  287. of heaven. Luke chapter 6, 35 to 38. Love your

    Luke 6 chapter mention

  288. enemies. Do good to them. Be compassionate. Do

  289. not judge others and you will not be judged.

  290. Do not condemn others or it will come back against

  291. you. Forgive others and you will be forgiven.

  292. Give and you will receive. Now that's not all

  293. of the qualities. But again, when we read those,

  294. you're like, that's the exact opposite of the

  295. world teaches. Exactly. Because the kingdom of

  296. God now exists inside of us. Holy Spirit teaches

  297. us what it looks like to have the kingdom in

  298. our life. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is

  299. to take what belongs to Jesus, everything that

  300. he taught, and download them inside of us so

  301. that we kind of become little Jesuses just running

  302. all around the tri -state area. How does this

  303. happen? Well, there's many different ways, but

  304. an important and primary way leads us to our

  305. next stop. See, the Holy Spirit inspires the

  306. Bible. The Bible is not like any other book in

  307. the history of the world. The Bible is God's

  308. divinely inspired word, and when it's in the

  309. hands of a person who is filled with the presence

  310. of God, it becomes alive, dynamic, powerful,

  311. and active. Paul, talking to his spiritual son

  312. Timothy, who was struggling through life, writes

  313. these words, 2 Timothy 3, 16 through 17. All

  314. Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable

  315. for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and

  316. for training in righteousness, that the man of

  317. God may be complete, equipped for every good

  318. work. See, Paul writes these encouraging words

  319. in the middle of a difficult season in Timothy's

  320. life. And he is emphasizing the power of the

  321. Bible. Paul writes that every part of the Bible,

  322. not just your favorite part, that you have memorized,

  323. not just the part that you have tattooed on your

  324. arm, not just the part that you see every day

  325. hanging on your wall, not just the part of the

  326. Bible you understand, but every part of the Bible

  327. is God -breathed. Now, if we remember from week

  328. one, we learned that the literal translation

  329. of the word spirit is the word pneuma. And pneuma

  330. was defined as wind or breath. So Paul is saying

  331. that all Scripture is Spirit -filled, that God's

  332. breath fills the Bible. It's kind of like this.

  333. So if I'm to take this pink balloon that many

  334. of us have done before we take a balloon, maybe

  335. we're at a party or a celebration, a graduation

  336. party, and we take these balloons and we... We

  337. blow into... A balloon so that it expands. Now

  338. what is left inside of this balloon? My breath.

  339. Right? I exhale. Now I did not understand this

  340. truth that I'm about to share with you until

  341. I did a little research on breath this week.

  342. Other than learning that we all need Mentos.

  343. In our exhale. In our exhale, I previously thought

  344. that it was just air exhaled from my lungs that

  345. I had breathed in from the room in which I was

  346. or if I was outside. When in reality, I learned

  347. that our exhale actually contains microbes and

  348. particles from inside our body that gives off

  349. a unique signature that is only mine. Like literally

  350. my unique signature is inside of this balloon

  351. right now. So not only do you have a fingerprint

  352. that's unique, we also have a breath print. So

  353. tell me you're not created in the image of God.

  354. And Paul is saying to us that this unique breath

  355. print from God is found where? In the Bible.

  356. As we read through those words. God's Holy Spirit

  357. literally inspired each author to write the words

  358. onto the pages. So when the teacher, who is the

  359. Holy Spirit, living inside of us, begins to interact

  360. with the breath print of God that is alive in

  361. the Bible, guess what? Things change. How do

  362. I know that? Well, look at Hebrews 4 .12. For

  363. the word of God is alive and powerful. It is

  364. sharper than the sharpest two -edged sword cut

  365. in between soul and spirit, between joint and

  366. marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and

  367. desires. See, as we read through the Bible, we

  368. begin to think differently. We begin to focus

  369. on kingdom thoughts. As we're reading through

  370. the Bible, we get corrected when we're making

  371. bad decisions. As we read through the Bible,

  372. we get convicted that our thought pattern or

  373. what we believe is wrong. As we read through

  374. the Bible, we receive direction when we feel

  375. lost. We gain wisdom and understanding when we

  376. need it in that moment. As we read through the

  377. Bible, we begin to be transformed by the Holy

  378. Spirit as he releases what? Truth into our lives.

  379. This is connecting to the teacher through his

  380. written and God -breathed word. But let's be

  381. honest. The Bible can be confusing. In fact,

  382. many times the Bible can be downright scary.

  383. It's written by 40 different authors over a 1

  384. ,500 year time period. We are more than 2 ,000

  385. plus years removed from the culture and context

  386. that it's written in. And quite often what happens

  387. to people that I've discovered is they get to

  388. a section of the Bible, it becomes confusing,

  389. sometimes scary, and let's be honest, they close

  390. it up and be like, I don't want anything to do

  391. with that. Because when there's confusion, The

  392. Bible seems intimidating. People begin to question,

  393. why am I even reading this? So I thought it was

  394. very important before we move forward that we

  395. learn a few practical steps in reading the Bible

  396. because guess what? As your pastor, I want you

  397. to read the Bible every single day. How often

  398. do I want you to read the Bible? Thank you. Which

  399. leads us to five simple steps in applying the

  400. Bible to our life. First, when you sit down to

  401. read or listen to, I'd listen to the Bible or

  402. your devotional. First, please invite the Holy

  403. Spirit. Why? Chris, why would I sit down? Sit

  404. down, stand up, however you do it. Palms up,

  405. Holy Spirit come. Well up within me. Speak your

  406. truth to me. So that as I'm reading these words,

  407. I understand them. 1 John 2, 27, you have received

  408. the Holy Spirit. He lives within you. So you

  409. don't need anyone to teach you what is true.

  410. You can understand the words written in the Bible

  411. when Holy Spirit is present. We need the Holy

  412. Spirit to reveal God's truth to us. So first

  413. we invite the Holy Spirit. Next, you have to

  414. decide what you're going to be reading or listening

  415. to in the Bible. And why will we do that? Well,

  416. 2 Timothy 3, again. It's inspired by God. The

  417. Bible is inspired by God. It's useful to teach

  418. us what is true to make us realize what is wrong

  419. in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong

  420. and teaches us to do what is right. God uses

  421. it to prepare and equip his people to do every

  422. good work. So for some of you that are thinking,

  423. I've never read the Bible in my life, my advice

  424. to you is grab a Bible when you leave here. We

  425. have dozens right outside in those little areas

  426. that I can't name correctly, and we would love

  427. to hand them to you. I call them vegetables.

  428. I know they're another word, but I can't pronounce

  429. it. So anyway, that's my little hiccup. If you've

  430. never read the Bible, I want to encourage you

  431. to start in the Gospels. The Gospels are Matthew,

  432. Mark, Luke, and John. Let's all say them together.

  433. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And you can read

  434. the Gospels for a year because that's the story

  435. of Jesus. And if we're called to be little Jesuses,

  436. it's good to learn who he was because that's

  437. what the Bible ultimately is all about, the redemption

  438. that we find in Jesus. Now, if you're more advanced

  439. and you want to read through the entire Bible,

  440. great. but I would recommend you following a

  441. plan. Follow a plan. Go to the YouVersion Bible

  442. app, download it, get it on your phone, and there's

  443. plans, three months, six months, a year, that

  444. you read through the Bible, and it's little chunks

  445. of the entire Bible that you read through over

  446. a time period so that you can understand them

  447. and apply them to your life. It's not just reading

  448. straight through from cover to cover. It's chunks

  449. that are explained. So that we can receive it.

  450. Which leads us to the next step. You first invite

  451. Holy Spirit. You figure out what you're going

  452. to read or listen to. Then you ruminate. And

  453. you say, well, what does that mean? Well, it's

  454. defined as to go over in the mind repeatedly

  455. and often casually or slowly. And in this stage,

  456. we meditate. And we ask questions about the words

  457. that we're reading. Questions like, well, when

  458. am I learning about God? When am I learning about

  459. Jesus? When am I learning about the Holy Spirit

  460. in these words? What am I learning about myself?

  461. What am I learning about people? Why are they

  462. acting this way? See, we're ruminating. We're

  463. chewing on what we're learning. We're allowing

  464. it to penetrate within us. And then as we ruminate,

  465. we, number four, communicate. And what does communicate

  466. mean? It means you pray, you talk to God. James

  467. 1, 5, if you need wisdom, ask our generous God,

  468. and guess what? He's going to give it to you.

  469. He's not going to let you all alone. So you're

  470. saying, Chris, that as we read the Bible, we

  471. pray? Yes. You're talking to God at the same

  472. time. You're interacting with him. Holy Spirit,

  473. what am I reading here? What are you trying to

  474. show me? How are you convicting me? Why did I

  475. close the Bible so quick? Oh, chances are you're

  476. sinning. Why do I want to run from it? Right?

  477. You're communicating. You're talking to God.

  478. And then lastly, we integrate it. We integrate

  479. it. And what does that mean? Well, James 1, 22,

  480. don't just listen to God's word. Do what he says.

  481. Otherwise, you're only fooling yourselves. See,

  482. ask the Holy Spirit to work these words that

  483. I'm reading into your life. Right? Change me.

  484. Make me more like your son. Now, this is just

  485. one approach to reading the Bible. There's many

  486. approaches. But for my life, I find this is effective

  487. and life -changing. Right, that if you do those

  488. five steps and you begin to work it out in your

  489. life, how often, church? Oh, every day, that's

  490. right. Then we will allow the Holy Spirit as

  491. teacher to reveal truths to us in our lives that

  492. is absolutely essential to our relationship with

  493. God because we need him for growth and life change.

  494. We need him. And please understand. Holy Spirit,

  495. the teacher, does not just speak to us through

  496. the Bible. Yes, that's one very, very important

  497. way, but we also need our one action step or

  498. forethought, however you want to look at it,

  499. you need to learn to trust the Holy Spirit. Every

  500. week, every day, right, we're going to go through

  501. difficulties and challenges in this life. If

  502. you're anything like me, we get stressed out.

  503. We get overwhelmed with life. It causes us to

  504. have a bad day. Now, I'm not going to ask you

  505. if you had a bad day this week because some of

  506. you are going to sin and lie, right? Because

  507. you don't want to raise your hand. But that's

  508. okay. I know we all had a bad day this week.

  509. And quite often, those bad days, that anxiety,

  510. that stress, that depression stems from our relationships,

  511. our marriage, our work, decisions that need to

  512. be made, financial pressure, being tired. Some

  513. of you are just tired. Some of you are raising

  514. children and you have bad days, really bad days.

  515. And then we learn from our children how we're

  516. doing wrong. But quite often when we're having

  517. a bad day, it's our natural instinct, our initial

  518. reaction to take matters into our own hands,

  519. right? We want to try to fix it on our own. But

  520. here's the reality. Quite often when we're having

  521. a bad day, we don't have the strength, the skills,

  522. the capacity, the wisdom, or the understanding.

  523. to navigate those difficult seasons in life.

  524. There are times when the knowledge we learn from

  525. all of our degrees can't help us or teach us

  526. anything. There are times in our life where our

  527. experiences, what we understand through our everyday

  528. life, they don't change the situation. There

  529. are times when the leading experts like Google,

  530. YouTube, and TikTok can't help that situation.

  531. You know why? Because we need the comforter.

  532. The advocate and the teacher to assist us with

  533. those challenging times. But we have to be willing

  534. to turn to him and listen. Paul and Silas were

  535. sharing the good news about Jesus all around

  536. the region. They were experiencing signs and

  537. wonders. People coming to faith. The church was

  538. exploding. And we read this in Acts 16, 23 to

  539. 25. They were severely beaten. And then they

  540. were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered

  541. to make sure they didn't escape. So the jailer

  542. put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their

  543. feet in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and

  544. Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,

  545. and the other prisoners were listening. So in

  546. their difficult situation, notice, what did Paul

  547. and Silas do? Did they try to negotiate their

  548. way out of prison? Did they try to argue that

  549. they are innocent and don't deserve to be in

  550. prison? Did they try to break out of prison?

  551. Did they sit, complain, and pout about their

  552. situation? They surely didn't. What did Paul

  553. and Silas do? They did the next best thing. They

  554. began to praise in prison. They sought after

  555. God. They pursued God. They worshiped God. And

  556. as they were worshiping, listen to this, the

  557. next verse, suddenly there was a massive earthquake

  558. and the prison was shaken to its foundations.

  559. All the doors immediately flew open and the chains

  560. of every prisoner fell off. Now here's the crazy

  561. thing. I guarantee you, I wouldn't do the same

  562. thing. When that happened, I'm out of there.

  563. I don't know about you. But if the clamps fall

  564. off, the door busts open, and there's a way for

  565. me to be free from prison, I'm running. I'm running.

  566. But you know what they did? They stayed and praised.

  567. They trusted that God had a plan for them. And

  568. that plan included that jailer's entire family

  569. beginning a relationship with Jesus as a result

  570. of their praise. See, God desires, listen, God

  571. desires that we seek him and praise him when

  572. we're having a bad day. Because as we take a

  573. step of faith, you know what God releases? He

  574. releases his power into our lives. Martin Luther

  575. King Jr. is quoted as saying, faith doesn't show

  576. you the whole staircase, just the next step.

  577. Just the next step. So my question to you, are

  578. you trusting that God's plan for your life is

  579. so much better than the plans you have for your

  580. own? Because I promise you, it is. 1 Peter 5,

  581. 6. Humble yourselves under the mighty power of

  582. God, and at the right time, he's going to lift

  583. you up in honor. Church, give all your worries

  584. and cares to God, for he cares about you. Friends.

  585. Jesus is challenging us this morning to take

  586. what? One step at a time. Sometimes that step

  587. is down, right? But quite often, that step is

  588. up as we move closer and closer and closer to

  589. Jesus. Because he desires that we connect with

  590. the Holy Spirit in such a way. That all our worries,

  591. cares, and desires for this world fall away to

  592. nothing. And we truly become reflections of Jesus

  593. to the tri -state area. But church, we have to

  594. understand, it's a choice. Will you stand with

  595. me? So this morning, and we're going to close

  596. by worshiping. There's this little song called

  597. Trust in God, and a part of the song says, I

  598. sought the Lord, he heard, and he answered. I

  599. sought the Lord. And what does seeking the Lord

  600. look like? It's one step at a time, trusting

  601. the Holy Spirit in you. I sought the Lord, he

  602. heard, and he answered. Now hear me out. That

  603. doesn't mean he answered today or tomorrow or

  604. even next week. But we still have to trust that

  605. he's going to answer. So before we sing, listen,

  606. before we sing, we're going to pray a simple

  607. prayer because I believe God brings people into

  608. our midst. Every single gathering that is distant

  609. and far from God. And right now the Holy Spirit

  610. is drawing you close. Right now the Holy Spirit

  611. is showing you areas of your life that are not

  612. lining up with him. And he's calling you home

  613. saying, come into a relationship with me because

  614. I want to fill you with abundance. And we're

  615. all going to pray together because I don't want

  616. anybody praying alone. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm

  617. broken. I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.

  618. Change me. I believe you're God's son. I believe

  619. you died for me. Make me new. Set me free. Fill

  620. me with your spirit. and your truth. In Jesus'

  621. name, amen. So if you prayed that prayer for

  622. the first time, give me a hug, high five on the

  623. way out so I can give you some next steps. Now

  624. we're gonna sing and worship, but before we do,

  625. God put something on my heart this morning. Actually,

  626. it was earlier this week. I felt like God was

  627. gonna release healing in these gatherings this

  628. Sunday. Release healings to your physical body.

  629. So if you're here this morning, I want to invite

  630. you and encourage you to take a step of faith.

  631. Our prayer team will be up here in the front.

  632. If you have any struggles with your physical

  633. body and you're here this morning, I want you

  634. to take a step of faith as everyone's worshiping

  635. and singing. Come up here. We're going to lay

  636. hands on you and we're going to believe in a

  637. supernatural miracle from God. Amen? Is it okay

  638. if we do that in church? Is it okay if we believe

  639. for a miracle? So if you're here this morning,

  640. listen. If you're here this morning. and you're

  641. struggling with some type of physical ailment,

  642. I want you to make your way up here as we sing.

  643. We're going to lay hands and pray for you and

  644. believe that God's going to set you free. God

  645. bless you guys. Let's worship and sing.