Ministry of the Spirit

I'm good to go, Ryan. Okay, Matthew 1, 20 to 23. Matthew 1, 20 to 23.

And it says in Matthew 1, 20 to 23 that

But after he considered this, and this is Joseph, but after he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.

That a virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

Guys, so here's the thing. In those three verses, you see the Son of God, or this little baby in the manger,

before he is born, God gives him two names. So he goes tells Joseph, hey, you need to call him Jesus.

And then he also says to Joseph that a thing is being fulfilled, a verse or a prophecy that was spoken ages ago.

Zeya is fulfilled. And what was that prophecy? That a virgin shall give birth to a son, you shall call him Emmanuel.

So there are two names here that are being and in those two names you basically have at Jesus's birth,

his ministry, his life and his purpose in those two names. And what are the two names? Jesus.

And what does Jesus mean? Just so nobody gets it wrong, the angel even explains what Jesus means.

Jesus means he will save his people from sin. That's what the word Jesus means.

He will save his people or he will save people from their sins. He will save people from sin.

And what does the word Emmanuel mean? And so the names are given to him before he's born. Hey,

can I change this mic because it's giving me some trouble. The second name he is given is Emmanuel

and Emmanuel means God with us. And in these two, in these two, in these two, yeah, so in these two names,

Jesus's life, ministry and purpose is defined. So what was his purpose? His purpose was I've come to

save people from their sins. What was his other mission or ministry that hey, the earth and its

people have lost touch with God because of their sins. I've come to save the people from sins and

thereafter, I am going to be the God who dwells with them. I'm going to be a God not in heaven.

God not in heaven. I'm going to be a God with you. This defines his purpose and his ministry

and his life from there on. And as disciples of Jesus, our ministry and life and purpose is

defined too. It's the same as the one who leads us. You can't have a ministry life and purpose

that is different from the one who you belong to. Yeah, belong to. This is not some voluntary thing

we are doing. The moment you ask Jesus Christ into your life, you're calling him Lord. Lord means

master. And the moment you call him master, his mission, his purpose, his life becomes yours.

So what is your mission, your purpose, your ministry, your life about? I'm not talking

about what you do in terms of work, but our mission life and purpose becomes simple too.

Bear witness to Jesus.

Make disciples.

Become

God with us people.

As the master, so the followers. Regardless of where you work, what you do, retired, active,

Canut fan, Colorado fan, both are in bad shape. Regardless of what you do, these things stay

consistent. You bear witness to Jesus. Bear witness, meaning here is who he is from what I know.

Here is who he is from what I've experienced. Here is who he is from what I feel. Here is who

he is from what I've sensed and read. To make disciples as in this is what Jesus did. This is

what I do. You do. Regardless of what we work at, our intent is make disciples. Make people who,

huh, make shape people not into followers, not into converts, not into religious kind,

not into Christians. No, make people who are willing to pay a cost to follow him who lay down

his life for you. And the third one is become a with us, God with us people. That is a strange one.

You never think of church as our church. That's where God dwells with people. No, our

definition of church is our church, the thing that happens on Sunday mornings.

But the intent is become a God with us people where when people come into a place like this,

they can't go away without sensing that boy there was something else in that room and they call it

God and this God seems attractive. That's what we were singing it God with us, God for us.

Nothing can stand against, nothing can come between us. Where there was death you bring

life Lord, where there was fear you bring courage. When I was afraid

you were with me and you lifted me up, you lifted me up and that's the whole intent.

These things are contained in the name Emmanuel and Jesus and it's strange before he was born

these are the names given to me. Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

So what does Jesus mean? He will save people from their sins. What does Emmanuel mean? God with us.

Cling to this. Say if there's anything you take away from Christmas it is this that Jesus means

he will save people from sins. Emmanuel means God with us and these things I will cling to

because this is something that has to be lived out through my life. God wants to live this out

through my life. God wants to live this. God wants to live this through my life. Jacob I'm still in

the same business. I want to be a God who is with people and I want to be someone who still saves

people from their sins and I send Jesus, he ascended, he's now in heaven but by the way he

lives in you so you got to do the same thing that my son used to do. Very simple. It doesn't matter

where I put you whether it be in a corporate building or wherever this is what you do. Through

you I'll still continue what my son started. Through you I'll still continue what my son started.

That's why like Bob Kran's letter said Merry Christmas doesn't really explain it. Someone

did something ridiculous so that I not be lost. There's a passage we'll go there later.

So what stands in the way of us operating this way? What stands in the way? Surprisingly people

say oh I'm sinful that's why this doesn't work. Oh I'm full of faults and I've got flaws so I

can't do this. No not really. The one thing that stands in the way of this happening guys

is not sin it's Satan. I mean just put up the first picture Ryan and then I'll call out when

I want the next picture. Yeah so thanks. And now drum roll.

This is the first one. Yeah so this is where we're starting with two names that were given

him Jesus and Emmanuel. I'm getting more and more the hang of this powerpoint thing so you

might see more of this now but it takes up a lot of time so maybe I won't do it. So

Jesus so this is what it means Jesus Emmanuel God with us. So standing in the way of this happening

through our lives is not your defect not your flaws not your sin not your inadequacy. It is

someone else called Satan because there is an evil spirit called Satan who stands in the way of

Jesus becoming Jesus through us Emmanuel becoming Emmanuel through us. What do I mean by that? Guys

there's an active evil spirit called Satan who opposes prevents stops people from

being saved from their sins and there is an active evil spirit called Satan who works over time to

prevent people from enjoying the with us God. Remember what was the devil's first intent when

Jesus was born? Can I destroy him right at birth? So he gets hered to kill all the babies that are

under two years old. Why? He was hoping that Jesus could be slaughtered with them.

This is an old ancient thing. This fight has been going on for thousands and thousands of years.

Every time anyone rises up to save people from their sins and to present to them a God who can

live with them there is an enormous ferocious adversary evil spirit called Satan who keeps

coming to block because if he can prevent you from enjoying the God with us and if he can prevent you

from getting out of your sin there's nothing else he needs to do and it happens again and again and

again and again. In second Corinthians 4 4 it says it this way second Corinthians 4 4 it says

that the God of this world as in Satan the God of this world as in the devil or Satan

this is in second Corinthians 4 4 has blinded the minds of people who do not believe to keep them

from seeing the light of the good news of Christ. The God of this world as in the devil has blinded

the eyes of people who do not believe so that they may not get to taste and joy grasp

fathom the good news that Jesus Christ came to save you from sin by dying for you.

So there is a blindness that devil brings eh.

There's another scripture which says that the good news of Jesus Christ is is veiled to people it's

almost like there's a veil on people and they cannot see you can explain it but they cannot see

because there's a veil upon them there's this picture that I found and this picture has nothing

to do with any religion it's just a picture that I felt would explain it so do not look at the

picture in terms of it representing any religion it just doesn't have anything to do with any

religion it just so happens that it is perfect for what I'm trying to explain so go to the next

picture. So there is this veil that covers people's eyes unable to see their minds dulled

their eyes dulled their hearts dulled their feelings dulled to the presence of the creator

of the universe thousands and thousands and thousands and the only thing they can do then

is to shake their fists at this invisible creator who seems to be violent evil and yet it's because

of this veil that's over their eyes that they can't see the goodness of God.

The gospel is veiled in second Corinthians 4 3 it says the gospel is veiled and it causes people

to perish because God in his amazing love didn't want heaven all for himself he wanted me there so

he brings heaven down as the song says my sin was great his love was greater and so he comes down as

a little baby lives here and dies for us why so that he could save us from sin and why so that

we can enjoy God in us and with us guys just think of this say you and I have the privilege

a 24 7 privilege of enjoying the God of the universe not somewhere distant but in us with us

hearing him knowing what he's saying experiencing him it's both feeling and fact and truth all

combined into one God with us this is what Christmas really did and then you have thousands and

thousands of people who have veils upon them by the way you were one of them you were one of them

there was a dullness over your eyes there was a dullness over my mind and eyes where we couldn't

fathom who Jesus was people would come and tell you you couldn't fathom it people would try to

explain you didn't want it people would be able to elaborate it and you would still reject it because

you didn't grasp it why because there was a veil over your eyes you could understand

rocket science easily but you couldn't understand simple Jesus

because it's this veil that is over people

here's another scripture in acts 26 18 acts 26 18 it says and this is God speaking to Paul

and God says to Paul listen Paul I am sending you look at what God was sending Paul to do

I'm sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light from the power of

Satan to God because we have no idea how active an enemy the devil is in preventing these two names

of Jesus from taking root Jesus he who saves people from their sin Emmanuel God with us

an active adversary that keeps shutting down the door Jesus never came to establish Christianity

that's just something that happened he never knew the word Christian that came much later too

he never coined the word Christian that happened much later he just came to make disciples who

would be like him and who would show the world hey when God lives amongst you this is what life

looks like that's why it says oh it doesn't say anymore become a God with us people become a God

with us people let them see what can happen when your life gets filled with God

so

Paul was told listen I'm sending you for two reasons I want you to go and open people's eyes

and that's what I'm saying to you today that one of the reasons one of the purposes one of the

life missions you have one of the ministries you have is you are being sent tomorrow or day after

tomorrow after after boxing day actually or during boxing you get the message you

you're being sent out so that you can open eyes and turn people from darkness to light from the

power of Satan to God this is why in Ephesians chapter 6 the scripture you're very familiar with

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

it says we are not fighting against flesh and blood but we are fighting against dark powers of

the universe just imagine it God is saying all this to us so that we become aware then listen

guys this church thing is not something you play on Sunday you are actually engaged in an active

warfare with someone who wants to prevent your brothers your sisters your fathers your mothers

your neighbors your friends from ever experiencing throughout their lives here on earth for 80 or 90

years never being able to taste what it is to have God live with them never experiencing the

forgiveness of sins what a wicked evil spirit this is that wants to kill destroy maim who gets

blamed for it this baby in the manger that grew up to be one who was hung on a cross and they still

blame him for it

have a hatred for what the devil is doing we end up hating people who are used by the devil

and this is why Paul had to say in Ephesians guys your fight is not against flesh and blood

it's not against Herod it's not against Pharaoh it's not against some dictator it's not against some

fanatic that's not who your fight is against they are being used yes but your fight is not against

flesh and blood but against powers of darkness in high places that's how the word puts it

this is one of the things we'll be praying on about on the 21st how to prevail against it and

then Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 16 18 hey by the way i've told you that you're fighting against

powerful adversaries in the spiritual realm that you can't even see that the devil is real but i

also want you to know he says in Matthew 16 18 that the gates of hell will not overcome or

prevail or stand against the church the gates of hell cannot who is saying this the one who said

all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me amazing eh like i said two weeks ago

just imagine in this church given the authority i have by virtue of whatever i can say the

jillian jillian could you go and sit on the bench two rows down and she would go not because she's

scared of me but she because she recognizes my authority i can say to ryan ryan can we have the

next slide and he'll do it though he doesn't get paid for it i can say to hyde hyde let's not have

coffee next time and so in this place in this limited place i have some authority and you will

listen to it now think of jesus christ all authority he said in all heaven and all earth

belongs to him when he says something you cannot defy it here you can defy it and you'll get away

with it and thank god you don't but with christ is different and i've said this before but always

remember this all satanic enterprise is by permission all satanic enterprise is by permission as in satan

does things only by permission only by permission as in you will have to give him permission or god

will have to permit it one or the other satan cannot do what he wants but one of his active

ministries is can i make sure that nobody figures out what the name jesus means and can i make sure

that the earth does not experience god with them and so jesus christ raises up us saying hey this

is what he wants to do i'm raising up the church i'm building it and the gates of hell shall not

prevail against it so what do i require of you you go and tell them what the name jesus means

and you go and show them what god with us looks like very simple in those two names in that simple

christmas announcement that the angel makes you have your mandate for 2018 regardless of where you're at

that

so in a world where evil powers are actively at work in a world where evil powers are actively at

work god commands that we take the sword of the holy spirit stranger of all the things that god

could call the word of god he calls this the sword of the holy spirit as in hey why would you need a

sword if you're a farmer who's growing avocados they grow on trees they do okay so why would you

they put it in burgers now i just can't understand that

just can't understand

okay moving on so if you're a farmer farming avocado trees you don't need a sword

but the reason god calls this the sword of the spirit is because he wants us to know that listen

you have an active enemy you need an offensive weapon he says wear gospel shoes of peace meaning

you got to have tread man you got to know how to stand and not move

you know that whole armor thing in the bible where it talks about wear this wear that

if you're a farmer you don't need to wear that because you won't farm very well

dressed like sir galahad or whatever because that doesn't help with your plowing it's it's when you

fight that you need stuff and two essential elements of the sword of the spirit and shoes

that have tread so you can stand we'll talk about that another time but know that we are in active

combat hey why is it so hard to tell people about jesus or speak about jesus or show people that

god is alive in your life because you've got an active enemy that has made it almost impossible

to speak for the fear of derision or the fear of being scoffed at or the fear of being embarrassed

so what do we do keep silent

no

i love that name man noah means rest noah means rest

guys so how do we go about proclaiming this these these two things that hey i'm someone who can

tell you what the name jesus means and i can i can i can introduce you to this with us god

i can introduce it to the with us god i was just thinking when we were singing

where there is death you bring life lord i'm thinking as a father you've done it so many

millions and millions of times in my life 28 29 years i've been a christian every time something

goes wrong something begins to decay something begins to break down you come and introduce life

how many times have you done it and how you long to do it for the 7.2 billion people that are here

on earth why would i then keep quiet to god this church cannot afford to stay quiet anymore

go tell it on the mountains telling it in the mountains is easy nobody's there

got to change that song a little

over the hills

it it was important then but not so understand that that the whole idea of announcing jesus and

the god with us thing it's not a strenuous effort of the flesh it is a ministry of the

spirit go to second corinthians 3 8 second corinthians 3 8 second corinthians 3 8

second corinthians 3 8

started seven now if the ministry that brought to death which was engraved in letters on stone

came with glory so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of moses because of its

glory fading though it was will not the ministry of the spirit be even more glorious as in hey

just imagine this so there was this guy called moses and he would go into the temple and every

time he would go into the temple and he would meet with god when he would come out his face would be

blazing it'd be shining and yet in the temple were the 10 commandments and the 10 commandments were

basically a set of rules that if you broke them you die and here is god saying hey guys i'm not

giving you a list of rules to follow i'm not telling you things that will kill you i'm telling

you things that will give you life and he says you begin to speak the name of jesus and explain to

people what immanuel means and here's what's going to happen my spirit will be able to do things

through you that even moses could not do understand that what we are being called to do is surely a

ministry of the spirit a ministry of the spirit as in only the holy spirit can do this

only the holy spirit can do this it's odd eh you know how the veil is removed from a person's face

you can't go remove a veil from someone's face every time i do that no one takes four steps back

you can't remove a veil from people's face they'll resist they'll say don't touch me don't don't touch

my veil you can't force them you can't coax them you can't cajole them you can't bribe them you

can't emotionally manipulate anyone to lift up their veils there's only one thing that you need

to do to remove the veil it says when you help people look at jesus the veil is removed

all you and i have to do all you and i have to do is help people turn their faces towards jesus

and the veil is removed how do you accomplish that through your inadequacy through your flaws

through your faults help people look towards jesus

what does that look like it'll look different every time man

i was on a flight from jakarta to a place called surakarta and there's this hindu man sitting next

to me and he and i are chatting and he's a businessman and i'm thinking to myself so how

do i help him look towards jesus and so i sense god saying ask him how he his business was this

year and this was in november of the year october of the year ask him how his business was this year

because his business has been pretty bad and he's in the red and so i ask him and he says it's been

pretty bad and then i sense the lord saying tell him on december 31st to look at his bottom line

again and he'll be back in the black if if you're in the red you turn back to black right okay

i don't know much about farming or accounting so so you and he'll be in the black and so i told him

that that's it six months later i'm in um not six months four weeks later uh he just emails me

saying thank you for what you said um may the gods help me and stuff like that like a very

all gods lead to rome lead to the same place sorry all roads lead to rome all gods don't lead to rome

and so um january he writes saying i just want you to know that what he said happened um we got such

large orders in the last two months that from being in the red we've gone into positive and is

there any chance that the next time you come to tukarta you could come and meet the rest of my

family because i would like them to hear about jesus too

it's amazing how simple these things are guys each of us will have it happen differently

have it happen differently but all we need to do is turn someone's face towards jesus because you

and i cannot take away the veil you and i cannot take away the blindfold this is a spiritual thing

it is not a physical thing spiritual things cannot be dealt physically

this is why it's called the ministry of the spirit who lives in you and is

saying hey i don't know if you know jacob but you actually belong to me because christ paid a price

for your body and you are my temple i live in you so by the way can i use your body now

he actually every morning i wake up and i've said this before when i wake up this holy spirit

says he's finally awake with dawn he says huh when will he wake up but with me he says he's

finally awake and then he says he the holy spirit actually thinks that this body belongs to him

the holy spirit actually thinks that this body belongs to him is that scriptural absolutely first

corinthian 620 onwards says that don't you know that you are the temple of the holy spirit that

you are not your own you've been bought with a price jesus paid for your body too you belong to god

and so he's yearning to say hey can i work my ministry through you

can you help people turn their faces towards jesus and when they do this third picture happens

so you go to the second picture and then you go to the third picture in the third picture

this person all the person does is turn towards jesus and now things begin to happen

i want the reason i put these pictures up is so that you understand what's really transpiring

you might think that what you're saying is so inadequate so not complete but you're turning

someone's face towards jesus and that takes away the veil the person is finally looking at the only

one who can do something inside do we want to make christians no do we want to add numbers to the

church not really what do we want we want everybody on the earth to experience what it is when god

lives with you god with us immanuel that's why he came down he didn't come down to create christianity

he wants to save people from their sins so that oh man when you read what will happen

to those that keep rejecting keep rejecting keep refusing god it's not fun

so

suddenly one out of the crowd looks towards jesus isn't that what happened to your families what

happened in my family i was the first one to turn towards jesus and suddenly i saw something

that began to change my heart people kept coming to me finally one day i had the good sense to

turn towards jesus then my mom then my dad then my sister then my brother-in-law then their kids

and it just keeps spreading it's contagious jesus infects

and it just keeps spreading

just one girl turns and like i said this picture has got nothing to do with any religion

it's just a portrayal of what i'm trying to say

through me then the holy spirit just wants to turn people towards jesus because that removes the

veil it actually says so in second corinthians that when they turn to jesus the veil is removed

through me the spirit wants to bring a person into contact with the power of god through me

and through you the spirit of god wants to bring a person into the presence of god

when paul wrote one of the first letters that paul wrote was first tessalonians

he writes first tessalonians to these guys in tesla nica which i believe is a city that's present

even now and he writes to the christians there and he writes to them saying hey when i came to you

remember i had no finesse my words that i spoke to you somehow hit you there was conviction in

my words and it convicted you and when he writes to the church in quarantine says i didn't come to

you with rhetoric i didn't come to you with wisdom my speech wasn't fine it wasn't polished in fact i

was some kind of a stammerer but you guys heard it not because of my oratorial skills but because

of the ministry of the spirit the power of the spirit guys you are cracked earthen jars get used

to it you are unadorned unadorned pots of clay with ordinary lives

but like i've said who does god use nameless faceless ordinary people

i was reading isaiah 52 or 53 once again and i was thinking to myself jesus was such a nameless faceless

ordinary guy who had a carpenter's shop in nazareth the bible says no one would give him a second look

i was going to put up a picture of jesus walking with crowds as one of the slides and then i looked

at jesus's face and it looked like he was one of those malboro men kind of flowing hair stunning

and sharp looks i thought to myself man i am absolutely sure this was not what jesus looks

like because this is way too attractive he was charisma less personality limited personality

probably like i said once slightly less good-looking than me because i'm about average

that was who he was and i'm not kidding you when i say this it might sound funny

but there was nothing about him that was attractive that's what isaiah says there was

nothing about jesus that was attractive why because when god sent jesus his son on the earth

he didn't want people to come to jesus because he was attractive or because he was a great

skilled orator he wanted again the same thing that must happen to us to happen to jesus the ministry

of the spirit conviction man where something happens inside you you are convicted of what

you're saying and the hearer gets convicted of what you're saying and something transpires

when the spirit of god is saying hey can i use you for this can i use you to turn people towards

jesus can i use you to bring god's power into their lives for paul it would never occur to him

that once you proclaim miracles won't happen he he never thought he would never separate

preach the gospel don't worry about miracles that's one side one side of christianity

only preach god doesn't do miracles anymore and then the other side of christianity

come for a miracle healing crusade but there will be no preaching because we don't want to offend you

we just want to heal you so you got these two extremes therefore paul it was never like that

paul it was hey if i tell you who jesus is i want you to know that jesus's power will touch your body

simple

that is a god with us church

know this begin to begin to expect nothing less begin to expect nothing less the easiest way to

live a comfortable christian life without waves is to lower your expectation lower your expectation

and life will be happy in the world they do it another way in the world they say think of the

worst thing that can happen to you and so you imagine yourself the worst case scenario and now

everything will be better i used to do that that was really dumb and now the christian aspect of

it is uh don't think of the worst case scenario because the lord doesn't like it but lower your

expectations of god so even if he doesn't do anything it's okay i think it's as poisonous as

the first one increase your expectancy as ones who the spirit of god wants to work through

so that's what i was telling the lord this morning father i expect the miraculous to accompany the

proclamation of of the gospel i expect the miraculous to accompany the proclamation of

the gospel in romans 15 look at what paul says in romans 15 18 and 19 i'll wrap up in 10 minutes

guys um romans 15 18 and 19

18 19

romans 15 18 and 19

i will not venture to speak of anything except that which christ has accomplished through me

in leading the gentiles to obey god by what i've said and done and look at what he says but by what

i have said and done let it be the story of this church in 2018 hey that hey i wanted to both look

at what i said and look at what i did what god accomplished through me and then he says look at

what i did he says by the power of signs and miracles through the power of the spirit by the

power of signs and miracles through the power of the spirit so from jerusalem all the way around

to that other place i have fully proclaimed the gospel of christ

because when we are talking about the holy spirit we are talking about the empowering

personal presence of god just think of that when you talk about the holy spirit you're talking

about the actual empowering personal presence of god you think he can't do miracle signs and wonders

expect this be foolish when you meet people who have a problem pray for them

it'll blow your mind how god will show off on your behalf never hesitate what's the worst that can

happen you'll have egg on your face big deal it'll probably do your skin some good

expect this because this is what remember what our theme is for next year recover

tradition go back to how the guys used to do it then and let's begin to repeat it

so

all conversion i don't even like using the word conversion because it sounds like changing

religions that's not what i'm talking about and as a conversion i mean the change of heart from

that of one who was not saved from sin to one who is saved from sin the change of the condition of

one who did not have god who now has god with or him or her that's what i call conversion

all conversion and all transformation

is surely the work of the spirit because it there's this beautiful scripture in second

corinthians 3 18 here's what it says where the spirit of the lord is there is

freedom where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom so where is the spirit of the lord in you

where are you at telus where are you in a helicopter where are you in the forests of

vernon where are you in at vgh where are you in some jewish home teaching a jewish kid piano

where are you organizing your company's stocks and bonds and all this stuff not bonds stocks right

where are you in richmond

i was gonna say school and then i suddenly remembered yeah

yeah so where is the spirit of god he is wherever he wants to be and he's also where you are

and all conversion as in anybody who is in a place of sin becoming one who is not anybody who

did not have god now having god with them happens sheerly through the work of the spirit

because you are the person through whom god brings brings freedom to people

i hope we have these reunions in heaven but god will say oh by the way

all those guys there those guys walked into freedom because you helped them turn their face towards me

okay

i mean tremendously you know why you should desire to live longer

so that you can have more people that uh will say oh shucks because of you there's an old

song written by a guy called ray bolts it says thank you for giving to the lord i am a life that

was changed beautifully thank you for giving to the lord i am a life that was changed

second corinthians 3 18 where the spirit of the lord is there is we but you go to the last picture

we'll stop here i'll do the rest next week this is the final scene where the person comes into

a place of freedom where they take off the veil it's not even it's not even i'll keep it on i

will look at jesus no no no no i have tasted of something that's so ridiculously good that

there ain't no turning back and this veil must go i see you take off the veil and there's a

there's a joy that comes with it i'm telling you man there is nothing more precious than this

as you and i can accomplish in 2018 so what you make some money great enjoy it get a newer house

bigger house great but really at the end of the day there's always someone with a bigger house

and more money and a better car or two seats ahead of you at rogers replace

it's fascinating every time i go for a hockey game i think to my i look look at the upper bowl

i used to sit on the last row in the upper bowl and for the last 15 years i've been working my way down

because those days tickets used to be 28 dollars for the last seat i mean your nose would actually

bleed when you'd sit there then you work yourself but then there are always another 14 rows ahead of

you that someone's sitting in what i'm trying to say is those things that you're sitting in

what i'm trying to say is those things you can keep aspiring for god will bless you he's a

blessing he doesn't have a problem with you enjoying things that he provides it says so in first

Timothy six i have given you all things so that you may enjoy them but be a steward instead of

being an owner because an owner is always afraid of what he has a steward is only responsible for

what he has when you're an owner you're always holding on to you're always holding on to this

because you're scared someone may take it away when you're a steward you don't have to hold on

to it because it's someone else's you're just responsible for putting it back and someone will

put it back so that's a difference and bring people to this place where finally the whole thing is

off any questions because i'll stop you

i'll stop you

it's fascinating how in luke 134 mary asks a question of the angel where the angel says you're

going to have a child mary says how can this be because i'm not married i'm a virgin how can this

be and the angel answers in luke 134 saying the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of

the highest will overshadow you the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of god will

overshadow you will hover over you and that's written by luke in luke chapter 1 verse 34 and

Luke 1:34

then luke who still writes another book called acts writes a very similar line in acts where all

the disciples are gathered jesus is ascending to heaven and he makes a statement jesus makes a

statement but you shall receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you we'll talk more about

that next time just look at those three go back to the first second third fourth slide just want you

to remember jesus immanuel jesus means he will save us from us he will save people from that

since immanuel god with us or the with us god not a distant god not a far away god the with us god

the with you god the with you god you when you leave here we're not leaving him in church

as in why would he want to stay in this building nothing wrong with the building i'm grateful for

it what i meant is he would rather be with you so the with us god this is what we present to the

world these were the two names given to jesus before he was born so that they may know what

he is meant for and what are you meant for exactly what your master is meant for

life purpose ministry that you have bear witness to jesus who saves people from their sins make

disciples so that this may multiply and become a god with us people so that others may see

ah so this is what life looks like when god lives in you oh shucks

what a cool thing to live for plus all the other trappings

and there's an active enemy i'm almost done no one i'm just summarizing the whole thing and it'll

take another three four minutes that we have an active enemy who wants to prevent this from

happening he's an active evil fears

spirit that preys on innocence and ignorance and has absolutely no respect

for innocence or ignorance in fact he brutalizes those that are innocent and ignorant

and pins the blame on god

who is always good always a father whenever you think god is doing something evil ask this

question would a father do that and if a father won't do that god will not

there's an active evil spirit called the devil who blinds people who draws them into darkness

who does not want them to know that jesus saves you from sin who doesn't want people to

sin who doesn't want people to experience what it is when god dwells with you

and therefore because we are dealing with spiritual dark powers in spiritual places we can't deal with

this with our skill our oratorial abilities our charisma our rhetoric or our wisdom it doesn't

work this is a sheer ministry of god's spirit as in it's a sheer work of the spirit of god

and that you possess he lives in you and he is saying can i through you

say something to this person or that person so that they look towards jesus because of the entire

world uh ryan just get the next one the entire world has its faces veiled its understanding

wailed so that they cannot see truth they cannot see truth but they shake their fists at god who

they cannot understand this is the condition of the world today and then you help people turn

their faces towards jesus and the next slide one face out of 10 or 20 looks towards jesus

and things begin to happen where the power of god and the influence of god

and the goodness of god permeates one person it's not even a removal of the face it's just a

turning towards jesus that's it just a turning towards jesus you think you can't do it you can

do it so easily with a simple kind word again and again and again this is so easy to do i'm so looking

forward to this and then as a person looks toward jesus the veil is removed to a point where it's

just completely thrown off i love this shot it's completely thrown off doesn't matter that the

ground around you is dry and parched you no longer belong to what you used to belong to a life with

the one who saves you from sin and life with the one who lives in you begins this is how it works

guys if possible this week and i was asking god this this morning if possible this week

so

we'll talk about it next week