Where Do We Go From Here? | Ps. Keith Pittman

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Good morning, church family.

Good afternoon, good evening.

Whatever time of day and wherever this may find you, apply that to whatever the sun is doing in your sky right now.

I am so so glad to have you joining me in my home.

So from my home to yours, welcome.

Happy Sunday.

I'm so so glad that we could worship together, even though we're not in our permanent location, even though we're not in a physical location, we are still gathered together in spirit.

Now, I know that for some of us at the time of this recording and the time that we're showing this at December 29th, we may be in that interesting in-between space.

For some of us, maybe the 25th has passed and you've already taken down your tree and you're already in 2025.

That's not the case in the Pittman household, as you can see over my shoulder here.

We're going to hold on to this season as much as possible.

But I also recognize that we're in that unique time where we're we're trying to kind of get as much as we can out of our present season, but also prepare for the season to come.

We're not unique in this.

And I'm certain that there's those who are watching us right now that maybe you already have your goals planned.

You may already be in 2025 in preparation of what the new year can bring.

But there's others of us who are who are still trying to extract some wisdom and some insight from 2024, things we can learn from, maybe some things that we're still praying about so that we can start off the new year strong.

Wherever you may find yourself, I believe that God truly has a word to encourage you no matter where you are.

If you have your Bibles, and I and I hope you do, please get out your Bible.

It's going to come up on the screen, but I think it's important for us to be able to read the word of God together.

I want you to open your Bible to the book of Acts, chapter number one.

The book of Acts is written by the physician Luke, and it's a continuation of the gospel that carries his name.

And the whole intent of this is for him to talk about not only the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also the birth of the early church and really give us a sense of and a blueprint of what ministry can and should look like.

What we find in chapter one is the disciples are in one of these interesting in-between spaces.

They've seen Jesus perform his ministry, they've seen Jesus die, they've seen him become resurrected, they've seen him spend some time around his closest disciples, and now he's about to ascend into heaven.

Now they're in this unique spot because I think they're still trying to figure out exactly what this means, the ministry of Jesus and the role that they play in it.

But the text that we're about to enter into, it invites us into the mindset of the disciples, and I suspect for even us, when we have an opportunity to witness the power of God, the ministry of Jesus, and the part that we play in it, but it's in that space also that we feel a little bit in between.

We're going to enter into this text and see what it is that God speaks to us.

So looking at the book of Acts, chapter one, starting at verse number four, these are the moments of Jesus, his final moments with his disciples and his earthly ministry after his resurrection.

Here's what it says at verse number four.

While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Father's promise, which he said, You have heard me speak about.

For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?

He said to them, It is not for you know the times and periods that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and to the ends of the earth.

This passage signifies a transitional moment for the disciples.

As Jesus was risen, he was beginning to prepare them for the ministry of the kingdom, but they also had some questions about the future.

I believe that their questions can sometimes be our questions.

In essence, if I could put it simple, they were saying, Okay, Jesus, is this the time that we're gonna get active?

Is this the time that we're gonna see everything come into alignment?

And Jesus gives them a response, but I also believe he's given us a response.

So today I want to talk to us about the question that some of us may be having in our soul right now.

So if you're taking notes and I hope that you are, I want you to write this message title down.

Where do we go from here?

Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for every opportunity that we have to enjoy fellowship with you and with one another.

Wherever we are engaging this content, Lord, we know that you are with us and that you are in our midst.

Lord, I just pray over the next few moments that you can quiet our minds and instill our spirits and allow us to hear exactly what you're speaking to us while we're in this transitional season, going from one year to the next.

So, Lord, I just ask that you give us open eyes that we could see you, open ears to hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

I I want to share a word, a thought, a concept, a theory with you that I think can kind of bring this all together.

Liminal space, it's it's a it's a Latin term that literally means threshold, liminal space.

It describes a transitional phase between one stage of life, an identity or experience to the next.

It's almost like the the in-between.

It's it's limital space is neither here nor there.

You're just kind of in the middle.

It exists between the place of ambiguity and also possibility.

It's often marked by disorientation as old structures and identities dissolve, but but the new is not yet fully formed yet.

An example of liminal space could be in human life.

Think about how uh when a when a mother becomes pregnant, she she's no longer not with child, but the child hasn't been born yet.

That's an example of liminal space.

Another example of that could be found when a person is going from childhood to adulthood.

They're not fully formed adults yet, but they're not children who are toddlers anymore.

That liminal space of trying to navigate through it.

Another example of liminal space could be found with a person who's engaged.

You're not quite married yet, but you're no longer single.

You're in that interesting in-between space.

This is something that's very normal for the human experience, but but it flies in the face of our desire to have clarity, to have control, and have predictability.

And sometimes it can provoke a little bit of resistance because we are not quite sure how to navigate in these in-between seasons.

I like to call the liminal space the growth edges because it forces individuals to confront their fears, shed unhealthy patterns, and develop new ways of being.

I say all this to say because the disciples have just entered into a liminal space.

They have experienced the resurrection of Jesus, the transformational event that shattered their understanding of life and death as they knew it.

Yet Jesus was ascending into heaven and he leaves them with these powerful words moments before he goes into heaven.

But they're entering into this liminal space.

They're no longer merely followers of Jesus who are just walking the earth following their teacher, but they're not yet spirit-empowered witnesses that they're going to become.

This liminal space is a space that's marked by waiting and uncertainty.

It's I'm here, but I'm not yet there.

And it could be a moment that can create a little bit of anxiety and stress.

I believe that for many of us, when we consider the new year, we know that every new year is an opportunity for us to come up with new goals, to reflect on the things that worked the previous years, the things that didn't work the previous year.

It's a moment of reflection.

And often as we set goals, there's this understanding of I'm not where I used to be, but I'm not where I want to be, this liminal space.

And how do I move forward with confidence and boldness and clarity?

I believe that it's in these moments that we see with the disciples, the moments that we see in our own lives, that it's actually an opportunity that God wants to do something transformational in every single one of us.

For the disciples, entering into this liminal space was an opportunity for their faith to be tested and developed.

Their perspective was going to be adjusted and their dependence on God was going to be deepened.

And I believe the same thing for us.

It's a threshold of where transformation happens.

So for us as a community, I want to encourage us with three simple thoughts that I hope that can encourage us while we are in this liminal space, going from one season to the next, one year to the next, one moment to the next.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write down this thought.

It's really simple, but I think it can be encouraging for you.

The number one thing I want you to write down is prepare by embracing the pause.

The way that we can prepare for the next season is by embracing the pause, that in-between space where it hasn't happened as of yet.

Now I know that seems a little bit contradictory because we live in a culture that no one likes to slow down.

But the Bible shows us here in Acts chapter 1, verse number 4.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Let's revisit this text.

It says that Jesus tells them, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift from my Father has promised, which you've heard me speak about.

Don't leave yet.

Don't don't go off into the mission field.

I know that you're full of ambition.

I know that you're filled with excitement, but don't launch off into the deep as of yet.

I need you to wait until you receive the empowerment that I have talked to you about.

Now, if we're all honest with ourselves, waiting can be one of the most uncomfortable experiences in our lives.

In a culture that values productivity, multitasking, and immediacy, having to pause or having to wait can feel incredibly counterintuitive.

But I believe it's in those moments that God is developing something that can present potentially present something, something significantly better.

Now we're we're sitting in my in my kitchen, and this kitchen is a place of a lot of meal preps and a lot of amazing family moments.

One of the things that I love to brag about is my daughter's baking.

She's an incredible baker, especially when it comes to desserts.

She can throw down on desserts in the way that we should sell it and monetize it.

That's how good they are.

But this last week, she had made these incredible oatmeal cream cookies.

Listen, y'all, like I wish that we had the technology that I could let you smell the aroma of these cookies that she prepared.

They were absolutely incredible.

Now, as she was putting them together, we watched her work in the kitchen and we were spending time together.

We would we'd occasionally dip our finger in the bowl, even though she when she wasn't looking.

But there was a moment when everything was being assembled and she took it out of the oven and the smell was all over the place.

She had given me, if we can be honest, some very strict instructions.

And those instructions were do not touch it.

It has to settle and set.

If you touch it, it's going to fall apart.

I said, Yes, ma'am, I got you.

I gave her a salute and she went off to her room.

Now, when she wasn't looking, and she's probably watching this right now, when she when she wasn't looking, I said, surely, if I go and take a little piece, it's not going to affect this at all.

I mean, it's out, the smell is so captivating.

I went ahead and took a piece off of it off.

But but here's the thing.

Even though it was enticing, even though it smelled ready, when I touched it, because I didn't give it enough time to settle, it completely fell apart.

It was a it was a hot mess.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still ate it and it was still very good, but it was incredibly messy.

I hope you see where I'm going with this.

I think there are times that that our our anticipation or or even our ambition will drive us to a space where we're saying, hey, I've waited long enough.

It looks like it's good enough.

I'm ready to dive right into it.

But a lot of times when we put our hands to it too soon, it can leave us with a hot mess.

It can leave us with something that is not doing what it was intended to do.

So I believe that when the disciples are being told to wait, can you imagine if they didn't want to wait?

What if they said, Jesus, we've been with you for three and a half years.

We've seen how this is done.

We're just going to go on off into the mission field.

Can you imagine how messy it would have been for them to try to go out into the mission field without being empowered by the Holy Spirit?

That seems crazy, right?

But how often do we go into our new year putting our hands to everything that we can because it seems like it's the right time, but we're not empowered by the Holy Spirit?

See, without the Spirit's empowerment, the disciples' mission would have crumbled in their hands and would have potentially left a mess.

And I think for some of us, if we can reflect on the things that weren't as successful in this year, maybe it's not as successful because we put our hands to it too soon and it fell apart.

I recognize that waiting is not easy, but waiting on God is an act of faith.

The disciples weren't passively waiting.

When we followed the text all the way through to chapter two, we see that as the disciples were waiting, they were also together in prayer.

While they were waiting, they sought God about the replacement for Judas.

When they were waiting, they were all together in unity and the Holy Spirit came.

I don't believe that waiting means that we sit around with our with our legs crossed and just hoping for the best, but I believe that we're called to actively participate in the things of God, but we don't take a step until he tells us to do it.

Think about the ministry of Jesus.

The Bible tells us that he didn't start his earthly ministry until he was 30 years old.

But watch this, even when he was baptized, which was kind of like the initiation for his earthly ministry, he immediately went off into the wilderness for 40 more days.

Now you would imagine after waiting 30 years before he started his earthly ministry, that the moment that he got baptized, okay, let me get busy.

But what he chose to do was enter into a season of fasting and praying, modeling for us that even when we know what our calling and our mission is, we want to make sure that we've heard clear instructions from God and that our spirit is pure.

This is why whenever there's a new year, I don't typically give into the pressure of having to have everything figured out on January 1st.

In fact, I'll typically have a loose blueprint of what I'm believing God for, but I don't make any concrete decisions until after I come out of our time of prayer and fasting.

I'm not saying that that's uh a prescription of what you should do.

I'm just giving you a description of what I do.

I believe it's really helpful when we can go into a moment that even when we have a little bit of clarity to wait on God and get that seed clarity that we're looking for.

Jesus waited even when he knew what he was ultimately called to do.

So so here's what I want to do.

I want to enter into a moment where maybe we can just have some conversations right in our living room with our family members, with our friends.

And here's a couple of questions that I want us to ponder.

What areas of your life might God be asking you to wait and prepare instead of acting right now?

Another question I want you to consider is how can you intentionally use this season of waiting to deepen your relationship with God and align with his purpose?

Let's talk about it for a few minutes.

Okay, let's get into point number two.

The second thing that I can think can help us in this season of transition, this liminal space is learning to adjust our perspective.

We need to adjust our perspective because naturally we all have a view of the way that we want things to work out, but but maybe God's view is a little bit different than ours.

Let me show you what I mean in the text.

In Acts chapter 1, verse number five and six, Jesus begins to talk to his disciples about the ministry of John the Baptist, but how the Holy Spirit was going to come.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

But but look at the disciples' perspective.

They said, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

Just like the disciples, we often bring our assumptions and our expectations into our relationship with God.

We want immediate answers.

When will I get the job?

When when will a healing come?

When when this season change?

But but God's plans are often bigger and broader than what we can see.

Adjusting our perspective means shifting our focus from the limited things that we can see to something much bigger, an eternal perspective.

I've lived in Orlando now for just over five years, and one of the things that I've learned while living here is that you don't go virtually anywhere without checking on the map first.

Just because we know that there could be traffic that can turn what should have been a 10-minute drive into 40 minutes.

So I've learned to look at my map when I'm going from one destination to the next.

And typically for me, if I'm leaving from work and heading home, there's one of two ways that I typically will go.

Well, well, this one day I seen the route that I was going to take, and as I was driving on this route, very familiar, I've been doing it now for five years.

I saw that it was giving me a detour to get off on an exit, literally five exits before my exit that's closest to my home.

So in my mind, I'm thinking to myself, like, if I get off at this exit, it's gonna make me go through a different part of town.

I'm gonna hit a bunch of lights, it's gonna delay me getting home.

That actually doesn't make any sense.

So I completely ignored the GPS as it was trying to route me to get off four exits before.

Everything seemed clear with the road ahead of me.

And as I drove about another two minutes, I was like, this is crazy.

Why would it tell me to do that?

But then I turned around a corner, and wouldn't you know it, the road was at a complete standstill.

The highway was shut down, there was an accident that was ahead, there were no cars getting through, and and and I was sitting there in traffic for the next hour, didn't even move, turn my car off.

Now, now imagine when I looked at the detour that was in front of me, I looked at that as an inconvenience.

I thought it was going to drag out my my my drive home, so I ignored it altogether.

But the map actually had a bigger perspective.

They knew that further down the road, there's a complete pileup, and if you continue on this path, it's actually gonna take you longer to get to your destination.

How often is the Holy Spirit nudging us saying, hey, get off here, get a bigger perspective.

I see something that you don't see, and I'm trying to reroute you.

And even though this rerouting may not make sense, it may be a little bit frustrating.

It may delay your arrival just a little bit, but believe me, I see something bigger than you.

I believe the same thing happens with us every single day.

And for the disciples, they were looking at it from a very limited perspective.

When Jesus was resurrected, they were still looking for Jesus to restore an earthly kingdom.

Is this the time that you're gonna put Israel back into a position of power?

Is this the time?

They didn't recognize that Jesus' perspective wasn't exclusively for Israel, but he was establishing a kingdom that was going to affect the entire world.

How often do we have a vision for our lives that is so limited that God is saying, I need you to adjust your perspective?

Our human tendency is one where we have a tangible desire for immediate results over the eternal.

But what God does, he invites us into a space where he challenges us to say, I want you to see something so much bigger.

What's beautiful about this moment is that Jesus didn't rebuke their questions, but he just redirected their perspective.

Look, you're asking me about an earthly thing, and it's not for you to be consumed with that.

I want to show you something so much bigger.

I believe that all of us at times we could be so consumed with what's in front of us that we're losing the big picture of the thing that God is ultimately calling us to do.

So what I want to do is I I want to invite us to have a conversation with one another and ponder a couple of questions.

Here what out here's what I want us to talk about.

Where in your life have your own expectations or assumptions prevented you from seeing God's bigger plan?

Your drives, your vision, your desires, but God was working on something bigger.

Another question I want us to ponder is how might you be inviting God to shift your focus from immediate concerns to an eternal purpose?

Let's talk about it.

We need to rely on the Spirit's power.

We just need to rely on the Holy Spirit.

That seems like the price of admission for a follower of Christ, but how often do we rely on our own strength and we completely miss out on the power that God makes available to us?

Jesus talks to his disciples and he said, Hey, it's not your space to know the time and place when God's going to bring about his kingdom.

But for you, here's what I want to make available for you.

In a few days, the Holy Spirit, who you heard me talk about, is going to come upon you, and then you're going to be empowered to be my witnesses.

I want you to take that power and do the work of the ministry, this eternal kingdom ministry that you don't quite have perspective of.

Many of us feel overwhelmed by the challenges and the uncertainty that we face.

Whether it's navigating a difficult relationship, stepping into a new role, overcoming personal challenges.

We often wonder if we have the strength that we need to succeed.

But but Jesus' words remind us about the ability to fulfill our mission, it is not about our own strength, but it comes from Him.

Think about a sailboat.

No matter how well built it is, if it doesn't have wind, it will not make a single move.

This is the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

If we don't allow the the The ruach of God, the breath of God, the wind of God, to be the thing that breathes life into our plans, they're not going to accomplish what we think they should accomplish.

The promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke about marks a stark difference in God's engagement with his people.

From the Old Testament perspective, varying people and communities were empowered by the Holy Spirit for specific tasks and assignments.

But in the New Testament, with the with the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit now became something that's available for every believer, which means this: when we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit comes alive on the inside of us, and we have access to the same power that rose Jesus from the grave.

Think about that.

That noun dwells on the inside of us and it's available to us.

This empowerment is not for personal gain.

It's we can be empowered so that we can accomplish the mission that Jesus is given us.

Jesus redefines power from the political dynamics that the disciples were talking about, but having the power to fulfill the kingdom mission that He had given them.

This redefinition challenged the cultural assumptions about power, emphasizing the true power is found and our dependency on God.

This speaks about all of us wanting to have significance, wanting us to have purpose.

But this the Holy Spirit that equips us to live a life beyond ourselves, that enables us to have an impact that advances the kingdom of God by relying on the Holy Spirit.

We all need the Holy Spirit in order for us to do what God is ultimately called to do.

I need the Holy Spirit for me to be an effective husband.

I need the Holy Spirit for me to be a father.

I need the Holy Spirit for me to be a pastor.

I need the Holy Spirit for me to be a friend.

I wonder if there are times when we make plans and we kind of like put the Holy Spirit into our spiritual box, but we don't put it in our, we don't put it in our personal box.

We don't put it in our employment box.

And we're missing out on the power because maybe the place that you are is the mission field that God has sent you into.

We all need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

So as we're setting our plans for the new year, make sure we're inviting the Holy Spirit to be the one who breathes on our plans.

I have a crap couple of practical things I want to challenge you with.

Make sure every day we're seeking for the Holy Spirit's guidance.

Let's let's make sure we step into every mission field, the location that God planted us, recognizing that we have a missional mindset, that God has called me to be here, and I have an assignment while I'm here.

And let's trust that God is equipping us with His Spirit.

So here's a couple of questions I want you to ponder with your community.

What are the areas of your life that you're trying to navigate in your own strength rather than lying on the power that comes from the Holy Spirit?

And the second question is this how is God calling you to step into your mission as witnesses in your home, in your workplace, in your community?

Wherever you are, I truly believe that it's a God-given assignment.

So as we close today, friends, I want to remind us of this.

The disciples were in this liminal space, and as they were looking at the ascension of Christ, but waiting for the Holy Spirit to come on the day of Pentecost, they had to navigate this.

But the way that they navigate it was preparing by embracing the time of pausing, praying, preparing, putting some things in order, adjusting their perspective, aligning their hearts with the vision that God has given them and not just their own, but also they needed to rely on the Holy Spirit's power to fulfill the mission that God has given them.

2025, you have a mission, but let's be empowered by God's Spirit.

So as we step into this new year, let us do it with confidence, knowing that the same spirit that empowered the disciples is alive and working in every single one of us.

I pray that you and your family are blessed.

I pray that your Christmas was amazing, and I pray that your new year is going to be incredible.

I want to remind us that next week we're right back together at OMA at our 9 o'clock and our 10:30 service.

If you are in the Orlando area and you stumbled upon this, please consider coming to join us for one of our in-person services.

I want to pray a blessing on you guys, and I can't wait to see you next week.

Lord, we thank you so much for giving us the ability that we can pause in these liminal spaces to be prepared for the work that you have for us.

That it's in these moments, God, that we can be equipped, that we can have our perspective adjusted to make sure that we have an eternal perspective.

And God, we can be empowered by your spirit to handle the assignments that you send our way.

Lord, I pray over our community and ask that you give us the ability to be patient, the ability to wait, that you give us the vision that aligns with your heart, and that you empower us with your spirit with every assignment you've given us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

God bless you guys.

See you next week.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.