The Power of the Holy Spirit - Pastor Susie Gamez | Sacramento

If I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, I am Susie, one of the pastors here.

And um, you know, I I asked it already, but I'm genuinely curious.

How are we doing this morning?

How's everyone doing?

Good, beautiful, blessed, great.

Amen.

Now I know there's a lot of us in the room right now, so it's kind of silly for me to ask how you're doing and expect everyone to be good, great, blessed, highly favored.

And I'm glad that some of you genuinely are feeling good.

You can say, I'm doing great, and I feel blessed and highly favored.

But I'm also glad that some of you are honest enough to say, hey, you know what?

I'm not doing so great.

Not everything feels so good right now.

I'm glad that you're here.

And um, I'm glad that this message will be for you today because I think regardless of where we're at, all of us could use some encouragement today.

Amen?

Amen.

You know, by this point in our worship service, it's a little easier for me to come out and encourage you all because by this time uh we've had some time to pray and to praise, and we've unlocked the power of praise.

In case you didn't know, there is power in your praise, especially in times when you you're not necessarily feeling it, but you you command your spirit to praise and you start to praise, and sometimes what happens as you praise is those feelings follow.

Sometimes, even if there's a little bit of doubt or or you're singing the song, and you're like, do I really believe this?

As you sing it, something gets stirred up inside of you.

The Holy Spirit starts to remind you, no, these words that you're singing, they're not, it's not just a sing-along.

These are declarations of truth.

There is power in your praise, and something starts to happen in the spiritual realm when we praise.

And so I feel like at this point, after we've had some time to pray and to praise, it might be a little easier for me to come out and encourage you all with a word.

Um, maybe it felt like a bit of a wrestling match to get here.

Whether it be with the enemy or with yourself or with your spouse or your kids, it felt like a wrestling match to get here, but we glad we're glad that you made it, and we know that God has got something for you.

So I do hope that you leave feeling more encouraged than when you came.

I hope that the word will be illuminated to you, and you'll leave not with just more knowledge, but that you'll have some more conviction behind that knowledge.

And I pray that that conviction turns into action, and that action turns into growth and transformation in you and through you and around you.

And here's the thing: all that you might need for that chain reaction to get set off is a little encouragement.

So, God, again, we come to you today asking you to encourage us, fan us into flames, stir something up within us, make us attentive to however you want to speak and move in us, through us, and around us today.

Holy Spirit, we make room in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So, a little over a week ago, I came across a video that uh had already started to go viral, and I didn't realize that it was about to get even more viral.

So, when I saw it, is it had around 2 million views.

And I checked yesterday and it had 23.5 million views, and that's just on Instagram.

Um, now we're gonna show you the video, and I want you to know that we did DM the person who owns the video, and um we got permission from mom to show this video that uh actually maybe tuning in, she said she'd like to tune in to the live stream.

So we want to say hello to the family of baby Hank.

Um, thank you for allowing us to share the joy.

And for those of you who catch on quick, I already gave you some hints.

We're about to show you a video of an impossibly adorable baby named Hank.

Um Hank, who because of his Down syndrome is expected to have some delays.

This is a video of him at nine months attempting to say his first words.

So take a look.

I watched that video so many times, and I cried every time that I watched it.

And you know, the caption tells us that he's gonna say, I know, he's gonna say his first words, so you know it's coming.

But but I mean, if you're like me, we all all of a sudden Hank has like millions of aunties and uncles, right?

Who were watching the video and and we were leaning in, we were cheering them on, and we were like, come on, Hank, you can do it, you can do it, right?

And we wanted so badly for him to say the words, and when he finally says it, you see, you know, after the initial shock at their reaction, what you see is so endearing because you see a baby who's just so happy and proud that he did the thing, right?

He he fought for it, he struggled, and and and he did the hard thing.

And and you see an adorable little baby feel loved and seen and celebrated.

And he delights in how much his parents delight in him.

He delights in how much his parents delight in him.

And of course, I'm gonna point this to Jesus because we're at church and this is what you came for, right?

I I mean, so many of us were moved by this video for so many reasons, but think about how much, and I know this might be a strange word for some of us because maybe it's not in regular rotation of our vocabulary, but think about how much delight you felt when you saw how much this baby delighted and how much his parents delighted in him.

I'll say it another way, unless your feelings don't work, uh, you probably felt at least a little spark of joy watching this baby take joy in how much his parents took joy in him.

There's something really powerful about knowing that someone delights in you.

And like I said, I know it might sound strange because we live in California in 2026, not in England in 1928.

And if you're uh under 50, nobody really says delighted to meet you anymore, right?

But the point is, even when back in the day, when people said this often, were they really delighted when they're meeting someone for the very first time?

And maybe over the years we just got realer.

Uh we say nice to meet you, because that's that's a little bit more authentic, right?

It's nice to be meet you, but it's not like I'm delighted to meet you, because I don't even really know you yet.

Delighted means overjoyed, thrilled, ecstatic.

Delight was what we saw happen between Hank and his parents.

Delighting in someone should require to really know someone.

And sometimes really knowing someone actually makes it harder for you to delight in them because you know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And yet, God knows each one of us deeply and intimately better than anyone else on the planet and delights in us any more than anyone else on the planet does too.

I wish I had the scripture slides for these, but if you want to write them down, I'm giving you a chance to write these down real quick.

I'm gonna reference some scriptures that that give you evidence of this because Psalm 139 tells us that before we were even born, we were knit together in our mother's womb by God.

Luke 12, 7 tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head.

Psalm 139 goes back and tells us that he knows our thoughts from afar.

He knows when we sit and when we rise, he knows where we're gonna go, what we're thinking, what we're gonna do, even before we know it.

Romans 8 tells us that neither height nor depth nor principality, no power in this world can ever separate us from the love of God.

That's how strong and ever present his love is.

He knows everything about us better than we know ourselves, and yet he loves us.

Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that he delights in us, he rejoices over us with singing, is what it tells us.

Zephaniah 3:17

If you go back to that verse, it actually describes God first as a warrior.

He fights for you, he fights over you, he's your protector and your guard, he is a warrior over you, and yet he also delights in you.

He sings with joy over us.

1 John 4.19 tells us that we love because he first loved us.

We delight in him as a response to knowing that he delights in us.

God loves us, God delights in us.

Now, based on that video that we just watched, uh, I don't want you to get it twisted.

I'm not saying that we have to do things or accomplish things to win God's approval and love.

Hank's parents loved him before he said da-da, and they didn't love him more because he said it, and they wouldn't have loved him any less if he didn't.

But they were so proud of him when he did the hard thing.

I think there are a number of life lessons that you can learn when watching this video.

You see the power of setting an example so others can learn.

Did you see how hard Hank studied his father's face?

The movements of his mouth, the sound of his voice.

He learned by imitating what he saw modeled to him.

You can learn about what good discipleship looks like by watching this video.

And did you see the power of engagement and encouragement?

Hank's parents knew that he had it in him to do this.

So they fanned him into flame.

They stirred him up.

And the thing that fueled this victory or this milestone for baby Hank was the love, the presence, and the help of his parents.

So today, as we continue our series on the Holy Spirit, I want to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, but maybe not in the way that you might expect.

We hope that through this series on the Holy Spirit, we can help familiarize you with the person of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables you to feel like you have a better and more personal understanding of who Holy Spirit is without taking away from the mystery and the magnitude of the who, what, why, and how Holy Spirit moves.

The third person of the Trinity is far more accessible and nearer than we could imagine, but also far greater, far more awesome and far more powerful than we could fathom or understand.

That said, today I have a list of just three simple ways, but three transformative ways that the power of the Holy Spirit manifests around us, in us, and through us.

So, point one, the Holy Spirit comes alongside to help us.

The Holy Spirit comes alongside to help us.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as the paraclete.

What does paraclete mean?

Well, parakleo is a Greek verb that translates to call alongside.

Para means beside or along, and kaleo means to call.

The noun form is parakletos, which means one who stands beside to help, to support, to strengthen and encourage.

The parakletos acts as an advocate, one who uh gives comfort in times of distress and gives hope in challenging situations.

Have you ever faced something that felt impossible to do on your own?

Well, the parakletos fights for you and reminds you that we aren't alone and we don't have to do things in our own strength.

Another way that the Holy Spirit helps and encourages is in bringing to mind the truth of God's word at just the right time.

The parakletos provides encouragement and help exactly when it's needed.

The Holy Spirit can provide peace and assurance, assuring us of God's love and God's promises and offering a peace that surpasses understanding, like Philippians 4 7 tells us.

Like when it doesn't make sense to have peace about a situation because the situation seems anything but peaceful, the Holy Spirit can guard your heart and guard your mind and assure you, I will give you a peace that surpasses understanding because I'm with you.

I'm gonna help you.

I have not left you alone to fight this battle.

I will fight your battles.

So the Holy Spirit will come alongside and encourage and remind us and give us a peace that surpasses understanding.

Holy Spirit can be seen as a persistent force that acts as the inner whisperer that gives you hope, lifts your spirits, and keeps you going, especially when you feel tired and discouraged and need supernatural strength to endure.

Has anyone ever found themselves in a situation like that where you could use supernatural strength and encouragement?

Well, the good news is that the Holy Spirit does exactly that.

Here's one of my favorite ways we sometimes see the power of the Holy Spirit show up and encourage through other people.

The paraclete sometimes shows up through someone else that has followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit in them.

And maybe at just the right time, someone shows up.

Maybe at just the right time, something shows up.

Maybe at just the right time, someone shares a word that seems right on time for you, and God is speaking to you through that person.

I I love when God shows up that way.

In fact, God showed up that way for me recently.

Uh after having a couple of difficult conversations and different happenings, which really felt much like spiritual warfare.

Um, earlier this week I found myself in my closet once again on the floor talking to God.

Uh, one of my favorite places to talk to God because um it's a good hideout from my kids.

I can go and be alone with God and I can be real with God because there's a sound barrier, and my kids will leave me alone when I'm in the closet.

Um, it actually has turned out not to be the best hiding place because they've come to discover this is where I hide, so they know to come here.

But they they have learned that if I'm in the closet and if they can hear me praying, especially in those times, they know, ooh, we might have to leave mommy alone for a little bit.

But I'm in my closet talking to God, praying, being really honest.

And in my very honest conversation with God, I told him, I know it's probably not right for me to keep saying this.

And and I know you're probably sick of me coming to you again and again with this.

But God, I'm just gonna be real because I know you know how I feel anyway.

And uh, I'll be honest with you all too.

Uh I'm glad that uh vulnerability is is being embraced more by society these days.

Because you know, we've been taught to uh to feel like vulnerability is a weakness, and vulnerability isn't something that you should practice in front of other people uh because it can make you look weak, it can make you look like you don't have it together.

Um and I I I I I hesitated even to include this in my message today, but vulnerability also helps foster trust, and vulnerability is also very relatable because when I tell you more about my conversation with God, I bet you can relate.

Have you ever had a time when you've found yourself being really honest with God and you tell God, I just feel like I can't do this anymore?

That's the conversation I was having with God.

I feel like I can't do this anymore, God.

And your this probably looks different from my this.

You probably have a this at work or at school or at home, it might be in your marriage, it might be with your kids, it might be with your parents, your neighbor, whatever your this is.

Many of us have probably gone through a season where you've told God, or maybe you've thought this with God, and you said, you know what, I don't know if I can do this.

And I I often find myself feeling like I'm I'm kind of walking a fine line because I know that God knows what I'm thinking, knows what I'm feeling, so I can't fake God out anyway.

But I want to be careful because there are times when when you go from just being honest about your feelings with God and you're saying, I'm just telling you this is what I feel like, to then you get you can get in your feelings and you're like, hold on, God, no, but like I'm trying to be really real with you, and then you start to try to convince God, no, no, no, I'm telling you I can't do this anymore.

I don't know if you knew this guy, but I actually can't do this.

And and you go from walking a fine line of like, okay, I'm being honest, I'm I'm a bit resistant here, I'm a bit reluctant here to like you could cross over into straight up rebellion towards God.

Because if I'm being honest again with you, um, I want to be like Job, who knew how to suffer well.

He went through so much hardship, and yet he never turned away from God.

He never, he never, he never got angry at God.

Job suffered well.

So, on the one hand, I want to be like Job, but on the other hand, I don't want to be like Job.

I don't want to suffer like he did.

Job suffered immensely, but I also don't want to be like Jonah, who knew that God had a calling and a purpose and a very specific thing for him to do, and he said, uh-oh, God, and he tried to run away.

And it didn't work out very well for Jonah, did it?

I mean, eventually he came around, but I would rather have that posture where I can say, help me to embrace this.

I'm being honest with you, God.

I feel like I can't do this, but by the end of my prayer time with God, I just told him, okay, it's not like I need, I need a sign from you so that you can convince me that you're real, because I know you're real.

God, I've walked with you for decades now, and I know that you're real, and I know that you hear me, I know that you know me, so I don't have to be convinced that you're real, but God, I'm just coming to you, asking you for some help.

And I know you have encouraged me so many times, God, but if I may, can I just ask for a little bit of encouragement again?

Can I ask for some help?

I ended that time just saying, God, it would be nice to have a very clear and direct sign that you are telling me that I can in fact do this because you've called me to this.

And I know it's been a season of discouragement and disappointment for many of us, for many reasons.

And at the same time, it's been a season of rich and spirit-filled encouragement for for many reasons as well.

I I mean, even last week, um, there's something about seeing the next generation stand up.

If you were here at church last week, there was a group of youth that came forward, and and two of my kids were amongst them.

And and watching the next generation stand here and declare and say, I'm gonna cry out.

I'm gonna cry out, I'm gonna use my voice to praise God, I'm going to use my gifts to serve God, I'm not gonna shrink back.

That was so encouraging for me to see and to witness.

And so so it might sound childish and immature for me to pout before God and say, I can't do this, but he's also kind and patient enough to prompt someone to text me at just the right time.

Because when I came out of the um, I came out of my room, I I um I did whatever my kids were, they were pounding on the door, so I had to come out of the room eventually, right?

So I come out and I'm I'm answering whatever my parents my kids are asking of me.

And about 30 minutes later, I pick up my phone and I have a text message waiting for me.

And this is what the text says a word.

From the Lord for you.

A random text, not from a random person.

I know her and love her deeply, and she prays for me often, but she doesn't know that I was having this wrestling match with God.

She didn't know what was happening, but she just said, Hey, a word from the Lord for you.

And in all caps, it says, You can do this.

So God is very clear and very direct and very encouraging sometimes, isn't He?

The Holy Spirit is our helper.

The Holy Spirit is our encourager.

And it doesn't always show up like that, but God was kind and gracious enough to me this week again to encourage me with a very direct and clear word.

And I know that that word was for me very timely in that moment, but I do wonder if some of you right now need to hear that same message.

You can do this.

Maybe I need to get a face tat that with uh Philippians 4 13.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I'm just kidding, Mom, I'm not gonna get that tattoo.

Um but but but I think all of us need to get that kind of encouragement every day.

We we need to be reminded the truth of scripture that tells us we can do this, we can do hard things, we can do this through Christ who strengthens us, with the help of the Holy Spirit who is with us, who helps us, who encourages us.

And every day we need to be reminded to keep going.

Because the Holy Spirit has not left us to do this on our own.

But you know what else God has given us in the person of the Holy Spirit?

Besides one that comes alongside to help us?

Many of us know the verse John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

So, yes, we know that God gave us his son, but it doesn't stop there.

God delights in us so much that he gave us more of himself, not just to live amongst us for a period of time, but to live in us, to help us, to empower us, to embolden us, to remind us that we are never alone and we don't do this life alone.

So that's point two.

The Holy Spirit lives in us and empowers us.

Now, this might essentially be saying the same thing as point one, but there is something to be said, something to be emphasized in the fact that the Holy Spirit does not just come alongside of us to help us, but the Holy Spirit actually lives in us.

Do you know this?

Do we know this?

There are many people who actually don't, like maybe we live like we don't believe it, but the Holy Spirit lives in us.

When you make that commitment, when you surrender your life to Jesus and accept him not just as Savior but as Lord over your life, he puts a deposit in you.

He seals you with his presence.

He gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit to live in you, to dwell in you.

When he says, I will not leave you to do this life alone, he means it because he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But some of us are not living like we know it.

Many of you know that back in September of 2023, my husband Marcos, he had to have open heart surgery.

He was born with a pretty serious heart defect in his aortic valve, but he didn't even know it until two and a half years ago.

And so we flew to New York to get a special procedure done where they took his aortic valve, and they basically threw it away, and they took his pulmonic valve, which mirrors the aortic valve.

So they took the healthy pulmonic valve and put it in the place of the aortic valve, and in place of his pulmonic valve, they took a cadaver donor valve.

So they took a valve from someone else and they put it in the place of his pulmonic valve.

And what I'm trying to tell you is that a part of someone else now lives inside of Marcos.

Someone else's pulmonic valve now helps power Marcos's heart.

A part of someone else now lives inside of Marcos and empowers Marcos.

You know where I'm going with this, right?

I just went there.

A part of someone else lives in you and powers your heart.

When you said yes to Jesus, he didn't just give you a little heart valve replacement.

He gave you a whole new heart.

He made you an entirely new creation.

He turned you around and put you in a different direction.

He gave you purpose, he gave you a new identity.

You have a calling, you have gifts.

Not only were you given the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit that dwells in you, but you have each been uniquely gifted with gifts of the Holy Spirit.

But are we living like it?

Do we know this?

This is what 2 Timothy 1.7 tells us.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind or self-control.

I'm gonna read it to you with a little more context.

So, in case you didn't realize it, 2 Timothy, it follows 1 Timothy.

And 1 Timothy was the first letter that Paul writes to his son in the faith, Timothy, about uh five to six years prior when Timothy was starting out in his role overseeing the church in Ephesus.

So 2 Timothy was the second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy, and if there was a third, there it would have been called 3 Timothy, except there wasn't, because 2 Timothy was the last letter that Paul ever wrote.

Paul wrote this letter from prison, knowing that his time on earth and therefore his ministry was coming to an end.

So in 2 Timothy verses chapter 1, verses 3 to 7, where we're about to read from, the Apostle Paul writes to his beloved son in the faith to reflect on God's goodness, and he writes to encourage Timothy to stay faithful.

And he says, This I thank God whom I serve as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also.

So he's pointing out the legacy of faith, the good thing that has been passed down to Timothy through his grandmother and his mother, their prayers and their faith, the way that they modeled and discipled him.

And he says in verse 6, For this reason I remand remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.

Paul is breathing out his last breaths, writing his letter from jail, knowing he's about to die.

And while he breathes out his last breaths, he he tries to breathe more life into Timothy.

Five, six years ago, when he wrote his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote to him saying in 1 Timothy 6.12, he says to him, fight the good fight of faith.

He has many lines like this where he encourages him, just keep fighting, keep going, keep the faith, fight the good fight of faith, Timothy.

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Later on, Paul tells him, Hey, remember all the things that have been entrusted to you, all the things that you've heard say, said in front of many witnesses.

Take those things that you've been entrusted with and entrust those to other people who will entrust it to other people, who will entrust it to other people, so that the faith may continue, so that discipleship may continue.

He's encouraging him, carry out the work.

My time is done, but you keep fighting and keep fighting to encourage other people who will keep fighting and will keep carrying on the message of the gospel as well.

And he says to Timothy, Whatever lies ahead of you, keep fighting, stay the course, hold on to your calling.

He knows that Timothy is in a tough situation, overseeing a tough ministry in a tough set of circumstances.

And now, half a decade later, when Paul writes to him again, he echoes these words.

And in 2 Timothy 4 7, he says, at the end of his life and ministry, I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race and I have kept the faith.

Paul encourages Timothy to stay faithful because he himself endured so much hardship and he knew how hard it could be to stay fighting and fight the good fight, to finish the race well and to faithfully keep the faith until the end.

My father was a pastor and a missionary for many years.

And when I first told him that I was praying about going into full-time ministry, I thought that he would be overjoyed.

But instead, he was apprehensive.

And so I noticed it right away that he didn't respond with a oh great, hallelujah.

Instead, he kind of stayed quiet and he went, hmm.

So I asked him, Well, do you think it's not a good idea?

Do you think am I wrong?

Like, is it not my calling?

And he said, No, it's it's not because of that.

I'm I'm I will pray with you and I'm I'm glad for this.

This is a high calling.

But I just know how difficult ministry can be.

And so, from the vantage point of a father who has lived through it himself and knew that there would be a journey of suffering and hardship for me ahead too if I said yes to a call to ministry.

He he just he paused.

But for the past uh 20 some odd years, my parents have been my most faithful intercessors and encouragers.

They have been my Paul, my Lois, my Eunice.

They have modeled to me what it looks like to fight the good fight of faith.

They have modeled to me what it looks like to stay faithful in tough situations, and they have spurred me on and fanned me into flame.

And so I'm so grateful for my parents.

And I know that they're watching online right now too, so I'll just say I'm a sharang amnita.

So Paul on his in his final days, he tells Timothy, he says, My time is up, but you keep going.

I have finished my race, but you keep fighting.

So you keep running your race, Timothy.

And remember, the Holy Spirit will come beside you and help you.

The Holy Spirit lives inside of you and will empower you.

So don't let the troubles of this world, the false teachings that are rampant all around you, Timothy, and the attacks and the accusations that Satan will hurl upon you, don't let those things quench your fire.

Don't let those things make your fire grow cold.

Don't bury your gifts and your talents.

Don't run away from your calling.

Instead, fan it into flame and burn with passion.

Fan it into flame.

Paul tells Timothy, fan into flame the gift of God.

Because did you know that you can actually quench the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is given to you as a gift, but you can pour water on it.

You can drown it out, you can quench the fire of the Holy Spirit in you.

And when you quench the Holy Spirit, did you know that you can also grieve the Holy Spirit?

And when you quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, do you know that you can also insult and deny the Holy Spirit?

These are clear commands that we should take seriously.

1 Thessalonians 5.19 tells us, do not quench the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4.30 tells us do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 10.29 tells us do not insult the spirit of grace.

So don't minimize, don't deny or profane the work of the cross and deny the Holy Spirit.

I pray that we take these commands seriously.

Do not quench the Holy Spirit.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, and do not insult or deny the Holy Spirit.

It's a very scary thought, actually.

And I think this is why we get accused of having a powerless Christianity, having the appearance of holiness, but not having the power.

Because we quench the Holy Spirit far too often, and therefore we grieve the Holy Spirit and we insult and deny the Holy Spirit.

The scary reality is that we have become afraid of offending the world.

We have become so afraid of offending the world that we water down scripture and we're afraid of being weird.

And to be honest, we're just afraid of not being in control.

Because when we surrender to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit has an agenda that might not always match up with our own agenda.

And we're scared of not being in control.

So we water down the power of the Holy Spirit, thereby quenching the Holy Spirit, grieving the spirit, and denying the power of the Holy Spirit.

So it's time to confess and repent.

I'm gonna do that right now.

Let's do better, let's do differently.

Lord, forgive us for not making more room for you in our own hearts.

And even for us as a church, Lord, forgive us for the ways that we've quenched your spirit, grieved you by not surrendering to you.

We've at times denied and insulted you, thereby even seemingly being ashamed of you, Lord.

So please forgive us, Lord.

Let us not be a people who don't know how to make room for the Holy Spirit.

Help us, Lord, to give up control and not just pay lip service when we say, Holy Spirit, have your way.

We want to make room for you, Holy Spirit.

Last week at our denominations regional conference, I heard a fellow pastor preach a powerful message about preparing the church for changing times.

And from that message, the strongest exhortation that I heard was this prioritize making room for the Holy Spirit over formulating your own best strategies for growth.

Prioritize making room for the Holy Spirit over your best strategies for growth.

So make room for the Holy Spirit.

What good is it if people are overflowing out of our rooms and we pack out the church so much that the overflow rooms are overflowing, but we haven't made room for the Holy Spirit?

What good is it if we put on a good program at church, but the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit is not felt?

What good is it if we don't carry the peace of the Holy Spirit yet we come to church every Sunday?

Now you may have noticed a shift in the last several months where we have been intentional about making more room for the Holy Spirit to move.

I mean, it's simple, and even that, just you know, just just coming to the altar does not mean that, oh, okay, like like we've arrived, you know, like we've we've figured it out as church.

But but all we're doing is just making room.

Because for for us as preachers, here's what it's easy for us to do.

We pray, we we prepare, right?

We have notes, and we can tie up uh the message with a bow and say, okay, and there's the message, go home and be blessed.

But when we pause and we say, Holy Spirit, we want to respond to what we've just heard.

We want to make room for you to move.

God, we want to bring, we want to listen to you.

It feels a little risky at times because sometimes we go over time and it's not always a clean, like, okay, the music goes on and you all leave.

Like sometimes there's like a do we linger?

What do we do?

Do we, you know, but but it's okay because we're making room for the Holy Spirit.

We want to hear the Holy Spirit, we want to be more intimately experienced with the Holy Spirit.

And from our vantage point, again, I'm saying it can be kind of scary, but we want to act in faith and we want to surrender.

You know, God doesn't always speak to us or move in ways that we might sometimes be uh afraid of how the Holy Spirit might move, right?

Because sometimes, you know, like depending on what your church experience has been, maybe it's like, oh, I haven't really encountered the Holy Spirit unless I I um I fall out, or unless I'm speaking in tongues, or unless like there's like big big signs and miracles and wonders, right?

And you know what?

The Holy Spirit does still move that way, but the Holy Spirit also can speak to us in a still small voice.

The Holy Spirit can still speak to us by inviting us to be still and know that He is God.

The Holy Spirit can speak to us in a still small whisper, and God just invites us to keep lifting up our eyes and acknowledging where our help comes from.

Sometimes all we have to do is get out of the way and make room.

And my final point I'll make quickly because um I'm actually gonna preach this in my next message, but but point three is this the power of the Holy Spirit also flows out of us to bless others.

The power of the Holy Spirit flows out of us to bless others, and 1 Corinthians 12 gets into the gifts of the Spirit.

So if you want some homework, go home and read 1 Corinthians 12.

It lists out different kinds of spiritual gifts, and it tells us about unity and diversity in the body of Christ, the church, which is one body but has many parts, who all have different gifts, but each adds great value to the body.

So if I can sum up 1 Corinthians chapter 12 succinctly, it would be this we are all given unique and valuable spiritual gifts, but these gifts are not given to you for your own benefit or to puff you up or to make you big headed.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

The gifts of the Spirit are meant to build up the body of Christ.

Your unique gifts are to bless others and to build one another up.

So the Holy Spirit flows out of you to bless others.

So now, in the spirit of making room for the Spirit to move and speak to you however God needs to speak to you, I'm gonna get out of the way and invite you to take a moment to listen to God.

Or if you need to cry out to God, the altar is open for anyone who feels like they could use some extra encouragement from the helper.

If you need to be reminded that God comes beside you to help you, and that God lives in you, dwells in you to empower you, then come to the altar.

Come cry out to God, come posture yourself to listen to God, and just know that we're making room for the Holy Spirit to move.

And I want all of us to consider this invitation.

When's the last time that you did something that scared you a little bit?

When's the last time you heard God prompt you?

And and you know that there was a little nudge from the Holy Spirit that was to do something that might scare you a little bit or be out of your comfort zone.

But instead of listening to, or instead of pouring water on it and saying, Shh, get out of the way, you said, Here I am, Lord, send me.

Like the youth modeled for us last week.

When's the last time you you said, God, I want to be challenged, I want to live into the way that the Holy Spirit wants to empower me.

This week, go home and do that.

Make that a regular habit.

Say, Holy Spirit, speak to me.

Holy Spirit, give me discernment.

Holy Spirit, allow me to move in the power that you have have given me.

You've not given me a spirit of fear or timidity, you've given me a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind.

So I want to move with you.

I want to use my gifts for your glory.

So fan us into flame, Holy Spirit.

Middle, we're not called to uh be the biggest, sexiest, coolest church in Sacramento.

We're called to be the light of the world, and a city on a hill cannot be hidden.

So we pray, Holy Spirit, light us on fire.

God, let us burn from the inside out, and God let us not be those who pour water on that fire.

Instead, Holy Spirit, fan us into flame.

Make us people who are marked by your power, marked by your presence, marked by your peace.

And Holy Spirit, with your help, with the reminder that you indwell within us, empower us, Lord, to bless others.

Lord, let us be a people who shine brightly, not for our for our shine, Lord, but for your glory and for the good of your people.

God, walk with us, encourage us, and remind us of your presence day by day.

And every day we'll say to you, Lord.