The Power of the Holy Spirit | Brad Straarup

I have a confession, and uh I'm sad to admit this, but you know, a couple years back, my wife and I were watching a documentary on Netflix, and uh we saw this documentary by the name of uh The Social Dilemma.

Has anyone ever watched The Social Dilemma?

It's basically this documentary that just convinces you that if you use social media, you're gonna die.

It's just like don't do it.

It's like it's the worst thing, like you know, people are controlling you, and like it's just it's just crazy.

And I remember watching it and being like, oh my gosh, this is crazy.

And I turned to my wife and I was like, never again.

Never again will I ever be on social media.

I'm like, it is done.

Like I'm done, like I'm finished with this.

And then the very next day, she she came up to me and she was like, Hey, what are you doing?

And I'm like, Huh?

And she's like, What are you doing?

I'm like, I'm social media.

She's like, Well, what what happened about what you said the the the day before?

Has that happened to anyone ever that you like decide that you're gonna do something, but for some reason, you just don't have the ability, you don't have the discipline to do the thing that you decided to do.

Has that happened to anyone?

Yeah, you watched that documentary about veganism and you were like, oh, I'm going vegan.

It's like the healthy thing to do, and someone gives you a steak that night and you're like, gladly.

You're like, I'm I'm done with the whole vegan thing, right?

It can happen to us all the time.

We go into the new year and we're like, this is the year that I get fit.

You're going to 21 days of prayer and fasting.

You're like, this is my moment to like get a jump start, you know, and you're like, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds, and you finish prayer and fasting, and then two months later you're like, Great, I have 30 more to go.

Like, this is going great.

Like, I'm just I'm going in the wrong direction.

You're like, I want to do this, but I just don't have the power to do it.

And I think some of those are funny, but you know, sometimes the things that we're trying to get over are serious.

Like sometimes you can have a mindset that is so blocked, maybe someone has told you you're ugly, someone has told you that you're never gonna amount to anything, and you're trying your best to get over that thing, but for some reason, you feel like you just aren't able to break free.

Others of us, it may be an addiction, there might be something that has so got your life on hold, and you're trying everything that you can do to break free from that thing, but you just feel like you don't have the power.

Has anyone ever just felt like you don't have the power?

Like I don't have the power to do the thing that God has called me to do.

One of the things that I've noticed in my life is this I do not have an information problem.

I am like sufficiently informed.

Like I can just go into Chat GPT, I can go to Claude, and I can ask a question and I have the information I need.

Most of the time, my problem is not that I have an information problem, it's that I have a power problem.

I have the information I need, I just don't have the power to do the thing that I need to do.

Is this talking to anyone?

Has anyone ever been in that place before?

And that sentence is a sentence that I believe opens up a story that I want to tell you guys today about two parts of the Bible.

One is in the Old Testament and one is in the New Testament, and I want to parallel the two.

You know, in the Old Testament, after the Israelites come out of Egypt, Moses goes up on a mountain to Mount Sinai, and in that place, God comes and he gives them the law.

He meets with Moses and he gives them the law, he writes it on tablets, it's the covenant that he's making with his people.

And Moses starts walking down this mountain.

And man, before he's even at the bottom of the mountain, the Israelites are being crazy.

Like the Israelites have already broken it.

Like he hasn't even gotten down on the mountain and they've already done it.

And Moses gets so mad that what he does is he throws it down and the law is broken.

It signifies in that moment, a couple of seconds in, the law is completely broken, and there's a consequence to that action.

And I want to read it to you, and trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.

Exodus 32, 27, it says this that he says to them, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.

Each man strap a sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from one end to the another, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.

The Levites did as Moses commanded, and on that day, 3,000, say 3,000.

3,000 people died.

It's kind of a wild moment in scripture that the law is given, but what we see is that the law produces death.

And even though the law was good, we are not.

And what happened is we have the standard in the Old Testament that we have to meet, but we don't have the power to actually meet that thing.

So what happens is the enemy is able to start using that and we start falling because we're not able to actually complete the will that God had for us.

Now I want to show you a second story that is found in the New Testament, and it's a story about the Holy Spirit.

You see, because in Acts chapter 2, there is a moment where Jesus dies, and Jesus goes to the right hand of the Father, and he says, Wait, because I am sending someone, I am sending the Holy Spirit, who it is better for you that he comes.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And in that moment, they are all gathered together, and here's what it says Acts 2, verse 1.

Acts 2:1

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly, I love the sudden lease of the Bible, suddenly a sound of the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the house where they were sitting.

And they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

They start speaking this language, and people come and they start hearing that.

What happens is for the first time, people start hearing the gospel, the goodness of God in their own language.

The Holy Spirit comes and he so fills that room that people are getting saved.

And timid Peter, the one that denied Jesus to like a middle school girl, all of a sudden gets up and he says this repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This promise is for you and your children and all of those who are far off, whom the Lord will call.

With many other words, he warned him and he pleaded with him, save yourself from this corrupt generation.

Here's what I want to say.

Verse 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000, say 3,000.

3,000 were added to that number that day.

You gotta know this.

If you were a Jew, you picked up on what just happened.

Because in the Old Testament, Moses ends up going up a mountain and he receives the law, and he comes down, and they are unable.

They do not have the strength, they do not have the power to do the thing that we need to do.

But then Jesus comes, the greater Moses, he doesn't go up a mountain, he goes up to the Father, and instead of sending down the law, he sends down his Holy Spirit, who comes and doesn't write the law on a tablet but writes it on our hearts.

And he gives us the power that we didn't have to be free.

He gives us the power to do the thing that we couldn't do there, now we can do now.

There is power that is coming down from on high in the Holy Spirit, and so often we don't accept the power that He wants to bring.

There is power that is available to every single one of us.

God comes down, grace comes down, love comes down, the empowerer, the advocate, the comforter.

And when the Old Testament, where you see the standard and you fail, at Pentecost, God doesn't give us a standard, he gives us himself.

He gives us his Holy Spirit.

And the law is no longer on tablets, it's written on our hearts.

We're in the second week of a series on the Holy Spirit.

And last week, what I wanted to do is I told you about the person of the Holy Spirit.

That the Holy Spirit is not a force, he is a person.

He is God, and he is my best friend, and he ain't weird.

And we talked about Holy Spirit, ain't weird, people are weird.

People do weird stuff and then they blame it on the Holy Spirit.

That ain't the Holy Spirit, that's another kind of spirit.

Holy Spirit is not weird.

And what I want to do today is I don't want to talk about the person of the Holy Spirit.

I want to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit came down, but people are like, okay, what did he come down for?

And I want to explain the day he came down.

Okay, and it's the scary word that people kind of like freak out about.

Okay, here's the word, okay?

Brace yourself.

Pentecost.

Okay, people are like, is that a horror movie?

Like, are we good?

Okay, what is what what what is what is Pentecost?

And I want us to have the same understanding of what Pentecost was and the beautiful day that it is and how it actually affects your life today.

And one of the challenges whenever you're preaching is that people come from different backgrounds, especially when it comes to the Holy Spirit.

And I want you to bring us back to the Word of God because we all come from different spaces.

Okay.

How many of you grew up and you're a Baptist?

Baptist, lift up a hand.

Okay.

Hi, Baptist.

Hi.

That's awesome.

Okay.

How many of you are Presbyterian?

You grew up Presbyterian?

Any of you Presbyterians?

Okay.

How many of you grew up Methodist?

Any Methodists?

Okay, okay.

How many of you Catholic?

You grew up Catholic?

Yep, that's crazy.

That's a lot.

Charismatics, Pentecostals, lift up both hands.

Praise God.

There we go.

Okay, there we go.

There we go.

So one of the challenges is that we always need to be able to come to the middle.

Okay?

And that's what I want to be able to do because so often we're rejecting the Holy Spirit because I believe we've received the Holy Spirit in bad packaging.

We've heard him talk about in a way that isn't actually biblical.

So I want to talk about Pentecost.

And this is my first point.

Pentecost is this the day that power came down.

Some of you are struggling in a business deal, some of you are struggling in an addiction in your life, and you're saying, I don't have the ability to overcome this thing.

Let me just tell you, power has come down.

Power has come down in the form of the Holy Spirit, and it happened at Pentecost.

People are like, okay, what is Pentecost?

Okay, here's what Pentecost is it is a day and not a denomination.

Can I get a good amen?

Pentecost is not a denomination, it is a day.

Let me show you.

Acts 2 verse 1, it says this when the day, say day, when the day of Pentecost came.

Acts 2:1

Pentecost is a day, but not only is a day, it is a holiday.

Like we would have Easter or we would have Christmas.

Like Pentecost was a holiday that the Israelites would celebrate.

And it goes all the way back to the time where Moses gets the law on Mount Sinai.

And God said, remember this.

So they're always celebrating the day the law came down.

It says that when the day of Pentecost had fully come.

In other words, the Greek here is when it was complete, when it was fulfilled.

In other words, something's about to be fulfilled in this moment that has been echoing all through the Old Testament.

We're getting ready to see something happening.

They've been celebrating Pentecost since the moment of Mount Sinai, but everything is about to change as we enter into the New Testament.

It says this they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

Okay?

So let me talk to you about Pentecost.

In the Israelite calendar, there were three major festivals that would happen.

There was Passover, there was Pentecost, and there was the Feast of Tabernacles.

Okay, three major feasts, but there were seven in total.

Okay.

The first one was Passover.

Passover happened when the Israelites were still in Egypt.

This is can can we go back to like all the way to the Old Testament?

It happened when they were in Egypt.

Okay, they were enslaved by Pharaoh, and God came to Pharaoh and said, Let my people go through Moses.

And Pharaoh said, No! Checking your way.

No! He's like, I'm not gonna do it.

So all of these plagues start coming.

And the tenth plague, what God said is, I'm gonna send a destroyer, I'm gonna send an angel of death that is gonna pass over Egypt and he's gonna kill the firstborn son.

But if the Israelites, if you kill a slaughtered lamb and you take that blood and you put it on your doorpost, it almost forms a cross as the blood drips.

He says, if you put that on your doorpost, as the destroyer comes over the land, he will spare your firstborn.

So the Israelites obey and they do exactly that.

And that night the angel of death comes, passes over all the Israelite households.

Not a single Israelite dies, but the firstborns from the Egyptians die.

That is called Passover.

And God says, I want you to celebrate Passover.

Okay?

Passover happens.

The second one is Pentecost.

The third one is the Feast of Tabernacles.

Now let me tell you what Pentecost is.

Pentecost, give you a bit of a definition.

Pentecost is 50 days after the Passover.

So when that happens in uh Egypt, Pentecost is 50 days after that.

That's also when uh God gives the law on Mount Sinai.

Penta means five, okay, like Pentagon.

Gone means corners.

So the Pentagon is a five-sided building or five-cornered building.

Okay?

Pentacosta means tenth.

So when I say the word Pentecost, okay, already, here's what Pentecost means.

It's freaky.

50.

That's it.

Like literally like people are like, what is Pentecost?

It means 50.

Like it literally means 50th.

Okay?

So when it says when the day of Pentecost came, what it's saying is when the 50th day came.

Now, this this is I I hope you all already geek out with me, because I think this is the coolest thing that I've seen.

When I was studying this, I was like, like when Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of what God was were doing in the Old Testament.

They are the fulfillment of it.

I'll give it to you.

Matthew 5, 17.

Jesus says this, do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, I have come to fulfill them, which is why sometimes we still follow the principles.

He hasn't come to abolish it, but what he has done is he has come to fulfill it.

Jesus fulfilled Passover when he died on a cross.

So Passover, they're slaughtering this lamb and they're they're doing this and they're putting the blood so that when the angel of death comes, he doesn't kill them.

Okay, I want you to watch this.

Because what happened in the original Passover was this.

When they were celebrating it, the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed around 3 p.m.

That evening, the lamb would be placed into the oven, they would do the doorposting, and then that lamb sacrifice covered their sins.

So every time that they were celebrating Passover, this is what was happening.

Well, then Jesus came and he is our Passover lamb because Jesus was sacrificed and died on a cross at 3 p.m.

That evening, Jesus wasn't put into an oven, he was put into a tomb, and Jesus sacrifice doesn't cover our sins, he removes our sins.

He is our Passover lamb.

It's finding its fulfillment in Jesus, and I'm not making that up.

First Corinthians 5 7 says, For Christ, our Passover lamb was sacrificed.

So people say, What does Passover mean?

This is what Passover means salvation.

Salvation.

So in the Old Testament, Passover happens, and that was the incident that got them free from Egypt.

So they are finally free from their captives, they pass through the Red Seas, they go into the wilderness, and then the law comes down.

In the New Testament, Jesus is our Passover lamb.

We don't pass through the Red Sea, we pass through the waters of baptism, and instead of the law coming down, the Holy Spirit comes down.

Can y'all see the picture?

It's matched.

Jesus comes to fulfill what Passover has done, and his death on the cross is enough.

It's why Ephesians says, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith.

It is not from yourself, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

The same way that Jesus fulfills what happened at Passover, the Holy Spirit fulfills what happened at Pentecost.

Because Pentecost was 50 days after Passover.

It was the time that the law was given on Mount Sinai.

Watch this.

At Pentecost, when they were on Mount Sinai, a cloud descended with a loud noise and fire, and God wrote his law on tablets of stone, and 3,000 people died.

At Pentecost in Acts, the Holy Spirit descends with a loud noise and fire.

God writes his law on our hearts, and 3,000 people are saved.

See the fulfillment?

And I just it just it just makes me geek out.

Like God is that good and that creative.

Like you see those moments, and you're like, God, in the Old Testament, you were doing that?

Like you already knew that that was gonna happen.

It's almost like you're all knowing and omniscient.

Like this is crazy.

Like we see this.

Like I saw it and I'm like freaking out.

I'm like, this is the best thing.

God was doing something, it is the fulfillment of it.

Acts 1, verse 3, Jesus says this after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

Acts 1:3

So this was after that Passover moment.

He appeared to them for a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

On one occasion, while he was eating with him, he gave them this command: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift.

And how long did they wait?

Ten days.

Wait for the gift that my father has promised, which you've heard me speak about.

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

When Pentecost happened, power finally gave us came down to give us the empowerment to do the things that God has called us to do.

So first thing is power came down.

But second thing is this that power has a point.

Okay.

The Holy Spirit didn't come down so that we can just have goosebumps in service.

Like, that's not the reason the Holy Spirit came down.

The Holy Spirit came down because that power has a point.

Acts 1 verse 8, Jesus says this that you will receive power.

Acts 1:8

Say power.

Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Why?

Because he has a job for us.

He says that power will come and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth.

What God is saying is He's saying, I am giving you power.

What God has for Spirit Church is not just that we will reach this room.

No, he wants us to reach Chandler, He wants us to reach Gilbert, He wants us to reach Queen Creek, He wants us to reach Mesa and Tempe and Scottsdale and Arizona and the United States to the ends of the earth.

And he says, I'm gonna need power for you to do that.

The reason this church is called spirit is number one, God said call it spirit, but number two, we're not gonna be able to do what God's calling us to do by ourselves.

We cannot do this in our own strength.

We need the enablement, enablement and power of the Holy Spirit.

His power is not the destination, it is our fuel.

It's what gives us what we need in order to do what God has called us to do.

So people often ask, what's the point?

Like, what's this all about?

And you're good company, because that's what everyone was asking at Pentecost.

Acts 2.12.

Amazed and perplexed, they ask each other, what does all of this mean?

Like I said, the Holy Spirit ain't here to give you goosebumps.

Now he can, like you can feel the presence of God and it's incredible, but that's not the entire point.

And you need to know this that the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit exists, who only gives private encounters but never produces public witness, who touches you in a service but doesn't move you towards a lost neighbor, is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit of the Bible wants to empower you that you can reach people, that you can be a witness, that you can make a difference.

How do I know that?

Because Pentecost was also the reversal of something else Babel or Babel.

Okay, my South African is showing.

The Tower of Babel.

Okay, that makes sense because they were babbling.

The Tower of Babel, okay?

There's these people in the beginning of the Bible that say, We're gonna build this tower and we're gonna build it up to the heavens and we're gonna make a name for ourselves, and God comes down and confuses their language, and they're gathered in pride and ego, and the nations are born because God confuses their language.

In Acts, in the New Testament, they are gathered in unity, they are gathered in humility, and God comes down and doesn't distort language but combines language.

He gives them a unifying language, and all of a sudden the gospel starts to be spread to all the ends of the earth.

The Holy Spirit came down to give us witness, to give us the ability.

There are friends and neighbors and people in your co-working spaces and people in your school that God has put in your life for you to reach, and you need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to reach them.

Because we are not just on this earth to make money and live a life and then call it quits.

No, no, no, no.

The only thing that we can take with us to heaven is people.

God wants to empower you.

He wants to empower you to be a witness.

Not only that, he wants to empower you to carry the things that you are unable to carry by yourself.

It's funny, one of my pit peeves uh is when people will say, you know, God will never give you more than you can handle.

Ever heard that?

God will never give you more than you can handle, brother.

And you're like, yeah, but I'm in debt.

And you're like, yeah, that's fine because God's never gonna give you more than you can handle.

And I'm like, nah, you're in debt because you put yourself in debt.

Like, not always, but sometimes, you know.

It's like, no, no, no, no, God, like, you're like, man, I'm really struggling with this.

It's like God will never give you more than you can handle.

The only problem with that is we don't find it in the Bible.

God will never give you more than you can handle, and it sounds great, but then you meet Gideon, who has an army of 300 against 135,000 people.

Do you know what that is?

More than he can handle.

It's like, no, brother, God's God's never gonna do that.

Oh, yeah?

Have you seen David and Goliath?

David was young and small.

Goliath was huge.

Do you know what that is?

More than he could handle throughout the Bible, more than they could ever.

When Moses is trying to cross the Red Sea and he's like, it is a sea, I can't cross it, and the army is coming behind him.

Do you know what that is?

More than he can handle.

I want you to know this that God, the Bible, nowhere does it say God will never give you more than you can handle.

Because the truth is, God will never give you not more than you can handle, God will never give you more than he can handle.

Come on, he is the one that we rely on, he is the one that we put our faith in.

He wants to empower you to do the things that you wouldn't be able to do by yourself.

Sort of working out this week, it's awful.

Used to work out, came to Phoenix, and just everything went downhill because I'm like, we're gonna go to play on this church and do this thing.

And then my friend Taz, if you know Taz, he's in the back, he's jacked, he's like six foot nine and dude's tank.

He's like, come work out with me.

I'm like, I'm like, great.

And he's like, you can do my weight, and I'm like, I can't do your weight.

And he's like, You can you can so so he puts on the bar, you know, like 350 pounds.

I'm like, bro, have you seen me?

Like, I'm tiny.

Like, and he's like, No, we're gonna do it.

And and I start work working, and I can't do it.

Okay?

There's this beautiful thing when you're working out, it's called a sputter.

And when I am unable to lift up the weight, my man Taz comes with his pinky fingers and he lifts up the weight for me.

What is he doing in that moment?

He is helping me with the weight that I can carry by myself.

The Holy Spirit is our helper.

Some of you are feeling so much weight, and you're like, man, I can't do this.

This must mean I'm in the wrong place.

No, it just means that God wants to bring his spirit to help.

He's like, You got that?

Will you let me help you?

Will you let me help you?

He is our helper.

He is our comforter.

He gives us the ability to carry the things that we would not be able to carry by ourselves.

Everything you see in the book of Acts is this reality.

It is the reality of the Holy Spirit filling people.

Acts 4.13.

It says, when they saw the disciples and they saw that they were unschooled ordinary men.

That makes me feel like I'm in good company.

Unschooled ordinary men.

They were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Can people take note that we've been with Jesus?

Because the things that we're doing, we're not able to do in our own strength.

1 Corinthians 2 verse 4 says, My message, this is Paul, my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.

1 Corinthians 2:4

I think sometimes we have these moments where you might be here and you're trying to find an intellectual argument to understand God.

Let me just say, God is bigger than you could ever understand.

And sometimes we know who God is, not because of intelligence, but because of experience.

Like I have seen people healed, I've seen people get out of wheelchairs.

And then there's people that are like, no, no, no, God doesn't do that anymore.

So who raised him out of the wheelchair?

Satan?

Like, like, what, like, where are you getting that?

That the Holy Spirit doesn't lead, that the Holy Spirit doesn't guide, that he can't heal, that he can't do miracles.

Where are you getting that?

Because I've seen the goodness of God.

I've seen marriages restored, I've seen these things happen.

And you need to know this a person with experience will never be at the mercy of a person with an argument.

Oh, you can try to argue your way through that.

But I've seen the goodness of God.

I didn't come with wise or persuasive words.

I came with the demonstration of the Spirit's power.

And I want us to be a church that's not only spirit-filled, I want us to be a church that is spirit-led.

And the Holy Spirit wants to lead you.

And my question is this Are you keying in?

Are you keying in?

Man, I remember when we moved here, I was like, man, there's no way that I can do this by myself.

I got unpacked and I was like, God, what are you doing?

I was like, I'm not strong enough, I'm not good enough, I'm like insecure, I'm just like, I don't know anyone like this, isn't gonna happen.

But step by step, following the voice of the Holy Spirit, like we're 10 months old, we're just getting started.

But through the power of the Holy Spirit and what he's doing, we've seen 140 people get baptized.

We've seen 143 documented salvations.

That's not I lifted up my hand.

No, no, no.

That's like they also took the effort to actually write that down and say, today's the day.

Yo, we're not that good.

I'm not that good.

Our team is not that good.

You see, the power of the Holy Spirit, the how the power of the Holy Spirit does not make me better than you, the power of the Holy Spirit makes me better than me.

It gives me the power to do the things that I would not be able to do by myself.

And my question is this are you open to him?

You see, because that power came down, that power has a point, he wants to enable you to be a witness, and he wants to enable you to do the things that you could not do by yourself.

The third thing is this that power has a voice, and he wants to speak to you.

You see, I love the way that God has revealed himself through the centuries.

In the Old Testament, God had the tabernacle and there was a sacrificial system, and it was God near us.

And then God sent his son Jesus, and it wasn't God near us, it was God with us.

And then Jesus said, Someone, it's better that someone else comes and it's not God with us, because the Holy Spirit comes and it's God in us.

God near us, God with us, God in us.

He wants to speak to you.

That power has a voice.

In that meeting, in that conflict, he wants to guide you.

Acts 16, 6, Paul says this.

Paul and his companions traveled through the region of Freya and Galatia, having been kept or forbidden by the Holy Spirit.

It says then later on, verse 7, when they came to the border of Messiah and they tried to enter through Bethynia, the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

There was like a double no.

Like y'all ever been in a conversation and the Holy Spirit says, I wouldn't say that.

Like you get that check in your spirit.

Anyone ever had that?

What do we often do?

We're like, I shouldn't say this, but and then we say it.

And then what do we say after that?

I shouldn't have said that.

That check in the spirit, that's the Holy Spirit leading, that's the Holy Spirit guiding.

And if you're not paying attention, if you think those things are just co are coincidences, you're gonna be quenching the voice of the Holy Spirit who's wanting to lead and guide you.

He restricts them from going to a specific place.

We see it right in Acts in the New Testament.

Not only that, it continues, verse 9, during the night, Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us.

And after Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once, I love the obedience, at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel there.

Now we'll do a series towards the end of the fall on how to hear the voice of God and how to discern the will of God, because I know that that's a question that so many of us have.

But today I just want to build your faith that we serve a God who leads, who guides, who speaks.

Acts 8 26, the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

It says, And then the Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stand near it.

So he does it, and he gets to minister to an Ethiopian eunuch that goes to Africa, and the gospel goes to Africa, because someone listened to what the Spirit said.

He speaks all throughout Acts, Acts 13, verse 2.

Acts 13:2

While they were worshiping and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, which by the way, it's why I love the season of 21 days of prayer.

In the spring we fast, and in the season we we we pray and feast.

But I love the time of 21 days of prayer because these are the moments that I feel like God has spoken to us most clearly.

It's why we're doing a worship night to end 21 days of prayer while they were worshiping the Lord, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 10, 19.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Acts 20, 22, this is Paul speaking, and now, compelled by the Spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen there.

That word compel means to be restricted.

It's almost like to be lassoed.

I just can't do anything else than God.

I just feel like I have to do this.

And some of you have felt that before.

When the Holy Spirit is telling you not to do something, and you're like, I just feel compelled and restricted, and my I'm begging you to pay attention.

I'm begging you to pay attention.

He wants to lead, he wants to guide.

And I think for so many of us, we're switched off.

The other day I was on a I was on a plane, and whenever you're on the plane, one of the things they tell you to do is put your phone in airplane mode.

Y'all ever done that?

Y'all are rebels.

I bet y'all don't even do that.

You're just like, I'm just gonna keep texting.

Y'all are laughing because you've done it.

I know, I know.

You need to put your phone in airplane mode, and what happens when you put your phone in airplane mode is you cut out all outgoing and all incoming communication.

And as I was praying for us this week, I just feel like there's so many of us that might be here, and you're on spiritual airplane mode.

You may be saved, you may be walking in a form of freedom, but you've turned off notifications.

And the Holy Spirit is trying to speak, and you're just like, ah.

He wants to speak to you.

I think there's moments in my life where I've gotten this so wrong.

Like, I remember when I was 19, I used to lead a student ministry in South Africa, and I was driving to the youth service on a Friday night, and as I was driving, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, hey, everything is gonna go wrong tonight.

And I was like, I rebuke that in the name of Jesus.

I'm like, I do not receive that.

And I felt the Holy Spirit saying, No, no, no, I need you to stop, pull on the side of the road, and actually write that down.

Write down what I told you.

And I was like, no, that is too weird.

So I get to the service and my team is running around frantically, and I'm like, what's going on?

And they're like, this has never happened before.

Our sound system is down.

Like nothing's working, and we couldn't get a single thing working.

So we just did an acoustic guitar, like we just did a service, and I remember getting up and saying to the students, I'm so sorry, because the Holy Spirit told me to write something down and I didn't.

But but he told me this was gonna happen.

And I remember I didn't know why.

I still to this day have no idea why he told me that.

I don't know if someone needed to hear something.

I have no idea.

Time I got it wrong.

But in this time set, I've gotten it right.

Those of you who are close to us might know the story that a couple years back, about four years ago, during 21 days of prayer and fasting, hint, you'll see that that's kind of always the moment.

Um, we're in 21 days of prayer, and I was at a church that I'd never been to in my life, and while I was there, I was in worship, my eyes were closed, and God gave me a picture of a permanent church building.

And Paige and I at the time we were praying about planting a church, we're praying about where we needed to go, and I saw this building, and it was so clear, and there were swarrows all around.

And I was like, that has to be Phoenix or Tucson.

I'm like, you know what I mean?

I'm just like, I'm like, it like I saw it, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is this is Phoenix.

And remember God saying to me, um, this is what I have for you guys.

Write down the sentence, I'm about to confirm it.

And the sentence was this Phoenix, fire over my head.

And I was like, I am not writing down that stupid sentence.

Like, like ever had God would tell you to do something.

You're like, no.

But I just felt it so strong.

This is what I have for you guys.

Write down the sentence, I'm about to confirm it.

Phoenix, fire over your head.

So I pulled out my phone and I wrote it, and I started voice recording the pastor because I'm like, he's gonna say something about Phoenix, about the weather, about it being hot, like there's something is gonna happen.

Service ends, nothing happens, and I'm like, great, that wasn't God, that was me.

So I stopped this voice recorder, I had the voice recorder going, and I thought the Holy Spirit say, Don't do that.

And I was like, whatever.

I'm like, at this point, I'm like, you know, I must have just had bad pizza the night before.

Like, this isn't the Holy Spirit, this is me.

Like, I'm just gonna ignore it.

I stopped the voice recorder, and the pastor's wife comes up to me two minutes later, and is like, hey, can I pray for you?

I'm like, absolutely.

And she's like, I've been so distracted by you the last two hours.

And I was like, I'm I'm so I'm so sorry.

I was like, what was I doing?

You know what I mean?

I was like, and she goes, No, no, no, no.

She said, every time I looked at you, I just kept thinking, Oh my gosh, that man is on fire.

You have fire over your head, you have fire all the y'all.

I broke down.

I lost my mind.

I started crying.

I'm like, this has never happened to me.

That God is like, write this down, and then someone comes immediately and confirm it.

And I've never done this before, but while I was praying this week, I felt like Lord said I needed to show it because I saw this building, and I'm the most terrible artist in the world, and I felt God say, I need I need you to draw it.

Can I show y'all the draw the picture that I drew of this of this building?

Okay, throw that picture.

So you can't really see it because I'm terrible.

Uh, but that is the drawing that I that I drew, and there's like this awning and there's this building, and does that mean that one day our church building is gonna look like that?

I don't know.

Like, I don't think God is like it has to look like this.

But he gave me that picture, and you'll see there's a logo, and I didn't write the name because he didn't tell me the name.

I just I just saw the logo and I saw church.

So I quickly sketched this drawing.

I left out the swarrows because I'm terrible at drawing, and I'm like, okay, okay, this is the building.

And then I wrote the logo down.

Let me show you that logo.

This was the logo that I saw in the building.

And I'm like, that is the ugliest logo I have ever seen in my life.

I was like, no one's gonna come to church with a logo that looks like that.

I'm like, God, do you hate me?

I'm like, God, like, why would you give me this logo as a church logo?

I'm like, this makes no sense.

And I'm like trying to figure it out.

I'm like, man, this is this is so weird.

I'm like, but but but I wrote it down, and I remember a couple months later, Paige and I came to visit Phoenix, and I was in downtown Phoenix on First Avenue, and I saw this picture of first wait, wait, show me the next.

I took that photo of First Avenue, and I said to Paige, there is something special about First Avenue.

I'm like, the logo that I drew is on the First Avenue sign.

I'm like, we need to be in First Avenue.

I'm like, that's what this is.

And then I went to the next street and I saw the logo on 2nd Avenue, and then I saw it on Third Avenue, and then I saw it on Fourth Avenue, and then Fifth Avenue, and I'm like, okay, downtown is just anointed.

Like that's and then we went on a trail, and then I saw the logo on the trail, and then I saw the logo.

It took me a second, but eventually I said a page, I'm like, wait, this is this is the city of Phoenix logo.

Show that next image.

That's the Phoenix City.

Like, we just came from Birmingham before we moved here.

Can you draw a logo of Birmingham?

No, like I'd never seen this before.

The crazy thing is, the only difference is the bird that God showed me was looking towards the east.

The east valley.

There is a God that desperately wants to speak to you.

That desperately wants to lead, wants to guide, wants to speak.

And you're anxious for the decisions that you're trying to make, and you are trying to rationalize it with your head.

There are some decisions that are never gonna make sense in your head.

Paul says, I'm compelled.

All I know is that hardship awaits me.

What thing today are you running away from because it's hard, but you should be running towards because it's God.

He wants to speak to you.

And the entire so my entire point today is I so desperately want you to know that there is a Holy Spirit who is speaking, and I need you to turn yourself off spiritual airplane mode.

Repent.

The Bible says if you draw near to him, he will draw near to you.

It says that God speaks in a whisper.

So the closer you are, you can hear it.

You can hear it.

Just gotta come close.

Draw near to him.

And I will draw near to you.

Father, forgive us for any moments.

Lord, that you've been speaking, that we're quarterizing, that we're searing, that we're not paying attention.

I thank you, God, that you have sent power from on high to do the things that you have called us to do.

Holy Spirit, we give you every single part of us.

We pray that you will lead, that you will guide.

As we've been doing in the series, I just want to encourage you to take 30 seconds.

And right now just say, Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me?

What is it that I need to do this week?

What conversation do I need to have?

What adjustment do I need to make?

What are you calling me to do?

Ask Him.

While you continue praying, there's some of you who are here and you're like, I've never experienced this leading of the Holy Spirit.

I want the Holy Spirit, and the reason you haven't felt that is you don't even follow Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is given as a seal to those who are following Jesus.

And if you're here and you've never made that decision, let me just say, today's the day that you give your life to Jesus.

You've been putting it off, you've been running away, today's your day.

The Bible says that all of us have made mistakes, but God sent his son Jesus to come to this earth.

He lived the life that we couldn't live.

He died on a cross and he was raised.

He took our sins upon himself.

He paid for them.

It's paid for.

You just have to say yes.

And if you're here today and you're saying yes, I just want you to pray this prayer after me.

Just whisper it.

Just say, Dear Jesus, I give you my life.

I give you every part of me.

I thank you that you came to this earth.

You died on a cross and you were raised.

That I can have life.

I'll make you my Lord.

I'll make you my Savior.

Okay.

In Jesus' name.

While you continue praying with every head bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you just prayed there for the very first time, I just want to ask you to do something bold.

I just want you to kind of wave at me.

No one's looking around.

It's just you and me.

If you did that confident, here we go.

One, two, three.

Just say, hey, Brad, that was me.

It's awesome.

Hey, Church, can you do me a favor?

Can you put your hands together?

Come on for everyone who just said that.

We love you, church.

And if you just said yes to Jesus, let me tell you, that is the best decision that you could ever make.

But you do have a next step today.

We would love for you to text the keyword Jesus to 480-485-3405 because we want to send you an incredible resource we created called You Said Yes.

It's a 21-day devotional because you were not meant to walk this journey with Jesus alone.

So we would love for you to let us know that you just made that decision today.

And hey, if you call Spirit Home or you've been watching for some time, we would invite you to pray about two things.

One, we would want you to pray about inviting someone to watch with you.

Send this message to somebody.

You never know how much a simple share could change somebody's life.

And two, we would love to invite you to pray about partnering with us financially.

You never know how much your giving makes this possible.

The reason you're watching right now.

And so we want to say thank you for the way that you give and pray about considering partnering with us financially.

Well, we love you, church, and we will see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.