Holy Spirit Part 3 (Control + Position)

So for the last six weeks, we've been in a series we've called The Last Meal.

And what we've been exploring is the very last meal that Jesus had with his followers before he goes to the cross, before he's arrested.

Jesus knows this is going to happen, his disciples don't.

And it's very clear that his disciples still haven't connected all the dots in their minds.

There's all kinds of things that they haven't gotten yet.

And Jesus has this one last opportunity, this one last chance to help that along, to make sure that they really get what he's all about, what his kingdom, that's a phrase he used all the time, is all about.

And so he teaches them and he demonstrates a lot of things for them.

In fact, the last meal that Jesus has with his followers is one of the most iconic moments of his life.

Lord's Supper that we just took together, that came from that night.

From that very night.

And last week Fred did an amazing job walking us through some of the context of Lord's Supper.

That was really interesting.

I had strep throat last week.

Fred filled in in a pinch, did a great job.

And so we talked about that last week.

But we've been going through week by week some of these things that Jesus said, that he taught, these iconic statements like, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

That came from that dinner.

We've been exploring that together, and a few weeks ago we got to this promise that Jesus makes about the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to read this.

John chapter 14, verses 15 through 31.

John 14:15–31

Jesus says, If you love me, obey my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you.

He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth.

The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and it doesn't recognize him, but you know him.

Because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

That's a powerful promise.

That the Spirit of God, the very presence of God, will be in us as we follow Jesus.

He says, No, I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.

Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me.

Since I live, you will also live.

And when I'm raised to life again, you will know that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me, and because they love me, my Father will love them.

And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.

Judas, not Judas Iscariot, that's the one who betrayed Jesus, but the other disciples, the other disciple with that name, said to him, Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?

Jesus replied, All who love me will do what I say.

My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me, and remember, my words are not my own.

What I'm telling you is from the Father who sent me.

I'm telling you these things now while I'm still with you.

But when the Father sends the advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything.

And will remind you of everything I have told you.

I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift that the world cannot give, so don't be troubled or afraid.

Remember what I told you.

I'm going away, but I will come back to you again.

If you really loved me, you would be happy that I'm going to the Father who's greater than I am.

I've told you these things before they happen, so that when they happen, you will believe.

I don't have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches, but he has no power over me.

I will do what the Father requires of me, so the world will know that I love the Father.

Come now.

Let's be going.

So Jesus finishes his dinner with his disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit.

And I love the fact that we tend to just go through scripture, either an entire book, or maybe we're just going through a section, because what often happens from my experience is that I end up teaching on things I really wasn't planning on teaching on, at least not to the degree that we end up covering it.

I'm kind of wired where if we get to something and I'm like, man, there's a lot here, we can just sort of skip through it, kind of at a glance.

I call it skipping rocks.

You just kind of surface level, get as much ground covered as possible, or we can stop and really sink our teeth into it and go as deep as possible.

And so when we got to the Holy Spirit, I was like, oh, this is probably gonna have to be a two-parter.

And now it's three, and I'm sorry.

But it's worked out great because this leads us right into Christmas.

We've spent the last several weeks talking about the Holy Spirit because this is such a vital aspect of our faith.

Frankly, the Holy Spirit might be one of the tragically most ignored in many church cultures aspects of following Jesus.

It's impossible.

It's impossible to live the life that Jesus calls us to live without the power of the Holy Spirit at work inside of us.

It is not something we can do on our own.

And it actually would actually be very cruel of God to ask this, cruel of God to ask us to live the way that Jesus asks us to live, to truly put ourselves last and put other people first, to live in this way that our lives are committed to love and selflessness and service, to do that in our own strength.

That's too much to ask, but God never does that.

Some of us may have grown up in church cultures where we just had to work harder, do more, do better.

It was all about performance.

And you felt like you never measured up.

You were never quite good enough.

God has never asked us to do this on our own.

Jesus says, I'm gonna send you help.

I'm giving you a helper, an advocate, the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is the one who's gonna do the heavy lifting.

Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 26-27 says that God will put a new spirit inside of us.

Ezekiel 36:26–27

That he'll put his spirit inside of us so that we can actually do what he asks us to do.

And so it's vital that we understand as much as humanly possible, which there is definitely a limit on, who this who the Holy Spirit is, how the Holy Spirit works, and what we as people can do to experience the power and the work of the Holy Spirit.

And so each week we've looked at two words, kind of back up a little bit.

A few weeks ago, our first week, we looked at the words need and let.

We need the Holy Spirit.

I grew up kind of believing that the Holy Spirit was like the add-on.

It was the extra feature, it was the bonus feature.

If you have the Holy Spirit, cool, but it's definitely not the foundation of our faith.

You know, you believe in Jesus, go to church, read your Bible, do that kind of stuff, and then you know, for some, they get the Holy Spirit, some talk like they have the Holy Spirit, but they're just kind of wacky.

And for a lot of people, you're just like, ah, it's not my thing.

And that is not at all what Jesus teaches.

Jesus teaches the Holy Spirit as if it's something that we cannot live without.

He actually talks about the Holy Spirit more practically than he teaches about anything.

He lists the features that the Holy Spirit will give us.

He's like, hey, you're gonna have the Holy Spirit.

He'll teach you, he'll guide you, he'll remind you of everything that I've said, he'll give you the words when you need them.

I mean, Jesus rattles off features of the Holy Spirit as if it's some like new piece of technology that's gonna change our lives.

The Holy Spirit is a must.

We need the Holy Spirit, and we just have to learn to let the Holy Spirit lead us.

The Holy Spirit does not force us against our will to do anything.

And that word let, there's so many scriptures where God says, let me lead you.

God actually gives us some say.

In the sense that we can live our lives in such a way where we can be resistant, but we can also live our lives in such a way where we say, Hey God, I'm gonna let you do what you want to do.

I'm open to you.

You can interrupt my thoughts.

Lead me, guide me.

Even if it's in a direction that I may not want to go, I'm open to you.

I'm gonna let you lead me.

That was week one.

Week two, we looked at two more words experience and ask.

The Holy Spirit is meant to be experienced.

God is meant to be experienced.

That's what makes our faith so special.

This isn't just us getting together to study the history of something that happened a long time ago and now it's over, but we're just marveling at it 2,000 years later.

Jesus, as a human being on the earth, is so incredible and consequential that he is worthy in just his human life for us to do that.

He's that amazing.

That we could just get together each week to look back at something that happened thousands of years ago and still to this day just go, wow, wow, that's incredible.

But that is not that is not all that we do.

Because we have the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is alive, the Holy Spirit is active, and we can experience God's presence right here and right now.

It's not something that we just look forward to one day.

It's not something we just look back on and go, man, wasn't it cool when those people got to experience that?

No, we can experience the Spirit.

And if we ever get to a place where we feel like we just haven't, maybe it's insecurity, maybe we doubt ourselves, or maybe we recognize that there's just a level or a depth, maybe is a better word, of experience with God that we haven't had, but we want to.

Not for some selfish reason, because we need God to prove himself to us over and over again, but because we genuinely desire to go as deep with God as we can go.

If you ever get to that place where you're like, I haven't had that, but I need that, I want that, that's a good thing to want.

Always believe it's good when you want what God wants.

And God wants you to have a deep experience with Him, so real that no one could ever convince you that He's not.

Because you're like, oh, I I know.

Jesus said we should ask for that.

He said you should seek and keep on seeking, you should ask and keep on asking.

He said that if parents in this world who have all kinds of issues and sin and all kinds of stuff, but if we as parents know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more, he said, would the Heavenly Father give the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

So if you want more, if you need more, ask for more.

The words control and position.

Control and position.

Okay, so stay with me.

I'm gonna take a step back.

I'm gonna sort of pull the room a little bit, okay?

And it's a little, it's a little bit of an odd-timed question because it's a it's a different season than we would normally be talking about this.

But how many of us are beach people?

You're like an ocean person.

I want to see the ocean people in the room, okay?

All right.

Anyone like strictly like, nope, I hate the ocean, as far away from the ocean as possible.

Okay, a few of us in that moment, right?

I know it's weird to talk about the ocean in like December when it's super cold, but just like you can have Christmas in July, that's a thing I've I've heard.

Um, we can have July at Christmas too, okay?

So beach people.

Now, there's different levels, I think, of ocean people.

I'm gonna say ocean people, because the ocean has has levels to it, right?

So, how many of you are like beach people?

I go to the beach, I like to sit next to the ocean, I like to look at the ocean, admire the ocean.

Sometimes I even get in the ocean a little bit, splash around, and then I'm back out.

That's you.

Okay.

That's as far as you go.

I want to see your hands real quick.

Just like that's you, okay?

How many of you?

The number of hands should be getting smaller at this point.

How many of you are like cruise ship people?

You're like, I'll go on the ocean.

I'll I'll be on the water for long periods of time.

How many of you would never step on a cruise ship if your life depended on it?

You're like, nope.

Okay, a couple of us.

Most of us are like cruise ship agnostic.

Okay, that's good to know.

We're not really, could kind of go either way.

Alright.

How many of you, this will probably be the smaller number, are like scuba diving people.

You're like, I'm okay not just being near the ocean or on the ocean, I'll go in the ocean.

And like in the ocean to a point where if something malfunctions, I die.

Right?

Like, I can't breathe.

I'm dependent on this thing strapped on my back.

And if a shark shows up, oh well, that's just how I go.

Right?

How many of you again, you're like, yeah, I'm cool with that.

Okay.

These are the brave ones in the group.

That's good.

I am not, I'm not really an ocean person.

I'm not.

I appreciate the ocean.

My wife loves the beach.

She does.

But she wouldn't go on a cruise ship, and I know she wouldn't go scuba diving.

She stops at the edge.

She likes to get to the edge and stop.

I just don't, I don't like the idea of the ocean.

And I've talked about this before.

I feel like God, I feel like God is so clear with us.

Like He created the ocean's beautiful, and I think it's amazing and should be marveled at, but I don't know how God could have made it more clear that we just don't belong in the ocean.

Because, like, have you seen what lives in the ocean?

He actually, and this isn't even an exaggeration, he filled the ocean with monsters.

With like actual everything that lives in the ocean either has like gigantic teeth, claws, or actual tentacles.

Like the stuff of nightmares.

Like, I just don't know how God could have been like, clearly, guys, this is not where you should be.

And and I've I've been to the ocean several times.

I've had several oak, I would say I've had some okay experiences, and I've had several terrible experiences.

Stung by a jellyfish, how many of you have had the jellyfish sting?

Yeah.

And all that is, is it is a monster.

It's like this float, it's a monster that just floats, and if you touch it, you feel pain.

That's that's that's crazy.

Okay?

I've been stung by jellyfish uh a few years ago.

We were at the ocean, and I do enjoy looking for shells.

That's one of the few things I feel like it's like a treasure hunt.

It's great.

And so I'm I'm like in the water, and I'm kind of doing that thing where you're sort of like laying down, facing forward, looking for shells.

I was with my kids, and and we'd found some small ones, but I thought I had a monster shell.

I was like, oh man, I reached into the sand, I'm like, I got like a conch shell.

This is great.

Except it was a shell, it was just the shell of a fairly large crab that was still alive.

And so I get my hands around it, I begin to pull, and it naturally fights back.

And so it reaches up with one of its monster claws, and it like snaps my hand.

I have this huge laceration on my finger because I'm in water filled with monsters.

Right?

That's just what the ocean is.

That's why, and I've I think I've said this before, this is a theological position that I hold.

Read the book, read your Bible.

Okay?

Nothing ever happens in the ocean in the Bible that's good.

Like Jonah, there's that story.

Not good.

Right?

Monster.

Like that's Moses parted the sea.

He was smart.

I think we're going through this thing.

Jesus was smart enough to walk on top of the water.

He didn't like swim out.

I just think it's very clear that the ocean is just not for us, right?

So, I say all that to say that even though I am not an ocean person, for the purpose of this conversation about the Holy Spirit today, I am going to lean heavily into an ocean-specific metaphor that I have never personally experienced, but I think I have my head wrapped around the concept enough to speak to it as a metaphor.

If you're someone that has a lot of experience with this, come correct me afterwards.

Just humor me now, okay?

But I want us to think about the idea of surfing for a second.

Has anyone here ever surfed?

Like legit surfed?

Okay.

Wow, not many.

That's awesome.

So if I'm wrong on this, again, come correct me.

I've never done that, I never will, because of monsters.

But surfing, there's an appeal to it.

There's something just so honestly like cool about the idea of surfing.

About putting yourself in the ocean and waiting for a wave.

And then being in the right place to sort of capture that moment and ride the wave where it takes you.

A surfer does not make the waves.

A surfer simply learns to discern the right conditions for the wave being where it's going to be, and then through a lot of practice and probably a lot of failure, learning how, when that wave comes, to seize the moment and to ride the wave as long as possible.

And then do it again.

And I think in many ways, that's what it's sort of like living, desiring to experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the Holy Spirit works in a lot of ways.

I think the primary way that we experience the Spirit is the day-by-day, sometimes invisible, not even discernible work that the Holy Spirit is doing on our hearts.

The Holy Spirit is shaping you.

If you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you've given your life to Jesus, and I would say that you've asked for the Spirit's presence.

We went a few weeks back.

If you weren't here, listen to some of the first conversations we we've had.

There's a lot of different theological ideas about when you receive the Spirit, how you receive the Spirit.

We kind of covered that a few weeks ago.

But if you're someone who's given your life to Jesus and you've received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is at work within you, shaping you and changing you into the person that you're meant to be.

And that is the day-by-day work of the Spirit, and you're not always even aware of it.

You're not.

Just like you're not aware of a lot of things happening inside of you.

But then there are these other experiences with the Holy Spirit.

These are moments that are undeniable.

Maybe it's a moment where you have something going on in your life, there's a problem, there's a struggle, and boom, in an instant, God shows up, and the Holy Spirit gives you the solution and just speaks to you in a way that you know it's God, and there it is.

Wow, that happened.

You have a personal experience with the Holy Spirit.

There's also moments of power where the Holy Spirit shows up, not just in a way that one individual is like, man, I experienced the Holy Spirit.

But like everyone is aware of that.

Classic example would be Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Pentecost means 50 days, and so it's 50 days after Passover.

Passover was when Jesus was crucified, and 50 days after he was crucified, the Holy Spirit shows up with the disciples in a really powerful way and gives them what they need to kickstart in a major way the movement of Jesus.

And here's what happens: Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 6.

Acts 2:1–6

It says, On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place.

Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting, and then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.

And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

At that time, there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem.

And when they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

And later in verse 41, it says, Those who believed what Peter said, Peter starts to preach at this moment.

They were baptized and added to the church that day, about 3,000 in all.

Before this moment, the number of believers could fit in a room.

Said that all of Jesus' believers were gathered together.

It's probably a big room, but it's still a room.

And literally, in that one moment, because the Holy Spirit came in power, 3,000 people begin to follow Jesus, and it only grows from there.

And that was an undeniable moment.

Even people around that weren't even Jesus followers experienced it.

They heard something.

They came, they saw something that was undeniable to them.

And I think that it's natural, at least it is for me, you read stories like that, and you say, hey, God, if you're gonna do that again, could I be there?

Does anyone else feel that way?

Like if God does that kind of thing, can I experience that?

Can I be there?

I want to, I want to experience that.

Not that maybe exact thing, but but something that's that's powerful like that.

There's the the day-by-day working of the Holy Spirit, then there's these moments where it's undeniable and it's powerful, and it is natural as a Jesus follower to say, man, I kind of like to see that.

And the truth is, it is absolutely possible.

I know many people who have had moments like that, but the challenge is that you can't control it.

You can't make it happen.

No more than a surfer can make a wave show up.

And we have to be really careful, very careful, I believe, to make sure that our desire for experiencing the big things of God does not put us in a place where we settle for manufactured versions of it.

I asked earlier if we had any ocean people.

I'm gonna ask a question that I know is gonna have way less enthusiasm, so just bear with me.

Um, how many of us are like water theme park people?

Yeah.

17.

Here we go.

Alright, I got white water passes.

How many of us would I'd go scuba diving before I'd go to a water park.

Anyone like that?

Yeah, please.

I'd rather face a shark than bump into an old ex-boyfriend or girlfriend with my shirt off, you know, at a stage of life where I'm not at my best, you know?

It's just an awkward experience.

You don't like being in water surrounded by strange people that you don't know, trusting their hygiene.

You don't enjoy that experience?

You've never been to a water park?

Okay.

So if you if you go to a water park, how many of us have at least been?

We've at least been.

Okay, okay, we we we can ex- we can experience this together.

Yeah, you've got some options at the at the water park, kind of like the ocean, you have options.

You've got the big thrill rides, you like the big slides, and you just woo! And any anybody thrill seeker?

Yeah, okay.

You've got the lazy river.

Yeah, there's more enthusiasm for the lazy river than anything else in the room.

What does that say?

Yeah, you just get you get on an inner tube and you just sort of lay there and let you let it take you where it's gonna take you at the slowest pace possible.

It's great.

There's always like little kids fighting around you, no matter even if you didn't come with kids.

They're there in the lazy river.

Their parents have given up.

That's how that goes.

And then you've got, and this is my favorite, you've got the wave pool.

Like I grew up near a water theme park in southern Missouri.

And uh in southern Missouri, we have like redneck theme parks.

Like, and we don't even hide it.

Like Silver Dollar City.

Has anyone ever been to Silver Dollar City in Southern Missouri?

It is a theme park that is about being a redneck.

And then it's not even hiding it.

It's just like hillbillies.

Woo! Hillbilly roller coaster.

That's where I grew up.

So we had a water theme park, and I would remember as a kid going, and I loved the wave pool.

It felt, I'm sure it's way smaller than I remember it, but just in my memory, it was like this gigantic thing.

And I get in it with my friends, and then there was like a bell or some type of signal, and then all of a sudden the waves start coming, and we would just ride those waves and like go up and down, and it was it was fun.

It was fun.

I also remember it also being like slightly dangerous.

Like I was always aware that this could go really poorly, but we we would just be in the wave pool.

The wave pool is awesome, it sort of simulates the ocean.

And if you'd never been in the ocean, you might actually believe that that is what the ocean feels like.

But if you go to a wave pool and then you go get in the ocean, you will find very quickly that they are very different.

Because, like, I've been in the ocean before where a wave hits you so hard that you are like flat on your face.

The ocean will humble you very quickly.

Right?

Wave pools don't wave pools humiliate you.

The ocean humbles you.

It's different.

Okay?

And I I I'm not just trying to talk today about like church culture and the world at large.

This this has a lot of personal connections for each of us.

But there is something about our world where where there's I'll just put it this way, there's a lot of wave pools around.

There's a lot of sort of attempts to manufacture the feeling of the Holy Spirit in a powerful way.

There's ways to there's ways to do that.

There's ways to do church in such a way where it's just a man-made manufactured copy of the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Where you're trying every every way you can to sort of control God showing up.

Like you can somehow conjure.

Like if you say a phrase over and over and over again, somehow, like if you say it ten times and every time gets more and more passionate, God's like, fine, I'll show up.

That's not how the Holy Spirit works.

You cannot control the Holy Spirit.

In fact, in the book of Acts, chapter 9, there's a story of a man named Simon.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

And Simon is known as a sorcerer, so he's kind of like a conjurer, and people are always like, Wow, Simon, wow.

And then he experiences the message of Jesus and actually says he gives his life to Jesus.

And he sees the disciples of Jesus who are active at the time, and they're the ones spreading the message about Jesus, and he sees the power that they have, the Holy Spirit active, and he's like, Man, I want that, and he offers to pay money for it.

He goes up to them and says, Hey, how much, how much?

Like, how much for the Holy Spirit?

Just I'll pay you whatever.

Give it to me so I can do the cool stuff too.

And they're like, No, that is not how this works.

You can't buy the power of the Holy Spirit, you can't conjure the power of the Holy Spirit, you can't control the power of the Holy Spirit.

Like on the day of Pentecost, when that showed up, the disciples had no idea that was about to happen.

I think they had hope, they were expectant, but they did not know when they woke up that morning that this is the day that the Holy Spirit's going to show up and do something unprecedented, powerful.

People will be talking about this for thousands of years.

You can't, you cannot control it.

You can't manufacture it, you can't make it happen.

And it's very important that as a church and even as individuals, that we don't allow ourselves to ever settle for a wave pool when we can have the ocean.

So you can't control it.

Like I wanted to, it may have been great if I would have said, all right, here we go, December 18th.

Holy Spirit's gonna come in a powerful way.

His hands church, put it on the calendar, like band, let's let's play the bangers, you know, like the ones that everyone likes.

Let's do those, you know.

Like Matt, why don't you sing Here's My Heart?

He always does a great job with that song, and everyone's like, Yes! Yes! And then boom, Holy Spirit comes.

That's not how it works.

There's no set list.

It's not like just because the worship team plays your favorite song does not mean that the Holy Spirit showed up that day.

All right?

I'm just teasing.

There's nothing we can do to make it happen.

So what can we do?

What can we do if we truly want to experience all that God has for us?

If we truly want to experience everything that Jesus says that Scripture promises, the presence of God active in your life in ways that are undeniable, speaking to you, guiding you, showing up and doing things that you can never do on your own.

And that's where we get to our second word.

The word position.

I do believe it's possible for us to position ourselves in such a way as a people where we are able to grow in our ability to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit and develop an ability to move with the Spirit when the Spirit moves.

Kind of like the surfer that doesn't make the waves, but learns how to recognize and then and then ride it.

What does that look like?

What does it actually look like?

To be well positioned and ready for the Holy Spirit.

Again, I'm not talking about the daily presence of the Holy Spirit.

That's there, but to be well positioned for if the Spirit were to just do something that the Spirit wants to do in his time, in his way, whenever he wants to, for his purposes, that you're like, I'm ready.

Oh, I think part of it is patience.

It's just being patient.

Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31, famous verse, says, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.

Isaiah 40:31

They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

The NIV version says, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

So you have hope and wait interchangeable, and that's because in the Hebrew culture, those two words are very synonymous with each other.

Hoping is waiting.

But it's not waiting in like a man, I just don't know if this is actually gonna happen.

I hope it does.

It's waiting, like I know this is gonna happen.

I'm fully expecting this to happen.

It's just a matter of time.

Like, here we go.

Let's go.

It says those who hope, those who wait on the Lord with that sort of heart, will not be disappointed.

So part of being well positioned to experience whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do, whether it's big, medium, or small, whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do, however he wants to do it, is just to be patient and hopeful, knowing that God is real and he's alive.

And he's gonna speak to you.

Like if you've never heard God speak to you, I want you to know that he's going to.

He speaks.

Think about the things Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do.

He will teach you, he will remind you.

That's speaking.

So be patient and hope and wait.

And don't jump in a wavefore.

And what I mean by that, I hope that is that metaphor clear?

Like, okay, good.

I won't go in through it.

All right.

If you're like, no, it wasn't, and someone else spoke for you, we'll just talk afterwards.

We'll be good.

So be patient.

And and as much as possible, in that place of patience, we learn to sort of attune ourselves, is the best word I can think of, to uh recognizing the spirit when the spirit does speak or show up.

Now, this is an illustration, I've probably used this so many times that it's annoying if you've been here for a long time.

But it's just the only thing that ever pops in my mind when I think about what does it mean to attune yourself?

What is that?

That's like, okay.

How many of us were here in the days before the new roof?

Any of us?

Okay, how many of us didn't know there was an old roof?

And you're just like, I've always known the roof, right?

You don't really think about roofs until you have one that leaks.

And we used to have a very leaky, leaky roof.

Every time it rained, we had water in our building all over the place.

And that was the way it was for a very, very long time.

It was an adventure.

I would get stressed, I'd be at my house, and every time it rained, I'd be like, oh no.

And so I learned during those years to become very attuned to the sound of dripping water.

Because there was always a leak in our building, and usually several.

And so if it ever rained, I would walk through the building, and even if I was in a conversation with someone, there was like half of my brain dedicated to listening for this very specific sound.

And it was funny because it got to the point where I could be walking and talking to someone, and I'd be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop.

Did you hear that?

And they would be like, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Like, no, no, there it is again.

I'm like, I don't hear a thing.

And I'm like, ah, hold on.

And I start like walking around, be like, ah, there it is, see?

It's a drip.

And they're like, how did you hear that?

I just learned to listen for that specific sound.

It wasn't 100%.

Sometimes I would hear something that wasn't there, sometimes I wouldn't hear it and it was there.

But I did get better than I ever thought I could be at hearing that specific sound.

My ears have become attuned to that.

And I do believe it's possible for us to become attuned to the Holy Spirit.

Not perfectly, it's not, none of us have a hundred percent connection, right?

Where we just could never be wrong.

I don't mean that.

Some people act that way, they're wrong.

But they just they are.

But we can get better at it.

Just like a surfer, again, can get better at recognizing the conditions for the waves and then riding it.

How do you get better at that?

Well, number one, don't answer for me.

Come on.

I don't almost say.

I'm just teasing you.

Um, I got I got a list right here.

I made this list this morning because Megan actually said, you should probably go into detail about that, and I'm like, good point.

Um, this is a silly one.

Go to church.

That's one.

This is not self-serving.

And for those of you watching from home, not trying to make you feel guilty, but you should come.

Um, it's interesting that day of Pentecost.

It says that before the Holy Spirit shows up, all the believers were gathered together in one place.

I don't believe that's by accident.

Jesus actually makes a promise in Matthew chapter 18, verse 20.

Matthew 18:20

He says, For where two or three gather together as my followers or in my name, I am there among you.

When two or three gather together, there's something powerful about gathering together with other believers.

The more time we spend with one another.

I mean, think about it, it just makes sense, right?

Like if I have the Holy Spirit in me and you have the Holy Spirit in you, and she has the Holy Spirit in her, and he has the Holy Spirit in him, and we all get together, like at a certain point, that just sort of makes sense that there's a lot of Holy Spirit around.

Maybe something will happen.

I have had experiences with God that were very personal and private.

I've had moments where the Holy Spirit spoke to me or I had an experience with him that was really amazing by myself.

But I will tell you that most of the most of the undeniable God moments in my life have been shared.

They've been shared.

That's the way that God, I believe, intends it to be.

We're told often in Scripture that we're a body of believers, that we're a unit.

And so God's gonna give each of us different abilities, different gifts, and all kinds of things.

And it's when we come together that we're the body.

And so, if you want to put yourself in the best position to learn to become attuned to the work of the Spirit, I like go to church.

Be around other believers, and all of you here have checked that box.

Boom, done.

Alright, cool, move on.

Uh, pray a lot, like as much as you can.

And remember that when you pray, it's a it's a two-way thing.

Like communication is a two-way thing.

The very first time I ever spoke on this stage, I was 23 years old.

I'm 39 now, turned 40 in July.

Can't wait, it's gonna be great.

People finally take me seriously.

And so I was 23, and when I got off the stage, I thought I crushed it.

I'm not gonna lie, I was I had a communication degree in college.

I felt like I was good at talking and all that, and I was good at talking, but I got off the stage and Susan, who's one of the people that started our church, Susan looked at me and she was so sweet, but she had this ability to like coach you in a way that was hard, but also loving.

It was weird.

And she went, You are such a great speaker.

And I said, Thank you.

I was 23.

Again, you know, you're 23 years old, like you think you know everything, and you know nothing.

You know nothing, you 23-year-olds know nothing, okay?

Um just teasing.

You know a few things, but it's mostly enough.

So anyway, Susan goes, You're such a great speaker, and I was like, Oh, thank you.

And she goes, and one day you'll be a good communicator too.

And I was like, What?

What does that mean?

Right?

And she was right.

Because prayer, for example, isn't speaking to God, it's communicating with God.

There's a listening aspect to prayer.

Sometimes the most powerful moments you can have in prayer are moments where you say nothing.

Or you just say, God, I'm here.

Speak.

Here's what's on my heart.

And then pause and listen.

Because prayer is communicating with God, not just speaking.

It's not just saying, God, here's my stuff, I'm out.

And the more you pray, the more you begin to attune your spirit, your heart, to hearing from God because you've opened up that conversation.

So pray a lot.

Now, some of you think that you're not good at prayer, and here's the beautiful thing about it that's not true.

That's a lie from the enemy to keep you from praying.

You you're you are every bit as capable of a depth in prayer as any other person.

Can you become better at praying?

Like, sure, I guess.

But oftentimes the people who would even say, I'm a I'm good at praying, I'd be like, that's a weird, I don't know.

Just like, I don't even know if our prayer team would ever be like, we're really good at praying.

Like, you know what I mean?

There's just a that's not the way it goes.

There's a humility there.

But you just open yourself up, you talk to God.

You want to become attuned to the sound of the Spirit, okay?

Be gathered with other believers.

Pray a lot.

Here's a this is a crazy one.

Read, read your Bible.

Some of us think, well, I'm not good at reading the Bible.

Yes, you are.

You are you are totally okay at reading the Bible.

You read it more and more and more, it will become more and more clear to you.

That's the way that it tends to go.

And even if you're not much of a reader, download like the Dwell app, it's just Dwell.

You can drive, and the Bible is read to you.

You can even choose the translation and the voice.

You want a British dude reading you the Bible?

Go for it.

Alright?

You want Felix, who's from South Africa, has a really cool accent.

That's his name on the app reading it.

I like Felix, and you can, there it goes.

I heard another pastor talk about Felix.

That's how I learned about Felix and the Dwell app, and I agree.

He was right.

It's great.

But you can just listen to the Bible as you drive.

That counts.

For most of human history, people couldn't read, and so when people heard the word, it was spoken to them, they listened.

But immerse yourself in scripture.

Here's why.

Because sometimes we might think we hear the Holy Spirit, and maybe we don't.

Sometimes we can confuse the Holy Spirit with our own thoughts, our own emotions.

That's why I'm very careful anytime someone tells me that the Holy Spirit tells them something, but the Holy Spirit only ever tells them what they already want to do, because that's not been my experience with the Holy Spirit.

And I was like, seems like the Holy Spirit just confirms what you already think is true all the time.

And that could be possible, but I don't know.

The more you understand Scripture, the more you learn to recognize when it is the Spirit and when it's not.

I'll give you two quick examples.

Okay?

And we're gonna get close to wrapping up, really close.

So, worship team, you guys can make your way out.

One of those is a few years ago, several years ago, um Megan and I were invited over to someone at our church's house, okay?

And I'm not sp by the way, this is all you don't have to like look around.

Was it them?

Was it them?

No.

They don't go hurting.

So um we got invited over to someone's house, and it was for dinner, and they basically it was great, and we they're great people.

But one of the things that it came out at the dinner was that they just felt like they were supposed to be more influential here.

And they basically just they just told us that.

They're like, hey, we just wanted to invite you over because we just feel like God is telling us to let you know that we really should probably be more like, you know, movers and shakers or whatever.

And I'm like, no.

You know?

And actually at the time, I'll be honest, I don't think at the time that was my response because I was I was much younger.

And I was like, oh man, I really didn't want to leave anybody out because I like I love I love people, and so I was probably more like, oh man, have we missed it, have we done something wrong?

And now looking back and having more wisdom and more experience and knowledge of God and scripture and spirit, all that kind of stuff.

Now I look back and it's like, oh, clearly that wasn't God.

Because Jesus specifically told us in his teachings that we should never ever aspire for positions of greatness, but instead we should serve humbly and wait to be invited into those positions.

Jesus actually taught a parable all about that.

And so the Holy Spirit would never tell us to do the opposite of what Jesus says.

Just wouldn't.

And so now I go, oh, because I know scripture better, I can recognize that that wasn't the Holy Spirit at all.

That was just them, like desiring something that, you know, fine.

And then kind of co-opting God language to try to persuade us in that, but the Holy Spirit would never tell you, hey, like demand or or strongly put your name in the in the hat for a position of real importance and influence, because the Holy Spirit would tell us to serve humbly and wait.

Just wait.

Okay, another example.

This one's really recent.

Um, you know, one of my favorite things about our church is baptisms.

Like, I love it when people we actually have two people getting baptized as we close today, which is awesome.

They're all getting they're getting ready right now, about to get baptized.

So yeah.

But baptisms can be sort of an interesting experience, right?

Because we've we've done it a lot of different ways.

Does anyone remember when we had like the big tank over on the side of the room?

Like, yeah, that's it's still technically there.

We just closed that wall off.

And then we had one thing on here because we actually wanted people to be more a part of the room when they got baptized.

And then we had so many baptisms that happened, we had two tanks.

Now we have tank one, tank two, and that's great.

It's more efficient.

But, you know, baptisms, we've we've just had this variety of experiences, and you know, sometimes people are so nervous that just like saying anything, they're terrified.

And we've actually had people almost hold up on getting baptized because they're like, I don't want to have to talk in front of a group of people.

And we've had other situations where you know, some of us, when we're nervous, we just start talking and it never stops.

And we've had baptisms where it's like, hey, this is cool, tracking, but like, dunk.

Like it's that's what we're here to do, you know?

And I and look, if you're here like, was that me?

No, probably not.

And so, you know, but but our job, part of our job is just to try to make sure everything we do, we do it is the best way we can, in a way that really helps other people.

And so we we noticed that sometimes, like, we needed to have some guidance to help people.

A, to help make sure that what the main thing was the main thing, that the main focus was the person getting baptized.

But also that anyone who wanted to get baptized didn't have to feel this pressure of, like, well, now I have to write a speech.

And I don't know if I can do that.

That should never be a hindrance.

And so I was praying, this was like three months ago.

It's the last time I've I've heard God speak to me, just like, boom, Holy Spirit, bang.

Like one of those moments.

And here's how it happened.

I was driving to my car and I was thinking about baptisms, and I was like, God, I feel like we need a change in baptisms.

We just need something that kind of guides people and it gives focus to that time.

Because it just felt like it was it was missing.

And not that those baptisms were amazing, but it's just we needed to do it a little differently.

And so in my mind, I hear this phrase.

One sentence.

One sentence.

And I was like, well, that seems a little restrictive, you know?

And I mean literally, I'm like arguing with myself in this moment.

I'm like, one sentence, that's just no.

And as soon as I say, like, no, that seems a little restrictive, I mean with a crystal clarity, here's what pops in my head.

This is my son who I love.

He brings me great joy.

That is what God the Father spoke over Jesus when he was baptized.

And I was like, oh, one sentence.

This is good enough for Jesus, you know, probably good enough for any of us, right?

And so it was so cool, such a cool story, at least for me, because I heard that so clearly, and I called the person who's in charge of our baptisms and that whole process, and I was like, I got something great.

One sentence.

That's all they get.

I know.

Someone just went, oh.

And that they actually had the same reaction.

Like, I don't know.

I was like, no, no, no, no, no think about it.

Jesus got baptized, and God the Father, here's his chance.

It's Jesus, it's the Son of God, He's the King of Kings, He's getting baptized.

You would think everyone's like, sit down and get ready for a sermon because Jesus is getting baptized.

You don't even know.

He goes, This is my son who I love, he brings me great joy.

Boom, baptized, done.

And the very first Sunday that we did that, we were kind of nervous because we're like, oh, people, we don't want anyone to feel like we're limiting them, we're not.

We're just trying to keep the main thing the main thing, which is the person getting baptized.

And so this woman who was the baptizer, it was such one of the coolest conversations I've ever had here.

I won't even say her name because she wouldn't want me to.

But she comes up to us and she was scheduled to baptize someone that week, and she was like, I'm kind of mad at you.

She said, I was so excited about baptizing.

And I had this whole spiel planned, all the things I was gonna say.

And then I heard that we're supposed to like keep it to one sentence and look, it's it's one ish, okay?

We're not sticklers.

But you know.

And she said, but you know what?

She said, I started to pray about it and think about it.

And she said, I and she said this, offered this up.

She said, I realized that I was starting to view this other person's baptism as like my moment.

My moment to really.

And that's not the point of it at all.

The point of it is that this person is going all in with Jesus.

And that's what needs to be focused on.

And she literally said, so she's like, Thank you guys for keeping me from kind of indulging in this.

And I was like, wow, okay.

Great.

And we've had other people say, thank you so much.

We've told them, hey, try to keep it to one sentence, and here's why.

And they go, Oh my gosh, I'm so relieved because I was so nervous about what I was going to say.

I'm not a big speaker, but I can totally do a sentence.

And it's just like those the Holy Spirit.

I'm driving in my car, like I don't know what to do.

God help me.

And he's like, boom, here it is.

And I wouldn't, my point is this with scripture, I would not have recognized that as even a decent idea.

Not saying we're going to do it that way forever.

But I wouldn't have even recognized that as an option if not for knowledge of Scripture.

This is my son who I love, he brings me great joy.

Because I knew that, God was able to use his own word to confirm that what I was hearing was from him.

And not just some thought.

Okay, final.

Final one, final piece.

Is when it's time, when the spirit does move, act.

Okay, how do you be attuned to the Spirit's voice?

Well, one is you you like you're patient, you're hopeful, you're listening, you're in church, you're surrounded by other believers who have the spirit, you learn to pick up on them.

Sometimes God will use them to say something to you.

You you pray a lot, right?

You worship, and that's part of prayer in many ways.

Read your scriptures, read the Bible so when the Spirit speaks, you can recognize that's from God, that's not, because the Spirit will never say something that isn't confirmed with Scripture.

You will not.

It'll line up.

And finally, when the Spirit does prompt you, go for it.

Like a surfer on the wave, go for it.

And if it if you mess up, you mess up.

If you were wrong, you were wrong.

Like I'm fine being like, God, I'm sorry, I thought you told me to do that.

Clearly, I misheard.

I'm okay with that in life.

I'd rather actually do that than be like, yeah, God, I thought that was you.

I just don't know, I froze.

That when you feel the Spirit prompt you, and you're like, I think this might be the Holy Spirit, tell me, then do it.

Then just do it.

And do it again and again and again.

And as you do that, you will become better.

As good as you can be at recognizing and moving with the Holy Spirit, and that puts you in the best position possible to experience whatever it is you need to experience.

Does that make sense?

Alright.

I'm gonna pray, and we're gonna get to some baptisms.

Okay?

So pray with me if you don't mind.

Father God, we thank you that you sent your Son.

But we also thank you, Lord, that you sent your Spirit, that you've given us the Holy Spirit, that you've put your spirit inside of us, and you've even encouraged us, Lord, that if we ever struggle with doubt that that's going on, if we ever struggle, Lord, with a misunderstanding of how it all works, that we can even just ask you and ask for more.

That it's okay for us to do that, Lord.

So I pray that you do continue filling our people.

Everyone that's here, everyone that's watching from home, fill us with a genuine hunger.

You say that we're blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, Lord.

When we hunger and thirst for more of you, you will satisfy us.

Lord, I pray that we recognize that though we cannot control your spirit, we can't manufacture it, we never want to try, we don't want to settle for some fake version of you.

Lord, even though we cannot make these things happen, these moments happen, we can position ourselves the best way possible to be ready when they do.

So, Lord, humble our hearts.

Help us be people who live connected to other believers, who talk to you and listen to you through prayer.

Lord, who open up your scriptures so that we can grow in our knowledge of you and our understanding of who you are and what you value and how you work.

And God, give us the courage to, when prompted, to act.

Help us do that, Lord.

Because we want to experience you in every way possible.

To whatever depth that it's possible to experience you, we want to experience you because you're amazing, you're awesome, you're our God, and we love you.

And we pray all this in your name.

Amen.