Fire Of The Spirit | Pentecost

Pentecost isn’t a church calendar trivia fact, it’s a moment that confronts a question most of us live with every day: where does real power come from when life gets messy? We start with Jesus’ words in John 14: “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and we get brutally practical about identity. If your job changes, money shifts, or your “stuff” gets stripped away, your value doesn’t drop. Your worth is anchored in being a son or daughter of God, not a title you can lose.

Then we lean into the promise Jesus makes about the Holy Spirit. He is not a vibe, not a symbol, not God’s sidekick, he is fully God, the Helper and Spirit of truth who dwells with us and in us. We talk about why conviction is different from condemnation, why resisting the Spirit is spiritually dangerous, and why so many of us chase guidance from TikTok, reels, or success metrics instead of letting the Spirit lead our decisions. This is Spirit-led Christianity for Monday morning, not just Sunday.

From there we walk straight into Acts 2 and the Pentecost story: the sound of a rushing wind, tongues of fire on every believer, and the church empowered to witness. We explain what we mean by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, why speaking in tongues shows up in the text, and how God’s heart is to speak to people in their heart language. We also make space for a clear invitation to respond, both for salvation and for a deeper, Spirit-filled life.

If this stirred something in you, listen all the way through, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What would change if you asked for “more of God” today?

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Transcript

Pentecost And The Fire Theme

Jason Brown 0:00

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It's a powerful thing. It's the power, it's the empowerment of the church by the Holy Spirit. And today we're talking about the fire of the Spirit. Fire of the Spirit. If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone, ask you to turn to John 14 today. How many people have their actual physical paper Bible with them? Do you have it? Hey, good on you for that. It's awesome. We were challenging people last week. Hey, get a hold of your paper Bible. I love my phone. I love my apps in my phone. I use them all the time. But something about having your Bible with you, let it be a blessing to you. John 14, 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. We've been talking about this idea of identity and how our identity is not wrapped up in our some kind of status, it's not wrapped up in our bank account. It's not wrapped up in our doing or the things that we do. It's in who we are as a child of God. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. And people would say amen to that. And so it's hard for us to disconnect so often because we clamor for these different titles or levels or whatever that looks like, but our identity is not in those things. If we didn't have our job today, if we didn't have our bank account today, if we didn't have our stuff today, guess what? Your value is the same because you're made in the image of God. So it's not about your stuff, it never was, because I could come take all your stuff and you'd still have the same value. And someone come take all my stuff, same value. And I didn't have to understand this until we started giving away all of our stuff to go be missionaries across the world. And

Identity Beyond Stuff And Status

Jason Brown 1:35

then suddenly all my stuff that I was pretty attached to. None of you guys are. I was very attached to my stuff. You know who's not attached to stuff? Pastor Celeste. Pastor Celeste would get throw away the thing you're standing on. You know, talking about it like she's like, no, we don't need it. It's out of here. I'm like, wait, wait. I love that thing. It's sacred to me. She's like, cool. And it's gone. You know what I'm talking about? And so as soon as you start getting rid of your stuff, man, it doesn't matter anymore. And you're not connected to it in that way. And it feels so different because your identity is bigger than things. It's bigger than title. It's bigger than that. Your identity isn't who you are as God created you to be. Would you say amen? So we look at what he says to us. You guys back up one slide. If you look at what he says to us in John 14 here, he says these things. This is what we're fighting for in our life. It's what we're going for, it's what we're clamoring after. He says, I am what? The way. I am the way. So we're actually like, Lord, what should I do about this? My thoughts always is to follow Jesus because he is the way. You know, we know that people who write Star Wars, they read the Bible because what they want to say, this is the way. So we know this because they're biting on Jesus, who is the way. And so we see this I am the way, the truth, and the life. So if he is the focus of what these things are, if eternal life is found only in Jesus, then we need to be in alignment with him. And our identity is with him, and our and our concept of what we're living for in our life is in him. And so as we see these things start to unpack, we realize that he's speaking to us on a deeper level of what he wants to do in our lives and through our lives. It continues in verse 7. It says, And if you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. So Jesus is talking to his disciples. He's saying, Listen, you know who I am because you've seen the Father as you have seen me. Why? Because the Son walks in relationship with the Father, the Son sends the Spirit. We're empowered by the Spirit to live every day. And so as we're we our eyes open to who Christ is, then his character starts to speak to us. It starts to transform us as the word of God washes over us. As we spend time praying and we're seeking God and it's washing over us, the more we come in alignment with who he is and we get to know God. He says, I am known. Friends, what it is to be known by someone. I think about this all the time. You know, Celeste and I, to be known, we've been married for over 20 years, and there's still some times that I'm like, wait, I never told you this story. Does that ever happen to you? Where you start going into research, you're like, I didn't know that. Or she'll tell me a story, I'm like, I didn't know that. And these things just like being known, knowing someone on that deep level, and that's what God wants to do in and through us is that we would know him because he already knows us. He knows all the things. It says he knows the hair on our head or the lack thereof, he knows all the things that's going on. He knows it. So he knows the intimacy of our of our deep instar secrets, he knows our deep bisocratic wants, he knows all those things. He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. He's come all the way to us if we would just embrace him. Because there is no other way. Because he says, I am the way. It is only through Christ Jesus. And so, as Christ followers, our connection to him is that we can't earn our way in, we can't buy our way in, can't do enough good things to like I'll make make it. It's not how it works. No, we have to accept Jesus, and as Jesus is righteous, we are not righteous. He is righteous, the Lord sees his righteousness

The Helper Who Dwells In Us

Jason Brown 5:20

instead of our frailty and our brokenness. And so we walk in this understanding, and as we move a little further down in scripture in verse 16, it says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. And so we start to speak about these things. That's who Holy Spirit is, is that he is both God, the Trinity, fully God, not just, oh, it's God's friend. No, no, no. This is fully God, Holy Spirit, who is in us. And the reason the world doesn't know him is because they have not accepted Christ. And so they can't know the power of the Holy Spirit guiding them because they haven't accepted Jesus, who is the one that gives us his spirit. And so as we walk in this way and this understanding, that's why when we start to live the way of Christ, it's so counter-cultural to the things that are around us. And it starts to go in a different direction than what other things would want to try to drag us towards. And so as we live for Christ and by the power of what the Holy Spirit is doing in us, it really changes how we live. We know this because what it says in the Bible says that the one irrefutable, unforgivable sin is what? The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Does that mean you're making fun of the Holy Spirit? Possibly, but more likely, what it really means is that you have pushed him away. And it says it's only by the Spirit's drawing that we're come to repentance. So if we're pushing the way the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we continually push that away, then guess what? Eventually, he'll listen to us. He loves us enough to keep pushing, even when we tell him no, he's we're like, no, and he's trying to come and try to have a relationship with us. We know the conviction and we say no. And eventually what we're doing is blaspheme him. We're saying, you are not what I want. And if we do that to the Holy Spirit, he's the only one that draws us to Jesus and to accepting what Christ has done on our behalf. So if we do that long enough, guess what? That's on us. And so what we need to do as the people of God is we need to embrace what the Holy Spirit is talking to us about and embrace the work that He's doing in our lives. Now we see who He is to us. The scripture tells us these things about who the Holy Spirit is. It says that he is truth and he is the promise, and he is power, and he is an advocate for us, and he is an anointing, and he is the teacher, and he is wisdom. He's all these things because that's who God is. And so we see Holy Spirit, these things, and as we start to speak about it and embrace on this Pentecost Sunday what it means to be those who are saying, More of you, God, in my life. I need more of you. Then what we're reading as we see these things, we're opening ourselves up to more of God in our lives. The fullness of God is available to us if we accept what he's doing and open up our hearts to him. John 16, 13 says, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will declare to you the things that are to come. What does Jesus say? He says, I'm speaking what the Father is saying, the Spirit speaking what Christ is saying. And so that's how we know it's the continuity of the truth. That's who the Spirit is, is that He is truth. And that's why, whenever we're doing things that we know we shouldn't be doing, that's not the character of Christ, we feel convicted because He is truth and wants us to live in truth. I'm gonna try over here where people are responding.

Conviction And Daily Spirit Guidance

Jason Brown 9:06

It's a hard one, right? It's a hard one. Why? Because we don't like being convicted. I didn't say condemned, by the way. Big difference. See, conviction brings us to repentance, condemnation, it's over. So that's not what we're talking about. We convict, he convicts us because that way we come back into relationship with him. And so that's what it means to walk this way out. That's why it talks about he will guide us, he will be the direction, he will be the wisdom. And if he's our guide, that makes all the difference for us and we continue forward with what it means. It seems that it's a guide, not just for once on the weekend, no, every day that we're walking according to the wisdom of God. And that means that, you know, whenever people are looking on TikTok for the answer, they're looking on Instagram reels for the answer, they're going through their YouTube and they're like, oh, this person really has it nailed down, do they? Do they? You think looks maxing is gonna get you into heaven? How's that going for you? You know, how's your crypto wallet doing? Is it gonna get you into heaven? You doing okay? No, how about we live for something that actually matters? Not that none of those things are bad, but if you live for that, that becomes your God little G. But if we're living for him, then our everyday becomes something different because we're led by the Spirit of God and we're having that kind of leading that's like, okay, I wouldn't naturally do this, but you're leading me to do this. I'm listening to what you're saying to me. And it starts to do something that fires up inside of us. It starts to do that thing that gets us excited about our faith in Jesus. It's that fire of the spirit that's burning inside of who we are. I think so often if we get if we get out of sorts in our heart, it's because we don't have the fire of the spirit burning inside of our relationship. And if we're if we're not careful, we can become the cold Christians that we don't like and we think judge everybody. But instead, if we're full of the spirit of God, then even if we're having a funk, even if we're having a bad time, even if we're going through a season, the fire is still there. And we're saying, Lord, I know I'm going through a season. I don't love my circumstances, but I trust you and I will hold on to you where you're leading me to go. And as of for today, just for today, Lord, I need more of you for just today. I can't live off yesterday. I'm not worried about tomorrow yet, but today I need more of you. So that's what it means to have the fire of the Spirit inside us. We're gonna talk about what that means because today we're gonna give an opportunity for people to pray and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Today is Pentecost Sunday. If we haven't met, my name is Jay. It's a blessing to connect with you today. We thank you for coming and worship with us at Cornerstone. If you're here in person, if you're online, welcome. We're so thankful that we have this opportunity together. You know, we see ourselves very much as people who are imperfect. We are all in need of a savior. And since that's true, then we use this imagery of walking with Jesus because that's how we see ourselves as people on a journey following after where he's leading us to go. Our ambition is to be more like Jesus. Say it with me. Be more like Jesus. It's why what we said, we love God, we make disciples, we reach the world. And let me encourage you. You know, we are this week, I was part of life groups, and a lot of people were part of life groups. Let that be something that challenges your heart, that you would be connected to it and in walking in that relationship with others because that's what life groups do. They help us to connect, they help us to grow, and they help us to serve. So get involved. You still have quite a few weeks left of this semester, so you can get involved and make that be uh something that's a blessing to your life. Now, so last week we talked about what it means to have freedom of the spirit and how when we live according to the spirit, then we're free. We're not held down by these chains of our past, but instead we're free in who Christ is. We talked about 2 Corinthians 3, 17. Now the Lord is spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And so we were talking about that today. We're talking about what it means to have fire of the Spirit. Now, as we're talking about Pentecost, we start to pick up with this

Acts 2 Wind And Fire

Jason Brown 13:05

thing that is it's very much transformational in the life of the church because this is where Jesus, after his ascension, which is marked on the calendar by just over a little week ago, the ascension was a moment where Jesus is saying, Listen, I have taught you what I've taught you, and now I need to return back to the Father. I've done my mission here, I have laid my life down for all of us, and I have paid it, and so that you can have a relationship with the living God, and so I'm out. Not exactly like that. It was very close. If you read the Bible, it's very close to that. Now you need to go back and read it. So, but the idea is that he ascends back to the Father, and all of the all of the disciples are like, wait, what? And so this story picks up with the disciples at the beginning of the book of Acts, actually, in the end of the Gospels, and it starts to talk to us with his ascension about him going and charges them to go and to stay together to seek the Father, and that the outpouring of the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon the church. And so many of those disciples, though there were thousands originally, many of those disciples, they kind of keep going, keep going. It comes down to a number, 120 or so, maybe additional that are there in the fringes, but they're there praying in what's called the upper room. And so it picks up in this thing in Acts 2, where we're kick, we're picking up with this narrative about what they're doing. They're seeking God with prayer. It says, and when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And I love this. It's a prayer initiative, it's a focus on prayer. I know our movement, our association of churches is talking about praying on July 14th, is having a vigil of prayer for the 250th anniversary of our country and praying for the Lord to empower his church to live as the church as truth in the world. And that's something that we very much value. We have prayer here every week as one of our life groups. And we had a powerful time this week praying for you to experience a new level of Holy Spirit in your life. You know, that's what it means whenever you have a priority on prayer, and that's what this group does. They come together, they're praying in this upper room, they're going and having this time together, and they're seeking empowerment to do what Jesus told them to do. And in doing so, this is very much one of those things that they're like, okay, well, we have to have the power of God because we know what it's like to do this work without Jesus. Remember when he sent them out as the 72, it's like they would do these things, they saw miracles, and they saw some of this, and then sometimes they would run into difficult things that they couldn't do. And he's like, Well, this is what you need to do in this case. This is what you need. You need more of the power of God, is what you need. And so they start to do these things, and we see a marked difference between who they were before the Holy Spirit in their life and who they are after. And so we see this empowerment moment start to unveil. And so that's where we pick up here in scripture. If you have your Bible, we're looking at Acts 2 and verse 2, and it says, And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each, every and every one of them, on each one of them. And so as we see this, we see this moment that's pivotal, it's powerful, and this imagery that's been painted across the generations about showing a depiction of this moment, about the empowerment of the church. It's amazing. Where this moment where the wind of God comes through, this moment where the light, this fire appears above their heads, indicating that the power of God is upon each and every one of them. And that's why us as Protestant believers, and especially as those who are charismatics and Pentecostals, we see this as a marker of the church because it wasn't one special person that got the flame above their head. And then we had to bow down and listen to what they said. No, each person had the empowerment of the Holy Spirit on their head. What does that mean? It's because when Jesus gave his life for us as he was there upon the cross, as you read it in the gospels, it says that the veil of the temple was torn into. What that means is that the power of God, which was held in the Holy of Holies inside the temple, was now available for all people. And that was indicated by the fire of God upon every single person. That's why you don't have to be a special professional Christian on a stage somewhere to do something for God. No, every single one of us is called to do what we're called to do for God. Have you use our sphere of influence to use our voice, to use our testimony to share with other people. And each one of us is responsible for that because I'm not going to reach who you're going to reach, you're not going to reach who I'm going to reach. That's why each one of us is part of the work of Christ. And that's why each one of us in this day, each one of us represented in that room

Tongues As Prayer And Witness

Jason Brown 18:00

had the fire of God upon them. And so they began to speak, and the Holy Spirit began to speak through them. It's the idea of speaking in tongues. He'd be able to speak through them this other language, this divine heavenly language. He's praying through them. What's he praying? He's praying his will. What's our daily prayer? Your kingdom come, your will be done. And in our family, we we say that prayer often when we leave the house. So we'll get in the car as we're leaving the house, we pray that prayer out loud. And as we do, we emphasize your kingdom come, your will be done. And the reason is if we're not careful, we will bypass the your kingdom come, your will, and we'll just say, uh, will, kingdom, and we really mean ours. How many people know what I'm talking about? So we need to be those who are very intentional to say, Lord, I'm not living for my kingdom. I'm not living for my will. No, I want to live for your will. And since they had alignment, they had unity, they were seeking God, he pours out his spirit upon them, and suddenly they are indicated that each one of them are the messenger of God, and he starts to use them and pray through them and praying his will be done on the earth. And it's a powerful moment because we see them empowered to do ministry. This wasn't something to make them special or make them holier than other people. No, this is to empower them to do something for God. And so that's what it means to be filled with the Spirit is that you're filled with the Spirit to do something with that power. And so that's what it says here. In Acts 2, 4, so they were filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So he's giving them what to say, he's praying through them. So if you've ever been in one of these churches, uh maybe in Europe, maybe in Asia, you see some of these amazing things painted. That's the moment they're talking about this empowerment by the Spirit. And it's interesting because the symbol we have is the one from Jesus' baptism where the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus and showing the peace of God resting upon the anointing of God resting upon Jesus. That's the imagery they use here for the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit is not a dove. Can we all come to that understanding? So when I go dove hunting, I'm not trying to hunt Holy Spirit. You know what I'm talking about? It's gonna be okay. The Holy Spirit is not nice on a better rice. That's not how it works. His indication is the peace of God, the provision of God. When Noah sends out the dove, it's a provision of God statement. That's why we talk about these things. That's who Holy Spirit empowers all those things and way, way more. And so when we're talking about the power of God, that's the imagery we get because we know we can't have peace without Him. So He is our peace. So as we walk according to the Spirit of God upon ourselves, then guess what? This is what's upon us, we experience the peace of God. Because where the Spirit of God is, the peace of God is. And as we can walk by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, it will be in the middle of chaos, we'll still feel peace because He is our peace. It continues here in Scripture in Acts 2, verse 5 and 6. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men of every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered. It was meaning they were confused, they were amazed, they were astonished. It says, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. Now this is impressive because these guys are fishermen for the most part. They are local dudes from from there, they're just there from the area. And so as they start to say this, it's like, aren't these guys from Galilee? Isn't this where they're from? Local? How are they speaking Arabic? How are they speaking the language of Crete, the Cretans speak? How are they speaking this one and that one? Because they couldn't learn it. No, the spirit was saying, listen, I'm gonna use you who doesn't know how to do anything. I'm gonna use you, I'm gonna speak through you because I need to tell her that Jesus loves her. And so he's doing that, and he's like, hey, I'm gonna use you, madam, and I'm gonna use you, and you're gonna say something in your language, and this guy's gonna hear that Jesus loves him. And suddenly the power of the Spirit of God has multiple layers of what he's doing and speaking through us. It says, and Paul writes about how speaking in the spirit, praying in tongues is something that builds up our faith because we are praying the will of God as He's telling us. Now we don't know what we're praying unless a word comes to give that interpretation, but the idea is that it builds up our faith and we're praying what he's wanting us to pray. And I've heard this very thing happen as people would be praying, and they'll be praying in the spirit. My own father, the pastor, my dad and mom who planted this church, he would be praying, and I've even heard him, which I know he doesn't speak French. I know he doesn't speak these other things, doesn't speak that great as Spanish. There's some Spanish, not that great as Spanish, but I've heard him by the Spirit pray out stuff in the fluent in French, fluent in Spanish. I'm like, wait, wait, what's going on right now? Because it's the Spirit of God praying through him the will of God. Now, guess what? Our brothers and sisters who spoke French in the room, they knew what God was saying to them. Our brothers and sisters spoke Spanish in the room, they knew what God was saying to them. And what other languages was God using to do that very same thing? And I love this because if you speak heart language to somebody, it does something different. And I can tell you, as someone who's got a chance to travel a lot of the world, man, the more that you can connect a person, a person on a level like that, man, it draws you near to that person. And that's what God is doing, is He wants to draw near to us. He's saying, Listen, I speak your heart language. I love you that much that I want to be with you, not occasionally, I want to be with you every day to empower you to live the way of God. And see, friends, that's what we mean when we talk about being powered, empowered by the Spirit, to have the fire of the Spirit inside of who we are. It talks about being those that pray in the Spirit. And as we do those things, that's exactly what will happen. As it continues in that scripture, it says they were amazed, astonished, saying, Are we not those who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear them in our own native language?

What The Fire Changes In Us

Jason Brown 24:15

Praying in the Spirit then means being those who are aligned with his will as he's praying through us to do the will of God. Now, I've had a chance to be in Rome and I've been there at St. Peter's Basilica, and their rose window at the back of the altar is actually a representation of the Holy Spirit. And we happened to be there midday, Celeste and I and Javen and Shiloh. It was before we had Amelia. And as we were there before this rose window, it was amazing. I was having a moment. I was like, this is awesome. And it's it's gaudy, it's beautiful, it's all this stuff. You see, you know, these marble statues done by Michelangelo were in the room. You're like, this is awesome. And I was having this whole like, oh moment, you know what I mean? And as I was doing that, my little daughter, Shell was little at the time. She decided the sundress she was wearing, she was over that sundress. That sundress did not need to exist. And so she was just like, decides to take off a sundress. And I'm like, ah! And I'm like trying to cover up. All I could see is, you know, headlines in Rome. You know, Protestant pastor jailed, daughter, you know, makes this holy sanctuary unconsecrated. I'm like, oh no. Oh no. She's little, she didn't know. She was just over it, man. She was just having a moment. So I'm like, no, trying to cover her up. But here's the thing you know, when we start thinking about it in iconographs, we think about it just as a rose window, it becomes something else. We need to think of who the Holy Spirit is to us, is that He is with us. And He wants to spark that fire inside of your heart and your life that will change everything, the thing that will burn up all that sin, the thing that will do those things on us to help us motor through difficult circumstances. And I think that's why he used the imagery of fire upon every single person because it starts to spark something in our heart that we know this is dangerous. We know this is powerful, we know that this is not controllable all the time. We know that it's something special about it. And so he's using the imagery of this to show us what he wants to do in our lives and through our lives for other people. Now we know we're not going to be perfect. We talked about it at the start, but what it will do is give us the power to live for Christ other than what we can do on our own. And we can do a lot of things. We can put in habits, we can we can do those kind of things that help us build those kinds of things, and I think we should. We talk about that at the beginning of this year. Being people of the word, being people of prayer, being people that take things to God before we make the decision, not after. Remember? We're all working on this. You know, we're gonna decide what we're gonna say before we say it, not after we're mad. We're gonna decide that we're gonna stop talking in traffic to people that are driving. I'm still working on that. Family, don't look at me. I got people covered their faces with a Bible in the back. Praise God. I'm with you. I am with you. We need the power of God. We need the power of God. And so that means to me we have to be people of prayer. We have to be people that are seeking God on that deep, everyday level. And that's what we'll experience his freedom is whenever we start to live in alignment with what he's telling us to do. And the reason is because we live free because we're living free of conviction. We're living free of all the messed up parts of sin in our life. We're living free of all of it. Because we are living under the influence of the Holy Spirit and we're walking in step where he's leading us to go. Our identity then starts to really shift and align with who he says we are. And it's not about all these other things. And what's amazing about that is when we don't live for those things, those things come along because it's just a bonus. And if you live unto God with excellence, but it's not about the title or about the money, then guess what? He'll give you the title and the money because you'll use it as a tool for him and not for yourself. And we've seen it time and time again that that's what happens when we get our priorities straight and we put our identity in God, then guess what? All this other stuff he can give to you because if he gave it to you before then, then it would mess up your life. You know how many friends I've had that they got rich and then they didn't need God anymore? You know, they're gonna really need God and their money's not gonna be for them whenever they get to end of their life. Because you can't buy your way into God's grace. And then they will be the rich man reaching out to Lazarus saying, please just a drop. Just a drop. Friends, let's not be those that live for something that's passing away. Let's that live for the very power of God that can help us live an identity that's greater than our circumstances, greater than our own story, because we are those that are living according to the fire of the Spirit

Invitation To Receive Spirit Baptism

Jason Brown 28:55

of God. And so today, we have this opportunity. We have two songs that we're gonna play as a response during this time. As we do, if you're someone here in the room and you just need more of God, we're gonna give you an opportunity to come, and we have people that are gonna come and pray in agreement with you today, that you would experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I'll tell you, no one's gonna push you over, nothing like that, none of that kind of stuff. You know, that's a thing. I grew up in church, in Pentecostal church, Pentecostal church, if you didn't fall over, God wasn't doing something. So, you know, like people, if they didn't ever like sweep the leg, there was never a sweep the leg moment, but they did like try to push you down sometimes. So as a kid, I was like leaning like this the other way, you know, trying not to go down. If they were wise, they'd have just taken their hand off. I would have fell this way. The reason I say that is because when the power of God comes on us, sometimes those things do happen. Sometimes people do fall down. Sometimes people do, you know, they're praying in in other tongues. That's what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. That's the marker of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit is you make a decision for Jesus, the Holy Spirit is with you. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about you have to do this to qualify to get into heaven. That's not we're talking about either. What we're talking about is the power to live for God and to be led by God and to be praying what his will is over your life and over all those that are around your life. And so I will say to you that there is a marked difference whenever you live as a spirit-filled believer and pray the power of the Spirit of God. Whenever that starts to happen in your life, things will change. And it'll change because now you are getting an alignment with what God wants for your life. And let me encourage you to be someone who does that. And it doesn't make you more holy than another if you do experience that today or if you don't. But the idea is that we want to be those that are seeking more of God. And as we do, we just start to speak out the things that he gives us. And as we do that, it's there's not like a magic situation where it's like, oh, say this word or this or that. No, no, no. You just want more of God. You worship God and see what he'll do for you and your circumstances right there. He will pour out himself upon us. I can tell you this, it's powerful, and I wish Pastor Cindy was in this uh this meeting to tell you. But you know, my parents they grew up Baptists, and so, you know, our Baptist brothers and sisters, very much devoted Christians, doing amazing things, they believe a little differently than we do on this. But as my parents came into Pentecost, my dad came into Pentecost first and was baptized in the Spirit. This is problematic for Baptist people because they don't believe it. And so you don't fit in once that happens. And so my parents were talking about this stuff, and my mom had not experienced it, but she believed. And so she she was getting prayed for, and I think it just she didn't receive straight away, and that was okay. And she was listening to something and worshiping as she was doing dishes at my house when we were growing up. And as she was doing dishes, she was just praying to the Lord as she was doing something. And in that moment in our kitchen, she was baptized in the Spirit. So, friends, it's not about a magic moment, a specific person praying for you. It's none of that. It's the Lord seeking more of him and he will meet you. Seeking more of what he wants to do and he'll do that. And it's hard, you know. I was analytical as a kid, big time. I couldn't get out of my head. I needed to know all the different that doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that. I needed to embrace more of God and what he wants to do in me and walk according to faith in what he wants to do through my life. So today, as we come and we draw near, if you're someone who needs more of God in your circumstance, if you need more wisdom in your life, if you're someone who wants to see your family thrive, if you need to make good decisions, anything, I would encourage you to come and meet God today and be those who step out and look to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Today we're honoring Pentecost Sunday. It's the marker of the day where God already done this. And we've seen many people experience the power of the Spirit because they

Invitation To Follow Jesus

Jason Brown 32:50

were willing to say, Lord, more of you in my life. Amen. Before we go there, we need to give the opportunity to any andor all that they would answer that question about what they do with Jesus. See, each one of us has to answer that question, have you embraced Jesus? That's what we are as Christ followers, is we've said yes to Christ. For us, the symbol of the cross is so powerful because the cross is where Jesus took all of our sin and all of our brokenness and all of our mistakes. He took it on himself, though he didn't commit any of them, he took it on himself. He took up my mistakes. The things I said that were hateful to other people, the things I did that I was being an idiot. He took all of that upon himself. And as Christ died upon the cross, he did that for you, he did it for me, he did it for everyone, that they would have an opportunity to have a living relationship with the Father. And so that's why the symbol of the cross is so profound for us. Because we see this symbol, though, is meant to be intimidation and threat and death. It becomes one of freedom and a marker of what Jesus has done for me, because he loves me so very much. You know, Apostle Paul, he writes to the church at Rome and he says this because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today it's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. We've had many people in the last few weeks make a decision for Christ. Friends, today is your opportunity to do the same. Wherever you are under the sound of my voice, that you would embrace the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you're here in the room, I'm asking you to stand at your feet right where you're at and bow your head as Christians are praying. Friends, if you're online, wherever you are, take that moment. God wants to do something in your life and in your circumstances. You've heard about the love of God, you've heard about the power of God and what it means to live for Him. Today is an opportunity to accept that very thing for your heart and for your life. What Jesus wants to do in your life. Maybe you're here and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus. Today is your opportunity to do so. Or maybe you have made a decision like that in the past, but then you haven't been living for Christ. Today is an opportunity to recommit your heart and life to Him. As heads are bowed here in the room. If that's you and you say, Pastor, that's me, I just want to be included in this prayer today. I won't embarrass you in any way, but just indicate to me that's you. If you just raise your hand where you're at, just Pastor, that's me. I just want to accept Christ into my heart and life today. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, as people making decisions. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. See those that are making decisions today. Praise the Lord. See the hand that's there, and the hand that's there, and the hand that's there. Thank you, Lord, that are others that are making a decision today. I'm gonna ask if everyone would if they pray this prayer out loud after me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with you, make a decision to follow Jesus today. Praise the Lord. Hey, that was you. Take a moment and take a shot of this QR code and put some materials into your hands so that you can live for God. You know, we're gonna have this opportunity to respond to this altar right now and for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Maybe just more of the Spirit of God. Maybe you're someone who speaks in tongues all the time, that you would come and just ask for more of the Lord today and seek more of who he is. But I've asked

Response Prayer And Next Steps

Jason Brown 37:05

a few people to come and to pray for you. So if there's someone, if you're coming forward, you feel a hand on your shoulder, or someone that's coming to pray for you. That's something that we've asked them to do. And just want to agree with you today. But I'm just gonna pray and then we're gonna ask, we're gonna have a couple songs, so it's no rush. We have time, gone short today on purpose, so that you have time to spend that time with the Lord, to seek him for what he wants to do on this Pentecost Sunday. Lord, we thank you so much for your word to us. And Holy Spirit, we thank you for pouring yourself out upon your church. Lord, we thank you that you are the truth and that you are the one that guides us. You are the one that pours yourself out upon us. Lord, you do all these things and more. Today, as we come forward, Lord, we seek an impartation, a baptism of your power. Lord, that we would be those fired up, Lord, for you and for what you want to do in and through our lives. But we do so, Lord, by faith, Lord, wanting to be used for you, for your glory. And we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Celeste Brown 38:00

It is the beginning of summer, but we want to honor our graduates. So next Sunday we are going to do just that. If you have someone who's graduated from high school, community college, university, or a trade, let us know. You can do it through the app, you can call the office. But next Sunday during both services, we're gonna honor those who have um just worked really hard and finished to the end.

Jason Brown 38:21

And next Sunday, we're also gonna have another opportunity for you to get prayed for and to invite the whole power of the Holy Spirit into your heart and life as well. So if you heard this this week, it was a challenge to your faith, and you want to take that step out in your faith. Let's do that this next week. Amen? Before we go, I want to pray this prayer over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. Pray this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Know this. We love you very much, Eric Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.