When the Holy Spirit Goes Public Through You - Pastor Tyronne Gross Jr. | Elk Grove

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More about Pastor Tyronne:
        
       Tyronne Gross Jr. is the Campus Pastor of Midtown Church, Elk Grove campus. A native to Northern California, Pastor Tyronne attended CSU Sacramento and majored in Business Communications. He joined the NFL in 2006, as a Running Back for the San Diego Chargers. During his second season in the NFL, he experienced what was considered a career-ending injury. Shortly after, he began volunteering as the Team Chaplain for ARC and SCC Junior Colleges in Sacramento, CA. He traveled throughout the country as a motivational speaker offering keys to success to students and business professionals alike.

In 2011, Pastor Tyronne and his wife Raquel founded The Table Community Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to serving youth and their families. The organization quickly grew, offering employment to over 180 employees and serving youth in after-school programs across two counties and 3 school districts. This was the start of operating in ministry “outside of the four walls.” In 2018, Tyronne answered the call to pastor and now serves in full-time ministry.

Pastor Tyronne and Raquel married in 2008. They are the proud parents of two amazing boys, Tyronne III (“Bubba”) and Tyrese (“Pooch”). They currently reside in Sacramento, CA.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

To our first time guests, thank you for joining us. My name is Tyrone. I'm one of the pastors here, and I truly believe that if you are here, you are here for a reason. Amen. And it is a special day. This is so let me say happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women here, our moms, our spiritual moms, god moms, neighborhood moms, all the moms, praise God. But um I I just want to say this because you know every year I get asked the same question. What are you doing for Raquel today? Nothing. Because Raquel's not my mom. So if y'all, I'm just saying, I'm just gonna be real with y'all. So if y'all really want to know what's happening for Raquel, go talk to her boys. Because she's not my mama, amen. But um, speaking of moms, I'm gonna be honest, because my mom not here, I'm gonna say my mom used to get on my nerves. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She used to get on my nerves because I had to do all these chores growing up. See, see, kids these days, they don't have to do chores like so chores for me, it wasn't just taking out the trash. It was cleaning the kitchen. And see, cleaning the kitchen was not just washing dishes, it was wiping off the counters. It was sweeping, it was mopping. And the thing is, we we had a dishwasher that I wasn't able to use. So it was hand washing all the dishes, then drying all the dishes, and then putting it up. And most of the time, I'm not even the one who made the mess, but I still had to do it. It made no sense. And so, you know, I just remember thinking like, I can't wait till I get grown. Anyone else have that feeling like I can't wait till I get, see, can't wait till I get grown. And then you grow up and you realize you still gotta do stuff. But the thing is, you don't have nobody telling you what to do unless you're married, and then they tell you, ooh, I better stop before I get in trouble. I better stop. I do gotta go home today. But but on a serious note, it's called what responsibility. And the truth is, a lot of us, you know, what we didn't like growing up is actually it was preparing us for life. It was the what discipline, it was the structure, it was the correction, it was you're gonna do what I say you're gonna do no matter what. Like it was, it was that was just what it was. And it wasn't punishment, it was preparation. It was preparation. And what I've learned is just because you grow older, doesn't mean you grown. Yeah, just because you can it don't mean that you grow. Um because um you can be grown and still not growing. And spiritually, some of us are saved, but we still avoid growth. We still avoid growth. Instead, what do we do? We resist the process that changes us. We love moments, we love the experience, but we resist the process. And a great way to gauge our spiritual growth is how we listen and obey the Holy Spirit. Amen. Because the Holy Spirit isn't just for emotional moments, it's for our spiritual growth, it's for spiritual maturity, and it's not just um just to work on us, it is to shape us, it is to mold us, it's to stretch us, and ultimately it is the Holy Spirit is supposed to flow through us, amen. And so I'm gonna be continuing in our series this morning, um, empowered by the spirit, with the title of When the Holy Spirit Goes Public Through You. When the Holy Spirit Goes Public Through You. So if you have your Bibles or your U verse, if you want to follow along on the screen, we're gonna be in Acts chapter 10 this morning. Acts chapter 10, and I want us to look at what happens when the Holy Spirit refuses to leave somebody where they are, amen. So I'm not gonna read the entire chapter, I want to highlight a few moments in here, but we're gonna go through this. And so we're gonna start at verse number nine, and I want to break it up like this. This is part one of it, and this is the vision section. Verse nine says, About noon the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up to the roof to pray. He became hungry and he wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven open and something like a large sheep being let down on earth by its four corners. It continued all it contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. Surely not the Lord, Peter replied. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice the voice spoke to him a second time. Do not call anything unpure that God has made clean. And so here's part two. We're going to jump down to verse 19. This is direction. Direction. Verse 19 says, While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you, so go downstairs. Do not hesitate, go with them. I have sent them. And let's fast forward to verse 34. This is part three, Revelation. Then Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what's right. And later in the chapter, the Holy Spirit, it falls on everyone. It falls on everyone. Let us pray. Father God, I thank you for this day. I thank you for this opportunity to be before your people. Lord, use me, speak through me. Allow this message to touch the hearts of your people. Allow everyone to grab hold of what they need from your word this morning. We ask all these things in your mighty name we pray. Amen. So, some biblical foundation before I continue on, Acts chapter 10 was this major turning point in the early church. Up until this point, the gospel had primarily been spreading amongst the Jewish people. But here in Acts 10, we begin to see the Holy Spirit push the church beyond its boundaries that they had grown comfortable with. And before Peter ever has this vision, before he arrives at Cornelius' house, God was already moving. Acts 10 opens up at the top of this chapter and it introduces us to this man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Roman Satyrian. He was a Gentile, an outsider of the Jewish community. But scripture tells us that he feared God, he prayed faithfully, and he gave generously. And while Cornelius was praying, God was speaking through him through a vision, telling him to send men to go find Peter. Now, on the other side of this story, Peter was in Joppa. Now, this is Peter the disciple, a preacher, a teacher, and a leader in the early church. So while Cornelius was searching, God was preparing Peter. And I love how it shows how the Holy Spirit works. While one person was praying, God is already working on someone else. So while Cornelius was being prepared to receive, Peter was being prepared to respond. And this is the powerful thing we find here in Acts chapter 10. God isn't only trying to reach Cornelius, he was also working in Peter. Because sometimes the Holy Spirit will challenge the things in us that we didn't realize were there. Like our perspectives or our comfort zones or our assumptions, boundaries, we quietly accept it. So at the time that we arrive to verse 9 here in this chapter, Peter goes up to the roof, he's praying, uh, and the Holy Spirit begins to do something deeper inside of him. See, sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn't just what God wants to do to you, what he wants to do through you, amen. Because what he wants to do will change what's happening in our atmosphere. This leads us to the big question of the message. Will we allow the Holy Spirit to keep working on us? Will we allow the Holy Spirit to keep working on us? So here's point number one if you're following along or if you're taking notes. The Holy Spirit challenges what we're comfortable with. The Holy Spirit challenges what we're comfortable with. So Peter is on the roof praying, and while he's there, he falls into this trench. He has this vision and he sees this sheep come down. It has these animals that um that were, that he was taught his whole life were unclean. Verse we'll go back over to verse 13 and 15. It says, Then the voice told him, Get up, Peter, go kill and eat. He says, Surely not. I have never eaten anything unpure or unclean. Then the voice spoke a second time and it says, Do not call anything unpure that God has made clean. So scripture says to him three times. He had to speak to him three times. Now, it was three times, not because Peter was being rebellious. Peter was just being religious. He was doing what he was being taught to do. He was responding based on everything that he had grown that grown up around him. So, so everything that he had inherited, everything that became normal, natural, and unquestioned to him, this was his response. See, some of the hardest things for the Holy Spirit to change are the things that we've normalized for years. Because when something becomes familiar, we stop questioning it. When it comes familiar, we stop questioning it. And some of us were raised a certain way around a certain mindset or certain assumptions or certain ideals about those people. And over time, culture and our preferences and our traditions come together and it comes blended in a way that we start treating them like it actually came from God. See, but sometimes what was passed down to us was never, never God's heart to begin with. The Holy Spirit has a way of confronting the things that we've accepted without examining. Have you ever driven somewhere so many times that you don't even, you know, you don't even, you just it just comes normal. You know the route. Where you hop in your car, you know, it's just automatic. You go to the same street, the same turns, the same pattern. It's like you have one of those electric cars, it just drives for you. It's just you know where to go. But then out of nowhere, somebody says, hey, there's actually a better route or a different route you can take. But because you're so accustomed and you're used to this, you know, your old way in the normal way for you, that new direction feels uncomfortable. It it becomes it's because it's unfamiliar, we might assume that it's actually wrong. That's Peter here in this story. The Holy Spirit was confronting a mindset that Peter lived with for years. Not because Peter hated people, not because Peter was evil, but because some things became culturally normal for him and he didn't even question it. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will disrupt what feels comfortable because where God is trying to lead you no longer matches where you've been. This is why this moment matters so much. Before the Holy Spirit was working through Peter, it started working through him privately before it started working through him publicly. The Spirit empowered Peter so that it can start changing Peter. Can I say something very careful? Yes, the Holy Spirit it comforts us, but we can't confuse the comfort for the permission to stay the same. Because the same spirit that comforts us will also confront us. It will confront us, though. The Holy Spirit will challenge our pride, it will challenge our traditions, it will challenge our preferences, and it will challenge the blind spots we didn't even realize that we have. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will confront the very version that we've grown accustomed and comfortable being because God loves us too much to allow us to stay the same. Amen. The Holy Spirit doesn't just make us feel better, it transforms us. He'll challenge what we keep, you know, um, it will challenge what we keep trying to normalize so that we can be who God has called us to be. And hear me, just because something feels familiar doesn't mean it's always aligned with where God is trying to lead you. Because Peter's vision um was never really about animals, it was about people. See, Peter had a category of people like me, people not like me, people uh I'm comfortable around, and people I avoid. And if we're honest, we still wrestle with this today. We still wrestle with this, especially in diverse spaces. Because diversity is beautiful, but it can also challenge the norms that we grew up with. The way we communicate, the way we worship, the way we think, and the way we see people. And sometimes the very people that we've labeled, we, we've all done this, um, we label them not my people, not not my vibe. Uh I really just don't fool with that crowd right there. Those are the very people God is trying to have you reach. Amen. The Holy Spirit will it will keep stretching us beyond our limits. See, because the Holy Spirit cannot fully lead if we refuse to go beyond what is comfortable. So let me ask you this: what have you become comfortable with? What mindsets, what assumptions, what preferences, what what fear has the Holy Spirit been trying to challenge in you? What have we grown so comfortable with that we start resisting when God is trying to move in our lives? Because we just got used to it. We have to understand Peter was already a leader. He was already preaching, he was already teaching. Peter uh was already being used by God, and yet the Holy Spirit was still stretching him because you never outgrow the need for God to work on you. In fact, the greater the responsibility, the greater the need for continued growth. And some of the people who are carrying the most responsibility are also carrying the most weight, like parents, um, leaders, mentors, um, caregivers, mothers, people constantly pouring into others, but even while you're pouring in, the Holy Spirit is still shaping you. And that's not weakness, that's discipleship. Because if the Holy Spirit can change how you see, it can change who you reach. The Spirit will challenge what's comfortable. The spirit will challenge what's comfortable, and once it starts working eternal internally, it will lead you externally. Amen. Here's point number two the Holy Spirit leads us beyond ourselves, leads us beyond ourselves. Peter, while Peter was still processing what God had showed him, verse 19, while Peter was still thinking about this vision, the Spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate, go with them, for I have sent them. Catch this. Before Peter fully understands, the Holy Spirit already gave him next steps. He doesn't even know what's going on, but the Holy Spirit has already directed him because the Holy Spirit doesn't wait for you to feel ready. The Holy Spirit doesn't wait for everything to just feel comfortable either. When it's time to move, the spirit will shift you, it will, it will direct you. See, Peter didn't just receive a new perspective, Peter received new direction. And one of the things for the it's one thing for the spirit to challenge how you think, and it's another thing for the spirit to tell you it's time to move, it's time to go. I need you to trust me right now. See the Holy Spirit doesn't just reveal truth, it leads people. And the truth is, most people we love inspiration. We love inspiration, but obedience can get difficult when it costs comfort. It gets difficult. So Peter now has to go somewhere he normally would have avoided, talk to people he normally wouldn't even talk to, and step into a space he he naturally was like, oh, that's not where I'm at. And why does he do this? Because when the Holy Spirit leads you, he will lead you beyond yourself, beyond your comfort, beyond your preferences, beyond your own, the things that you feel like you can control, the Holy Spirit will lead you beyond that. Amen. Because when the Spirit stretches your perspective and stretches your circles, the Spirit stretches your assignments, it starts moving. Because if you're able to accomplish something on your within your own strength, maybe you don't even need faith. Maybe you don't need faith. And some of us we keep asking God for a bigger vision or a bigger purpose while resisting the stretching that the Holy Spirit is trying to get you to so you can receive that purpose. See now y'all cry, it's okay. The Holy Spirit will lead you into spaces where you can't do it within your own strength. See, there are some places God will take you where your talent can't sustain you. See, see, there's some places where God will take you where your personality can't carry you. There are some places God will take you where your experience can't solve it. You need the spirit. You need the spirit, and this is exactly where Peter is. Imagine this. Well, don't even imagine. We've we experienced this at some point. Have you ever had a parent ever call out your name? Or better yet, call you out of something where you you were just outside playing, you know, laughing, doing your thing, just hanging out. And out of nowhere, you're like, hey, get over here. I remember those hay's because that hay was actually Tyrone. Get over here. Everybody else, they didn't move, they were still playing, they were still chilling, they was doing their own thing, and I had you didn't. That's the moment where you have to make a decision. Do I listen to the voice? Or do I continue to just do what I do? And sometimes, you know, when that when those moments happen, you didn't understand why. You you definitely didn't like the timing of it, and you didn't want to leave what felt fun. You just you just doing your thing. But later you realize they weren't trying to ruin your moment, they were trying to redirect your movement. See, and that's how the Holy Spirit works. It'll call you out of what's familiar, not because it's bad, but because there's something greater it's trying to lead you to. And here's a part that I don't want us to miss. When the spirit calls, when the spirit calls, everyone and everybody cannot go. See, sometimes obedience, it creates separation. See, not because you're better than anyone, but maybe they're just not ready to understand it yet. And so if we're waiting for somebody else's approval, or if we're waiting for everybody else to understand, if we're waiting for everybody to come with us, you'll miss where the spirit is trying to lead you. Can I be honest? Some of us are praying for God to lead us, but when he starts leading beyond our comfort, beyond our control, beyond Our own ability, we pull back. We pull back. Why? Why do we pull back? Because spirit-led living is uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable. It requires trust. It requires surrender. It requires a dependence on the Holy Spirit. Some of you are in a place right now you never expected to be. A season that you did not plan for, uh responsibilities that you did not ask for, and assignments that you don't feel qualified for. But I want you to hear me. If the Holy Spirit has led you there, it will sustain you there. It will sustain you right in that season. See, God doesn't just call you into it, God will meet you right there. He will meet you right there. See, you may not have chosen the season, but the spirit has already supplied all the grace that you need for it. Amen. Because when the Holy Spirit, it will also, it will, it will at times lead us into these situations that we would normally shy away from. We'll shy away from it. But God's like, no, no, no, no, no, don't shy away. I'm right here. I need you to go, I need you to move. And so maybe the question today is this are you following the Holy Spirit, or are you only following God as long as you can stay in control? Because when the Holy Spirit starts leading you, he'll take you to places you never would have gone on your own. He'll take you to those places, places that don't make any sense, places that will stretch your comfort, places that will force you to trust beyond what you can control. Amen. And when you start following the Spirit like that, something starts to change. So something starts to move. You start um seeing things differently, you start loving differently, you start responding differently. Because when the Holy Spirit stretches your steps, he also stretches your perspective. Let's get back to Peter. He doesn't fully understand why he's on the way. But when he finally arrives, it clicks. Because when the spirit didn't just want to move Peter, it wanted to reveal something to Peter. And this brings us to the last point. The Holy Spirit points us toward people. The Holy Spirit points us toward people. So Peter, he he he finally gets there. He walks into Cornelius' house, a place that he would normally avoid, a room full of people that he would have never expected to be among. Verse 34 says, Then Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. Don't miss the phrase. I now realize that means he didn't fully understand the vision, he didn't fully understand on the journey, and he didn't fully understand while God was stretched him. But when he got around the people, ding, it clicked. It clicked. Because the Holy Spirit will often reveal things while you're moving that it won't when you're just waiting. See, some things God won't fully show you while you're just sitting still. Some revelations only come through your obedience. Some things become clear when you step into what the spirit told you to. Amen. And now Peter, when he steps into this house, he begins preaching Jesus. He starts talking about the life of Jesus, he starts talking about the death of Jesus, and then he shares the resurrection of Jesus. Because when the Spirit is truly moving you, it will always point people back to Jesus. That's how you know it's the Holy Spirit. But don't miss this. Peter's message was centered around Jesus, but the movement was centered around people because the Holy Spirit doesn't just grow you, it sends you. It sends you. This was never about Peter becoming better. It was about people being reached. The evidence of the Holy Spirit isn't just what God is doing in you, it's what He begins to do through you. That's the Holy Spirit. Let me make it plain. If your walk with God only affects you, you may be experiencing moments with God, but you may not be fully moving with the Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is active, it's active. It doesn't just change your life, it will put you in a place to have your life reach others. If we look at the journey of Peter, point one, the spirit challenged him. Point two, the spirit led him beyond. And here at point three, the spirit uses him. Mental, there are people on the other side of your obedience that is waiting for you to show up. They don't need you to be perfect, they just need you to be willing, they need you to be available, they need you to be obedient. They don't need you to have all the answers, they just need you willing to go, willing to love, willing to listen, willing to obey. This brings us to the heart of this story. Here's the final thought: the Holy Spirit leads us to the one. This is where it all comes together. Because Peter was willing to go towards someone, a place that he normally would have avoided, so someone could counter Jesus. And that's when we realized this story was never about Peter. The Holy Spirit was leading Peter so what he can reach people. Because the Spirit will always pull you away from comfort to pursue what matters to God. And honestly, on a day like Mother's Day, we've seen glimpses of this kind of pursuit. We've seen this pursuit before because a godly mother will move mountains for her child. A godly mother will pray when nobody else sees, she will fight when everybody else gives up. She will keep reaching, she will keep believing, she will keep loving, even when the child pulls away. Why? Because love pursues. And if imperfect people can pursue like that, how much more does the Spirit of God pursue people? While Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell all over the room, all over the place. Not just on the people that he expected, but the people that he would have never chosen. So everybody in the space that heard the word of Jesus, they were now filled, they were now changed, and they were now included. Why? Because God had already decided that they belong. This is the heart of Jesus, which is why in Luke and Jesus said in Luke chapter 15, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lost one of them, does not leave the 99 and go after the one until he finds it. He leaves the 99 to go after the one. The spirit led him away from what was familiar so someone else could be found. Can I tell you something powerful? If you ever been fought for, if you've ever been prayed for, if you ever been loved when you didn't deserve it, if you ever been pursued when you were far away from God, then you already know this story personally. Because at some point you were the one. You were the one. The one that he came after, the one that he pursued, the one that he refused to give up on, the one he refuses to give up on. And now the question is this: who is your one? Who is your one? Is it a child? Is it a parent? Is it a friend? Is it a coworker? Is it a neighbor? Someone far from God. Because when the Holy Spirit truly becomes active in your life, he will not just grow you, he will send you who's your one. Who's your one? And maybe for someone, maybe for some of us, the Holy Spirit has been trying to move in you all day. Move you out of your comfort, move you through your fear, through beyond your hesitation, beyond your excuses, because somebody else's break may be connected to your obedience. Here's the beautiful thing: you are not filled with the spirit for you alone. You are filled with the spirit for the one. For the one, amen. That same spirit that pursued you is the same spirit that will send you. It's the same spirit that will send you. And the reason we pursue others is because we were pursued first. We were pursued. I want you to think about who's your one. Who has the Holy Spirit been placing in your heart? Who have you been avoiding? Who have you stopped praying for? Who has God been trying to move you toward? Because maybe this week the Holy Spirit wants to send you not to impress anyone with any fancy words, not to have all the answers, but the Holy Spirit just wants you to go. Can we respond together today? Not just with words, but with a surrendered heart. Will we go after the one? Remember who went after you? Was it a praying mom or a praying grandmother? Or was it somebody in your neighborhood, somebody in your church who was chasing after you when everybody else gave up? Thank you, Jesus. There's a song that says, This is for the ones who straight away said he'll leave the 99 behind just for the one. Y'all mind if I worship a little bit? I'm gonna let the band play just for a second. We're gonna get out of here. I'm gonna pray. I want you to think about your one. Who's God been placing on your heart? Yes, Lord.