SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Lord, we do thank you for your amazing faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: That you are not able to be unfaithful, even when you're unfaithful, because you can't deny yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for how closely you've chosen to unite yourself with us, to call us your bride, your body, your brothers and sisters, your people.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing your life with us.
SPEAKER_00: Making us alive by your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And that we get to worship you, to declare how amazing you are.
SPEAKER_00: Just ask, Holy Spirit, you would help us to stay in this place of worship, of an awareness of what you are doing in us and through us right now.
SPEAKER_00: We ask it in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, well, you may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: So we are gonna uh just continue our time of worship together.
SPEAKER_00: Um one of the ways that we do that is through giving of tithes and offerings.
SPEAKER_00: Um, as a reminder, 10% of what comes in goes out to support our national, international, uh, and local missions partners, um, and also it supports our benevolence here to help those in our church family who need financial assistance or for uh outreach within our community.
SPEAKER_00: So we're uh thankful for all of you who are able to give.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to give cash or a check, there's a box at the back of the room.
SPEAKER_00: You can take your offering uh back there.
SPEAKER_00: Or if you want to give electronically, there's a couple of ways that you can do that, uh, both of which are on the screen and they are secure.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll give a moment now to allow you to give.
SPEAKER_00: If you've given already, feel free to pray over your gift.
SPEAKER_00: Reminded of Psalm twenty-four that declares that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the fullness and everything thereof.
SPEAKER_00: So it's all yours, and you are just so generous and gracious, and you give to us, you provide for us, we thank you.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we give back, we're not giving from ourselves, we're actually just giving right back to you.
SPEAKER_00: And so we ask that you would bless these gifts, that um they would accomplish more than what we're able to do on our own.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we want to see Jesus glorified, we want to see your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven, and that Jesus would receive the inheritance due to his name.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in his name that we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you, worship team.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Adam Caseel.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the lead pastor here on staff.
SPEAKER_00: Um, our mission is to encounter the love and power of God and give it away to the world.
SPEAKER_00: If you are new or looking to get more connected, the best thing you could do is to fill out a connect card, either a physical one in a seat in front of you, or you can scan the QR code that's up on the screen and um fill it out digitally.
SPEAKER_00: We will add you to our weekly email list, which is a great way to know what's going on, um, what ministries are meeting in the upcoming week, as a and in addition to other events that are going to be happening here at the church uh in in future weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Um you also should have received a bulletin when you came in.
SPEAKER_00: That's another great way.
SPEAKER_00: It's got all the that information on there as well.
SPEAKER_00: If you are a first-time guest and feeling brave, would you be willing to raise your hand?
SPEAKER_00: We have a gift for you.
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to ask anything of you, uh, but just have a little gift as a welcome.
SPEAKER_00: One of our greeters will come around and and get, all right, we got one over here.
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Well, with that, why don't we all stand and greet one another?
SPEAKER_00: Find somebody, preferably you've never met before, smile, shake their hand, say, I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure uh many of you have heard about the significant earthquake in Venezuela that happened a few couple of days ago.
SPEAKER_00: Um for those who haven't heard, um last uh I saw last night was around 50,000 people are reported missing.
SPEAKER_00: Uh last um death toll was 1,500 and unfortunately rising.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think it's has it been 72 hours since um since the earthquake happened.
SPEAKER_00: So those without food or water, their their chance of survival drops significantly.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so we're gonna just take a moment and pray for them because the Lord cares way more than we do.
SPEAKER_00: He he deeply loves the Venezuelan people, and um, and so if you are interested, um Scott McElroy, Scott, if you'll raise your hand, would be willing um this afternoon or evening to gather with people to write cards and and that uh to send to La Vinya churches, um vineyard churches down in Venezuela.
SPEAKER_00: So come find Scott afterwards if you are interested in doing that.
SPEAKER_00: So with that, um would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: So Heavenly Father, we come to you with heavy hearts for all those affected by the earthquake.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, wrap them in your protection, keep them safe from further harm.
SPEAKER_00: Please send your angels to find and rescue survivors and deliver them.
SPEAKER_00: Please comfort those who are grieving the loss of loved ones.
SPEAKER_00: Bring healing to the injured and give them the strength to endure this difficult time.
SPEAKER_00: Provide safe shelter, food, and clean water for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for the rescue workers, medical teams, and volunteers.
SPEAKER_00: Guide them, give them courage and protect them as they work to save lives and help those in need.
SPEAKER_00: Pour out your peace that surpasses all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Let your light shine upon every community shaken by this tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: May they feel your presence and find hope in the days to come.
SPEAKER_00: In your holy name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So thanks, Scott, for that.
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, so we'll uh continue praying for them.
SPEAKER_00: Well, to shift uh significantly, um, we a little over two years ago started our capital campaign that we called Inhabit the Space.
SPEAKER_00: And with that, as we went into it, we spent some time preparing for that, asking you all to prayerfully consider what you might be able to give above and beyond your normal giving over the next two years.
SPEAKER_00: And through that, we had a goal of$1.1 million.
SPEAKER_00: If we could raise that, there would be quite a bit that we'd be able to do.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and you all prayed and you responded and you pledged$797,347.68.
SPEAKER_00: That's 72% of our goal.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty good.
SPEAKER_00: That's really good.
SPEAKER_00: We have received, as of this past Wednesday,$793,174.13.
SPEAKER_00: That's 99.5% of what was pledged.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: To give more context, a successful campaign is considered 95% of what was pledged.
SPEAKER_00: So this was a successful campaign.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you uh were able to give above what you originally pledged.
SPEAKER_00: That really helped us um significantly through this.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, and a number of you continue to give.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing so.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you weren't a part of this, just so you know, we completely redid our children's ministry area.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it looks and feels so much better, a lot brighter.
SPEAKER_00: It's a better, yes, better setup, it's way more secure.
SPEAKER_00: Uh just a win all around.
SPEAKER_00: In here, this space looks so much better.
SPEAKER_00: New carpet, uh, both on the floor, the stage, painting of the ceiling and the walls, um the new chairs, all of it.
SPEAKER_00: It's been been amazing.
SPEAKER_00: There was a third part that we had that we've not yet gotten to, which is to open up our lobby area because we kind of lost a mid-sized gathering space.
SPEAKER_00: Our hope is to open that up even more to be able to utilize it that way.
SPEAKER_00: So, where we are with that is we're kind of waiting until the end of this year to sort of see how we're doing financially.
SPEAKER_00: We've been in a really good place.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want uh to you know utilize um updates to really kind of handcuff us financially.
SPEAKER_00: So there's a couple of um some expenses that will go off at the end of this year will give us a much better picture of where we are.
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully by the end of this year or early next year, we'll know exactly what and when we'll be able to do things.
SPEAKER_00: So just wanted to let you all know, because some of you have been wondering like, is any when's stuff gonna happen with the coffee lobby?
SPEAKER_00: So there's the latest on that.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you again uh for those of you who have been able to participate in that.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for praying.
SPEAKER_00: Continue praying for us as we as we go forward, because we just really want to honor uh the Lord and the the commitment that that we made to you all and what we're saying that those funds are gonna be used for.
SPEAKER_00: So as always, if you have questions um find Randy.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you can find me.
SPEAKER_00: Dang it.
SPEAKER_00: Um I tried.
SPEAKER_00: Uh in the summer of 95, my family moved from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to Loveland, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.
SPEAKER_00: In between, uh I don't know if the shout-out was for Cincinnati or what, but thanks.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I improved it a lot when I moved there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we uh that was in between eighth and ninth grade for me.
SPEAKER_00: And going into high school, I knew I'd be playing soccer and basketball, and there were these summer workouts that I would go to for both sports, and the soccer ones were happening more often because it was a fall sport, and one of the guys who was a year older than me named Chris was really friendly toward me, kind of befriended me.
SPEAKER_00: I think it was because his family had also moved from the Chicago area.
SPEAKER_00: And as I would be in kind of close proximity to Chris, other uh students, you know, older guys, rising seniors, junior sophomores would come up to Chris and he'd say, Chris, is Rosie gonna be here?
SPEAKER_00: They're always asking about Rosie.
SPEAKER_00: And Chris became the unofficial spokesman for Rosie.
SPEAKER_00: And he he would uh sometimes give accurate information and sometimes just make things up.
SPEAKER_00: Uh that was Chris.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Rosie never came.
SPEAKER_00: He was okay, he just didn't play soccer that year.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I met him once classes started.
SPEAKER_00: He was really tall, had uh dark, auburn hair, really tight curls, lanky, uh taller than me.
SPEAKER_00: And yet he was this guy that uh, in a lot of ways, physically could stand out, but yet could be in a group of people and not be recognized.
SPEAKER_00: He was like Strider, Lord of the Rings fans.
SPEAKER_00: He could he could be hidden.
SPEAKER_00: He knew how to hide himself.
SPEAKER_00: It was not uncommon that a group of us, eight to fifteen, we'd be hanging out, somebody would be there for about 10 minutes, and then they'd realize, oh, Rosie, when'd you get here?
SPEAKER_00: He'd been there the whole time.
SPEAKER_00: He was one of those guys, like the more you paid attention to him, the more he withdrew and was kind of aloof, didn't want to be the center of attention at all.
SPEAKER_00: It was always a mystery.
SPEAKER_00: Was Rosie gonna hang out with a group of us?
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: It was always checking in.
SPEAKER_00: Did you talk to Rosie?
SPEAKER_00: Did you yeah, he said he's gonna be here?
SPEAKER_00: And then who knew?
SPEAKER_00: Even if he said he would be there.
SPEAKER_00: We probably all have uh friends like Rosie.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, that's Rosie's not his name.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you would be relieved to know that, because that'd be kind of cruel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh his name's Matt.
SPEAKER_00: His last name, Rosie's not even a play on his last name, his last name just shares RO.
SPEAKER_00: The reason he got this nickname is because there's a Razzy's fireworks in Loveland, and people would call his house asking if it was Razzy's fireworks.
SPEAKER_00: And because he's a guy, and that annoyed him, he earned the nickname Razzy.
SPEAKER_00: That's how he's known throughout as Razzy.
SPEAKER_00: He is this mysterious person that the more when once you got to know him was a great guy.
SPEAKER_00: He and I became best friends.
SPEAKER_00: He was actually the best man in our wedding.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but there was this uncertainty of what's he really like?
SPEAKER_00: Is he aloof or is he this great guy?
SPEAKER_00: A lot of us can feel the same way, I think, about the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The more we we know or think we know about the Spirit or put attention, it's like, does he withdraw more?
SPEAKER_00: There's this mysteriousness around the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: As we think about each person of the Godhead, he's the one that's the hardest to conceptualize.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Even if we don't have a great relationship with our Father, we still understand the concept of a Father.
SPEAKER_00: There's God the Son, fully human.
SPEAKER_00: As humans, we can relate to the one who became fully human.
SPEAKER_00: Now the fact that he was fully God and fully man blows our minds, but at least we can conceptualize of Jesus as a human.
SPEAKER_00: How do we conceptualize the spirit?
SPEAKER_00: If we think of wind or breath, that feels impersonal.
SPEAKER_00: If we think of power or energy, that's also impersonal and maybe a little new agey.
SPEAKER_00: And yet both those ideas are are accurate.
SPEAKER_00: There's a degree of accuracy to them.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the closest we can get to the concept of a spirit is how there's certain people when they come into a room, they bring life and energy.
SPEAKER_00: When we think about them or talk about them, we say, I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_00: There's just something about them.
SPEAKER_00: We can talk about maybe the spirit of a gathering or an organization.
SPEAKER_00: Like it was really peaceful.
SPEAKER_00: It was tense.
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of life and and a buzz in the air.
SPEAKER_00: So is the spirit just good feelings?
SPEAKER_00: Is the is the spirit these those goosebumps we get in serendipitous moments?
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, chills, literal chills.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we hear of something that that happened with a person.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another challenge.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have a name for the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: God reveals himself in the Old Testament as Yahweh.
SPEAKER_00: And then in the New Testament, Jesus talks about him as his father.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus obviously has the name Jesus, Yeshua.
SPEAKER_00: We have a name.
SPEAKER_00: But when we we talk about the Holy Spirit, it's neither a name nor a title.
SPEAKER_00: Putting holy in front of it is just an adjective in terms of distinguishing from unholy spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek and Hebrew words that get translated as spirit.
SPEAKER_00: In Hebrew it's ruach.
SPEAKER_00: In Greek it's pneuma.
SPEAKER_00: Those words can be translated as spirit, as wind, as breath.
SPEAKER_00: There's some people or streams that when they talk about the Holy Spirit, they just dart drop the definite article and just say Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And address him, talk about him as Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Again, not a name.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't help us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus calls him another paraclete.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll talk about that in a few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: But that's a title, not a name.
SPEAKER_00: As a reminder, Spirit is a person.
SPEAKER_00: When we talk about the Holy Spirit, we don't he's not an it.
SPEAKER_00: He is a person.
SPEAKER_00: Because both the the Hebrew and the Greek, they uh um can assign gender to nouns.
SPEAKER_00: Though those words in both languages are new neuter.
SPEAKER_00: But yet when the biblical authors use personal pronouns, we call them he or him.
SPEAKER_00: So the authors conceived of the Spirit as a person or a part of God's person.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're waiting for me this morning to resolve the issue, I won't.
SPEAKER_00: Because I can't.
SPEAKER_00: Because nobody can.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Rather, I'm just trying to be open with these challenges about who the Spirit is, the and and trying to conceive and know him, and yet he is knowable because he is a person.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're gonna look at two aspects of the Holy Spirit and why I think this might lend to some of the challenges in being familiar with who he is and and what he does in our midst.
SPEAKER_00: A distinctive of the Vineyard Church, of which we have been a part of for our whole 40-year history as a church, is that we are open to all of who the Holy Spirit is and all of what he does.
SPEAKER_00: That may make some of us uncomfortable, but that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: He is so much more than one who makes us alive in Christ and convicts us of sin and opens our eyes and our hearts to see the truth and understand the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: He does that and a lot more.
SPEAKER_00: He's also more than ecstatic experiences and physical manifestations and the dispenser of gifts.
SPEAKER_00: He does that and he's a lot more.
SPEAKER_00: We have to be careful that we don't create an upper class of citizens in the kingdom of God based on certain gifts or experiences or titles.
SPEAKER_00: We're all the same in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: While we can't or won't solve all the mysteries, we can grow in understanding who he is and our comfort with him.
SPEAKER_00: The fullness of who he is is available to each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: If we've given our lives to Jesus, we trusted Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He gives us his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: My thought is that many of us have actually had encounters with the Holy Spirit, but we didn't have categories for it.
SPEAKER_00: When I was in college, I was intentionally discipled by a guy named Nate for my first two years.
SPEAKER_00: And what I noticed is after he and I would spend time together and he would pray for me, I would feel this odd tingling sensation on my head.
SPEAKER_00: Each week when he would when he would pray for me.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know what it was.
SPEAKER_00: In retrospect, the Holy Spirit was touching me through Nate's prayers.
SPEAKER_00: So we're starting a series that we're calling Paraclete.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Holy Spirit is mysterious to many of us, but he doesn't have to be as mysterious as he is.
SPEAKER_00: He sustains all of life.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit has worked in and through God's people throughout biblical history.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who filled, empowered, and led Jesus throughout his ministry here on earth.
SPEAKER_00: And he's the person of the Godhead who dwells within us.
SPEAKER_00: He empowers us to be just like Jesus and to do what he did while he was on earth.
SPEAKER_00: So with that, I'm going to pray for us and then we'll jump in further to the message.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, we thank you that you are with us.
SPEAKER_00: Um you're here.
SPEAKER_00: We have the fullness of you, and I just ask that you would um make yourself more evident among us.
SPEAKER_00: We say, Come, Holy Spirit, not because you're not here, but because we want more of your influence and your work here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Would you be touching us throughout this morning, um, stirring us to desire more of you, more of your influence in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the most important thing I want us to remember from this morning is that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected and mysterious person of the Trinity, and it benefits us to become more familiar with Him.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to look at the Spirit as He works in creation and how he works in new creation.
SPEAKER_00: So the Spirit is the most neglected and mysterious person of the Trinity.
SPEAKER_00: It benefits us to become more familiar with him.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at the spirit in creation.
SPEAKER_00: I've got a number of verses that we're going to look at.
SPEAKER_00: They'll all be on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is in is in the very beginning, Genesis 1, verses 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately we are introduced to the Spirit, the Ruach.
SPEAKER_00: It says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_00: Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.
SPEAKER_00: Now the language here that's being used connotes chaos.
SPEAKER_00: Other creation accounts in that time and place of the world saw the creation of the heavens and the earth as the result of chaos.
SPEAKER_00: And what it's saying is that the Holy Spirit was there in the midst of creation.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of what is going on, whether it's saying that there was some sort of cosmic war or something else, we see that the Spirit is okay with chaos.
SPEAKER_00: He takes chaos and he turns it into something good.
SPEAKER_00: In Deuteronomy, we see like an eagle that stirs up its nest that hovers over its young, so the Lord spread out his wings and took Jacob or Israel and lifted him up on his pinions.
SPEAKER_00: That same word of hovering is the word about the spirit moving over the waters.
SPEAKER_00: It's telling you the spirit cares for creation.
SPEAKER_00: He takes the watery deep and turns it into water.
SPEAKER_00: Those are different words.
SPEAKER_00: Something that's good, that's beneficial for life.
SPEAKER_00: Later passages elaborate on what happened at creation.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit isn't just here for the creation of the earth, but also the heavens.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 33, 6, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all their hosts by the breath, the ruach of his mouth.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit formed the host of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit is involved in creation and sustaining each person.
SPEAKER_00: Thus says the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thus says God, the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people and spirit to those who walk in it.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit sustains every person's life.
SPEAKER_00: When you take away their breath, their ruach, they die and return to the dust.
SPEAKER_00: When you send forth your spirit, your ruach, they are created and you renew the face of the ground.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit is not only there in creation, but also sustaining our life.
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, on some level, when the spirit goes, our life, our physical life ends.
SPEAKER_00: The last thing is that the spirit is everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: This is not pantheism.
SPEAKER_00: When we talk about the spirit's presence everywhere, it's not pantheism as though the chair you're sitting in is God.
SPEAKER_00: This music stand is God.
SPEAKER_00: The air we breathe is God.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Or that all of creation exists within God, panentheism.
SPEAKER_00: They're separate, but yet the Lord is everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: There's nowhere that we can go to get away from his presence, as Psalmist writes in Psalm 139.
SPEAKER_00: Where can I go from your spirit, your ruach?
SPEAKER_00: Or where can I flee from your presence?
SPEAKER_00: God's spirit is his presence.
SPEAKER_00: To have God's spirit is to have his presence.
SPEAKER_00: When we trust Jesus, we get his spirit, his presence within us.
SPEAKER_00: So it would appear that part of the challenge of being aware of the spirit is because he's already so present that we're used to him and we ultimately depend on him for life.
SPEAKER_00: I think so much of our life is actually partnering in the creation work of the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: For example, cleaning or organizing our house or our work area.
SPEAKER_00: We bring order out of chaos.
SPEAKER_00: That's Holy Spirit work.
SPEAKER_00: Maintaining or updating something in your house, making it new.
SPEAKER_00: That's Holy Spirit work.
SPEAKER_00: Yard work, taking the chaos of overgrown plants and grass and taming them, exercising dominion.
SPEAKER_00: That's Holy Spirit work.
SPEAKER_00: During a doing a work project that benefits others and solves a big problem.
SPEAKER_00: That's partnering with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: A meal with friends or family when we just have these deep sense of shalom, like everything is finally right in the world, or at least for right now, right here.
SPEAKER_02: That's partnering with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Being with others and helping them find a place of emotional regulation like we talked about last week.
SPEAKER_00: That's partnering with the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Exercise, strengthening our bodies to serve us while we serve in the kingdom is partnering with the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Creating something, art, food, poetry, prose, another human is partnering with the Holy Spirit, sustaining their life.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit of God is at work in creation all around us.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is the most neglected and mysterious person of the Trinity, and it benefits us to become more familiar with Him.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at the Spirit in new creation.
SPEAKER_00: Because we can't talk about creation without talking about new creation.
SPEAKER_00: Paul writes to the Corinthians, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: The old things have passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, new things have come.
SPEAKER_00: Every human is an image-bearer of God and in some respects a child of God by virtue of being his creation, but there's something that dramatically happens on a relational level when we give our lives to Jesus and receive his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going to touch on just a few of these this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I will have more in my notes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm probably going to abbreviate uh for the sake of time.
SPEAKER_00: One of those things that we see in Romans 8 is that this Holy Spirit is the spirit of new life.
SPEAKER_00: Namely, uh verses 2 and 11.
SPEAKER_00: We should have that slide, put that up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: We see, for the law of the life-giving spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.
SPEAKER_00: The one who raised Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his spirit who lives in you.
SPEAKER_00: One of the things I love about Romans is it's super easy to understand.
SPEAKER_00: It's not dense at all.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's why I don't have to spend a whole lot of time.
SPEAKER_00: You guys get it.
SPEAKER_00: You know.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, throughout his letter to the Romans, talks a lot about the things that we turn to for life, but ultimately bring death.
SPEAKER_00: Just to give a quick overview, he he talks about false religion.
SPEAKER_00: He talks about our own desires, confidence, and our ethnic background, trying to earn a way to God or through Torah obedience.
SPEAKER_00: He said all of that is li is sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: What gives us life is being in Christ and being freed from that law of sin and death, the law of condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: And we receive the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I like the translation here.
SPEAKER_00: It calls it a light, the life-giving spirit.
SPEAKER_00: This is consistent with the Spirit does for all of life, but now we have this quality of life that survives death.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gives us his life because we get his spirit in a unique way.
SPEAKER_00: The practices and attitudes of the world that are common and that ultimately bring death, we are now freed from those.
SPEAKER_00: And why we're called not to participate with them anymore.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit is unbelievably powerful.
SPEAKER_00: He raised Jesus from the dead and he dwells within us.
SPEAKER_00: Do we realize who's dwelling within us?
SPEAKER_00: And the way we receive the Spirit is actually pretty unspectacular.
SPEAKER_00: Trust that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and Lord of all heaven and earth and give our allegiance to him, he gives us his spirit and makes us alive.
SPEAKER_00: No greater work is needed.
SPEAKER_00: It can't be bought.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter your gender or ethnicity.
SPEAKER_00: That's scandalous.
SPEAKER_00: That's just a small taste of how the spirit gives us life.
SPEAKER_00: Paul also highlights that we are led by his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: That's in verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: Common in Paul's writings is talk about being led by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Being led by the Spirit isn't limited to just specific times, but this general way of life that Psalm 23:3, he leads me in paths of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: That his overall guidance is what's best for us in life.
SPEAKER_00: It's in contrast with being led by the flesh, not the physical part of us, but it's that aspect within us that wants to do things on our own that thinks, I think I've got this figured out.
SPEAKER_00: I know what's best.
SPEAKER_00: Paul calls that the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: That leads us to the third part this morning of the spirit of new creation, that we get to be called sons of God or children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Those two phrases, that's verses uh 14 to 16.
SPEAKER_00: Those two phrases are not the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Sons of God and children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Sons of God is about our purpose, that we get to partner with God, to reign with him.
SPEAKER_00: Being children is that relational component that we have with him.
SPEAKER_00: There's two statements that Paul makes that are closely related.
SPEAKER_00: There's the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.
SPEAKER_00: That's also what the Spirit does.
SPEAKER_00: And this Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit.
SPEAKER_00: What in the heck does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: It's the ability to call God our Father and to know that we're in his family.
SPEAKER_00: That's how the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We've got uh a slide for this.
SPEAKER_00: It's from Gordon Fee, who is a New Testament scholar.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Evidence of such shared sonship is the presence of the Spirit of the Son, who by crying out Abba from within the believer, bears witness to the presence of the Son, who made us sons, since that is his own distinctive term of address to God his Father.
SPEAKER_00: Thus, because you have received sonship through Christ's redemption, God's confirmation of that for you experientially stems from his also having sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, evidenced by the fact that the Spirit of the Son cries out to God in the Son's own word of intimacy, Abba, Father.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot there.
SPEAKER_00: Essentially, the whole the same spirit within Jesus to be able to cry out Abba, Father, is the same one that is within us.
SPEAKER_00: That this familiarity of being able to address God as our Father, this term of intimacy, Abba, it's not the equivalent of dada or daddy.
SPEAKER_00: Because adults would still call their father Abba.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of intimacy.
SPEAKER_00: It's this deep knowing, deep relationship and trust.
SPEAKER_00: So part of the way the Holy Spirit bears witness to us is this ability to pray confidently with Abba, Father.
SPEAKER_00: That we can address God that way in such a uh scandalously familiar term.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, our Father in heaven, that's that word, Abba.
SPEAKER_00: Abba, your name is special.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit of new life, being led by the Spirit, and the ability to crawl call out Abba Father, is an indication we belong to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If we have the Spirit, then everything that the Spirit makes available is available to us.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that's off limits to any one of us if we have the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: This is the life that we've been brought into and that we can learn more of as we grow in our relationship with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is not reserved for a few people.
SPEAKER_00: And there is a sense that as we get more used to him, that there we grow in him in understanding.
SPEAKER_00: As we grow in understanding who he is, we're more comfortable with his presence.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we go through this series, here's the kind of general invitation I'm extending the challenge that we be open, really seeking, asking the Lord to fill us with his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Now, even within that, I was reading this book, How to Pray for a Release of the Spirit by Dennis Bennett.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may know who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And I loved this illustration that he he shared.
SPEAKER_00: You know, often when we think about the Holy Spirit, we have as much as we're going to get, right?
SPEAKER_00: But it's how much access does he have to us?
SPEAKER_00: Some of us, we've got friends that we're comfortable with them coming over to our house, hanging out in the family room or in the kitchen.
SPEAKER_00: And then we have maybe a couple that's like, you can go anywhere in the house.
SPEAKER_00: And so with the Holy Spirit, are we willing to say, you can go anywhere?
SPEAKER_00: Or there's certain rooms where it's like, nope, that's for me.
SPEAKER_00: So our openness, our willingness to the Holy Spirit's presence movement throughout our body, our life, really is will impact how much we experience of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So with that, ask yourself some questions.
SPEAKER_00: Is there something that the Lord has asked me to do and I haven't done it yet?
SPEAKER_00: Is there someone I need to forgive and haven't yet?
SPEAKER_00: Is there someone or something that I'm holding on to that he's asked me to release?
SPEAKER_00: So if the answer is yes to any of those, then we're sort of saying we're lit we're limiting the amount of access that he gets in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: He wants full access, but he won't force his way in.
SPEAKER_00: You probably have heard the Holy Spirit's a gentleman.
SPEAKER_00: It's God's character not to force his way in, but to wait for us to say, come, come in, you get it all.
SPEAKER_00: And so what I hope is that we're we have a desire and an openness over these next few weeks as we go through this series on the Holy Spirit, understanding who he is.
SPEAKER_00: Because as we are open, we experience some pretty wild things.
SPEAKER_00: It's good.
SPEAKER_00: When I uh shortly after I graduated college, I went on staff uh with the Navigators, and there was a guy named Aaron, and uh Aaron and I came to Ashland at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: He was um in the seminary, uh, but very present on the campus because he worked at the the uh church that was on campus.
SPEAKER_00: And after he graduated seminary, I graduated undergrad.
SPEAKER_00: He got a job, full-time job at the university, and I was doing ministry, and we'd kind of gotten to know each other.
SPEAKER_00: And so he just said, Hey, you want to hang out?
SPEAKER_00: You know, as we're both stepping into this new stage of life, would you like to get out uh hang out and and just talk through what we're experiencing?
SPEAKER_00: One of the first times we were in his office and and talking and hanging out, and he goes, Hey, can I just can I pray for you?
SPEAKER_00: It's like absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sitting in this chair, kind of leaning forward, and all he just blesses me.
SPEAKER_00: Just blesses me from Paul's uh prayers in Ephesians.
SPEAKER_00: And as I'm there, I'm just feel this weight.
SPEAKER_00: Gradually increased on me.
SPEAKER_00: And it's deep, deep peace.
SPEAKER_00: Like I felt like I could have fallen asleep right there.
SPEAKER_00: It was in the afternoon, but still.
SPEAKER_00: I hadn't ever experienced anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: Now, looking back, Aaron was partnering with the Holy Spirit, just praying and blessing me.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the Lord wants to do for us.
SPEAKER_00: When I gave my life to Jesus as a 16-year-old, I was met with this incredible peace that I'd never experienced before.
SPEAKER_00: When the Lord called me into ministry, literally in the midst of a panic attack about speaking to my peers, giving a five-minute testimony freaking out, like trying to think about how do I get out of this.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord's peace met me in a deep, deep way that then turned into inexpressible joy.
SPEAKER_02: I stopped freaking out.
SPEAKER_00: My heart slowed down.
SPEAKER_00: And then it was a call to ministry in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: Nineteen years old, in my room, and then 26 years later, I had a vision of what the Lord would ultimately be calling me to do.
SPEAKER_00: So if we're open, the Lord wants to meet us in any of these ways.
SPEAKER_00: He's got really, really good things in store for each and everyone.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what he's called us to do, no matter where we are in life right now, the Lord wants to meet us.
SPEAKER_00: Help us understand this new creation that we are a part of, to see his work in our everyday lives, no matter where we are, what we're doing, that he's present with us, working in us and through us.
SPEAKER_00: So as we close, again, we've been looking at the Holy Spirit being the most neglected and mysterious person of the Trinity, and that it benefits us to become more familiar with him.
SPEAKER_00: That we see the Spirit in creation, that he's intimately involved in all of creation and sustaining our life, and that much of what we do is ultimately part partnering with him, making us actually really familiar with his presence.
SPEAKER_00: And then that same spirit makes us alive, makes us new in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He sets us free and gives us life.
SPEAKER_00: He leads us.
SPEAKER_00: And then primarily it's expressed through being able to say, Abba Father.
SPEAKER_00: This deep, intimate relationship that we have an opportunity to be to experience, to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00: So with that, why don't you stand with me?
SPEAKER_00: Take some time to respond.
SPEAKER_02: So Michelle, if you want to ministry teams, if you want to come forward.
SPEAKER_00: And so if there is anything, you are more than welcome to come forward and get prayer.
SPEAKER_00: There uh maybe is something this morning as I was talking that particularly resonated with you.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'd invite you just to come forward.
SPEAKER_00: If you even if you don't want somebody to pray with you or pray for you, you can come up front and just pray.
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's for some of us things that we realize might be hindering the Lord's work in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And so you can just either ask somebody with you to pray for you or to come forward and to basically say, Lord, I'm I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have a ministry team pray with you, but feel free to do that to come forward and say, I want all that you have.
SPEAKER_00: Remove anything that might be hindering.
SPEAKER_00: Um also felt like there's somebody that might have like a pain behind their right ear, um, or at the base of their skull.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, um, come forward and get prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So our ministry teams will be available.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Michelle will be playing.
SPEAKER_00: So you're welcome to come forward and get prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If you're interested, Michelle will continue playing.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you just want to come pray or rest.
SPEAKER_00: If you have kids in children's ministry, you are released to go pick them up.
SPEAKER_00: Volunteers would appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you can have a great week.
SPEAKER_00: May the Lord bless you and keep you.
SPEAKER_00: May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord lift up his countenance and give you rest.
SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.