Lifeline Peterstown church podcast
Weekly sermon and Bible teaching
Lifeline Peterstown church podcast
5/31/2026 Sunday morning service
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Sing with me as long as I breathe, I've got a reason to pray. Yeah, pray so I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is alive. Keep it inside. I'm gonna pray someone, oh my soul. Oh my soul. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. I could be quiet. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. I've gone pray so much. This is where we come together in presence. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? We're gonna pray the Lord, oh my soul. It's a Lord, oh my soul. I won't be quiet, my God is alive, how could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is a lie.
SPEAKER_08How could I keep it inside? Oh my soul.
SPEAKER_06You gotta sound beautiful.
SPEAKER_07That's how you start a church service. That's quite the ovation. Just in case any of y'all are like, what's going on? That's her husband. That's quite the ovation for Pastor Carla, but let's hear it for Jesus this morning, right?
SPEAKER_06If you've been saved, set free, delivered. Why are you stopping? Come on. If Jesus is God and He is the way, the truth, and the life, and you followed, right? Then you're in the place to do what it is that we're doing, right? So we're gonna start this thing off good. We're gonna get nice and loud for Jesus today. And we're gonna start some fires. So whatever it is that you face this week, you know, the Bible gives us a very clear response to trials, and that is worship.
SPEAKER_07Amen?
SPEAKER_06Because God inhabits the praises of his people. And if you if you want to see the Spirit of God in action in here today, I suggest that you worship in spirit and in truth. You know what I'm saying? We we do a lot of man, I wish we could have like Acts Chapter 2 type services. You want Acts chapter 2 type services, then Acts Chapter 2 type worship. So that's what we're gonna do today. We're gonna axe chapter 2 type worship.
SPEAKER_07And if you don't know what that means, stick around, you'll learn. Okay. Alright, Aiden, kick us off, brother.
SPEAKER_02Let everything dad us breath. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let everything dad us breath. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I've praise in the valley.
SPEAKER_06I've praised when I'm sure. I'm praise when I'm not raised with the rounding. I love it. I can help me drown it.
SPEAKER_05Oh yes, I'm breathing.
SPEAKER_06I've got a breathing to breath the door of my soul. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_05I've raised when I feel great when I told.
SPEAKER_06You're still in control. My brain is the women.
SPEAKER_05It's more than a style. My brain is the child. That brings cherry down. As long as I'm breathing.
SPEAKER_06I've got a reason to breathe the Lord of my soul. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I'm gonna pray the Lord of my soul.
SPEAKER_02I praise cause you suffer, praise cause you rain. Praise cause you rose and defeated the grain. I praise cause you faithful. Praise cause you true. Praise cause there's nobody greater than you. I praise cause you suffer. Praise cause you rain. Praise cause you rose and defeated the grave. A praise cause you faithful. Praise cause you true. Praise cause there's nobody greater than you.
SPEAKER_05A praise cause you're suffering. Praise cause you rain. Praise cause you rose and defeated the grave. A praise cause you're faithful. And praise cause you're true. Praise cause there's nobody praise.
SPEAKER_02Let everything that is breath. Praise the law. Praise the law. Let everything. That is breath. Praise the law. Praise the law.
SPEAKER_07Y'all sounded like a bunch of Jesus freaks in here today. Is he worthy or what? I was talking with uh somebody last night. We were discussing about the fact that the devil doesn't just dislike you. The devil doesn't just think you're a minor inconvenience to his plan. Right? He hates you. He hates you. Kill, steal, and and destroy. So all of this stuff and this noise around you, whatever it is, right? Our response to that is worship. If you want to silence the noise, get into worship. And that's what we're gonna do. That's what we've been doing all morning. You guys have been amazing. Right? But I want to remind you that it's not your battle to fight.
SPEAKER_06It's not something that you have to try harder to do because Jesus has already done it. The enemy was defeated at the cross. And he doesn't have to go back and get some new victory for you. It's done. Amen. So if it's done and you believe that it's done, right? Then this song is for you. I want you to just close your eyes and just be with Jesus this morning. Stop worrying about who's around you. Stop worrying about who's playing music, what it sounds like. Is it too loud? Is it too quiet? Just be with Jesus. That's why the veil was torn. Right? So if you're fighting battles, then this song is for you. The altar's open. Right?
SPEAKER_07We're gonna start some fires, and we're gonna make hail really nervous this morning. Amen.
SPEAKER_06The weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper. When the darkness falls, it won't prevail. Cause the God I serve knows only how to trial. My God will never fail.
SPEAKER_07Sing that with your heart.
SPEAKER_06No, my God will never fail. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory for the battle belongs to you, Lord. Yeah. Every war he wages, he will win. And I'm not backing down for many giants. Cause I know how this story ends. Let's repeat that one more time. Sing that with your chest if you believe it. Every war he wages, he will win. And I'm not backing down from any giants. Yeah, I know how this story ends. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory.
SPEAKER_09For the battle belongs to you, Lord.
SPEAKER_06Lord, as a body, we just come against everything that would try to thwart this service away from your plan. Everything that has come against this youth group, everything that has come against our women and our men. We declare the authority of Jesus Christ in this place today. Every assignment of witchcraft we cancel it by the blood of Jesus Christ. God, we thank you that you reign victorious.
SPEAKER_08You take what the enemy meant for me. Turn it for good.
SPEAKER_05You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good, you turn it for good.
SPEAKER_06We declare it in Jesus' name. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good, you turn it for good. I'm gonna see a victory. And you turn it for good, you turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good, you turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil meant for me. Everything that should have killed you is for his glory. Turn it for blood is enough. You take what the enemy meant for me, oh turn it for good, turn it for good. Every assignment is canceled by the blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02Take what the enemy meant for evil. Thank you, ships, turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil. Return it for good.
SPEAKER_06You take what the enemy meant for evil. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. You take what the enemy meant for evil. You turn it for good. Declare that as a body. You take what the enemy meant for evil. You turn it for good. That I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you, God. Sing it. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control. I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain that I can't control.
SPEAKER_08I want all of you. I want more of you. I want more of you. I want more of you.
SPEAKER_06That I can't sing that I can't control. It's got one more beautiful. I want more of you guys. Up one of you. It's the one all of you.
SPEAKER_08And one four fire down in my door. I want more beautiful. I want more of you. Is that one more beautiful?
SPEAKER_06If you were standing on this altar right now. And you had the chance to get some more, would you go? Altar's open. That I can't stay that I can't control. Stop on all you car.
SPEAKER_08Up on all you can. That I can contain.
SPEAKER_05Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_06We truly do want more of you. God I thank you for blessing this huge group. Thank you for the revival that's gonna come up.
SPEAKER_07Thank you for raising up a generation where a little bit just ain't enough.
SPEAKER_06There's no weak plastic Christianity here.
SPEAKER_07Thank you for raising up leaders out of our body.
SPEAKER_06Thank you for providing our do so well at facilitating this. When nothing happens, are you words? Lord, I just asked for the angels around this room today. For everybody in here for the service or for whatever's about to happen.
SPEAKER_03Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01Or maybe you've been here two or three times, but you've never filled out a connection card. And those are the little cards in front of you. Somebody grab one and hold it up so that they know what I'm talking about. There you go. Ruby's holding them up. These are connection cards. Yes. Good, Hoku. Y'all hoku on media. Isn't she doing great back there? She's doing awesome. She's doing awesome. So we couldn't. Not without her. She's doing great. Um, so fill those out. That that's a way that I can get in contact with you um throughout the week. Um this morning, we are going through our final series, our final sermon in this series. Uh, but before we get started, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever received a gift that you weren't quite sure what to do with it? Yeah. You received a gift that you're not quite sure what to do with it. Maybe it's somebody somebody gave you something that's a little unusual. All right. Um something that you didn't uh it didn't come with a clear instruction manual maybe on how to use it. Um it ended up sitting on a shelf somewhere. Have you ever done that? I have plenty of times. Yeah, right. So it was appreciated in theory because you appreciated the thought, right? But you never ever really used it after you got there. Alright? So I think for many believers, that's exactly what has happened to the most powerful gift of the Holy Spirit. We take those gifts when we receive them from the Holy Spirit, and we don't know how to use them, or we don't know what to do with them, so we just put them aside and we never use them. Right? Well, when we do that, what happens is the power that we have through the Holy Spirit we don't use. We don't use. And we need to learn how to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now I'm going to talk about something today that is a little controversial to some people. But if you were raised Pentecostal, you grew up Pentecostal, it's probably old hat to you. I'm going to talk a little bit about the spirit gift of tongues this morning. All right. The spirit gift of tongues. Now I told you we were going into that today. Last week we talked about some of the other gifts. Today we're going to talk about tongues. It for some of you it's as natural as breathing. All right. Some of you it's just as natural as breathing. You grew up in the church where the gifts of the Holy Spirit were openly practiced. But for others, maybe you're newer to the faith, maybe you have been around for a while, but you're newer to a Pentecostal church. Um, and and you've come from a background where the subject was never really addressed. So you never really knew what it was about. Alright? So wherever you are today, this message is for you. Now, remember we're not talking about church tradition here, okay? When you think of the gift of tongues, please don't think about church tradition. All right, because everybody has a mindset of what they think tongues is based upon how maybe they experienced it in a church once or they've seen it on TV or something like that. What we need to do is make it new and real to us today and learn what it's actually about, all right? So today, instead of going on to tradition uh or the church's different traditions, uh, depending upon the sign they have over their door, we are going to go into God's word and see what God's word actually says about it. So we're going to start at the very beginning, and that start is a promise. The beginning, it was a promise. In John 14, Jesus is speaking to his disciples on the night before he was crucified. He knows what's coming, he knows that they are about to face the most difficult, distressing, disoriented, terrifying days of their lives. And in the middle of all of that, he says something that is extraordinary. So John 14, 16 and 17 says, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever with the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. That was a promise from Jesus on the night before his crucifixion. If I read it again slowly, it says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate. The word advocate here in the original Greek is the word paraclete. I don't know if you've ever heard of that before. Alright? So Jesus was saying, I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm not going to go to heaven and leave you without an advocate. I'm sending you someone, and that someone is the Holy Spirit, and he's not just with you, he's in you. At the moment every Christian accepts Jesus Christ into their heart, they have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes, and the Holy Spirit lives inside of them. Every person in this room today, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, right now the power of the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. This means the gifts he gave to the early church are the same as the gifts of today. Same as the gifts of today. So let's look at Hebrews 13, 8. This is so foundational to everything we're going to talk about today. The writer of Hebrews he gives us a short and powerful declaration, and he says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So if Jesus Christ meant that these gifts were for the people when he leaves and he was sending an advocate, that means that today those gifts are still active in the people that accept Jesus into their life. And that means a hundred years now, should the Lord tarry, they also will have the gift of the Holy Spirit living inside of their lives. Four words that change everything. Yesterday, today, and forever. That means that the God who poured out his spirit in the book of Acts is still pouring out his spirit today. It's a living, active, present-day gift from God who does not change. So this morning, whether you have been speaking in tongues for 20 years or you've never even heard of it before today, I invite you to open up your heart. Don't count on what you've heard before, and let the word of God speak to you directly. Because Jesus promised this gift. And I think it's important that we learn to embrace it. So Jesus made the promise, but when did it actually happen? Because that was the night before, and he said, When I go away, I pray to the Father that he sends you an advocate. When did it actually happen? So we're going to go to Acts 2 and start in verse 4. Acts 2, and we're starting in verse 4. And I'll give those that brought their Bibles just a minute to get there. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now, let's just stop there for a moment and let's let that sink in. This is not a quiet, invisible moment, okay? It's not quiet and it's not invisible. It is a dramatic, undeniable public display of God's power. Can you just imagine it? You're in that room and you're gathered with your buddies and you're praying and you know that God is going to send you an advocate because Jesus promised you it was going to happen. And then all of a sudden, there's a sound like a violent wind. Have you ever been in a violent storm where the wind is just blowing, and the sound of that violent wind, and it's not a gentle breeze or a soft whisper, it's a sound that filled the whole house. It filled the whole house. And then all of a sudden, there's these tongues that look like fire. And they come down and all of a sudden they separate and land on every individual in that room. That was pretty dramatic, don't you think? Right? So all of a sudden, they all began to speak in tongues as the spirit enabled them. So I want you to notice two things here. First, they were all in one place. All right, they're all together. 120 believers is what the Bible tells us in chapter one. They were gathered in the upper room. They were in unity. They were in unity, they were in expectation, and they were in prayer because Jesus had told them to wait. They didn't know what was coming because they had never experienced it before. They just knew that he had promised them something, and they were in a position to receive it. There's a lesson right there that we all need to learn today, if you're a new believer or if you're a mature believer that's been around for 50 years. There's a lesson. Prayer and anticipation create an atmosphere where God works. You must be in prayer and you must anticipate that it's going to happen. You can't go in thinking that nothing's going to happen. Oh, here I am again, God. Another five minutes. I mean, you can't go in it like that. You have to go into it with prayer and an expectation. And that's what these people did here. The second thing, notice that the outpouring was not silence. It wasn't silence, it was an initial physical sign, and that was that they all began to speak in other tongues. Now, it wasn't a feeling, right? You can't just have a feel-good feeling and all of a sudden start speaking in tongues. And it wasn't simply a deeper sense of peace. They had to open their mouths. They had to speak. All right. So if we continue reading right there, in verse 5, we'll start back up. It says, now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken. Isn't that amazing? Each one heard their own language being spoken. So here's what's remarkable about that. These believers, and they were Galilean, and they were speaking in languages that they didn't know, right? Speaking in languages they didn't know, and they were speaking every language under heaven. And when they heard this sound, uh that the they were overwhelmed. How do they know? How come I am understanding? The crowd was bewildered, and it created an open door at that point. That Peter was able to go out and he was able to spread the gospel at that point to 3,000 people that very day. 3,000 people. The gift of tongues, right from the beginning, was tied to the presence, the power, and the purpose of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't a side add-on feature, okay? It was the supernatural evidence that God had moved in and taken up residence in his people. There was a design from day one that that is how this would happen. The Spirit came, he came with power, and the evidence was undeniable because of the speaking of the tongues. For the newer believer, I want you to see what happened at Pentecost was not ancient. It wasn't an anomaly, the one-time event. Okay? It was a blueprint for years to come on how it was supposed to work. It was God showing the church what spirit-filled life looks like. And for the more seasoned believer in the room, I want you to let the freshness of this moment wash over you right now. Let it wash over you. Do not let familiarity with speaking in tongues, your spirit language, become a habit. Because that happens too often. It becomes a habit. And you get so used to it that you take it for granted and it's not bewildering to you anymore. And I want to caution you against that today. Caution you against it. Now, here's the question that some people ask, and it's a fair question. Was Pentecost a one-time event? Was it a one-time event? Was the gift of tongue something that was specific to those 120 in that room that day? The Bible answers that question clearly, and I want to walk you through three passages that settle it once and for all. First, if you will go to Acts chapter two, verse thirty-nine. Will you bring that over here? So if you will turn to Acts chapter two, verse thirty nine. Right in the middle of Peter's very first sermon, the sermon preached on the day of Pentecost itself, Peter makes this declaration. Now he says, The promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, for whom the Lord our God will call. Isn't that great? Did you catch it? Peter is not just talking about the crowd that was there that day. Peter talked that day and he said, it's not just for you, but it's for your children and your children's children and for those that are afar off. That means every single person that's sitting in this room today. It means every single person that is sitting in this room today. Second, let's look at Acts chapter 10. This is one of my favorite moments in the entire book of Acts because it was so unexpected and so undeniable. So Peter's been sent to the home of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and he was a Gentile. Okay? This is already extraordinary. Why? Because Jews didn't associate with Gentiles. That was the first extraordinary thing. But while Peter's still preaching, while the words are still coming out of Peter's mouth, I want you to look at what happens here in verses 44 through 46. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. So it wasn't just for the Jews, it was for the Gentiles. And it wasn't just for the people of that day, it was for generation after generation after generation. They were astonished and they they couldn't hardly believe it. But God's not asking for your permission. He's making a point. The gift of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the speaking in tongues, was not the exclusive property of Jewish believers or limited to just those original disciples. Okay. God poured it out on Cornelius and his whole household. People who had never been to a church service before were speaking in tongues once they accepted Jesus Christ into their heart as their personal savior. So God moved in Cornelius' house and it changed his whole household. Don't think that you're unqualified. Because if anybody thought they were unqualified, it was Cornelius the Gentile in his house. Third, let's look at Romans 8 and 11. Romans 8 and 11 says, and if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. So now here's the picture that the Bible paints. The promise was declared at Pentecost, confirmed in Cornelius' house, and established by Paul as the inheritance of every single believer. It's not a special reward, it's not a super spiritual people only get it. That's not how it works. It's part of the package of the gifts. It's part of the package of the gifts. The gift of tongues is for everyone whom the Lord will call. Now let's understand that gift for just a minute. If you'll start with Romans, uh sorry, 1 Corinthians 14, 2, Paul writes, For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God. Indeed, no one understands them. They utter mysteries by the Spirit. You're not supposed to understand them. Guys, the people speaking don't even understand. The people speaking don't even understand. When you speak in tongues, you are not speaking to the people that are around you. You and God are directly communicating, but not so much you and God as the spirit that's living in you. The spirit that's living in you is communicating with God. And you say, why does the spirit need to communicate for me? There are those times in your life where you don't know what else to say. You might be so overcome with emotion or with hurt or with trials or even with victory that you're speechless. And I'm sure there's not a person in here today that hasn't been speechless at some point in their life. It's at that moment that you take the flesh out of it, you take your brain out of it, and you start worshiping in spirit. And the spirit then intercedes for you. You say, Well, how does he know what I need? Guys, he made you. He knows what you need more than you know what you need. He knows what you need more than you know what you need. So I can't think of a better person to pray for me than the spirit that is living inside of me. The spirit that is living inside of me. Now, let's look in uh verse 14 and 15 of that same chapter. It says, For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. God wants them both. He wants those times when you and your mind know what you're doing and you're praying for people, for yourself, for a situation. I pray for you guys. And I've said this before. I will start in the back corner because people usually have a place that they sit. And y'all, this is how sometimes I even take attendance is after church, if I forget, and if John's not here, or so, or or if people kept coming in and out and it was hard. Moments like this, as I look around, I see where you are. And I will take a sheet of paper and actually write you down by whether or not you filled your seat that day. I will pray for you one by one. That's how I do it. I start in the back and I work my way up and then jump over and go back. That's how I do it because I don't want to miss anybody. But that is what is praying in my own understanding. Now, let's say, though, that I want to pray and I just don't know what to pray for, or I want to get closer with God. That's when I let go and I let the spirit start praying for me. And that's a language I can't understand, but it's so edifying. It's so edifying when it happens. So Paul is not dismissing tongues here, he's explaining the dynamic of how they work. When you pray in tongues, your spirit is engaged and active. You are praying in the spirit, but your natural mind does not process the content of what is being said because you can't handle it. You and your natural mind can't handle the wonders and the miracles of God. So we let the spirit do that for us. For the newer believer, this may sound kind of odd, but it's valuable. It's valuable to know, and I'm going to give you some uh some scripture here. Um if we look, and I'm jumping a little bit because we're running behind, turn to 1 Corinthians 13, 8 and 10. 1 Corinthians 13, 8 through 10. It says, Love never fails, but where there are prophecies, they will cease. Where there are tongues, they will be stealed. Where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. Now, that is a scripture that those that think that tongues are no longer a thing, that is a scripture they use. But what they're not understanding here is that that it says tongues will cease, yeah. But the completeness that Paul is referring to is not the completion of the Bible, it's the completion when this when Jesus returns and gets his people. That's when it'll all be ceased, because then you'll be face to face with God. You will be made like God. You won't need the Spirit to pray for you anymore. Because you're there. What is the completeness that Paul's describing? Verse 12 tells us if they just read a couple more verses. For now we see only a reflection in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. He's talking about the return of Christ here. Now jump on down to 1 Corinthians 14 and 5. Paul says here, I would like every one of you to speak in tongues. Not just some of you, but every one of you. His heart was that every believer be able to receive, or not receive, experience this gift. Um, Paul makes it more personal in verse 18. He says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Now, why would he have said that if he didn't speak in tongues all the time? You know, Paul, he says, I speak in tongues more than all of you. He's arguably the most theologically educated, intelligently gifted man of that time. And he's thanking God for the gift of tongues. His gratitude for this gift means that it was deeply meaningful and fruitful in his own walk with God. So if you go to 1 Corinthians 14 and 39, it says, Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy and do not forbid the speaking in tongues. He says, got to forbid it. Don't forbid it, don't shut it down or or hinder it in any kind of way. Create space for it and honor it. The case for tongues isn't flimsy, it's not a fringe argument, but it's built on those solid foundational uh scriptures uh from Acts to the Epistles and it stands firm. It stands firm. So, newer believer, I hope you're beginning to see that it's not strange. Some people say it's kind of it's kind of strange, but if you can believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, why can you not believe that God has a spirit language? Why is it so easy to believe one and not the other? That's the same God and He can do all things. Turn to Ephesians 6 with me. This is our verse in Bible school that's coming up here in about three weeks. In verses 17 and 18 of Ephesians 6, it says Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray how in the Spirit. In the Spirit, on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Both prayers are discussed there. Pray in the spirit and pray for God's people. That is the mind that knows, and that is the spirit. And you say, well, he wasn't talking about that kind when he said, pray in the spirit. I'm sorry, Paul uh just said a few verses back that I read to you that he prays in the spirit and he speaks in tongues. So in 17 and 18, you see both there. He says, pray in the spirit on all occasions, not just on Sunday morning, right? Not just when you have a crisis, or not just when you are feeling particularly spiritual that day. Your morning routine, your ride to work, your worship time at home, your quiet evening time. These are all appropriate times. These are all appropriate times, all occasions. It's a weapon in your spiritual arsenal. A practical and necessary, and it's as practical and necessary as the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith. Now look at Jude 20. Jude 20. It says, But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most highly faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God. There it is again. Praying in the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit. And he connects it directly with being built up, which is just what Jesus said back at the beginning of the sermon. And it all makes sense. The great word for building up here is the same word from which we get the word edification. Edification. When you pray in tongues, you're not just communicating with God. You're being straightened from the inside out. It's not a selfish thing. That you allow the word of the spirit to pray for you. We reference Paul earlier in 144. If we reference this earlier in 144, anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves. So all of these verses, they're connecting together. You edify yourself. Paul says to pray in the spirit. And then they say praying in the spirit edifies you. It's all connected. You can't pour from an empty cup, guys. If you don't edify yourself sometimes it's kind of like I'm in the social work field. I have a tendency, man, to get so wrapped up in the clients and their issues and what's going on. And and before long what you see is you take your work phone home with you, and then you're on the call, and then all of a sudden 24-7, and then you need a health appointment, but I can't. I have to work that day, or I have a visit with this person and you put yourself off so much that before long you don't have anything left in yourself to pour into other people. It's the same principle here. If you're going to pour into other people, pray for other people, be here to encourage other people at church, you have got to take it home. Alone with you and God. You can't pour into anybody with an empty. Study it, if you will. Indeed. I always encourage people don't just take my word for it, because I'm human just like y'all are. Get in the word and study. Study it. Man, if you'll come on up. Man's gonna start right uh playing here. And I'm taking everything away from me. He's gonna start playing. And there's two things I want to do this morning. I always want to give the chance for someone who doesn't know Jesus to come to the Lord because you never know who might be in the room. And I've used this before. My husband thought that he was saved and he was going through the motions. He was raised in a Baptist church. Good, good Bible-based, but I mean wonderful people. He was raised there. And he always thought since he was there that he knew Jesus, and since he was in Sunday school, he knew Jesus. And then one day when he got to be a lot older, uh probably 16, 17 years old, I'm guessing. Huh? 18, uh, he realized all of a sudden, you know what? I've never really given my heart to Jesus. Now, things went through his mind, like if I walk down that aisle today, they're gonna think, oh my goodness, all this time, and we thought he was a Christian. Oh, it's gonna be so embarrassing, and I'll be ashamed. But guys, it's not about what other people are thinking about you. Besides, I can guarantee you I know those people in this room, and they're not gonna think that about you. They're gonna rejoice in the fact you're making sure you're right. But the thing is, if you don't know that you know that you know that you are saved, and if you were to die tonight, or if the return of Jesus would happen, that you would go to heaven to live with him, I don't care what you've thought for the rest of your life, please make it right this morning. So that's where we're going first. If you will, bow your heads and close your eyes. If you have never given your heart to Jesus and you would like to do so this morning, or if you've been going through the motions but you're feeling that tug at your heart that says, you've been going through the motions, but we've never really made peace with each other from Jesus, then that's you. If you'll take this moment and raise your hand and put it right back down, if you think that, if you fit any of those categories online, if it's you, I want you to do the same thing. Now I'm gonna pray this prayer, and I want you to repeat after me, and everybody can do it. Lord Jesus, I come to you just as I am. I know that I'm a sinner and I can't save myself, but I believe you died for me, and you rose again. I turn away from my sin today, and I turn to you. I ask you to forgive me, come into my heart, and be my Lord and my Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit as I'm yours. Amen. If you prayed that prayer just now and you meant it, I want you to see me after church. I want to shake your hand. I want to get to know you. If you're online, private message me, reach out to me. I want to know. I want to know. Now, I'm gonna give just a minute and we're gonna open up the altars for for a few minutes. If you've always wanted to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit more, and I'm talking about all of them. We talked about discernment, right? We talked about that last week. We talked about teaching and prophesying and all of that last week. And in tongues, if you want to activate that gift that Jesus gave you that you've not known what to do with, take it off the shelf today and let's start using it. I'm going to open the altar. We have people to pray with you if you choose to come forward. And it's not open just for that. If you have anything in your life that you would like prayed for, please come down this morning and let our pray our prayer team pray with you this morning. These altars are open.
SPEAKER_04See me how great is our God.
SPEAKER_06So great.
SPEAKER_01Oh, how great it's ugly.
SPEAKER_06How gray is a sea how gray how great is dark. Is our God sing with me how gray is our God and all we'll see how gray how gray is a god as you are awesome?