WEBVTT 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:04.240 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:12.800 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.919 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.839 Got a couple quick announcements before we jump into what we're gonna talk about this morning. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.559 Kind of the same stuff we've been talking about, but there's a lot going on, and it's worth getting excited about. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:25.760 It is woo-worthy. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:27.199 You guys were saying woo earlier. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:28.399 So we've got a couple things. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:32.479 One of those is this event called Help Portrait, and that is gonna be next Saturday. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:33.679 So a week from yesterday. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:38.479 Tom Melesko is a great part of our church, and he is a photographer really passionate about this. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:50.799 And it's just a way to give someone a smile around the holidays, to give someone that something small that that just blesses them, something small that gives them some cause for joy might be a way to say it. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:01:01.439 And so what Hellportrait is, is it's an event where photographers come together and provide free professional photography for people in need, for people that couldn't afford that, maybe a single mom and their kids, but but situations like that. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:12.560 And so there's a sign-up table outside if if that's something you have a need for, or even honestly, even if there's someone you know and love that has that need and you just want to be aggressive and sign them up and then call them and say, hey, you don't have to go. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.239 But just so you know, if you do, there's an appointment, you know, just do it. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:19.519 You know, get people signed up and and bless some people this Christmas. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:20.879 It's no cost to them. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:25.120 They'll get you know a free professional photography situation and and uh situation. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:25.680 What is that? 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:26.879 I don't even know what I mean. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:28.560 I am not a photographer. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.239 I I don't yeah, okay. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.480 So help portrait, it's gonna be great. 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.200 Uh Christmas is coming up, a lot of good things around Christmas. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:36.000 Want to show you our website. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.040 We've done this the last few weeks. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.000 If you go to our website, you'll see Christmas Eve at his hands on the front page. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.799 Click that, and you're gonna be taken to this page. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:44.079 It's a little page for the event. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:48.079 It's got some information about Christmas Eve, both of our services, four o'clock and six o'clock. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.680 And if you go to the top left corner, you'll see these little links you can click. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:56.640 And that's a way you can share our Christmas Eve worship get together uh with all your friends. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:58.159 You can invite people via email. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.799 If you click invite others, you can tweet it. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:05.120 If you're a tweeter, I don't know how to I don't I don't use Twitter. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.319 Um Facebook, you can get on Facebook, and all you gotta do is click that. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:10.560 It puts it right on your right on your Facebook page. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:13.599 And I think today there's something like 350 people that have shared that. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:18.319 So keep that going because I've been saying, if we get to a thousand shares, that's a hundred thousand people that see it. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:20.000 So that's that's something to be excited about. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.319 And then you know, just tell people about it, invite people. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:31.919 There's so many people that experience God's love for the first time, uh, not just here at this church, but but any church, on something like Christmas Eve or Easter, it's an important thing for us to do. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.599 And so if you know someone, you love someone, just invite them and invite them to be part of this. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:37.840 Uh, Christmas Angels is going extremely well. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.199 Today was one of the last drop-off days for Christmas Angels. 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:47.680 And so if you have forgotten to drop your stuff off, if you got a star, you just didn't get around to getting everything yet, we'll be open this week. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.599 We're we're office hours are Tuesday through Friday, uh, 9 a.m. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.039 to 5 p.m. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:54.639 And uh there will be someone here. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.960 You can come to the office on the far left side of the building, and we'll take that stuff for you. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.400 But get it in as soon as possible because next Sunday is delivery day. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.080 Next Sunday, yeah. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.360 That if you've never been part of delivery day, oh man, let me tell you, you need to. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.879 Just stay after church next week, get in your car, get in a big line. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.560 We all love being in lines and in cars. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:16.159 It's it's it's an American tradition. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:17.439 So just do it. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.719 Just do it, be in line, play some Christmas music. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.400 You'll be given some gifts to take to families. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:26.879 You know, the thing I love about that is this is that it's not like we'd have to be the heroes. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.759 You know, we don't have to be the ones that show up to the house with the gifts wrapped and show them to the kids. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:32.240 It's amazing. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:39.599 That's one of my favorite things about Christmas Angels is that we get to take the gifts to the families and the moms and the dads, they get to wrap the gifts. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.759 They get to be part of that because that is something as a parent that is so important. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:54.000 And even if we can't afford it, even if we're at a time and a place in life where we can't provide that, to be able to give parents the gift of wrapping their kids' Christmas presents and putting them under the tree, that's important. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:58.560 And so it's not just us doing it for the kids, it's doing it for the whole families, and we get to do that next week. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.479 So be here for that, wait in line with the car, and we'll we'll give you some gifts to deliver. 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:03.520 It's gonna be a blast. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:04.479 It's gonna be a blast. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:07.520 Well, let's pray and let's just uh get into what we're gonna share this morning. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:08.719 Jesus, thank you so much. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.240 Thank you so much for your love. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.400 Thank you so much for everything that you're doing in us and through us and through this community. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:20.319 I just pray that you would fill us with your spirit this morning, get us excited about knowing you, about our relationship with you. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:24.160 Jesus, we love you so, so much, and we just ask all this in your name. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:25.040 Amen. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.199 Well, I've got a lot of notes this morning, so you'll just have to bear with me. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.240 Uh God works in awesome ways. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:36.639 We've been doing this whole uh history of the Bible over the course of about 10 weeks. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:38.240 Next week will be our last week. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:39.279 Ben's gonna be here. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:40.399 He's gonna wrap the whole thing up. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.480 He's already told me that it's probably gonna blow everyone's minds and be the best thing anyone's ever seen. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.120 He didn't say that, but I just I like to put pressure on Ben. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:48.160 I don't know why. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:49.519 I really like Ben. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.199 I just like to, it's just a thing. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:53.680 Um but it's gonna it's gonna be fantastic. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:55.199 This has been a great series. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.319 And it's a great series because this is our history. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:03.040 This is not just the history of the Bible, this is not just the history of people that have come before us. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.519 This is our history as God's people. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.399 And it's important for us to know our history. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:16.399 It's important for us to know what God has done before us so that we can recognize what a privileged time that we live in now. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:23.199 A time when we know Jesus, a time when we can have a relationship with God and have his Holy Spirit in our lives. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.560 So it's been an exciting thing personally for me to do. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.279 Ben had this drawing, this thing that God gave him. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.480 Very, very cool visualization of the entire story of the Bible. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.920 It's a timeline, but it doesn't look like a timeline that you've ever seen before. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.959 So if you haven't been here, I really encourage you to go online on our website. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.560 There's a link to Ben drawing this live. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.399 It's really, really cool to watch. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.000 But up to this point, it's the beginning of creation. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.879 It's that first dot in the middle is the tree of life. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:57.199 Every dot that you saw as it was drawn, those little dots that kind of go down and to the left or right, I'm turned around when I'm on the stage. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:58.800 One of those two are your options. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.040 Uh, those represent these trees. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:06.399 These trees that just kind of show up when God makes a big promise to his people. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:13.199 And so there's trees like the burning bush, which was technically a tree, potentially, we we don't know, but it's tree-like. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:15.279 Uh there's the oaks at Mamre. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:17.279 There's a tree of life. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.040 And every time God shows up and he makes a big promise, we see this spiral happen. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:27.920 It's it's people living life and doing like we do every day and just missing it, missing the target. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.079 Things seem to go horribly wrong. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:37.439 And up to the point where we get to Jesus, which was last week, everything seems to be spiraling, out of control, irredeemable. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:39.519 And Jesus shows up and changes everything. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:40.879 That's what we talked about last week. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.480 Jesus changed everything, he's changing everything every single day. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.839 And so when Jesus shows up, he completes what's been before him. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.519 It becomes this perfect circle. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.480 What looked like a mess now looks purposeful. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:54.160 Honestly, it looks beautiful. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.079 Reminds me of a lollipop. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:57.120 I like that. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:57.600 Okay. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:02.959 So Jesus shows up and he fixes it, and it's great. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.319 And up to this point, if you saw Ben draw it live, everything has been this continuous line. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.360 And this morning we get to the first moment in this drawing where the pen leaves the paper and there's a jump. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.560 And that's when we get to our part of the drawing this morning. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:25.759 Now, that that dot that first appeared after Jesus, a little outside of that, that's our sixth tree. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.240 We're going to talk about that tree this morning. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:33.120 And the promise associated with that tree is the promise of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.519 I think it's really appropriate that there's a jump in this drawing. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:45.199 I don't know if this is what Ben was trying to communicate, but it's appropriate because when Jesus came, he completed what was before him, and through him we have something new. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:47.279 We have something brand new. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:52.000 We live in a new relationship with God, we have a new covenant, is what theologians would say. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:08:04.000 It's something that a lot of people have a hard time getting, but in Galatians chapter 3, verses 22 through 23, Paul wrote, Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:09.279 We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:10.560 Let me put it another way. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.160 The law was our guardian until Christ came. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.680 It protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:24.240 And now that the way of faith has come, now that we have Jesus, we no longer need the law as our guardian. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.279 Jesus completed it. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:39.919 It's pointless for us to try and strive, which is what religion compels us to do, to strive to live by the old way, when God went to such great lengths to give us a new way. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.200 And Jesus is that new way. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:46.720 So it's very purposeful that the pen leaves the piece of paper, leaves the page, and we have something new. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:53.919 But that promise, that promise associated with the tree that we're going to talk about this morning, it's the promise of the Holy Spirit. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:58.240 Jesus made sure that we knew he was leaving. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.679 He told his disciples often, hey, I'm I'm not gonna be here forever. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.519 I'm gonna go to a cross, I'm gonna die. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.320 He said it very explicitly, and they just never got it. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:07.279 And I can understand that. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:17.519 I would imagine if you spent three years walking around with Jesus, seeing the things that Jesus did, and he tells you, I'm gonna die, you'd be like, Yeah, right? 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:19.120 There's no way. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:20.480 I can understand that. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.200 But he he did. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.279 He went to the cross and he told him, I'm I'm gonna leave you, but he made a promise to them. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.639 And we see that promise in John 14, verses 16 through 17. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:35.200 He said, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.639 He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.639 The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him, it doesn't recognize him. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:48.879 But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.039 I love that last part. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:53.840 He lives with you now, but later he will be in you. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:00.639 It's possible for us to experience the Holy Spirit just by being around God, by being around people that are excited about God. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:08.000 All of us have had experiences, perhaps, where we've been talking to someone who's really passionate about Jesus, and we just feel something around that person. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.120 But the promise that Jesus makes us is so much greater than that. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:17.600 It is not that, hey, one day you all get to gather together in a building, and when you're all together and there's a bunch of people that love me, you're gonna feel better. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:18.799 You're gonna feel a presence. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.399 It's that this will be in you, this will be a part of you. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:24.720 The Holy Spirit will be within you. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.240 That's the promise. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:28.879 And that's exciting. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:40.000 That's important for us to back up here for a second because I, if you're anything like me, I'm just gonna assume that there's some of us, there's some of us that hear about God the Father, and we're like, yes, I get that. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.960 He's my daddy, I love him, he loves me. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.519 We hear about Jesus, and yes, Jesus. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:54.240 He has a beard, he was alive, I can picture him, he died on a cross, I've seen I've seen the the paintings, I can picture that, I get that. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:58.399 And then we get to the Holy Spirit, and they're just kind of like, well, I'm not really sure. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.840 That's my experience most of growing up. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:07.200 You know, when we say God, we mean God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:07.840 It's all God. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:09.200 It's kind of a strange concept. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.759 Religion calls it the Trinity, that's what theology says. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.559 That's not in the Bible, it's just a word we've used, and it helps us. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:20.879 It's three individual people, persons, but one God. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.480 They're different, but they're the same, but they're different but the same. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.399 Makes total sense. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:37.039 And it can be a strange concept for years, centuries, we've tried to come up with analogies, explanations, things that help it make more sense. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:47.519 And so I remember I went to a Christian high school, and there was this one example of an egg that was used a lot, where you have, you know, a shell, the white of the egg, and then the yolk, and they're all an egg, but it's three parts. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.399 I like eggs, and that never still never clicked with me, even though I got that. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:12:00.320 The first time I ever saw something in this world, something you know, man-made, that made me go, yes, we've done it. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:01.440 We've finally done it. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.200 We have we have our analogy. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.240 We've got it. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.159 I was at a supermarket. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:08.159 Just I'm telling you the truth. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:09.919 I was at a supermarket years ago. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:19.440 It's probably been six or seven years ago, and I'm I'm walking through the aisle and I see this thing in the in the health section, the the the what I don't know what you call it. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:20.559 Uh, what is that section? 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:21.679 I don't pay attention to the names. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.200 It's where you buy shampoo and stuff. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.480 What is that called? 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:25.840 Health and beauty. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:26.639 Thank you. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.440 I'll be honest, you can tell I haven't had a haircut in a long time. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.480 I don't even know where my we moved, and it what does it say about men? 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.200 A lot of us that when we get busy, the first thing that goes is hygiene. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:36.799 We just don't pay attention to those kind of things. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.639 So it is what it is. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:43.039 So I'm in, I'm in that section, who knows why, and I see this bottle. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:44.559 And it struck me. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.080 I'd never seen anything like it before. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.679 It said shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in one. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.679 And I, first of all, I was excited because honestly, I'll just be honest with you. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.039 When I'm in the shower, whatever bottle is there, it's an all-purpose bottle. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:01.840 I don't care. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:02.879 I'm tired. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.879 I sometimes I keep the lights low. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.600 I don't even want, I'm just what it's gotta be soap, whatever it is. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:09.279 It has to work, okay? 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.440 But I'm like, that's it, three and one. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:12.639 It's the Trinity. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:14.320 Finally, we have something. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.240 Finally, we've been waiting all this time. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:19.919 This beats the egg so badly. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:20.639 Three and one. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:29.840 Now, that would actually be kind of sad if the best thing we could come up with in all of human history would be body wash and conditioning or whatever. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.919 But Jesus cleanses us, so maybe it's appropriate. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:32.799 I don't know. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:40.960 But the reality of the situation is that the best thing that illustrates this concept, it can be kind of a strange concept, but it's you. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:47.519 In Genesis chapter 1, we see the Trinity, we see God, the Father, the Son, and Spirit. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:48.480 We see it. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:53.840 Genesis 1 26 says, Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image to be like us. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:02.159 They will reign over the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:07.360 So we see here, God says, Let us, plural, make human beings in our image. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:14.480 We are blessed to be the one part of creation that was created in the image of God. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:21.360 Everything else that God makes in Genesis chapter 1, he just speaks into existence, but not us. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.360 We are handcrafted. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.399 We are made in the image of God. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.960 And we we're not God, but we're in his image. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:37.039 There's certain aspects of us that reflect him, that make it possible for us to get him on some level, to know him. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:44.480 And so if you really think about yourself, you can see a little a little bit of that whole trinity concept there. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:52.000 Has anyone ever been been exercising and you're on a treadmill, you're running, and you're telling yourself to run? 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.080 Your body is saying, stop, and you're like, no, Justin, no, keep going. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:58.639 You're gonna go. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:14:59.519 No, I don't want to go. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:00.399 You're gonna go. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.200 And if someone could hear your inner dialogue, they think you were crazy. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:08.399 But in that moment, your your mind is talking to your body, and your body's talking back, and there's a conversation. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:15.919 All of us have had moments where our spirit might be leading us to do something that our mind says, This doesn't make sense. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.759 I don't think you should do this. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:25.919 There's a lot of very easy to understand reasons why this is not a good idea, but your spirit, God is leading you in a different direction. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:32.000 We all have a body, we all have a mind, we all have a spirit, they're distinct, they're separate, but they're all us. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:39.039 So even in ourselves, we can see a picture of who God is. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:46.399 And this morning, we're gonna focus on that one part that Jesus promised, and that's the Holy Spirit. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:54.399 Now, in my personal experience, the Holy Spirit has just been a difficult person for me to know. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:02.159 I grew up in a very traditional uh Southern Baptist church in Springfield, Missouri, and I had a great experience at that church. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.679 Hamlin Memorial Baptist. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:04.480 That was the name of the church. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:04.960 I loved it. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.440 I met Jesus there, I got to know the Bible there. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.279 I have great memories of that church. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.320 I wouldn't change my experience there for anything. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:17.759 But just part of our church culture was we got God the Father, he's dad, do what he says. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.080 And he loves you, but do what he says. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:24.240 Jesus, he's big brother, you know, in our whole family concept of God. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.240 God's adopted us into his family. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.519 God's the dad, Jesus is the big brother, he rescued us. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:32.480 The Holy Spirit, who's he? 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:39.120 You know, in the experience I had growing up, he was like that weird cousin you don't invite to holidays. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:42.480 Because he just makes everyone feel uncomfortable. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.039 All of us have that weird cousin, some of us are that weird cousin. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:46.159 It's okay. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.559 He's that person that when people are like, oh, they're they're coming over. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.320 Oh, well, can I leave? 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:55.440 How do I get out of this? 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:56.960 You know, that was the Holy Spirit to us. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.039 We didn't deny that the Holy Spirit existed. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:16:59.759 It was in the Bible. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:04.799 We believe the Bible, so we baptized people, we said the Holy Spirit, we just didn't talk about it much after that. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:15.920 And so I grew up in kind of a strange environment where Springfield, Missouri, I went to this really Southern Baptist traditional church, and Springfield, Missouri also happens to be the headquarters for the Assembly of God denomination. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:20.400 And it's a much more charismatic denomination, very comfortable with the Holy Spirit. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:37.759 And I had some friends that went to some really big, thriving Assembly of God churches, and they had big youth groups, and they'd invite me to these youth events, and I would come from my really traditional understanding of God, Jesus, and that other guy, and I would go to these churches, and people would be speaking in tongues, and I would just be standing there going, What is going on? 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.119 I'm freaked out of my mind. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:44.240 And so what I kind of did was just put the Holy Spirit to the side and said, I believe you're real. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.640 I'll get to you later. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.920 I just, I don't know what to do with you. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.960 Please don't make me speak in tongues. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:58.000 That was essentially my experience. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:09.519 And honestly, it wasn't until it wasn't until I came here, and a few people in my life, uh, a few people that were in charge of me, leaders in my life, just kind of made me. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.839 Just basically said, Justin, you have to. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.839 You have to become more open to the Holy Spirit. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:14.720 You need to do that. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.319 And I just was like, fine, I'll do it. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.279 What do I need to do? 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.759 And they're like, you just need to pray, you just need to be open, you just need to believe and that God's gonna work through you and that he's real, and that and that, and I'm like, oh, fine. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:31.279 And and it took a long time, but eventually I had an experience, I had a Holy Spirit moment where I was like, wow, this is real. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:32.480 He is in me. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.240 It's that promise that Jesus gave us. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.880 I experienced that for the first time, that I'd experienced the Holy Spirit around me. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.400 The promise is that I would experience him in me. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:44.640 And that's all of us. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:46.880 All of us have that. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:57.119 And so the history at this moment we get to in the timeline, the part of our history that we're at is the is the early church. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:04.559 It's Acts, it's the letters that Paul wrote, these little glimpses we get of the church that existed right at the beginning. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.000 The church that we'll we're still a part of today. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:18.079 And it's the moment when the Holy Spirit first lives within people, and what happens as the result of that. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:22.960 And to put it briefly, things happened. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.240 I mean, a lot of things happened. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.680 And we see the start of it on the day of Pentecost. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:30.559 It's Acts chapter 2. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.319 It says, On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:40.240 Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:52.319 Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them, and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:57.039 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:04.240 And when they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.599 They were completely amazed. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:06.720 How can this be? 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.079 They exclaimed. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.519 Here we are, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:23.599 I don't I know I mispronounced that one, uh, and a bunch of other places. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:28.720 They're like, I always wonder, did they really say that? 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.000 Are they counting? 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:39.039 Or they say, hey, there's a lot of us, and we're from a lot of places that have distinct languages, and these guys are all speaking the languages that we speak. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.359 We can understand what they're saying. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.519 And we all hear these people speaking their own languages, the wonderful things that God has done. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.599 They stood there amazed and perplexed. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:50.400 What can this mean? 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.240 They asked each other, but others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying they're just drunk. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:55.519 That's all. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:59.359 Some people don't get it. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:04.240 So the Holy Spirit comes in power, and things happened. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.599 There was a result. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.559 You know, we've talked a lot about trees. 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.160 And Jesus talked about trees sometimes too. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:17.440 There's a very famous thing that he said is that you judge a tree by its fruit. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.960 Well, we see the fruit from the Holy Spirit moving in Acts 2, 41. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:23.599 Excuse me. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:29.680 It says, Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day, about 3,000 in all. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:39.200 This is the moment when the church, this great kingdom that Jesus promised, which up to this time is about a hundred people, instantly has momentum. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:43.519 3,000 people are added to the church in that one day. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.599 So we have fruit. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:47.039 We have a result. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.240 When the Holy Spirit moves, there is fruit. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:57.440 Things will happen, and those things will result in people believing Jesus and knowing Him and being excited about Him. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:09.359 Galatians 5 22 through 23 says, But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.400 There is no law against these things. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:16.960 When the Holy Spirit is active in our lives, we produce fruit. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.839 The church produces fruit. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.759 We have a result, we have an impact in this world. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:27.119 Marlon's been painting a tree every single week. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.920 And this morning his tree is not that. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:30.720 It's that. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:31.839 There we go. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.039 I love Marlon's paintings. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:43.279 And kind of in the context of the Holy Spirit and this whole concept of a tree producing fruit, it gave me a little bit of a new perspective on a lot of his paintings. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:45.519 And what I love about it is you don't see any literal fruit. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:46.240 There's no bananas. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.759 I was gonna paint a banana on there and see if he'd mind, but I decided not to. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:51.039 I'm good at bananas. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:51.599 I can do it. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.720 Alright. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:23:00.000 But it but it looks, it looks like this tree is not just producing fruit, but but it's like fruit is just exploding. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.039 Like it's bursting forth. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.680 And that's the church. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:15.759 That's that's us and the rest of this world following Jesus, producing fruit. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.640 And it's bursting forth. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:23.599 So this morning we're gonna talk a little bit more about that. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:31.680 One of the best ways to understand this new thing that's begun is by looking back. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:36.000 You know, Jesus said, You search the scriptures looking for eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:39.519 And so sometimes to really see what Jesus is doing, we just we look back a little bit. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:46.640 In Ezekiel 47, there's this prophecy, this vision that Ezekiel has of a time yet to come. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.480 And it's really interesting. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.559 An angel appears to him, and here's what it says. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:57.039 Now he brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water pouring out from under the temple porch to the east. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:58.799 The temple faced east. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:02.400 The water poured from the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.440 He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside of the gate complex on the east. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.720 The water was gushing from under the south of the temple. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:17.759 He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured out fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle deep. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:21.279 He measured off another 1,500 feet, leading me through water that was knee deep. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:24.960 He measured off another 1,500 feet, leading me through water waist deep. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:26.160 He measured off another, guess what? 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.359 1,500 feet. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:32.960 By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.160 He said, Son of man, have you had a good look? 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.640 And then he took me back to the riverbank. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.640 While I was sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:50.400 He told me, This water flows east, descends to the Erabah, and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.880 When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:55.359 Wherever the river flows, life will flourish. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:00.720 Great schools of fish, because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:03.279 Where the river flows, life abounds. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:09.519 Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore of the Engedi, all the way north to En Iglaim, casting their nets. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:13.839 The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the great Mediterranean. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:21.039 The swamps and marshes won't become fresh, they'll stay salty, but the river itself on both banks will grow fruit trees of all kinds. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.240 Their leaves won't wither, their fruit won't fall. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.880 Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the sanctuary flows to them. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:34.640 Their fruit will be food, will be for food, and their leaves for healing. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:40.000 We have this river of life, and everywhere that it goes, life happens. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.119