Buxton | 22/03/26 | Prepare Yourself With The Holy Spirit | Ray Novotny

Buxton

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/18940636-buxton-22-03-26-prepare-yourself-with-the-holy-spirit-ray-novotny.mp3

Ray spoke about the need to prepare ourselves with the Holy Spirit.

Transcript

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Raymond did I've been naughty. I've got with my wife, so we did go to Matmont Church. Well now we've been going since the beginning of February we've been going to work so I think that's been going about six weeks here. As I was preparing this week for this morning, I'm just asking God, um, what it is do you want to share? And uh last night and this morning I just felt like God gave me um a picture to speak over to you. Um Buxton, I read up Buxton, what's Buxton well known for? I know it's a spa time, and it's a spare time well known for its healing going back to Roman times. Uh but God uh said uh prepare yourselves. Prepare yourselves. There's going to be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit here, like you've never seen before. It's a bold statement, isn't it? Well, I can't say it because I saw it. Yeah. Healing waters aspire of the Holy Spirit to be coming and be healed, being healed. And I got the I got the when I get a picture of that, I guess I have God to open this up a bit, and I can't just say that all of them. And uh I just got I just got the impression that God says not to plan, but to prepare. Each of us should prepare ourselves, spend time with the Holy Spirit, spend time with Jesus. When I'm going to be speaking about the Holy Spirit this morning, well, I'm not going to speak about the Holy Spirit on a personal level, on an individual level, it's about being filled with the Holy Spirit, it's about abiding in Jesus, and Jesus abiding in us. And we have so many distractions in the world, so many things that take our time off sometimes we need the time to spend in His presence. So I really feel like God's saying to us all, and certainly here to you as a fellowship. Is this been have you got another floor here at all? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. There's a big window up there, so you can't be dancing on that, can you? Um the rooms upstairs are they bigger than this, or smaller. That's interesting that you know what I mean. When 120 people came together and were waiting on Jesus and the Holy Spirit came, uh, their church grew by 3,000 suddenly. And I believe there is going to be a suddenly. You know, sometimes we prepare for growth as leadership and as a church, and you see people added, I feel maybe uh people come to know the Lord Jesus and say, Well, I really believe that there's going to be a suddenly about God. Not too sure when, we didn't say when, but to prepare ourselves, prepare our hearts, each of us, and we've heard that's each of us uh playing that part. Each one of us is important. So um we saw where I stand away. Uh we moved to Darwyshire, we live up in Winster, we moved in Fullstar our family, so we see our grandchildren quite bringing them. That's a great blessing. Um but we moved back three years ago from North Manchester, Rochdale, and um we used to be in a church, a small church, built church, call it a village church, but it's a big village. Uh, and it used to be out 80 to 100, and we we we went to that church and we built relationships for years and years and years. So to come away from that and to come over the hill to Derbyshire, it's not one of the places we've ever dreamed of. It's a Derbyshire, but it's beautiful, isn't it? We love living here, it's one amazing place, and we're really choked that God brought us here. Um, like I say, we went to Marlock at first, and we're still connected there, obviously. Um, but we felt um we found in our hearts to to move to Worksworth, and that's where we're going. Being a new planted out church, one of the first things we talked about in the first service was how do we see this church community? What are our values? How do we see it functioning? What do we hold as important or essential for building healthy foundations? A healthy church where people can arrive as they are and be welcomed and we're certain and be welcome this morning, you're a very welcoming church. People recognise that. Um, I come from Wokesworth, I come from a church environment for many years. Um so we kind of get accustomed to that warm invitation, that warm welcoming, it's so important. Um people who don't know don't know the Lord Jesus when they come in, uh, that's especially important. And uh that's something we certainly experienced here this morning. Um place where people know each other or get to know each other by name and get to know each other's stories, life stories, testimonies. Newcomers are welcomed. Vulnerability is safe, diversity is embraced, important the heart of the local community. God points us where we are for a reason. Help you reach out to the needs and reach out to what God's doing in this community. Where belonging is a soil where everything else grows, a place of belonging. These are just a few attributes of a Christ-centered Holy Spirit-filled church and community in action. Like I said before, normally when I speak about the Holy Spirit, I usually speak on an individual level, but um if I was to put a heading on this this morning, I'd say the community of the Holy Spirit. We are the community of the Holy Spirit. And I'm well aware that some of the things I'm going to be speaking about this morning, we all know. And I can tell when I walk in here for the first time that it's a spirit-filled place. So some things I'll speak about may be obvious things that the Holy Spirit's working here. But I'll just hope that this morning, as I go through some of unpacking that what that is to be a community in the Holy Spirit, moving in the power of the Holy Spirit, that you'll be encouraged, built up, and that the Holy Spirit may even in one area of your life speak to you and encourage you. What we believe is that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God there's God in three in one, that's what we believe. And the Gospel of John, and John is the title of Paraclete, which is used to describe the Holy Spirit. Comes alongside us as believers to help, comfort, and advocate for us. What I find really good is what Paul writes in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, guarantee, guarantee, garrisons. That's amazing. Born again, filled with the Spirit of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. How amazing is that that he puts a seal on us? Ephesians 1.13. And you also are included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you are marked with him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory. So that's amazing. No matter what you feel like this morning, no matter what your week's been like, whether you've been down in the dunks, whether life's been pants, or whether you're on the top of the mountain and you're shouting God's praises, no matter where you are, you have that guarantee of the Holy Spirit. Sealed. Sealed. You can't be taken from you. I think that's really exciting. I love it. When the enemy comes along and says, Ray, you're absolutely pants, you don't want to talk about rubbish. I think, well. Or when I've been, you know. When I'd be grumpy with my wife, I'm still sealed. I think it doesn't go home. It's still sealed. The good news of the gospel is not only that God saves individuals, but that he brings us into a family. Through Jesus Christ and by the power of his Holy Spirit, God creates a new kind of community. A community shaped by his presence. Christianity is not just personal faith. It's about doing life together. So I've got, I've written uh five points here, five times. Keep me on track. So I'm going to go on me off. On top of each one, I put in brackets, check the time. I can go on. If you see me doing that, it's not because I want to get off, I'm just not wanting to. In Acts 1, we read how Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days. Read it from verse 4, Acts 1. On one occasion, while Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Winding forward, Acts 2, when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. We're told about 120. I think there's about 30 in here, so you get a picture of what? 120 people, a group of 120. I think they were in an upper room. When they're an upper room, doesn't really matter. But they were in an upper room. They've seen Christ crucified, they've seen the risen Lord, and they're probably completely bamboozled about what's going on. But Jesus told them to wait, and they were waiting, just praising God, just spending time with each other. 120 of them. And then it says, suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent weed came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tons 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. We're told that when the Holy Spirit came on them, that were speaking in tongues. All filled. Later on, it talks about people who were there were saying they're drunk. And yet there were people that heard the message, the gospel message in their own language. And 3,000 were saved that day. So I was speaking to you about a southern layer of God this morning. There's going to be a southernly. I hope it isn't 3,000, because you'll be in trouble. Yeah, yeah. So I'm just trying to picture that. Whoever's got plan, God's got planned for you here. You know. How many of you fit in here? Hundred? Are you pushing that? 40 or 10. 40 or 50. Well, what a vision. 3,000. What are we doing with that? We'll be down at the back. Well, God's saying, just prepare yourself. Wait on him. Prepare yourself individually, corporately. Prepare yourself because he's doing something here. I don't know what the history of the church is, I don't know how we got to this place. I don't know your story. But what's important is going forward with Jesus Christ. Wow. There are people that need to be saved. Like God's calling and ignorance him before they come through the door. You know. Heart for healing and forgiveness and restoration. A wealth, a star of healing. And it's not something you can do yourselves. It's not something that you can plan for. You can try and plan it, but the Holy Spirit is the one who plans. You don't have to worry about how it's going to happen. Where it's going to happen and what we need to do, but just rest in Him. The Holy Spirit knows what He is doing. He'll open and shut doors as and when you need to. In Acts 2, we see the birth of a spirit-born community, a suddenly community. We see that the Holy Spirit came not just to individuals but to a gathered people. The Christian life is a shared life, not something lived in isolation. On their own in isolation. I know it happens somewhere, so that is really isolated, isn't it? From the beginning, God formed his people to live in relationship, encouraging, supporting, and embodying his love together. And when Jesus ascended, praise God, he didn't leave us or his followers to manage alone. It's the Holy Spirit that creates our community. God sent the Holy Spirit to the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and among us, creating a spiritual community where faith grows, burdens are carried, and God's presence is experienced together. Move worshiping. Move worshiping the Lord. Sometimes we can forget the preach, I think, just worshiping his presence. Sometimes about God by His Holy Spirit is so present when we worship. Often that's when we get healed and we get revelation and God speaks to us. Acts 2.42, devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. Acts 2.42, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold the property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They brought bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being served. Devoted. Literary meeting of devoted, I looked it up. Devoted describes someone or something showing strong love, loyalty, dedication, or affection. It implies being very loving, enthusiastic, or committed to a person, a person, cause or activity. We're a devoted people, devoted to the Saviour who saved us. What's on his heart is on our hearts. We love people because Jesus loved us. The people were devoted because something had happened to them that made devotion the only natural response. Praise God for that. Praise God that you found me. He was looking for me even before I was looking for him. I can remember when I was searching for him, I was alone. Away from my family. Working in Austria as a chef. And uh I was searching, I was probably what 21, 2021, and I was searching. I knew there was a year, there was something missing in my life. And at 21, I was in Austria working as a sheriff worker in all the hours. And I remember going to go and visit uh some family on the other side of Austria, and they did out Jehovah's Witnesses. I used to spend a lot of time with them because I loved that community spirit they have and the activities that they did and the weekends and used to play together and stuff like that. And I can remember one evening sat with my uncle, and he I think if I had any faith in him, the faith that I always believed that there was a God, and I believed in God, and I spoke to him, but I had no idea that I could speak to him on a personal level, that he actually went to the cross. I believe he died on the cross, but I hadn't got my concept that if I was the only person that had sinned, he'd died for me. And I haven't grasped any of that. I suppose my background was more Roman Catholic. I was uh an altar boy for five years. Um I can remember um I suppose Austria being a Roman Catholic, very much Roman Catholic country, I suppose Jehovah Witnesses were more averse in actually talking to Roman Catholics about their beliefs. And I can remember we sat down one evening, singing a long evening, and uh every belief that I had built up over the years as a child, like completely fummox me. They talked to me about their faith and stuff like that. And at the end of it, I felt I had nothing else to stand on, and I thought, maybe Jehovah's Witness is the faith of God. I was searching, is that what you bring in to, Lord? And I can remember the uncle asking me, well, you know, at that moment what I wanted in my life. So what I was saying, what they believed in. And I can remember him, the spirit something stopped me, and I went to my room that night. And I suppose, from a belief point of view, I was probably on the most broken and didn't really know what to believe in. And I just knew the presence of the Holy Spirit came into that room, into a Jehovah Witnesses room. I didn't know didn't know how that how that played out later. Well, I just knew that Jesus, I didn't see Jesus, but I felt his presence. And said, Ray, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, follow me and I'll show you the way. And I went for the first time into my suitcase, which I've packed us for the weekend. Somehow I packed the Good News Bible, which my mum gave me before we left. I don't know anything, John, but God so loved the world that whoever believes in him shall have life. And life in abundance. And uh they say my uncle doesn't understand why I didn't become like a Job of Witness. It's because he became a child of God, full of the Holy Spirit. See, I've got titles here, otherwise I'm going astray. So in Acts 2.42, Luke isn't describing a rule they followed, he's describing a transformed community whose lives flowed from a new inner reality. As a community of believers here, our devotion isn't forced, rather than the overflow of the Holy Spirit's work in us. Devoted to worshiping together, being teachable, devoted to praying for one another. I love that that big church send the text out, don't we? I'm as you do, anybody subscribes. I love the fact that we get prayer text coming through, pray urge and prayer requests and updates. I think that's really encouraging, and I love that gets a breath of people you don't even know. That's great. Devoted to supporting one another, especially someone in difficulty, giving time, devoted to giving time, sharing and caring. Referring back to verse 44, all the believers were together and had everything in common, it's evident that there was a profound unity amongst believers. A spirit created oneness. You know, unity is so important. There's a growing church here. Just put that on your heart. Unity is so important. The Holy Spirit saying something there. Unity of the Holy Spirit. The unity the Spirit creates isn't uniformity. We don't start all looking the same. The church isn't held together because we're the same, think the same, or naturally fit together. It's held together by Jesus and shaped by the Holy Spirit. We're a diverse people from different backgrounds. Probably we naturally end up in the same room. We don't think alike. We don't look alike, so we're looking at me thinking that. Or come with the same stories, and the Spirit doesn't erase those differences. But the Holy Spirit gathers people who would never normally choose each other and then teaches us to love one another deeply. What we truly share in common is that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. As you're moving on as a body here, just put that somewhere in your lines of sight, unity. Just watch for the work of disunity. You're hoping it might not come, but the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the enemy works in strange ways, so we be mindful of that. What we truly share in common is that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Ephesians 4 3 calls us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Unity is a spirit's work, but it's also our responsibility to God through humility, patience, forgiveness, and choosing peace when it would be easier to withdraw. The Holy Spirit gives everyone a role. Everyone. Paul's teaching on 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 12 makes this unmistakably clear, just as a body through one, the one, has many parts, but of this many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, we were all given the one spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part, but of many. Different gifts, say spirit. Many parts, one body. We can't all be hands, some of us are feet. We were all baptized into one spirit, into one body, and that means no one is unnecessary, no one is overlooked, and no one, guess what, is giftless. Each of you have a gift, and everyone matters. Each one of us. Gifts are distributed widely and purposefully, and the Spirit empowers every member to contribute to the health and mission of the whole. Gifts of encouragement, teaching, wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, practical hospitality, faithful prayer, generosity, and prophetic inside. We don't always look at hospitality as a gift. Hospitality is a great gift. We would host a barbecue at our house in the back garden, and who knows when there's food involved, everybody turns up. So we had one time we had about 70 people. Well the gift of hospitality. When we had a barbecue, it was an opportunity for Christian people for the body to bring people along because barbecue often is a it it's it's a safe place if you can invite people going up to the barbecue coming along. And people can see the church in action outside of the church building and somebody's house informal. And we just used to host quite a few, like I said one time in about 70. Um most rewarding evenings, people just chatting to each other, and people bring in people who didn't know the Lord Jesus. And uh we had a testimony where um Sue's brother-in-law, Sue's brother would come, and he wasn't a believer. Not only was he not a believer, he loved to talk to you about what you believed in and shoot it all there. He loved interesting conversations and he wanted to take what you believed in apart and he actually read the shape. Um his wife, sister-in-law, um, she'd started coming to church once or twice and uh she was invited with John to the banque's with her family, I suppose, as well. And she was just amazed at how people were with each other, so much so that she wanted to come on an alpha course. Alpha courses are greater if you're doing them here, of an alpha course. And she came on an alpha course and did the course, and she gave her wife someone before she even finished the course. So, to my brother-in-law, Sue's brother, that was quite a thing. But guess what? Through that, he became a Christian, his wife. Becoming a Christian, he follows suit. And guess what? Is he one of the more strongest evangelists to speak to anything that moves anything in a room with him? He's such a powerful evangelist because he had all the answers in the way, so when he's speaking to somebody, he knows what's sticking in the brain. I don't know how he does it. In fact, he gets so frustrated that everybody else isn't evangelizing like he is. Do you know what I mean? Uh we're all bit of evangelising in our own ways, don't we? But some people have an anointing to evangelise. If you sat with him on a play, he'll speak to you about Jesus Christ. And a number of stories comes back saying that people are giving their life to Christ. So they're not just listening to it, but they're actually giving their life to Christ. That's an anointing. Well, all that stemmed from hospitality we don't often look at as hospitality. Hospitality is important. Paul even reminds us in verses 28 and 31 that not everyone has the same gifts, and that's the point. The spirit arranges the body so that each part brings something unique. Unique. A healthy church is never built by a handful of busy people. It's built by many willing hearts, each exercising the particular gifts God has entrusted to them. I don't know, I suspect each of you know when you're moving the gifts, that you have a gift, whether it's hospitality, whether it's a ministry of health, whether it's administration, whether it's speaking, teaching, healing, I suspect most of you here know what gifts you're moving, but if you don't, just start doing anything, just step out, just start ministry of helping. Hospitality. Just start somewhere. Because God will need you to play. Usually when you start stepping out, you begin to see where your gifts are. What floats you bought? When every member serves in the strength that the Spirit provides, the church becomes a living, functioning body, vibrant, balanced, and fruitful. Next point. The Holy Spirit doesn't just empower the church and the church's ministry, He forms its culture and shapes its character. And there'll be things that look the same as Worksworth here, and there'll be things that look the same as my lot. But he will form, or he is forming, and has formed a culture here for this area. He forms its culture and saves its character. Paul's word spin in Galatians 5 reminders that the Spirit produces a recognizable way of life. Galatians 5 verse 22. We often refer to them as the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All sides are the Holy Spirit shape. Shaping, it's not shaping our culture, no, shaping our culture. These aren't just personality traits or self-improvement goals, they are the evidence of the spirit of work, at work in the community. Patience instead of irritation, kindness instead of criticism, forgiveness instead of resentment, even after decades of following Jesus, the Holy Spirit continues shaping and refining our character. None of us ever arrive where we are arriving. 68 are still being shaped. Praise God. It becomes a witness to the local community, a wider community. Acts 2 paints a picture of believers meeting together, sharing meals, worshipping with glad and sincere hearts, and all with a watching world taking notice. An authentic life, Holy Spirit drenched and shaped. People are drawn to what's real. When the church lives in genuine vanishing, loving, forgiving, serving, and carrying one another, guess what? The world sees Jesus. I find that amazing though. The world sees Jesus in me. In the workplace, the world sees Jesus. Wherever you go, the world sees Jesus. You're clothed in righteousness, you're clothed in Israel. I know when I work, no one's first within in shop. Whatever. Well not because I say anything. A spirit-filled church is never static. It becomes the signpost of God's wisdom, God's kingdom. Sorry. It becomes the signpost of God's kingdom. Healing the broken, reconciling the divided, proclaiming the good news, and serving with joy. The community shaped by the Holy Spirit becomes a living demonstration of the gospel. Lord Jesus Christ. Death for us on the cross. Our sins forgiven. That we may have eternal life. And that we raised to eternal life with him because he rose again and conquered death. And we have the opportunity, we have that surety that hope that we will live forever. And I think that's an amazing thing. Thank you, Lord, for that. How amazing is that. So we close in the community of the Holy Spirit as a people shaped, united, and empowered by his living presence. It isn't just a spoken, it's a picture of what the church becomes when the Spirit isn't only acknowledged in belief, but welcome to form in our lives together. Shape our relationship and lead our mission. That being said, what being said or done. Just get the Holy Spirit presence and I've spoken a lot of stuff today. And uh I see many of these things happening here in the Holy Spirit. I see the community of the Holy Spirit at work. And I just trust that, you know, in some of what we wrote tomorrow, that you've been encouraged and built up. I think knowing your case and movement, your case that you have is so important. You've been preparing this these last few weeks. I've been encouraging God as God asks you to speak, you've got to come into his press, you've got to read his word more than you probably would. And uh he just encourages me, and uh, again, but I travel twice a week over to Roxville where I work. It's about an hour and a half drive, and uh most of the time I was driving through, I used to do that quite regularly. Uh maybe there's a what I'm gonna try to say, maybe there's a gift that you've been moving in, but you've not been moving, where you've put it down for some reason. My dad wants to encourage you, wants to breathe on that, restore that. Kindle that. Uh and it, I suppose in this illustration I'm going to share with you is I'm driving the long way, I go through lots of time of bay, well it's about uh ash went on the walls and down into Boxton and drive three or three times, especially when I try and avoid the lorries and don't go through the time avoid time. I can get quicker this way sometimes. Um what we'd normally do, I would pray as I went along, and I would just it it's like an wave of God's Holy Spirit, I would pray over houses and businesses, and I'm doing continuously all the way through, just knowing and believing that the words you speak that hand in hand and what the Holy Spirit's asking you to do, is just breathing wherever you go, and God's driving it was like, do you know when you go through uh when you go through a can you um do water splashes? And that's what I was doing, and then just splashing the community, wherever they were, the power of the Holy Spirit, whatever darkness was in people's lives, whatever god they think about it, whatever, where there wasn't all light to bring light, whatever God saw will bring that all right. And I don't know over the last couple of months I seem to stop doing that, not for a particular reason, just stopped doing that, and God said you used to do that when I was not. Do you know what I mean? So you've been preparing this, God's encouraged me to say, Can you call that a gift? Yes, whatever God puts on your heart. There are things that God's put on your heart, and you maybe put them down. So, you know, maybe God's speaking to you this morning to be kidding those gifts. Um have we got time just to do a song of worship? Okay, all I'll do is just pray and