SPEAKER_00: Every Sunday at Northwest Church of the Nazareth in Columbus, Ohio, our congregation is challenged to grow spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: This podcast shares the sermons, insights, and messages that encourage our congregation to mature spiritually.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Today we're going to be talking about faith, but a faith that stands, a faith that is strengthened, and a faith that can change the world.
SPEAKER_02: We're going to be talking about the first martyr, Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, many years after Jesus ascended, there was a movement of people called the people of the way.
SPEAKER_02: And those people have been emboldened by the supernatural force that they call the Holy Spirit to go and start sharing about this Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: You see, in synagogues they were meeting and saying the Messiah not only has come, but he has left a helper, he has left a spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And they start sharing about this Jesus who was crucified, who rose from the dead three days after the crucifixion, and not only has shared with them about where he's at, he ascended into heaven, but he also has challenged them to go and care for others to share the good news.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the problem that they started having wasn't just that they were meeting, but that they started to take care of the widow and the orphan.
SPEAKER_02: Now, you may be asking, Pastor, how is that a problem?
SPEAKER_02: See, the problem is some people thought that the Greek widows weren't getting as much food as the Jewish widows.
SPEAKER_02: And they start having some divisions within the church, within the synagogues and within the groups, and saying, look at these people, they're feeding more.
SPEAKER_02: And the problem was the disciples were the ones going and taking food.
SPEAKER_02: And they decided the disciples decided, well, we need to outsource this ministry because we need to go and share the gospel, we need to prepare people to share the gospel, we need to take care of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: So the gospel spreads.
SPEAKER_02: So they gathered seven men who would be wise.
SPEAKER_02: The requirements would be wise men who'd be knowledgeable of the word and filled with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: That's it.
SPEAKER_02: They didn't care how old they were, they didn't care how much information they knew, they just needed people filled with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Among those men was one named Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Stephen's job was to take bread to widows.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you look at all the jobs in the world, that's a very simple job.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm thinking that the training is very limited because you get bread, take it to widows.
SPEAKER_02: However, he was someone who was filled with the Spirit, or as the scripture says, full of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So he goes to the synagogue and they start asking about this new movement that is happening in their location, especially with these Hellenistic uh Jews who came from Greece, and all these people are talking about this Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: Well, he then argues about how Jesus has come, transformed his life.
SPEAKER_02: And he has this long sermon.
SPEAKER_02: And in this long sermon that he preaches, he's not just holding back and trying to be quiet and trying to, you know, go along the norms and trying to play nice.
SPEAKER_02: He said, You and your ancestors are the ones who killed Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: He wasn't saying you as the Jews, he wasn't saying you particular, but he's saying you people who hold the religious values, you people who understand the scriptures are the ones who did not have Jesus fit your square, your box, so we see that Jesus has come, and you and your ancestors have killed every single messenger of God.
SPEAKER_02: Look at the prophets and look at Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And now that Jesus came, he came to redeem us, to change us.
SPEAKER_02: Well, they got very upset with him, so they took him to the Sanhedrin, the same court that judged Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Now, that court does not have a very good record as of now with people of the way, with people that follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They have condemned Jesus to death.
SPEAKER_02: So that court has Stephen, and Stephen instead of playing nice and saying, you know what, I just, I just um, you know, let my mouth speak.
SPEAKER_02: No, he doubled down on them and saying, You are the ones that are not seeing what God is doing.
SPEAKER_02: You are the ones that are blind to the truth.
SPEAKER_02: They got so upset that they dragged them out.
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna read today's passage what happened to this one man filled with a spirit that didn't play nice, they didn't try to appease or be quiet or be neutral.
SPEAKER_02: He was so on fire for God that he went against the highest authorities, he went against the people who had the power just so they could see that the truth was in Jesus Christ, not in their beliefs and in their traditions.
SPEAKER_02: So if you have your Bibles with me, and we stand as we pay reverence to the Word of God, and if you have their Bibles with you, we're gonna read Acts chapter 7, we're gonna read verses 55 after this trial and see what happened to Stephen and his um fervor and passion about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 7, verse 55.
SPEAKER_02: I'll pick up the story.
SPEAKER_02: But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, while in that trial, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, not seated, standing at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: At this, they covered their ears, and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
SPEAKER_02: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against him.
SPEAKER_02: When he said this, he fell asleep.
SPEAKER_02: Father in heaven, I thank you for this word.
SPEAKER_02: Even though it is graphic, even though it is hurtful, even though as a Christian we see that this is useless, a useless killing.
SPEAKER_02: We also recognize that you were at work then and that you are at work now.
SPEAKER_02: Father, let Stephen be not only an inspiration, but a challenge for us to live a life that is not dependent on playing nice or or trying to appease the world, but a life that is filled with the Spirit in a way that others get to see you in us.
SPEAKER_02: So we pray this, that you speak and challenge us with today's word.
SPEAKER_02: And we ask these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: We find in this word that God prepared Stephen not to be killed.
SPEAKER_02: He did not prepare Stephen to be a martyr, but he prepared Stephen to face a very difficult world.
SPEAKER_02: A world where they were being persecuted, a world where the authorities were against them.
SPEAKER_02: And today we see that God honors faithfulness, not platform.
SPEAKER_02: It was his faithfulness that God honored, not the fact that he had a platform to speak against the rulers, it's his faithfulness.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was faithful.
SPEAKER_02: We see that he was a part of the church, that he was a man of integrity, that he had a job and all these things he did right.
SPEAKER_02: And according to the world, he was a good man.
SPEAKER_02: According to the world, he did everything he should.
SPEAKER_02: But also according to the world, he should stay quiet.
SPEAKER_02: According to the world, he should not speak up.
SPEAKER_02: According to the world, he should just lay low.
SPEAKER_02: According to the world, he failed.
SPEAKER_02: He got himself killed.
SPEAKER_02: According to the world, he failed.
SPEAKER_02: But according to us, we just think, well, he was so nice.
SPEAKER_02: Why did God let him die?
SPEAKER_02: And we wonder, what did Stephen do to deserve such an end?
SPEAKER_02: But I look at his hand and I just think, how wonderful it would be to look up and see the glory of God, to look up and see heaven, to look up and see Jesus not seated at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: He is not sitting at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: He is standing.
SPEAKER_02: You know why that makes a difference?
SPEAKER_02: Because Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: But when he's standing, he's welcoming.
SPEAKER_02: And he saw Jesus himself welcoming him.
SPEAKER_02: And this for him was enough.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe that Stephen saw that image, saw that vision, and said, I'm ready to die now.
SPEAKER_02: I can go now.
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing in this world that pushes me back.
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing in this world that is worth for me to stay.
SPEAKER_02: I want to go.
SPEAKER_02: Willingly or unwillingly, he went.
SPEAKER_02: And they dragged him out and they started stoning him.
SPEAKER_02: And his mind wasn't on these people.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't hate them.
SPEAKER_02: Not only did he forgave them, he asked God to forgive them as he fell asleep.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think he died.
SPEAKER_02: I think he just fell asleep and died in his sleep.
SPEAKER_02: But when we look at what Stephen has done, it went beyond him just dying.
SPEAKER_02: See, in this story, we are told about a young man named Saul.
SPEAKER_02: Who people saw.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, look, Saul is here.
SPEAKER_02: They took out their coats and laid on the ground so he would not have his feet dirty with what they were about to do.
SPEAKER_02: And Saul saw and gave the approval for the death of Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: But what he saw wasn't a man being stoned for blasphemy.
SPEAKER_02: What he saw was a man asking God forgiveness to uh asking God to forgive those who were stoning him.
SPEAKER_02: He saw a man full of the Holy Spirit, he saw a man who was thankful to die because the world was not worthy of him to stay alive.
SPEAKER_02: And we know what happened to Saul because later on Saul found Jesus, and Jesus told him, Why are you persecuting me?
SPEAKER_02: and changed his life.
SPEAKER_02: And for the rest of his life he remembered Saul.
SPEAKER_02: And that was, I believe, part of his transformation because he saw the power of Jesus Christ through Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: Not only so, but because of Stephen, many in the city of Jerusalem were saying, uh-uh, I'm not staying in this town.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be next.
SPEAKER_02: And if we are all killed, how is the gospel gonna spread?
SPEAKER_02: So they scattered.
SPEAKER_02: And they went from Jerusalem as Jesus told them to Judea and to Samaria and to the ends of the world, and they went through all different places, and the Spirit of God allowed them to spread the gospel throughout all the nations.
SPEAKER_02: All that because Stephen took a stand for his faith and died.
SPEAKER_02: So we saw that there is a story, there's a lin a linear story of Stephen dying and the spreading of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Had he kept quiet, we may not know about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Had he kept quiet, Saul would never witness the power of God in someone's life.
SPEAKER_02: Had he kept quiet, was he not filled with the Spirit, we wouldn't have the faith and this hero of the faith that Stephen was.
SPEAKER_02: Because of his death, people got to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I have performed many funerals in my ministry.
SPEAKER_02: I I've been a pastor, elite pastor for 23 years.
SPEAKER_02: And the first funeral I did was Joanne's grandfather.
SPEAKER_02: And uh because I I was I never done a like a real funeral with a real person.
SPEAKER_02: I'd done a mock funeral in college, I went to the funeral director and I said, give me and tell me what you wish you would tell every pastor.
SPEAKER_02: And he did.
SPEAKER_02: His name was Danny, and Danny told me all the things he wished pastors would know and was very insightful, very good.
SPEAKER_02: But one of the things that he told me was do not uh have people coming to Jesus, do not have like an altar caller, start preaching at people to come to Jesus on a funeral.
SPEAKER_02: You share about their faith and challenge people to embrace the faith of that person because the funeral is about that person and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_02: So he told me how to share the gospel without preaching at a funeral, which is great, great um insight.
SPEAKER_02: Uh many funerals later, I have a couple in our church, and they're lost their uh baby child.
SPEAKER_02: Uh he was about one year old.
SPEAKER_02: And that was a difficult time.
SPEAKER_02: And as I'm counseling with the family, as I'm crying with the family, and as I am ministering to the family, uh, we begin speaking about the funeral.
SPEAKER_02: And the father very clearly tells me, Pastor, I want you to give the full gospel presentation.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Well, I cannot tell about the faith of this child that is one year old, but and I said, Well, okay, I I'll I'll try to do my best.
SPEAKER_02: And then he tells me this, and this is a young man who who had who was struggling with a call to ministry.
SPEAKER_02: Then he tells me this.
SPEAKER_02: I don't believe that my child's death is in vain.
SPEAKER_02: So I want you to do a full gospel presentation.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Okay, I'll I'll do that.
SPEAKER_02: I'll do that.
SPEAKER_02: So at the funeral are several people at the church, and and I am I am preaching and I do a full gospel presentation.
SPEAKER_02: And I did something that I have not done uh before or since.
SPEAKER_02: I had an altar call.
SPEAKER_02: People came to the altar and gave their life to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Now I do believe that God was completely a part of that.
SPEAKER_02: But of the people that gave their life to Christ, there was uh a young lady who gave her life to Christ, and because she gave her life to Christ, her husband became a Christian, her children became Christians, and her family was serving God, and even today they continue to serve God.
SPEAKER_02: I'm saying this because I've never seen in my many years and the many funeral directors I've ever spoken with someone coming to Christ at a funeral, but on that day they did, and their father had the foresight to know that God could use that child to bring someone into the heaven into heaven.
SPEAKER_02: God is always working, even in the midst of tragedies, of difficult times.
SPEAKER_02: God is working, and because Stephen died, and for as much pain as that brought to the early Christians, it also set off the evangelization of the world.
SPEAKER_02: And many, many, many millions came to Christ because the word of God spread as people took.
SPEAKER_02: But the problem is we as Christians think, oh well, maybe that's good with someone else, but I don't know if God's gonna use me.
SPEAKER_02: Reminds me of the story of that man that had a vision that he went into heaven, and in that dream, in that vision, he was escorted throughout the streets of gold, and he entered this large warehouse with massive wrapped gifts, massive, so big they needed pallets to carry them, and they saw angels coming in and picking up those big gifts and coming out, but he only saw one or two angels.
SPEAKER_02: Then he goes into another warehouse and it's filled with aisles and aisles of small little gifts, and it was packed.
SPEAKER_02: There were angels coming in and out and picking up gifts and going down to earth and bestowing those gifts.
SPEAKER_02: Then he asked, he said, Hey, why the big gifts are just like so deserted, and then all the small gifts are being taken.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Well, a lot of people are praying for small gifts, that's all they pray for, that's all they have the faith for, that's all they're asking.
SPEAKER_02: But there's some people that have faith and they ask for the big gifts, and when they have the faith and they ask, then we give them the big gifts because God has gifts prepared for everyone, and I think that the gift that God had prepared for Stephen was not only that vision, but a knowledge that his life will make a difference, not because of how he died, not because of how he lived, but because of the Holy Spirit in his life.
SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit is what changed them.
SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit is what made him the hero that we see today.
SPEAKER_02: So we've seen that God honors faithfulness, not platform.
SPEAKER_02: But the problem is we as Christians have to recognize that the power of the Holy Spirit is equal to the cost of obedience.
SPEAKER_02: The cost of obedience for Stephen was.
SPEAKER_02: Death.
SPEAKER_02: The cost of obedience for Stephen was being stoned.
SPEAKER_02: But the cost of obedience for Stephen was also seeing the glory of God, was being in the presence of Jesus, was walking with him, was living with him, was ministering to the widows who did not have nothing and being able to bless them with bread.
SPEAKER_02: The cost of obedience is not just the end, but it's the journey.
SPEAKER_02: But if we want to have the power of the Spirit, we need to be obedient.
SPEAKER_02: But obedience brings sacrifice.
SPEAKER_02: Obedience can bring can bring pain, can bring heartbreak.
SPEAKER_02: Obedience can bring rejection.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna be very, very honest with you and very blunt and very personal.
SPEAKER_02: It does.
SPEAKER_02: That will bring rejection.
SPEAKER_02: It will bring opposition.
SPEAKER_02: Will bring betrayal.
SPEAKER_02: Obedience is divine.
SPEAKER_02: So when we obey, we will not get the things that we wish that we find that the world is offered and encourages to have.
SPEAKER_02: But we find that the obedience also brings the power of God.
SPEAKER_02: So we will see amazing things.
SPEAKER_02: We'll see the presence of God.
SPEAKER_02: We'll see healings.
SPEAKER_02: We will see miracles.
SPEAKER_02: But the problem that we as Christians have is that we think that the power of the Holy Spirit is gonna come and just gonna, we're gonna feel good with the power of the Holy Spirit, and we don't have to do anything about it, but it requires obedience constant.
SPEAKER_02: And the more we embrace it, the more opposition we will find, including opposition from the church.
SPEAKER_02: Because Stephen's opposition weren't the world, the world could care less.
SPEAKER_02: Like he's feeding the widows, let him be.
SPEAKER_02: The world didn't care about Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: The people that stoned him were the religious people.
SPEAKER_02: The people that cast the first stone were the religious people.
SPEAKER_02: Because they weren't looking at the evil, they weren't looking at what's bad, they were just looking that Stephen had a different perspective than they did.
SPEAKER_02: It's the church people that stoned Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: Weren't the Romans, weren't the Greeks, weren't the foreigners, weren't the immigrant, it was the church.
SPEAKER_02: Because Stephen stood and said that you are looking at the law of Moses, but Jesus has come.
SPEAKER_02: We have a Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: And they could not see that the Messiah could have made, could have come because it they didn't feel like it.
SPEAKER_02: I have a friend who uh spent his life caring for uh drunk people and and people who uh who were homeless.
SPEAKER_02: And one day I I said I sat down with him and I said, Hey, why do you do this?
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I I am impressed, and I know and I love you and I love your heart, but what led you to to pour your life and and your ministry and everything you do for them.
SPEAKER_02: He says, Sam, one day I realized if it wasn't for the grace of God, I would be them.
SPEAKER_02: You see, because I came from the same world that they did, but I found Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And because I found Jesus, I'm not a drunkard, I'm not homeless, I haven't destroyed my life.
SPEAKER_02: But if it wasn't for the grace of God, I would be one of them.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm trying to bring the grace of God to them so they can be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And I realized too, if it wasn't for the grace of God, I wouldn't be where I am today.
SPEAKER_02: If it wasn't for the grace of God, I would not be standing here.
SPEAKER_02: If it wasn't for the grace of God, I I think I would be a drunkard too.
SPEAKER_02: I don't like alcohol, but I'll find some other vice.
SPEAKER_02: It's the grace of God that makes us different than other people.
SPEAKER_02: Now, hear the word is different, not better.
SPEAKER_02: We are not better than other people, we just have the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: We are different because our past changed because of God, and that's why other people need God, because their life is where it is, because they have no God, because they have no grace, but the grace of God will change, will transform, would renew their life, and that's why it's so important that we recognize that obedience is not just saying, Oh, I will do what the power of God wants to do in my life, but obedience is to say that I will do anything that that my life is full of the power of God.
SPEAKER_02: So we cannot spread the gospel by sitting, we have to go, which is the first word of the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_02: Go.
SPEAKER_02: So, what are we to do?
SPEAKER_02: According to this passage, we stand firm in faith, even when it costs you, right as it costs Stephen, he spoke the truth and he had the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So we also have to be careful with what we stand against.
SPEAKER_02: It's very easy for us today in a very polarizing world, it's very easy today in the very political world, it's very easy today in a very in a very messed up world for us to take sides and start pointing fingers at people.
SPEAKER_02: But Ephesians 6.12 tells us for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
SPEAKER_02: We have to know who we're fighting, we have to know why we're fighting.
SPEAKER_02: So, so many people tell me, Pastor, here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I really want to evangelize people, but that's not my gift.
SPEAKER_02: I don't have the gift of evangelism.
SPEAKER_02: And you know many people I've heard that?
SPEAKER_02: Many, many, many people have told me, I just don't have the gift of evangelism.
SPEAKER_02: I have other gifts, I want God to use any of other gifts.
SPEAKER_02: And then as I this week as I was reading this passage, I was like, you know who did not have the gift of evangelism?
SPEAKER_02: Stephen.
SPEAKER_02: Because someone with the gift of evangelism wouldn't argue.
SPEAKER_02: You know, Proverbs says, do not argue with a fool.
SPEAKER_02: He wouldn't argue, he wouldn't go against the people he's evangelizing, he wouldn't put himself in a place where his life could be in danger.
SPEAKER_02: That's not a good, that's not a gifted evangelist.
SPEAKER_02: But what he did, and he was probably a greater evangel evangelist than many others, he was filled with the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: We do not need to be gifted with uh with evangelism if the Holy Spirit is in us, because we are not the ones evangelizing, is the Holy Spirit in us, we're not the ones sharing about Jesus is us showing Jesus because it's already here, because it's already in my heart, because it's already in my soul, because it's already in my body.
SPEAKER_02: We do not need a gift of evangelism if we have the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: But many times it's like, well, but he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: No, he was full of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: There is a difference.
SPEAKER_02: Being filled with the Holy Spirit means we are in worship, and you probably have faced this before.
SPEAKER_02: You're in worship or in a place where God is, and you really feel that the Holy Spirit is coming in, and you really feel his presence, and you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and you just feel that it's absolutely awesome.
SPEAKER_02: But being full of the Holy Spirit means that you have the character of God, that you're walking with the Spirit, that you're walking in step with the Spirit, that you're walking with the presence of the Spirit, that you are a vessel of the Spirit, not just during worship to feel good, but you are filled full of the Holy Spirit because of the moments you spent with him, because the times he spent in word, in scripture.
SPEAKER_02: That's what Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, full of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: But the Holy Spirit also tells us when we need to check ourselves.
SPEAKER_02: This past week, Isabel called me and said, Dad, the van's making a noise.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Okay, does he have a check engine light?
SPEAKER_02: And she goes, Yes.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna tell on her.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, How long's that check engine light?
SPEAKER_02: It's been on.
SPEAKER_02: She goes, Oh.
SPEAKER_02: A couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Ended up being a very, very, very problem, a big problem for the van, but I was like, Why don't you tell me?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I forgot.
SPEAKER_02: Well, if you have told me, I could have put a scanner, find out what's wrong with it, and find out it's a transmission.
SPEAKER_02: But now we got a problem.
SPEAKER_02: And the check engine light is there for a reason.
SPEAKER_02: Now, many people like to put the black tape on top of it, you know, just forget about it.
SPEAKER_02: I have done a few that uh I have done a few times because I have a catalytic converter uh issue that keeps going, and my mechanics say, well, just run it until it's hot and it goes away.
SPEAKER_02: And it sometimes it does.
SPEAKER_02: But the check engine light is there to say there is a problem, check it before it becomes worse.
SPEAKER_02: But what we do, and I do this constantly, and I just told on Isabel, is the spirit's like, Yeah, check that out, check that out, until it becomes a problem.
SPEAKER_02: And when it becomes a problem, then it just not affects me, affects everyone around me.
SPEAKER_02: So the Holy Spirit gives you checks and says, Hey, watch it.
SPEAKER_02: In this area, you're not in step with the Lord, in this area, you need to improve.
SPEAKER_02: So the Holy Spirit is always, always preparing us to stand firm in our faith.
SPEAKER_02: But if we start ignoring it, we're starting to have less of the spirit and more of ourselves.
SPEAKER_02: And I tell you, from personal experience, that becomes a problem over and over again, when it's more of us and less of the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So another thing that we realize here is that we have to embrace the paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the first time I was I I talked to Joanna about the paraclete, she goes, What?
SPEAKER_02: Parakeet?
SPEAKER_02: So no, no, paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: She goes, sounds like a disease, and it's not.
SPEAKER_02: Paraclete is the word, um, it's a it's a Greek word, uh, but it's an ancient warrior word.
SPEAKER_02: So when Jesus says, I am bringing you a helper, the Holy Spirit, or I am bringing you uh an advocate, I am bringing the word, the original word is paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: Now the word paraclete was a warrior, an ancient warrior word.
SPEAKER_02: The Greek warriors went as a paraclete two by two.
SPEAKER_02: And the reason why they only always fought two by two is because in a battle, if you were with someone, they could watch your back, they could fight with you, with you knowing there was someone behind you fighting and not only to protect you, but also when you walked, you walked side by side, always checking and being protected.
SPEAKER_02: Because when you fight with two, you have more power than just fighting by yourself because you don't know who's coming behind you.
SPEAKER_02: But if you're fighting with someone that's always there with you, you are protected.
SPEAKER_02: So that's what the paraclete was is just a helper, an advocate, someone that's there to protect you, but it's also someone that's there to journey with you, is there to battle with you, to be part of your fight, of your battle.
SPEAKER_02: That's what a paraclete is.
SPEAKER_02: So when we say embrace the paraclete, we are reminded that Jesus has sent us a warrior with us, the Holy Spirit, to fight our battles, to fight our struggles, to fight in our challenges.
SPEAKER_02: So we embrace the Holy Spirit to help us on the things that we don't see, to help us as we journey, to help us as we find situations in our lives, to be there for us and with us.
SPEAKER_02: So the Holy Spirit as a helper is a paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: We're not fighting alone, he got our back, and we not only have his presence, but he has his protection.
SPEAKER_02: So the problem that we find is that many times we forget that we have a paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: So we try to fight the battles our own, forgetting that he's there for us.
SPEAKER_02: We try to face our challenges alone.
SPEAKER_02: When he said, I sent you a paraclete, I sent you a helper, I sent you an advocate.
SPEAKER_02: You are not alone, you are always with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So on the battles that you're facing, turn around.
SPEAKER_02: He's there protecting you, he's there fighting with you and for you.
SPEAKER_02: We are not alone, but so often we find ourselves trying to think, oh, when when I go and I share about people, you're not alone.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm afraid of telling about Jesus or someone, you're not alone, you have a paraclete.
SPEAKER_02: Can you say, I have a paraclete?
SPEAKER_02: How many?
SPEAKER_02: You got a paraclete, you got a helper.
SPEAKER_02: You have an advocate, you have someone with you, because that's what Jesus promised.
SPEAKER_02: Are we saying that?
SPEAKER_02: Well, Jesus didn't meant it.
SPEAKER_02: No, he did, and that's how we evangelize, that's how we bring people, that's how we express about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We've been going through a lot of changes in our church, especially within the last year, year and a half.
SPEAKER_02: And we've been focusing on making people feel welcome, or making people feel that they can belong.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe that we are to that point now.
SPEAKER_02: We are ready now to go with our paracletes, we're ready to go now and bring people in and in welcoming people in because we already worked on belonging.
SPEAKER_02: But now it's time for us to go, and but to go not alone, but with our paraclete, to go not alone, but with our warrior, with our helper.
SPEAKER_02: And when we go, we are going because he's already with us.
SPEAKER_02: So when we go, we are reminded we are not alone, we have the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So I have a challenge for you this week, and the challenge is to identify one situation in your life that you have been silent on.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna end with a confession and a story that I'm not proud of.
SPEAKER_01: Last uh last Sunday, no, last Monday, last Monday, uh, I was uh in Lusaka, Zambia, about to uh spend the night in a hotel uh in preparation for our trip back to the US.
SPEAKER_02: And as I was heading to my room, I heard two men talking uh in Portuguese.
SPEAKER_02: Um they were African, so I I stopped by, it's like, hey, Portuguese.
SPEAKER_02: And they go, Yeah, you speak it too.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, yeah.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Where are you guys from?
SPEAKER_02: They said, Oh, from Angola.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Oh, I've never been to Angola.
SPEAKER_02: My cousin has been in Angola, he's invited me a few times to go.
SPEAKER_02: Uh I hear it's a beautiful country.
SPEAKER_02: I'd love to visit one day.
SPEAKER_02: And and and we start began talking with each other and in our language, and and then we we start talking about, oh, where are you?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm in the states.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're in the states.
SPEAKER_02: Well, you think about what's going on in the states.
SPEAKER_02: Well, that started us on a on a on a conversation and all that stuff, and and and then the guy said, Well, you know what, it's getting late, we need to go.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Well, it was good meeting you, and and so forth.
SPEAKER_02: Now I went back to my room, and I entered my room, and my heart broke.
SPEAKER_02: Completely broke.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the reason my heart broke.
SPEAKER_02: Because I had about 10 minutes talking about this people, and I talked about everything with exception of what is the most important thing to me.
SPEAKER_02: I talked about world politics, I talked about you know, history and all this stuff but did not mention.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Lord, I've been praying that you would bring me people to my life that I can share about you, and I failed you.
SPEAKER_02: And my heart broke, and I cried going into bed because I'm thinking of those two men, two gentlemen that I failed, that I did not share about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And before I fell asleep, I said, Lord, if you give me another chance, I'll take it and I'll honor you.
SPEAKER_02: But I was like, you know, I preach about this, I share about this, but I ended up being the one falling with this.
SPEAKER_02: I talked about everything except what's most important to me.
SPEAKER_02: So the next day, I I I feel terrible.
SPEAKER_02: I I've and and I didn't sleep well that night because they have a version of air conditioning that is very different than my concept of what air conditioning is.
SPEAKER_02: But anyway, so I didn't sleep very well.
SPEAKER_02: So the next morning I spent some time with the Lord and I was like, Lord, help me honor you today.
SPEAKER_02: I go to breakfast, and and I'm thinking those guys don't want to talk to me again.
SPEAKER_02: Um because you know, we talked politics, and who wants to talk politics again, you know?
SPEAKER_02: Uh so I go into into the breakfast uh area, and and there's a few people from my team, and I greeted them, gave them a hug, and said, Hey, good morning, and everything.
SPEAKER_02: And I go and grab my breakfast when I hear my name called up, Samuel.
SPEAKER_02: And and I looked back, we're the two gentlemen.
SPEAKER_02: I forgot that I told them my name was Sam.
SPEAKER_02: We're the two gentlemen, and say, Can you join us?
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02: So I grabbed my breakfast and sat down with them, and the first question that they asked me is, so tell me, what do you do for a living?
SPEAKER_02: I was like, Oh, let me tell you, what I do for a living is not a job, it's a calling.
SPEAKER_02: A calling?
SPEAKER_02: Well, how does that work?
SPEAKER_02: I said, Well, I get to share about God to people and journey with people and help.
SPEAKER_02: He gives you second chances, but all that night, all I thought of was a situation where I was silent.
SPEAKER_02: So you may have a situation where you are silent, you may have a situation where you wish you would have been able to tell about Jesus to someone.
SPEAKER_02: Find that situation, pray about it, and ask the Lord to open the opportunity because He will, and when He does, He will Able to be glorified, and you will feel because I felt the Spirit of God as big a part of my life after I shared with Jesus as any other time.
SPEAKER_02: Because when you share about Jesus and someone hears that word, you just feel the Holy Spirit is with you.
SPEAKER_02: On that day, my paraclete was active.
SPEAKER_02: Praise God.
SPEAKER_02: I like to ask the worship team to come forward.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know where you are on your journey with Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know where you are on your walk with him.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're feeling that you're walking alone and the paraclete is somewhere somewhere distant, but he's not.
SPEAKER_02: The spirit was in him, was with him.
SPEAKER_02: He was full of the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: If we all are full of the spirit, and we bring that spirit to our town, our city, our neighborhood, we will change the world for Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe that God is preparing this church for something amazing.
SPEAKER_02: But it begins with prayer.
SPEAKER_02: And that's why we have Wednesday night prayer.
SPEAKER_02: And if you have the opportunity to come, come.
SPEAKER_02: We spend time praying, we spend time seeking the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: We spend time praising God, but we also spend time asking God to guide us and direct us.
SPEAKER_02: But it begins with prayer, but he goes forward with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what Stephen was able to share with us today.
SPEAKER_02: That we can be full of the Holy Spirit no matter our end, and that will make a difference.
SPEAKER_02: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_02: Father, I pray that each person that is here today would experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way that nothing in this world can distract him from it.
SPEAKER_02: But yet, in this very difficult world, in this very divided world, may we find the unity of your spirit, not only in our lives, but among us.
SPEAKER_02: So as a church, we pray, Father, that you would embolden us to go, to share, to invite, to embrace, but above all, to be your kingdom here on earth.
SPEAKER_02: And we pray this just so you may equip us, embolden us, and fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we can walk out of here full of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: And we pray this things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: As it is known in our community, Northwest Church is committed to discovering and engaging in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ with inspired worship and intentional ministry.
SPEAKER_00: People from all walks of life are welcomed and received as family members.
SPEAKER_00: Our family is diverse, multicultural, and although not perfect, in love with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Join us online at nwnat.org or by visiting us in Columbus, Ohio.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.