Waiting Together – Pastor Sam Simoes – May 17, 2026

Pastor Sam Simoes message for Sunday May 17, 2026. 

Welcome to the Northwest Church of the Nazarene podcast, where we share the heart of our church’s mission: discovering and engaging in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ through inspired worship and intentional ministry. Each episode brings you sermons, insights, and messages that challenge and encourage spiritual growth. Whether you are part of our diverse, multicultural church family, or listening in for the first time, you’ll find a community that loves Jesus and welcomes everyone with open arms. Join us online at nwnaz.org or in person in Columbus Ohio, as we journey together toward a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Jesus and each other. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Every Sunday at Northwest Church of the Nazarene in Columbus, Ohio, a congregation is challenged to grow spiritually. This podcast shares the sermons, insights, and messages that encourage our congregation to mature spiritually.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

But let's start with uh with the word of the Lord today. We're gonna be talking about waiting together. And every time we talk about waiting, we don't like the word waiting because that means that we're gonna have to put some effort in trying to figure out how we're going to have what we want happening. And waiting is something that happens quite often in our lives, and it's something that we all have experience in. But today we're going to be uh talking about waiting. Ed was shopping with his wife at the department store, and they just bought a piece of luggage and a cooler, and then she went to try out a couple of uh nice uh shirts that she saw. So she went into the changing room and Ed was outside waiting. Well, one of the associates came over and said, Hey sir, is there any way I can help you? Is there something you can do? He said, Oh no, no, I'm just waiting for my wife. Well, he heard a voice from behind him saying, You know what? I'm here also waiting for my wife, but I never thought about bringing my lunch and an overnight bag. We all have experienced waiting. And we all have experienced times that we waited for something for so long or so much that it almost hurts. And when we wait on something, we continue to wonder, is it worth it? Is it worth the wait? And when we go to a restaurant and after an hour and a half on Mother's Day, we wait for the meal, and they bring the meal, and their question is, was it worth the wait? Thank you. Um and I said, Well, yes, was the wait worth a free dessert? And they said it's Mother's Day, so yes, we got a free dessert. But waiting sometimes is something that we can either enjoy it, we can anticipate what we are waiting for, or is many times something that is very difficult. Today we're gonna be looking at a passage in the book of Acts, and what we find is that Dr. Luke, the writer for the Acts, was a Gentile, and he writes uh about Jesus' birth until his ascension in the book of Luke or in the Gospel of Luke, and then in the book of Acts, he has it writes from the ascension all the way to the birth of the church. And we read in chapter 24 an overlap in Luke and Acts of what he is speaking. But today we're going to look into the book of Acts about the ascension of Jesus and what he told the disciples before he ascended. And what we recognize is that the disciples have spent three years with Jesus, they have spent every day with him, they have enjoyed his presence, they had learned from him, and now they saw him being crucified 40 days ago, they saw him being buried in a tomb, and they saw him three days later coming to speak with them, to be with them, and for the last 40 days, they are 150% sure that not only he is God, but he is the promised Messiah. But now that they know him, they are ready to go, to work, to minister, to serve. So Jesus prepared them saying that he was going to leave them, but he asked them to do something very specific. And that something very specific is something that I've heard and each one of us have heard from God. And that word is wait. So today we're going to see the significance of scripture as we learn to wait, and how waiting is so important and necessary oftentimes to our spiritual life. So if you'd stand with me and open your Bibles in the book of Acts, chapter 1, verses 6 to 14. And those that do not have a Bible, we do have the passage on the screen for us as we consider the word of the Lord. Acts chapter 1, verses 6. Then they gathered around him and they asked Jesus, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently upon up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him going into heaven. Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives on a Sabbath day's walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot. And Judas, son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Father, I thank you for this word. I thank you that you speak through your word. I thank you that this is not just a time for us to hear or learn, but it's a time for us to perceive, to receive, and to experience your word in our hearts, in our souls. So, Father, speak to us today. Empower us with your Holy Spirit that we may know that we have spent time with God Almighty. We pray this and we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. We find ourselves with this very interesting passage, but a passage that speaks about how the disciples saw and received the last moments with Jesus. And I can't imagine the disciples surrounding, and then Jesus goes up and they just keep staring. And they keep staring at the sky. Until God sent two angels that asked them, What are you doing? They're like, We're waiting. Because whatever goes up must come down, isn't it? Newton hasn't come yet to speak about gravity, but they were looking and thinking, okay, what's next? And what they had to be reminded is that the same Jesus that lifted, the same Jesus that ascended, will return. And this is a promise that we're still living in, but it's a promise that we are waiting, and a promise that is worth waiting of. But sometimes the promise, and we see this in this passage, is in the waiting. Because the waiting is what's going to teach us. So what we see is that believers at that moment when Jesus ascended were not ready. Now you may be able to say, Pastor, they were three years with Jesus. They learned everything they needed to know about Jesus. They already knew. Everything that they could know about ministry, they already knew. Everything they could know about serving the poor, uh, feeding the hungry, clothe the homeless, taking care of the widows and the orphans. They have already learned all that. Why weren't they ready to go and start the church? Why did Jesus tell them to wait? Because the promise is in the waiting. Because it's in the waiting that we will see God, that we will see how He reflects His will on our lives. And many times is in the waiting that we prepare for what we anticipate. Now we already have birds, we already have a bearded dragon. The last thing I wanted was another animal. But yet he asked for a pet frog and he asked and he asked, he said he'll do very good with it. And mom eventually said, okay. And mom wants and dad wants mom to be happy, so we're getting a frog. So for his birthday, we got him a terrarium, we got him, we got him moss, we got him everything he needed, a heating pad, everything for that frog. And we gave it to him and he opened it. It was just that is so great. And then he looked and asked the one question we all have: where's the frog? And we told him, the frog will come when you are ready, when we know that you are going to be responsible, when we know that you're going to be taking care of the frog. The frog is just one expense, but you have to prepare, you have to make sure that that the place has the right temperature, that everything is ready for the frog. Also, helped that we went on vacation and we need not want to have a dead frog on the way back. But in his mind, he had that anticipation, so he did everything we asked. And in his waiting, he prepared to have that frog. So when the day came that he had that frog, it was worth the wait, the anticipation and the preparation. And many times we have things that are happening later on that we prepare ourselves for it. And that's what Jesus was saying. We prepare ourselves in the waiting for the coming of the Spirit. And the disciples asked one question, and we read the question in verse 6 Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? Is this the time? Is this what we've been waiting for? Is this the moment that you're gonna come and restore and do everything that you promised? And Jesus tells them something that is so hard to hear. He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power. You have to wait because it's not for you to know the time, but you will receive power. And this passage tells us that Jesus not only was aware of their desires, he also knew that they could not do all this alone. They could not do it on their own credit, on their own training, on their own experience, on their own accomplishments, or even by the fact that they spent three years of g with Jesus. They could not do it alone. And that means that we, with all the information we have about scripture, with all the information we may have from the seminary degree, like I did, all the information we have by spending years in Sunday school, or by knowing the word of God, or by praying, or by going to church, that alone is not enough. That alone is not sufficient, that alone does not make us ready. And that's why Jesus said, You go and wait, because the promise is in the waiting. But he doesn't end there. He also tells us that waiting develops patience and trust. Because when we wait, we become patient. At a bus stop, I was a brother and a sister, and as they were waiting for the bus, they were very silent, very quiet. You see, they were heading to the hospital to visit their mother, and they weren't sure how much long they would be able to go and see her. She wasn't doing very well. They did not know if she had a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks. But as they were going to the hospital, they were preparing, preparing possibly for the worse. There was a young couple, boyfriend, girlfriend, and she is so excited talking about what she saw on Instagram. And she is just blabbing and talking, but the boyfriend is very quiet. You see, they're heading into their anniversary dinner, and he keeps his hand in his pocket. And the reason why he's keeping his hand in his pocket is because he has a ring in it. And he's in anticipation. There's a couple, they're in their forties, they're going into a clinic. For many years, they've been trying to have children, and they think this may be the last time that they will be able to have a child. So they're going to the IVF clinic. They too are quiet. And all three couples are waiting in the same place, but waiting differently, with different anticipations. But in the waiting, they are being patient. In the waiting, they have to trust, to trust that the bus will take them to where they need to go, to trust that everything's going to be okay, but also to realize that none of them at that moment can change anything of the outcome. And many times we have to recognize that we cannot change the outcome of what we're waiting for, but we can trust in a one who does. We can trust in the one who can. And we see that when we learn patience, we are not learning a passive patience. It's just like, well, I'm being patient. No, it's something that is active, it's an active reliance on God. And I keep reminding Colin, you know, a frog is fully rely on God. Keep relying on God. Is that reliance? Is that knowing that God is going to take care of that? Is not being worried about the future, but realizing that God is the God of the future. And we also prepare ourselves for trusting. Because the waiting develops trust. We believe in the promises. We believe that if he has been faithful, he will continue to be faithful. And he hasn't failed us yet. And what a wonderful song in preparation for this passage. He has not failed us yet. How beautiful are those words that we can trust, that we can know that He is God. So what are we to do? We recognize that the promise is in the waiting. We recognize that waiting develops patience and trust. So are we to do? Well, verse 6 tells us they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus answered, You will receive power. So we receive and we prepare ourselves for the power. So how do we prepare for power? How do we prepare for what God has in store for us? Well, I'm gonna give you a um spoiler alert. They went back to Jerusalem, they went up to a room, and they prayed. That's it. That's how they prepared. They didn't say I need to go more to church, or I need to be better at evangelism. They didn't say I need to improve my my my skills, I need to be better at this, or I need to be better at that. They just went and prayed. And in that prayer, they receive and they prepare themselves for the power. Because Jesus says, I will give you power. So they went and prayed and they waited on the power. But God did not take chances that they would miss the message or still be there waiting, which they probably would. I would. Okay, now what? So the men said, No, no, no, he left, but he's coming back. So you go, go and do what he told you. You go and be prepared to be filled with the power. And when the power came, oh wow, that's next Sunday. Next Sunday is Pentecost. That's when we're going to be talking about what happened at Pentecost, which is one of the most powerful and changing days. It was the beginning, the birth of the church. It wasn't with Jesus. Jesus did not start the church. Jesus prepared the disciples, he prepared his followers for the church. But the Holy Spirit did that when they prepared themselves, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. So Jesus ascended into heaven. And when he got there, the angels go, Jesus, tell us how was your time on earth? Tell me about the the the virgin birth. And he told them about the virgin birth. Tell me about the people you healed. Tell me about the people you encountered. What about the religious people? Who were they? Oh, really? Were that bad? They were that stuck? Oh, we wish they would be different. Tell us about tell us about this. And and what what about what about what about the the the people you encounter? What about the people that were transformed? Oh, the miracles. So um so so what's next? And Jesus will tell him, well, I have 11 men that are gonna take this on. 11 men, oh you we bet you got the very best, most educated, the premier, and the most the most special men you could find. He goes, nope. I got ordinary men that weren't very studied. I got fishermen, I I even got a tax collector. Really? So if you got 11 men, are are you sure this is gonna work? No. I'm not sure it's gonna work. You're not sure it's gonna work? So what's your plan B? And Jesus answered, There is no plan B. I am leaving the Holy Spirit with them. We don't need the plan B because the Holy Spirit is with them, is in them, is guiding them, is directing them. God does not have a plan B. He does not have a plan B to save the world, He does not have a plan B to save our neighbors, He doesn't have a plan B to save the broken, the lost, He doesn't have a plan B for the widows, He doesn't have a plan B for the orphans, it doesn't have a plan B for us to have justice, for us to care for those who are who are ostracized, who are satisfied. Side who are broken. He does not have a plan B. We're it. We are his plan A, but not alone. We are his plan A with the Holy Spirit. And we'll do this with the Holy Spirit. And that's when we will find unity. When I was preparing for this message this week. Unity. The Lord asking me. How much would you be willing to give for the unity of Northwest? How much would you be willing to sacrifice for the unity of Northwest? And my answer said, Lord, whatever. Because I feel this is who we are. Because we cannot grow if you're not together, if we're not united. It doesn't mean that we are in unison. It doesn't mean that we have to believe the same exact thing. It doesn't believe we have to be in 100% in agreement. But with one accord, with one vision to build the kingdom of God. And we have to talk about belonging, making people belong. And now we're talking about making people a part of what we are, of who we are. But it starts by embracing one another, making one another our family. And when we are united, then the Spirit of God will come. That's why we're starting with prayer. And that's why we're praying every Wednesday. We're not just praying for the church, we're praying for the kingdom of God to be built through our church. We're praying that we would be the ones that lead the kingdom of God in this location. But it is through prayer, and that's why prayer is so important. That's why the disciples went. And what happened while they were praying? The Holy Spirit came. And that's a spoiler alert for next week. But they went and prayed because they were preparing. So what we do, we expect in prayer. We expect as we pray. We expect as we anticipate God's work. And what a beautiful thing it is when we have anticipation and expectation of God's intervention to focus on God. And while I wait, I will trust and I will obey. I wanted to put this on the screen, but I want you to hear these words. Many waste time seeking God's concealed will. Many of us want to know what is God's will that we don't know. And seeking God's will, and we spend a lot of time trying to find out what is that God wants or what is that God is leading when what we are to do is obey the will we already know. And the will we already know is in here. The will we already know is the one that's been revealed through Jesus Christ, the one that's been revealed through the Holy Spirit. And we can spend our life seeking for God's concealed will when He already gave us His will. And His will is for us to pray for the Holy Spirit, and His will is for us to wait on the Holy Spirit, it's for us to rely on the Holy Spirit, it's for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the will. We can wait for God's concealed will for details on his will, but it's not one thing for us to know because Jesus said he's not for you to know the time of the day. And if you want to know the time or the day, you're gonna waste your time because it's not going to be revealed to you. But if you want to know what I want, I want you to go and wait to be filled by the Spirit. And when the Spirit comes and you are filled, then you can go and start the church. You can go and do all the things that you learn, you can do and do all the things that you have received from me. You can go and be my hands, my feet, my body, my bride. It's not what we want God to reveal to us, is we obeying now. One of my favorite books is Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbola. And he had a really good church, and his heart was broken because he saw people but he didn't see the spirit. He saw people, but they didn't see the movement of God. He saw people because they were coming, you know. They had a wonderful choir, they had a lot of great things happening, but he wanted more, he wanted to see the spirit. So he began to gather with some of his elders and they began praying. And as they were praying, they were confessing, they were confessing sin. And God used that time of prayer and expanded that prayer until the Holy Spirit came and really transformed the church. And broken people were coming in, and people from the community were coming in, and they had an experience of God because the people were united in prayer. Why do we pray on Wednesdays? It's not because we have nothing better to do, it's not because we have another assignment or another appointment for the church, it's because we believe as a church that we will not see the Holy Spirit fully until we are prepared in prayer. And when's that gonna be over, Pastor? Well, when he comes. Because that's what Jesus said, until he returns. That's what the angel said. Until he returns, we will pray and anticipate and wait for the spirit. He doesn't say that once we get the spirit, we're done. We got it. He's telling us that once we wait for the spirit, we will wait in anticipation of what God is about to do. We live our lives in waiting, which is the worst thing people that live in the society of instant gratification want to do. But that's exactly what the disciples did. They waited and they waited for the spirit to lead. They waited for the spirit to be God in their lives. And how amazing it was for them to go and and enter. And there's there's a there's a person that could not walk, and they say, give us money. It's like, well, I don't have silver or gold, but what we have, the Holy Spirit will give it to you in the name of Jesus. Get up and walk. And they did, and they saw miracles because the Holy Spirit was the one that was guiding them, because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We want to see miracles, then we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We want to see miracles, then we have to prepare in prayer. We want to see miracles, then we have to wait on the Lord. Not just anticipate his unknown will or his concealed will, but we obey now by allowing the Holy Spirit, by confessing our sins, the things that we are holding on to with ourselves, the things that we are trying to hide, but just say, Lord, this is dirt that I have in my life. I want you to cleanse me. I want you to fill me with the Holy Spirit, reveal what areas in my life do I need a change? And we fall down, we lay our lives, we surrender, and that's when the Holy Spirit fills us. Because the Holy Spirit is not going to fill something that's full. And if I'm full of myself, full of pride, how can I have space for the Holy Spirit? If I am full of all these things that I desire, I anticipate, how can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? And the Holy Spirit will come and will come with power when we allow ourselves to be emptied. We allow ourselves to surrender and we pray and we pray and we are intentional in letting God in. But it starts with me, and I've confessed last week that I have been failing, I've been failing and going and sharing about Jesus, and this week I asked the Lord to allow me to find people, and I found three people one on Monday and two on Wednesday, that I got to share about Jesus. And that is the most amazing that I felt in a long time because I was doing what he asked me to do, I was being faithful, I wasn't just waiting for him to reveal his will, I was fulfilling his will by going and telling others about Jesus, and it felt so good to be able to share about what is most important in my life, and when I did, I was filled with the spirit, and I was filled more with the spirit after I spoke to them about Jesus than I was before. And how is that? Because I emptied myself of my preconceptions, of my doubts, of my fears, and saying, you know what, they need Jesus, so I shared about Jesus, and the Spirit of God was so powerful. How amazing it is when we're able to do that. So I have a challenge for you this week, and the challenge is to join together in constant prayer. And if you want to know where I got that from, as verse 14 that says they all join together constantly in prayer. Constantly. Constantly. And we should be constantly praying together. But when we join, we join with one accord, we join as one. How amazing it will be when we are able to experience God, not because we we have a wonderful worship, or because we have a wonderful time together, or because we're friends, but because our unity is not dependent on what we want, but is dependent on letting God use us as part of his body to reach our community. And we will, and we will because it begins with prayer, and it begins with the Holy Spirit. I'll ask Dr. Shannon to come forward on the worship team as we conclude with a song. But I don't know where you are today in your journey with Jesus, I don't know where you are on your walk, but today we have an opportunity to find ourselves saying, God, I want to be filled. I don't want to be waiting for something endlessly. I want to be filled, I want to learn in the waiting, I want to surrender myself so you can fill me with the Holy Spirit. And if this is your desire, you're welcome to come to the altar and pray. Or ask someone to pray, or allow God to just come and fill you. But do not leave today without knowing that you are leaving with the Holy Spirit. Do not leave today without knowing that not only you spend time with Jesus Christ, you are going with him, you are journeying with him, you are filled with his spirit. And as we pray, I pray that God will fill you with his insurmountable power, the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may see transformation happening. Let us pray. Father, I thank you. I thank you for the joy, I thank you for the beauty, I thank you for the wonder of your Holy Spirit and how he can transform us and change us. But today, as we go forward, we pray that you would allow us to surrender our needs, allow us to fall down before you, allow us to lay our lives, everything before you, that you may fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we may one day cry holy, that we may cry holy even today and say, Lord, you are holy, because there's nothing in us that we want to hold on to. So we want to surrender everything, we want to surrender all our desires, all our needs, and when we think of the disciples whose desire was to be with Jesus, and when they saw him leaving, the Holy Spirit filled them and they changed the world. So, Father, we want to change the world, and we have access to the Holy Spirit, we have access to the same spirit that the disciples did. But we pray that you would fill us as a body, as a church with your Holy Spirit. As we grow, we may bring the hope of Jesus Christ into this world. And we pray this in your Son Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

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. People from all walks of life are welcomed and received as family members. Our family is diverse, multicultural, and although not perfect in love with Jesus. Join us online at nwnaz.org or by visiting us in Columbus, Ohio. God bless you.