[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us
[email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast Madison Church of Christ Sermons thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Good evening everyone. It is great to have you all here for our midweek Bible study. Tonight we will be continuing our summer series.
If you are guests here, what we do for our summer series is we have a series of ministers from other congregations around the Southeast join us and speak on a topic of their choice.
And tonight we are joined by Tommy Kirk, or as I know him, tj. TJ serves as the Vice President of Student Services at Freed Hardman University and a Minister at the Campbell Street Church of Christ in Jackson, Tennessee. He is a proud Freed alumnus and holds a Master's of Education in Administration and supervision from there. Before working at Freed, he served as Assistant Principal and then Principal at Chester County Middle School and he is married to Dr. Sheridan Kirk and together they have two kids, Chloe and Kennedy.
Y' all are in for a treat this evening. The first time I heard TJ speak was around five years ago and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. And now I am privileged to hear him multiple times a week at chapel at Freed. He speaks in the same way. He lives with great humility, great love and devotion to God. Tonight TJ is going to be speaking to us on the works of the Holy Spirit, going to lead us in a prayer and then TJ will come on down and give us his lesson. So let's pray.
Dear Lord, you are holy, you are mighty, you are awesome. Lord, I thank you for this time that we get to gather here and learn more about you. I thank you for TJ and his heart and his willingness to speak to us tonight. Lord, please speak through TJ and help him to deliver your message to us in a way that is pleasing to you. Please be with all of us here and help us to have attentive minds and open hearts. And it's in Jesus holy name that I pray. Amen.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: The wondrous love of Jesus Sing his mercy and his grace in the mansion bright and blessed he'll prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing it will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory Amen. Amen. It is so good to be back in front of all of you brilliant people. I am not intimidated at all this time around, like I was the first time. I'm ready, I'm prepared, and I cannot wait to share God's word with you. Just don't look at me too hard.
Just don't do that.
When we think about the Holy Spirit, it's one of those things that can really make a conversation uncomfortable, depending on who you're with or with the circumstances or all of those things.
When we think about the Holy Spirit, we have a wide range of thoughts that happen.
Some who think, hey, this. This Holy Spirit had a purpose, but doesn't have a purpose anymore. Others who picture running up and down the aisles and falling out in church. Others seeing these healings that happened and you are healed and people falling out. And because we have all of these wide ranges of imagery and thoughts, sometimes it's just easier to not say anything at all. And it has caused many of us to not speak, to not discuss, to not review, to not learn about this spirit that we know exists, because the Bible speaks about it, but it just doesn't allow us to put a stamp. We can't measure it, we can't quantify it. We can't. We can't describe it. It's just this thing, and it makes us uncomfortable a little bit. For me.
For me, my issue with the Spirit that I had to struggle with for a very long time is that I don't see him work today like I read about him working in the Scriptures.
I don't know if that resonates with anybody else.
That's a struggle. That was a big struggle for me.
I read about these things that happened in the first century in Acts, all the way through Acts, these great things, these healings, these tongues, all of these things happening. But I'd never experienced it. And it made me uncomfortable because it's like, well, why not me? And why them? And if I haven't experienced it, but you say you've experienced it, then you must be lying, because I haven't experienced it. And it's just this thing. And I think a lot of us, especially in the churches of Christ, might fall into this category.
I don't have this text in Scripture, But I want you to go to your copy of God's Word, and I want you to turn to mark 16, and I want you to read verse 16. We're going to read it together, but I imagine many of us at some point in time in our lives have had to memorize mark 16. 16, raise your hand if you've ever had to memorize that text before. Right?
That's CoC101. Like, that's the introductory to the churches of Christ. Knowing this verse and being so very familiar with it, if you're there, say amen.
Amen. All right, we're going to work on that. Amen. But it's okay.
In verse 16, it says, he who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Is that really easy to understand?
Yes or no?
It's super easy to understand. As a matter of fact, as Christians, members of the Church of Christ, we plant our flag on this text. He who believes.
All right. I believe that believing. That applies to me, Right?
And that applies to you. Right? Okay. If we believe and are baptized, we will be what?
Saved? Everybody's in agreement. That applies to all of us. Amen.
That was better. But he who does not believe and will be condemned. We are so familiar with this text. However, without peeking. Without peeking. Don't look at verse 17.
Don't look at verse 18.
Can anyone quote verse 17 and 18? Like they can quote verse 16?
And I imagine the answer is no, because in the churches of Christ, we act like Mark 16 ends at verse 16.
However, verse 17 gets a little spooky. Okay. Verse 17 says, and these signs will follow those who believe.
Now, we just said in the last text, those who believe apply to you and me, right?
Oh, we're not as loud anymore. We just said, it applies to us.
Verse 17. Still talking about the same believers. Those who believed and have been baptized. It says, and these signs will follow them, us in the name. They will cast out demons.
They will speak with new tongues.
They will take up serpents.
And if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Church. Does that apply to us?
Did the rocket scientists leave? What happened?
We were in verse 16, and everyone said, you betcha, that's us.
We get to verse 17, and all of a sudden we can't read. Like, what is it?
That is a big part of my struggle as I wrestle with the Holy Spirit, who he is, what he does, when he does it, how he does it? Because I want to measure it. I want to be able to see it and test it and apply it. But.
But we can't.
Because I imagine if I polled everybody in this room, all of those who have believed and who have been baptized and who will be saved, which is absolutely true.
If I were to ask how many of you have experience with casting out demons?
I don't know if we'd get many folks to say, yeah, yeah, I've done that.
If I were to ask how many of us have had much experience with. With speaking in a tongue that we didn't know five minutes earlier, I don't think we would get many hands that go up.
I don't even know what we're doing with serpents in this text. But he's taking up serpents.
Hey, maybe that's a.
That's an Alabama thing. I don't know. Okay, then he says, if they drink anything poisonous, no harm with them.
I don't think any of us believers who repented and been baptized, who will be saved, have the same experience as being described here.
It's this confusion and this frustration that has led to my reluctance to speak on the Holy Spirit with certainty.
But this is what I've learned in the past few days, and hopefully it will pass your test as well.
Just because the Spirit chooses not to work this way in my life does not disqualify the Spirit from being the Spirit.
Just because he chose to work this way in their lives and not in my personal life does not mean the Spirit is not of God. It is not good and is not still working and comforting today.
The Spirit does not have to answer to me.
The Spirit as described comes and goes like the wind.
The Spirit is the nature of God. And just because I don't have experience, and I imagine if we were to go back to the first century, there were several Christians who. Who believed and were baptized, but didn't get any of those miraculous gifts, but still lived a faithful life.
They didn't walk around questioning, saying, well, how come they got and I didn't? And if they did, I'm sure they were reminded because God's in control and not you.
And I have to be okay with not being able to measure this thing. I've gotta be okay with not being able to say, this is the definition, this is its limitations, this is its boundaries. This is how.
And just understanding that he works and he still works in our lives.
If we pay attention, we can also see in Scripture ways that he works for them, that he still absolutely Works for us. I want you to be reminded of this text In Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 through 23. Many of us can also quote this. Our kids sing this song about it. But the fruit of the Spirit. Let's just break down that phrase.
What does fruit mean?
Evidence.
The evidence of the Spirit in somebody's life is their ability to love, have joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
And I've always just applied this text into saying these fruit in my life. This fruit in my life, as I live, is a beacon to the world that the Spirit is working in me.
But I also want to submit to you today that it is impossible for anybody to do these in the way that God does them without the Spirit working in your life.
It is impossible to love like Jesus loves without the Spirit in your life.
And something else I'd like to submit is every single one of these described in the way that God does them is a miracle because they are not natural.
I want to paint this picture for you.
To love like Jesus loves. Means to love people who hate you, means to love people who get on Facebook and lie about you, means to care for and want to do well for people who mean to harm your family.
It is not natural for you to love that person. However, when a Christian does, it's a miracle because it is not natural for a human being to. To want to do that. Are y' all with me here?
I want to paint this picture for you, too.
In Matthew 5, Jesus is speaking his first sermon on the Mount.
And he has that section where he's saying, you have heard this. But I say that.
And he comes to this part where he says, you've been told if someone asks you to go a mile, I'm telling you to do what?
Go to.
That ain't natural.
I want you to imagine you are that person who's been working all day long.
You got all these errands to run, You've got to go to the store, you got to pick up the kids from school, you've got to work in the garden. You've got to do all of these things. And in the midst of your busy day, this Roman soldier taps you on the shoulder and says, hey, you, dog, carry my belongings.
All right, that didn't start off on a good foot, but it's the law.
And you take his belongings, put down yours, and you begin to walk with them for a mile.
And that whole way, he's making fun of you. He's making fun of your religion. He's calling you out of your name.
He is being ugly in every which way he possibly can as he's forcing you to carry his whatever he has for a mile.
And you get to that mile marker and he says, all right, give me my stuff back.
And you turn and look at him and say, you've been traveling a long way.
I know you've got to be exhausted.
Let's go another mile.
And I want you to picture his confusion.
What'd you say?
Come on, man, let's go. Let's go another mile.
But I've just been bullying you. Are you sure? Yeah, yeah. Come on.
And you go that extra secondary mile, and I imagine by the time you get to that next mile marker and you hand him his things, I imagine his mind is blown because he realizes now you have to walk back two miles to get your things and then finish all the other things that you had to do that day. I can picture him reaching his battalion or his group or whatever you call it, and him saying, hey, man, I had the craziest thing happen to me.
Have you met. Have you met those new Jews? You know, those Christian Jews? Have you met those guys? And one guy's like, yeah, yeah, I met one of those guys. They carried my stuff an extra mile. Me too. That's the craziest thing. Why would they do that?
Doing it?
Because they're different.
Where's the miracle there? The miracle there is kindness to someone who is being ugly to you.
And it is not just a thing.
It's a miracle because I imagine that soldier will never forget that story.
He will never forget that time he encountered a person who was nice to him, not because they were mutually nice to each other. He had been openly ugly to and demeaning to, and this person with a smile still served him and cared for him and loved him in an amazing way. Church. It's a miracle when these things happen.
And I assure you, they can only happen when powered by the spirit of God.
I want you to look at something that happens.
I want you to look at something that happens in Acts chapter four.
And if you would go ahead and turn there, I'm going to summarize some things for you.
But in Acts chapter four, we see Peter and John.
They've been arrested for healing a man and preaching Jesus.
So we see already a miracle, and one that we might call a major miracle. A healing of someone that they know has been lame his life.
And in this moment, the leaders of the time gather them, harassing them or intimidating them, and they ask a Question, in whose name did you do this thing?
And they're expecting Peter and John to be terrified.
They're expecting them to cower, to break down.
But in verse 8, we see something that I consider a miracle.
In verse 8, it starts by saying, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't think it's an accident it starts that way.
This is not Peter who has matured.
This is not Peter who's had a character adjustment. This is not Peter who's woke up on the right side of the bed and feeling like he has courage today.
This is not Peter acting in his own will and power and accord.
This is Peter who is filled with the Holy Spirit, does not cower down, does not run away, does not whimper in his response, but says boldly to these leaders, rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for the act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but God raised from the dead, that. That this man stands before you healed.
Jesus is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Y' all, this is a scene that I wish I could be there for.
Like, I don't know how it was happening, but I picture Peter standing like this, right? And he probably wasn't. He was, like, probably handcuffed or something. But still, I like to imagine him like this and just telling them.
But the boldness, the peace that he has, this is not of his own doing. This is a miracle.
And I want to show you something, too.
Might take you a second to get this, but when you get it, you see where I'm going, Just say amen.
In verse 13, when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished.
And they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Y' all see it?
Okay, let me break it down. Let me break it down.
Over here, you have a dude who was crippled last week and is standing tall today.
And over here, you have Peter and John who just spoke boldly.
Y' all don't see it yet. Okay, that's cool. That's cool. Over here.
Over here, we had a dude who last week couldn't walk. And now doing the gritty, right, he's up, he's doing Stuff with his legs that he couldn't do last week.
And over here, we've got a brother who just spoke boldly to some folks that he wasn't supposed to speak boldly to.
He's got me. Okay, okay. But the rest. The rest of the scientists are on vacation. Okay, one more time.
Over here, we've got a brother who's.
I'm a real boy. Like, he's. He's up.
He's.
His legs work and is incredible. And we would be awestruck and jaws dropped and astonished at this, but they were astonished by this.
Y' all see what I'm saying?
Over here we've got a brother who was healed and it is a miracle. And everybody gets it and sees it and should be amazed. But this a brother filled with the Spirit who speaks boldly to his bullies and says, there is no other name but Jesus Christ, that we can be saved, that stands boldly and says the same Jesus you crucified. But my God, raised from the dead, boldly astonished these people in a way nothing else. Had the Spirit in Peter to speak boldly and to have peace when his world is not peaceful is a miracle.
And I've messed up by looking at the works of the Spirit as only these major miracles, these healings and the tongues and the prophecy and saying, spirit, you're not doing this for me. You must not be doing anything. However, this I have experienced, maybe you have, too.
Where the Spirit nudges us, encourages us, reminds us, won't leave us alone, about, pushes us to do things that aren't natural for people to do.
In this book that I was reading by Francis Chan, it's called Forgotten God.
There's a passage in here, and I just want to share it with you.
This may be a silly illustration, he says, but if I told you I had an encounter with God where he entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn't you expect to see an amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court?
After all, this is God we're talking about. And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn't you question the validity of my encounter?
Now, I am in no way trying to put myself on the level with this author who's probably studied more, who's probably forgotten more than I've ever known. But I do want to take a moment to add to this, to maybe complete the thought, because this will make it sound like the transition happens overnight.
This makes it sound like when you get baptized, you Come up and you're LeBron James.
But the spirit hasn't worked that way in my life.
And if I add to this illustration, yes, if I have the spirit of God in me, I will be better. But not because I just came out of the water better, but because while I'm sitting there watching TV, I'm going to feel a nudge. Hey, T.J. you should be practicing your jump shot right now.
Hey, tj, Your left hand is weak. You need to be out there dribbling with your left hand and practicing that.
Hey, T.J. you know what? Finishing with contact is a struggle for you. Let's get out there. Let's do some of that. Your cardio is kind of weak. We need to get up and run some.
I'm going to feel these nudges to do.
I'm going to feel led to do things that are going to make me better.
And if I say yes to the spirit, each and every time it nudges me to act.
If someone meets me in two years, they will notice that I am a better basketball player. Does that make sense?
And I will have to be nudged until I like doing the activity that I was having to be nudged to do before and church. That's called transformation.
Be ye transformed.
It is wrong for us, though, to expect that transformation to happen in 24 hours.
In my experience, the spirit doesn't work that way for me.
However, I have felt the nudges. I have felt the encouragement. I have felt the push to do.
And if we remove this basketball analogy in our lives, when you hear about someone who's sick, there's going to be a nudge. If the spirit is in you. Hey, I need to check on that person.
Hey, I need to see if they need meals.
Hey, who's watching the kids? Maybe I can pick them up from school. You're gonna feel these nudges to do. When you're driving down the highway and you see that person with their hood up on the side of the road, you get that nudge. Maybe I should check on them.
We get those nudges to do. And I don't think it's an accident. I don't think it's a coincidence. I believe wholeheartedly it's the Holy Spirit that's in us that's trying to direct us to become the person that God put us on this earth to be. The more we say yes to the Spirit, the more we're transformed into a being that looks more and more like Jesus. And if we have a congregation of people who say yes, we have the ability to change a community.
You have the ability to change a county, a city, a state.
Just look at what 12 did who said yes.
So I'm encouraging, I'm encouraging you guys to say yes.
If you look in verse 32 of Acts chapter 4, it tells us that all the believers were in one heart and mind.
No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had with great power. The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no need, no needy person among them.
For from time to time, those who owned land or houses, sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
I've heard a lot of folks say that's what the church should look like.
I'm not here to argue that.
What I am saying is that's what it looks like when everybody says yes.
When that nudge from the spirit comes and they say, oh man, there's a needy person.
I don't have any cash, but I got a car.
And with the money I can make from that car, I can provide for them.
When people say yes collectively, Acts chapter four can happen.
But this is the harsh reality.
The spirit's voice isn't the only voice talking to you.
I had an encounter with a young man who's from South Africa.
We've been having a Bible study in my office, which is one of the things I love about my job at Freed. Like it's no big deal if I'm not doing vice president stuff. And someone says, hey, can we have a Bible study? I can say, let's do it. Other stuff can wait.
And there I am with this young man who's telling me he's got these pains in his back. I'm like, well, have you seen a doctor? He says, the doctor can't do anything for this.
I said, well, why not? He said, it's an evil spirit. And I went.
I said, what?
He said, yeah, at night this spirit, this evil spirit sits on my chest and it won't let me up.
Now Freed Hardman's prepared me for a lot, a lot of Bible classes.
Evil spirits who sit on your chest, I got nothing for that.
So I just listened with my mouth open. I was just saying, tj, control your face, control your face.
Because he was like, when I scream, a snake goes down my throat. And I was just like, what in the world? This Is wild. I don't know what to do with this.
But just like we're reluctant to accept that there is a Holy Spirit, sometimes I think we're even more reluctant to accept the fact that there are evil spirits that want nothing more than for you to fail.
And if we are reluctant to recognize the nudge of the Holy Spirit, we're completely oblivious to the nudges of the evil that surrounds us and that our flesh is made of.
Because when you get that nudge to do something crazy, like sell a car to give the proceeds to somebody, as soon as that nudge happens, there's going to be another one that goes, that's just ridiculous.
No, no, no, no. They don't deserve all of that. No, no. I mean, they'll be all right. Why don't we call somebody up? We're not going to be crazy with our faith. Like, we'll give a little something. But that's just absurd. The moment that we get that nudge, hey, I'm going to check on so and so. Hey, I'm going to. I'm going to give or I'm going to serve. There's about five other nudges that try to convince you not to do it.
And I'm not gonna ask anyone to raise hands and see if they experience it. I'm gonna tell you, I've experienced it.
I'm so embarrassed by this story, but I worked with a woman who was a foster mom. Beautiful soul.
She's a beautiful soul. And she took on, I think, six kids, and she already had four.
And she took on six foster kids, and she brought them into her house and she fed them. And she was a secretary with. And her husband was like a jailer. They didn't have money. Money. Like, they had enough, but they still brought in six extra mouths. And she fed them and she clothed them, and it was a beautiful thing. Well, it came to a point where she couldn't anymore. And the state was going to come and separate all of these kids. And one of whom, because he would come to the office so frequently, I had an opportunity to adopt.
Had an opportunity to adopt this young boy who loved me, and I loved him.
I didn't have kids at the time.
The time I thought I couldn't have kids.
And so I was like, let's step out on faith, TJ let's do this thing.
The issue was this little boy was white.
And my whole life I've been told by people, T.J.
you act white.
And my whole life I've been told by People who look like me or don't look like me, they had this phrase called an Oreo.
I used to get called that.
I used to get told, yeah, you're black on the outside, but on the inside, you're white. And for whatever reason, I got told that. And if you wanted me to get fighting mad, that was the way to do it.
And as soon as the spirit nudged T.J. do this thing. I'm leading you. I'm pushing you. Trust me. I'll make it work. I'll provide you. But do this thing. Provide this boy a Christian home where he can be baptized, where he can come to know the Lord. He can spend eternity into heaven, and all it takes is for you to step out on faith. I couldn't.
Because I knew if I adopted this white boy, that will put a stamp on everything anyone has ever accused me of being. My entire life of wanting to be white, trying to be white, acting white. If I adopt this white kid and not a black kid, that. That's it.
Turn in my black card. It's done.
And as soon as the Spirit moved me so passionately, so powerfully, I allowed another voice, a voice of fear, a voice of selfishness, to stop me from stepping out on faith. And knowing. Tj, I know you're scared. But here's how the Spirit works, Church. This is what the Spirit does. It forces you to step out into an environment where you can't let go of the Spirit and still survive. You've got to trust the Spirit if it's going to take you out there, but it's going to make you do some amazing things. I want you to picture Peter stepping out of that boat. I want you to picture him letting go of the side and walking on water. The Spirit has now got him out there where he cannot let go of the Spirit. And we see what happens when he does.
When he starts trying how to figure out this situation, we see what happens. And I believe that is a beautiful illustration of what happens when the Spirit leads us out into the water.
There's a beautiful song that we sing called Oceans, Right? And there's a part in it where the sopranos say, spirit, lead me where my feet are. What's the words?
My feet. Can Spirit lead me. Where are my feet anyway? Spirit, lead me. Somewhere in that moment.
We're dependent upon the Spirit to make it.
In that moment.
I allowed those other voices to shut the spirit down.
I'm embarrassed by that, y' all.
It makes me want to cry because I see him all the time. And he's well, he's good.
He's not in a Christian home.
He could have been.
He should have been.
But I let some other forces scare me and the encouragement that I have for you as you live in this beautiful town and as you feel these nudges from the Spirit to say, yes, but I want to also let you know that there are others, voices, spirits, distractions, whatever you want to call them.
And before I take my seat, I just want to help you identify what is and what isn't the Spirit, so you know who and what to listen to.
I want to remind you that the Spirit will always glorify Christ in the Spirit's nudging.
It will never nudge you with the motivation for you to be the star, for you to be the victim, for you to be the center of attention.
Now, it's possible and very likely that when you do something that's Spirit led, it will get the attention of people and they will praise you, they will tell you how good you are, they will pat you on the back, they will do all of that. But there is a difference between receiving praise and doing things for praise.
And the Spirit's voice is never going to lead you to be the star of your story, always going to lead you to glorify Christ.
And as you're listening to that voice, you have to be honest with yourself.
Really honest.
Why am I doing this?
Am I doing. Am I about to make this post because I know it's going to get a bunch of lights likes?
Am I making this post because I know there are people that need to hear the gospel and I'm sharing it with them? But this story that happened to me is powerful and I want it to change somebody else's life the way that it changed mine. And so the likes may come, but that's not why I'm doing this. I'm doing this to benefit somebody else. I want to remind you the Spirit's voice always glorifies Christ.
The Spirit will always align with Scripture if it ever.
You have a voice that's trying to tell you, oh, that's not that bad, that ain't the Spirit, it's not the Spirit.
If it's trying to get you to justify sin, it's not the Spirit.
The Spirit's leading will always be parallel and congruent with Scripture.
It's trying to tell you that everyone is doing it or excusing disobedience by presuming, you know what, God's grace will cover this.
That's not the Spirit's voice you need to run.
I want to remind you that the Spirit is nudging you to do something that will produce fruit.
And it's about the outcome.
It's about the long game.
It's going to ask you to do things like love difficult people.
It's going to allow you to have a peace that you can't explain.
When you go into work and they say, hey, we're having cutbacks, and you're next on the list, and everybody else is freaking out, and they're mad and they're cussing and they're doing all the things, but you are carrying yourself with dignity, and you are carrying yourself with grace and peace. And no one understands why. It's because you got something that they don't.
And you are saying yes to something that they might not be saying yes to.
And because of that, a fruit of the Spirit that's in you is on display.
The Spirit will promote sacrifice.
I don't know about you, but I've run into a couple people in my life that whenever they don't want to argue about a decision they've made, they say, well, the Spirit led me to do this.
And I go, how convenient.
The Spirit always leads you to do what you want to do.
Isn't that amazing?
When I read Scripture, I see Peter about to get beat to death because of the Spirit. But you, you got a Corvette. Ain't that some mess?
How does that work?
The Spirit is going to make you and put you in positions you don't always like.
They're inconvenient, they're uncomfortable.
They come at the worst time.
Like, it's always that time, that time when you're about to take a nap and the phone rings. Y' all ever have that happen? When you're about to chill out for the evening and you've got your shoes and your soft pants on and you're just ready to watch some football and relax. And then the phone rings, and you're looking at the caller and you know this person wants you to do something. You just stare at it for like four or five rings.
You giggle because you know what I'm talking about.
The Spirit is nudging you. Answer the phone.
Be there for this person.
Sacrifice your time for them, not because it makes you look great, but because they need you right now.
And in serving them, you're going to glorify God.
Lastly, the Spirit brings peace and not pressure.
If the voice is demeaning and putting pressure on you and guilting you, trying to make you act quick, that's not the Spirit.
The Spirit doesn't act and speak that way.
The speech of the Spirit is steady, not rushed. It gives space to breathe and reflect and respond. And even in conviction, there's hope in the sense of God's nearness.
The Spirit of God, God's Holy Spirit is alive and well.
And when Jesus left this earth, he assured the people he was leaving behind.
I'm sending something that's even better than my physical presence.
And shame on me for spending the majority of my life ignoring that, denying that, not recognizing that, and allowing other voices to drown it out.
I encourage everybody here today to spend the rest of your week with ears wide open, listening for the nudge of the Spirit.
And when you recognize it, just say yes. Just say yes and do it and see if God doesn't come through like he says he will. I promise you he will.
And in doing so, he will be glorified. Let's go to God in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this opportunity to be here today.
Thank you for these amazing people at this amazing congregation.
Lord, allow the Spirit to make his presence clear in their lives.
And when he nudges, he speaks and he whispers, allow us to respond with a yes.
Allow us to ignore those other voices of the flesh that are evil.
Allow us to be able to discern between our own fear and your voice so that you could be glorified in this beautiful town.
We love you and we're thankful for the Spirit.
We're thankful for your son, Jesus. Thank you for your word.
It's in Jesus name we pray and give thanks. Amen.
