5-26-13 Sermon "Real Power"

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REAL POWER

05-26-13 Sermon

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”  Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

3 ways to live life:

__________________________ Control

__________________________ Control

__________________________ Control

Five “Real Power” exercises for this week:

1.            WHEN YOU ARE CONFRONTED… __________________________________

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words cause quarrels.”  Proverbs 15:1 (TLB)

“A gentle word can get through to the hard-headed.”      Proverbs 25:15b (NCV)

“And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry.”  Ephesians 4:26 (NLT)

“Lord, help me control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say.”

 Psalm 141:3 (NCV)

2.            WHEN YOU ARE INSULTED… _____________________________________

            “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.”

            Matthew 5:39 (NCV)

“Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it.”  1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

“Pray for those who insult you.” Luke 6:28 (GW)

3.            WHEN YOU ARE NEGLECTED… ___________________________________

“Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.”  1 Thessalonians 5:14 (CEV)

“Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.”        Hebrews 10:24 (NLT)

4.            WHEN YOU ARE REJECTED… _____________________________________

“You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”  Colossians 3:13 (NLT) 

“They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.”      1 Peter 2:23 (MSG)

“Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.”  Luke 6:37 (NLT)

5.            WHEN YOU ARE APPLAUDED… ___________________________________

       “Though a man calls himself happy all through his life – and the world loudly applauds success – yet in the end he dies like everyone else.”  Psalm 49:18-19 (TLB)

“All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”      1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT)

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.”

Matthew 6:1 (MSG)

“All that's left now is the shouting – God's applause!”  2 Timothy 4:8 (MSG)

REAL POWER

05-26-13 Sermon

We’re going to be talking today about Real Power.  We’re going to be talking about where to find real power especially when you’re frustrated.  Where do you find the power to move ahead when things don’t seem to be moving ahead?  We are going to talk about how God can create real power in our lives.

Jesus says this real power comes from a quality called gentleness or meekness.  That’s a totally different way of thinking.  When we think of gentleness and meekness we think of it differently than what Jesus was talking about.  When we think of gentleness we think of something small and little.  We think of gentle as gentle as a lamb – meek, small, like a little baby. 

Jesus was talking about something entirely different.  This first verse is familiar to a lot of us: Jesus said “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” That’s an entirely different way of thinking.  The meek and the gentle.  It’s the same word used, interchangeably.  They shall inherit the earth?  When we think of meek that’s not how we think.  When we think “meek” we think weak.  We think geek.  We think of weak geek.  That’s what we think of when we think of meek!

The dictionary definition –– of gentleness or meekness has things in it like intentional mildness, carefulness, caution, pliability, delicacy, pliancy, tameness.  We look at that and think, was that what Jesus was talking about?  Was Jesus saying, Blessed are the intentionally mild?

I don’t think so.  I don’t think so based on Jesus and who he is.  You look at Jesus Christ: he was unafraid to march up to the power structures of his day, the religious leaders, and confront them time and time again.  He was unafraid to go into the temple where they were selling things in the temple and chase them out with a whip.  Jesus Christ was the one who stood up and calmed the storm with just a word.  So he’s not talking about being intentionally mild.  He’s talking about an entirely different way of thinking, a different way of living.

Obviously “meek” doesn’t just mean “play nice.”  Meek doesn’t mean quiet.  It doesn’t mean you just swallow your anger.  It doesn’t mean you just don’t make waves.  It means “power under control.”  That’s what meekness means.  It’s power but it’s under control.  It’s under God’s control so that’s what makes all the difference in our lives. 

There’s basically three different ways to live life.  The first way is the out of control life.  That’s where your anger manages everything.  You’re exploding at every situation.  You are an undisciplined person.  Maybe you make a lot of noise and you get a lot of notice.  But there’s a lot of destruction too.  Not really good things happening.  That’s the explosive life. 

More people are stuck in the second kind of life, the in control life where you’re keeping everything in control yourself.  A lot of people who are followers of Christ try to live out the Christian life that way.  I keep it all in control myself.  I make it all work myself.  I hold it all together.  It’s all in my control. 

The problem is it’s such a big life you can’t control it all.  There’s so much stress you start to get tired trying to do it yourself.  You start to look around at other people and think they must be fake, they must be phonies because nobody can do this kind of life by themselves.  And you get weary inside.  Some of you, you’re worn out, trying to be good.  You’re worn out trying to be Christian.  You’re worn out trying to be more like Jesus.  It’s all in your control, but the stress is making it more and more wearisome.  And you’re thinking there’s got to be a better way.

There is a better way.  And the better way is the under God’s control life.  Where all of a sudden God takes those same things he’s put in your life and instead of me trying to control it all or just letting it all explode, all of a sudden under his control he does something in my life that I could never do on my own, under his control.  God made us to live under his control, under his direction, under his guidance.

That’s the meek life.  That’s the gentle life.  That’s the inherit the earth kind of life. 

The big question is what does it look like?  How does it work itself out in our everyday lives?  Because to really see where the rubber meets the road on all this we have to see what are some of the basic exercises, some of the things you do if you’re a meek person, if you’re a gentle person.  We’re going to look at five specific exercises together that can make all the difference in my life and in your life.

1.    The first exercise of meekness, of gentleness is: When you’re confronted, you love. 

When you’re confronted you decide to love.  Instead of just confronting back – that’s the natural choice, that’s the destructive, that’s the I’m in control or out of control choice.  Instead of doing that, you do the entirely opposite thing.  Jesus says I want to turn your thinking upside down.  So when you’re confronted, to be meek, to be gentle, to inherit the earth you decide to love. 

Do you want to see if you have gentleness, if you have humility?  Just let somebody confront you.  Just let somebody get in your face.  Just let somebody push your buttons and then you see what happens. 

And the question is what are you going to do in that moment?  The Bible says this in Proverbs 17:14 – the picture of what often happens.  “Starting a quarrel is like opening a flood gate.  So stop before the argument gets out of control.” 

The question is how do you stop it?  The question is where do you find the power to stop arguing?  If  you are caught up in an argument cycle right now How do you get out of it? 

It starts with you.  How do you break the cycle?  Proverbs 15:1 tell us “A gentle answer turns away wrath.  But harsh words cause quarrels.”  A gentle answer.  You break the cycle by breaking things up.  It starts with you.  You can have an effect on everyone around you.

Gentle does not mean quiet.  You can be ungentle in a very quiet voice.  You can say things very quietly under your breath.  That’s still not gentle. 

It means humble.  It means admitting where you’re wrong.  Which is tough!  The one or two times a year I have to do that is really tough – I’ve got to tell you – admitting where you’re wrong.

You have to realize what is it in relationships, in conversations, that pushes each other’s buttons and instead of pushing the button, how do I pull back from that and give the gentle answer instead, a humble answer instead?  That has the power to change everything.

The Bible says even with the hard headed it’s gentleness that works.  Proverbs 25:15 says “A gentle word can get through to the hardheaded.”  No elbowing the person you think is hardheaded right now.  That’s not gentle.  But this is a reminder that even with the person who seems to be hard headed it takes gentleness to make the difference.  A gentle word changes things.  And it not only helps the person that you love, it also helps you.  If you use a gentle word it keeps anger from getting control of your life. 

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26 “Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you.  [We’ve all felt that happen and hate that happening.]  Don’t let the sun go down while you’re still angry.”  So you say a gentle word instead and it changes everything.

Psalm 141:3, “Lord, help me control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say.”  That is a great verse.  We’re all taught to count to ten when we get angry.  I want to encourage you to count to one– four–one–three when you get angry.  Psalms 141:3.  It’s a great verse to memorize, a great verse to put on a mirror or a refrigerator somewhere just as a reminder.  “Lord, help me to control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say.”  God, I’m asking for your power in this situation.  Because when you’re confronted and you ask for God’s power and you love instead of confronting back, that can change everything.  That can change the relationship; that can change you.  That’s what real power is all about.  That’s the first real power exercise. 

2.    The second real power exercise is this: When you are insulted, you pray.

Jesus said a lot if things about what to do in the difficult situations of life.  A lot of them make us scratch our head when we first hear them.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:39, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” 

I wonder!  If you had been there the first time Jesus taught this, what would you have said to him?  Would you have looked at him and said, “I’m really tracking with you Jesus.  That’s awesome stuff.”  Or would you have been honest enough to say, “Could you go over that slap on the cheek part again?  I wasn’t quite getting that.”  

It’s important for us to understand that a slap on the cheek in that day was not an act of violence.  It was an insult.  It was a way of insulting somebody.  We do it in blogs and tweets today.  They did it on the cheek in that day.  It was a way of saying, I’m insulting you. 

Jesus said if somebody insults you, don’t insult them back.  Turn away from the opportunity to insult them back.  Jesus said don’t play the game.  When they insult you, instead of insulting them back, ask for real power.  Do the gentle thing.  Do the meek thing.  And look to God.  Turn the other cheek.  When you’re insulted refuse to insult back.  That has the power to make a difference.

How do you do that?  Because when I’m insulted it stings.  It stings very deeply.  So how in the world do you find the power to do that kind of thing? 

I think it begins by remembering when some person insults you, by remembering what God says about you – the most important person in the universe.  God says, “I love you.  I have a purpose and plan for your life.  I want to be at work in your life.  I want you to be my child.  I will accept you.  I want to give you gifts.  I want to be at work in your life.”  So when they’re insulting you’re remembering what God says about you.  You put it in perspective.  That gives you the power, the real power to turn the other cheek.

The Bible is very specific about what to do when we’re insulted.  It says in 1 Peter 3:9 “Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you.  Instead, pay them back [Wouldn’t it be great if the verse ended there?  Pay them back!  But it goes on and says…] with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do.  And he will bless you for it.”

This is saying, I’ve got a choice.  When somebody insults me I can insult them back and get nothing out of it except the fact that they just won.  Or if I can pay them back with a blessing, I can get God’s blessing in my life in that moment.  Which would you rather have?  That’s what this is asking.  Which would you rather have?  When you’re insulted you pay them back with a blessing.

I probably shouldn’t tell you this because it might mess with your motivations.  But the secret of this is if you bless people when they’re trying to insult you, it’s going to drive them up a wall.  This is going to really make them crazy.  The Bible says this in Romans 12:19-20, “Never take your own revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God,  [Wouldn’t you rather have God’s wrath get them than your wrath get them?  Absolutely!]  for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine.  I will repay,’ says the Lord…  ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink.  For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.’”  I love that!

What’s this talking about?  It’s saying if you do the unexpected thing it’s like a fire.  It’s going to go in their mind, go into their heart.  All of a sudden there’s opportunity for change there that would not have been there otherwise.  That’s the real power for life.  We need to do the unexpected thing with God’s power, God’s strength.  So you pay them back.  You pay them back with a blessing.

The Bible is even very specific about exactly what kind of blessing to pay them back with.  The next verse, Luke 6:28, “Pray for those who insult you.”  You pray for people who insult you.  So this week, what are you going to do about it?  Do the real power thing and pray for them.  “God, would you bless them?” 

How do you do that?  I think David, who wrote many of the Psalms, is a great example for us.  He had many people insult him and attack him all of his life; and he prayed prayers for them.  Psalm 59:11-12 is the prayer that David prayed for somebody who was attacking and insulting him.  “Don’t make quick work of them God.  Bring them down in slow motion.  Take them apart piece by piece.  Let all their mean mouth arrogance catch up with them.  Finish them off in fine style.  Finish them off for good.” 

That’s in the Bible!  I’m not making this up.  That’s a Bible prayer you can pray.  You can start there.  And to be real about this, that’s what you do.  You start there.  You start by telling God what you feel.  This is what I’d like to have happen to them.  This is what they deserve because of what they did to me.  You start with what you’re feeling.  You don’t skip that. 

But then you get to what we just talked about.  You go from praying this is how I feel, but you get to praying for a blessing in their lives.  “In spite of how I feel, God, I’m going to put faith in you instead of me.  Would you bless them?  Because I want your blessing more than I want to get back at them.  I want your blessing more than I want revenge.  I need your blessing more than anything else.”

When you do that, the only way to do that is under God’s control.  When you do that you’re showing real power in your life.  So you start with how you feel in your prayer and end with a prayer for God to bless.

When you are insulted you pray.  When you are confronted you love. 

3.    For real power there’s a third thing to do.  When you’re neglected you encourage.

When you feel neglected you make the choice to encourage.  When you feel neglected, when you feel overlooked in life, how do you usually respond?  It depends on your personality. 

         Some of us, when we’re neglected we tend to withdraw.  If you’re going to neglect me, I’m going to sort of withdraw into the background.  I’m going to disappear.  I’m not really here.

         Others of us, when we’re neglected we tend to jump in the middle of the circle and say, you’re going to notice me!  But both of those choices are all about me.  Whether I withdraw or jump in, it’s all about me.  I’m still focusing on me. 

Do you want to make a real difference?  Do you want to make the real power choice?  Instead of focusing on you, focus on somebody else.  You begin to think, I’m feeling neglected.  There’s probably somebody else in the room that’s feeling the same way.  How can I encourage them?  That’s real power.  That’s the meek choice, the gentle choice, the inherit-the-earth choice.  That’s the real power choice. 

When you’re neglected you encourage.  Real power is when you realize I’m not the only one feeling this way and there are other people who need encouragement right now.  Instead of me thinking about myself and having a pity party I’m going to look for somebody to encourage.  In fact, I’m going to look for somebody who might be the least likely to be encouraged. 

It’s easy to encourage people who are more powerful or positioned better than you are.  It might get you something good.  But how about the person no one else is noticing?  How about the kind of people that 1 Thessalonians 5:14 talks about. “Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.”  Who is there that’s feeling left out right now?  You might fill in some names in your mind and take some time this next week to encourage them.

How are you going to do that this next week?  That’s really the question.  How are we going to exercise this kind of power?  To be an encourager I’ve got to be encouraged.  We’re not naturally encouragers.  We naturally tend to think of ourselves.  So how do we get outside of ourselves? 

We need someone to encourage us to encourage.  And the Bible does that.  Hebrews 10:24 says “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.”  

Let me encourage you right now.  Who can you encourage this next week?  Somebody at your school.  Somebody in your office.  Somebody in your neighborhood.  Somebody you just come across in the store from time to time.  You just sense they feel neglected, they feel left out.  How could you encourage them?  Especially if you’re feeling neglected and left out right now.  I’m not saying you’re not.  I’m not saying it’s fair that you’re feeling neglected and left out.  I’m not saying it’s right.  But instead of you spending all of your time about yourself, how can you get outside of yourself and encourage somebody else?  That’s the power of choice.  When you’re neglected you encourage.

4.    Power exercise number four is this:  When you’re rejected, you forgive.

Colossians 3:13 “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

Where do you find the strength to forgive people who’ve hurt you?  It’s in that word “remember”.  The only way I’ve ever been able to find the strength to forgive someone else is by remembering that Jesus Christ forgave me.  Remembering what he’s done for me gives me the strength to forgive someone else.

I think most of us realize that unforgiveness hurts us much worse than it’s hurting the people we’re not forgiving.  They may not even know that you’re not forgiving them, but it’s eating you up inside.  You’re thinking about it all the time.  It’s creating bitterness.  Even though you know that, you find it’s hard to forgive.

Where do you find the strength?  It’s in this word “remember.”  You remember Jesus Christ dying on a cross for you.  Every time you feel the bitterness, you remember what Jesus did on the cross. 

When you’re rejected, forgive.  That’s what Jesus did.  He was put on a cross, rejected.  While he was on that cross they stood below him and they hurled insults at him.  We all remember what Jesus did.  He looked at them and he said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.”  While he was being rejected he decided to forgive. 

We see the meekness, the gentleness in Jesus’ life nowhere else than like on the cross when he said I’m going to give my life for you so you can be forgiven.  And he said “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.” 

That same strength, that same power that he had to give himself for us, he wants to give that power to you in order to forgive somebody else.  The Bible says “They called him, [Jesus] every name in the book and he said nothing back.  He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.” 

When we talk about forgiveness what are we talking about?  Circle in that verse the two words “let God.”  That’s what it’s all about.  That’s what it all comes down to.  You let God.  Am I going to keep this in my hands and control it?  Or am I going to let God set things right?  Am I going to trust myself or am I going to trust him with this?

So what does it mean to forgive?  It doesn’t mean you forget about it.  You might remember it many times.  It doesn’t mean that you trust that person again.  They may be able to rebuild trust someday.  But they’re going to have to build it.  It’s their responsibility.  It means you let God, you let go, you let it go into his hands.  I’m not going to put the retribution on me anymore.  I’m not going to take it into my heart to pay them back day after day, because it’s taking it out on me and not on them.  I’m going to let it go and I’m going to let you.  That’s what it means to forgive.

You pray, God, I let it go into your hands.  As you pray that prayer that doesn’t mean you’re going to forget it.  And praying that prayer right now, this is not the only time you’re going to have to pray that prayer.  Every time you remember that sin against you, you’re going to have to let it go again.  You may have to pray that prayer seventy times a day the first few days.  God, once again, I let it go to you.  It’s a process.  In that process you pray it maybe seventy times a day for a few days.  Then the next week you pray it maybe thirty times a day.  Then ten times a day the next week.  Then all of a sudden there comes a day when you realize, I haven’t thought about that for six months.  It’s not controlling my thinking, my life, my direction any more.

Why is this so important?  Because unforgiveness saps the energy and the strength for life right out of you.  It’s like a power drain on our lives.  It saps us of energy.  I do not know of an issue, the three different ways of control we’re talking about – out of control, in control, or under God’s control – that is as important as this one.  It’s so clear. 

The Bible says in Luke 6:37 “Stop judging others, and you won’t be judged.  Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you.  If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.” 

When confronted, love.  When insulted, pray.  When neglected, encourage.  When you’re rejected, you forgive.  Those are the real power choices.  Then finally, a final choice for real power in your life:

5.    When you’re applauded, when you’re praised, you hope. 

That’s what creates real power.  A lot of times when we get applauded, when we get praised, we let it become pride in our lives and that takes the power right out of our lives and our relationships.  But if instead you hope, you see real power.  We see real power in how we choose to respond to the praise that comes into our lives.

Thinking about praise and good things that happen, the Bible says in Psalms 49:18-19, “Though a man calls himself happy all through his life – and the world loudly applauds success – yet in the end he dies like everyone else.”  

Isn’t that encouraging?  Isn’t that a great encouraging verse?  It is encouraging!  Because if you think about this, no matter how much applause you get or how little applause you get, in the end it’s still short.  We’re on this earth for such a short time.  We’re all going to die like everyone else. 

In this world the silliest of things get the greatest applause sometimes.  And the greatest acts of love get no applause at all on this earth because no one notices.  But in the end, we’re all going to die and be with him forever.  So if we’re looking to the end and not what’s happening right now, when the applause comes, you decide to hope.  Instead of the applause becoming pride, the applause becomes praise.  Praise to him and for what he has done.  The applause becomes hope.  That’s what you do.

So the gentle thing to do, the meek thing to do, the inheriting earth thing to do is to focus on what will last; and that is our hope in him, our hope in God, our hope of spending eternity with him, where he’s going to be praised forever.

The truth of the matter is, if all you live for is the applause in the end all you’ve got is the applause and it is not enough.  Because God didn’t make you or make me just to live just for the applause of people.  A lot of times we applaud the wrong thing.  A lot of times people applaud us for the wrong reasons.  What we really live for is God’s applause.  What we really live for is his praise in the end.

The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 9:25, “All athletes practice strict self-control.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”  So you begin to look towards eternity and what God’s going to do in eternity.  You realize if you live for the notice that’s all you’ve got.  That applause is all you’ve got.

Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:1 “Be especially careful when you’re trying to do good so that you don’t make a performance out of it.  It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.”  So instead of faking it before people, you look forward to that day when you’re going to be with him. 

The apostle Paul, one of the greatest leaders of all times, talked about this.  He lived his life and he had a lot of struggles; he had a lot of criticism.  He also had a lot of praise, a lot of great things that happened.  Towards the end of his life he realized what it was all about. He was looking forward to that moment he was going to be with God.  So he said in 2 Timothy 4:8, “All that’s left now is the shouting – God’s applause!”  That’s what I’m looking forward to.  That’s what I’m looking forward to for you.

I know some of us are afraid that we’re going to get to heaven and as God’s child we’re going to have to sit with him and see all the terrible things we’ve ever done in a movie with him.  We just sit there and we watch the whole thing.  Once you become his child that’s not going to happen.  That’s for those who are not yet in faith with him, not his children.  Once you become God’s child that movie is thrown away.  It’s incinerated.  The movie you sit down and watch with God, it’s of every act of faith, everything that you did because you trusted him.  Can you imagine God saying, get some popcorn, sit down here for a couple thousand years.  I want to watch together with all of you all these acts of faith.  And I want to just applaud what I did through and in your life because of your love for me.

What an incredible experience that’s going to be.  That’s what you look forward to.  That’s the hope that you look forward to.  As you look forward to that hope it has the power to take the pride right out of you and to build it into praise.

That’s what real power does.  That’s what gentleness does.  That’s what meekness does. 

Prayer:

      I encourage you to just pray this simple prayer of faith.  Father, I need your power.  I need your power to love.  I need your power to pray especially for people who have hurt me.  I need your power to forgive.  I need your power to encourage.  I need your power to hope.  And I ask for it right now.  I humbly ask for your power.  God, help me this next week to do something different because of your power in the way that I speak, in the way that I act, in the way that I think.  I ask for your power.  Father, we ask for it together.  I pray that even though people may not know why, that because we’re asking for your power right now, something different would happen in our family this week, something different in our school, in the places that we work.  And God, your power would make a difference.  We ask this because we know that there’s nothing more powerful than your love.  So we ask this in faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

5-19-13 Sermon - Pentecost Sunday "Living in the Supernatural"

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LIVING IN THE SUPERNATURAL                                                  05-19-13 Sermon 

By the power of the Holy Spirit you will be able to see the invisible, hear the inaudible and do the impossible.  Ask him to fill you with his Holy Spirit today.  You come and pray as we sing. 

I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.  Luke 24:49

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 1:4-5

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:1-4

In the early church Easter was regarded as the beginning of the G________ 50 D______, the season between Easter and Pentecost.

The disciples were to W__________ until they were clothed with power from on high.

Pentecost was M_______________ day for the Holy Spirit. 

The Spirit lives with you and shall be in you.  Jn 14:17

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Cor 3:16

S_____________ and W______________ were to follow those who believed.

 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. 

Acts 5:12

Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  Acts 6:8

Simon followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.  Acts 8:13

Paul and Barnabas spend considerable time in Iconium, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.  Acts 14:3

What Jesus did through the D______________ he wants to do through Y__________

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

The Holy Spirit needs to change from just being R______________ in your life to being P____________________ in your life. 

Jesus expects us to be doing all the S____________________ T____________ he did.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  John 14:12 

When we are clothed with God’s power from on high we will be enabled to live in the supernatural and do three things:

1.  We will S__________ the In__________________

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For want is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:18

Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  Mark 11:24

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.  Jn. 20:29 

2. We will H_____________ the In___________________

They, too will listen to my voice.  John 10:16

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Rev. 2:17

3. We will D__________ the Im________________

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…Nothing will be impossible for you. 

Mt 17:20

What is impossible with men is possible with God. Lk 18:27

Nothing is impossible with God.  Luke 1:37

On the church calendar, today is Pentecost Sunday.  The Sunday that we remember when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come and fill and empower his people. 

In the worship and liturgy of the early church, Easter was not regarded as an isolated special day that ended Holy Week.  It was not the end of anything.  The church regarded Easter as the beginning of the great Fifty Days, the season between Easter and Pentecost, the season between the resurrection of Jesus and Jesus sending the Holy Spirit upon the believers and giving birth to the church.  Easter and Pentecost were more than two great days in the church year, they became the first and last days of the oldest and most important season of the Christian year.  Christmas was not celebrated in the early church.  The Lenten season was developed later as a time of preparation not for Easter, but for the Great Fifty Days.  The early Christians saw the Great Fifty Days as the most important season of the year.

While we use the term Pentecost to refer only to the fiftieth day of that time period, historically, Pentecost referred to the entire fifty day cycle beginning with Easter as well as the final day of that cycle.  Easter was and is incomplete without Pentecost. 

Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the filling of the Spirit.  Now remember that the disciples already had a 3 year training period with Jesus himself.  They heard his teachings many times.  They observed all kinds of miracles being performed right before their eyes.  The Gospel of John ends by saying “Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. The disciples observed all those other things that John refers to as well.

In addition to observation the disciples had been sent out by Jesus himself on an internship and they ministered to the needs of the people.  They, too, performed miracles.  They healed diseases.  They cast out demons.  Then they witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion, his burial, his resurrection and finally his ascension.  They knew the message.  They knew the methods.  They were ready to go.  But Jesus said Wait.  They needed something more.  They were incomplete having experienced Easter alone.  They were not to go out in their natural strength using just natural skills and talents.  They were to enter a supernatural mode of living and ministry.  They needed a supernatural extreme makeover. 

Luke said that they were to wait until they were clothed with power from on high.  Isn’t that an interesting phrase?  They were to put on a new look, like you would put on a new set of clothes for Easter or some other special occasion.  It would be the look of power.

There were people in the Old Testament who had a look of power.  The prophets Elijah and Elisha were good examples.  They did things like calling fire down from heaven, raising the dead, miraculously multiplying olive oil, and making an iron ax head float on water.  We all remember the miracles Moses did in front of Pharaoh.  In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit resided with people and came upon them from time to time to empower them for specific tasks.  But on the day of Pentecost things changed.

Jesus told his disciples in John 14:17 The Spirit lives with you and shall be in you.  Pentecost was moving day for the Holy Spirit.  On Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to fill the believers with his presence.  Peter quotes the prophet Joel on the day of Pentecost in saying that the Holy Spirit is poured out on ALL flesh.  Old and young, men and women, people of all races.  The Spirit is freely given to all who would receive him. 

That is why in 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul could say Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Cor 3:16.  The Holy Spirit came to dwell within us and fill us as he did the temple in the Old Testament.  Because the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us and fill us, never again after the day of Pentecost does the bible refer to a physical building as being the house of God.  Instead, the New Testament says that now WE are the house of God, for God the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  So if you hear someone refer to their church building as the house of God, you can tell them, No, if you are a believer, the bible says that YOU are a house of God!

At the end of the Gospel of Mark, before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told the disciples that signs and wonders would follow those that believed.  And as we read through the book of Acts we find that Jesus’ promise came true.  So we read in Acts 5:12 the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.  And in Acts 6:8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  And in Acts 8:13 Simon followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.  And in Acts 14:3 Paul and Barnabas spend considerable time in Iconium, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.  Over and over again we see the believers going forth clothed with power from on high and miraculous signs and wonders follow them.  They began to live in the supernatural.  They had an extreme spiritual makeover. 

The book of Acts is an unfinished book.  If you read the last chapter, chapter 28, you come to the end and Paul is in Rome continuing to preach.  But the book really doesn’t have an ending.  There is no conclusion drawn.  It just stops.  I think that is intentional.  For the next chapter, Acts 29, is to be written in our church and in your life.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  What he did then through the disciples, he wants to do through you today.  Our world needs to see followers of Jesus going forth clothed with power from on high and doing the works of the Father just as much as the people of the first century did. 

Do you have the Holy Spirit within you?  If you have given your life to Christ and asked him to save you from your sins, you do.  But, you know what.  That’s not enough. 

On the evening of the day that Jesus rose from the dead, John 20 tells us that Jesus appeared to his disciples in a locked room and he breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Spirit.  How many of you believe that if Jesus said, Receive the Holy Spirit, the disciples received the Holy Spirit at that point?  The Holy Spirit came to dwell within them on Easter evening.

But that was not enough.  Because that same Jesus who just put the Holy Spirit within them told them to wait in Jerusalem to be clothed with power from on high.  He called it the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Immersion in the Holy Spirit.  Total soaking in the Holy Spirit to the point where the Holy Spirit just drips off you and leaves evidence of the Holy Spirit behind wherever you go.  That’s what happened on the day of Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit not only was dwelling within them, now he was filling them.

The Holy Spirit needs to change from just being just resident in your life, to being president in your life, the one in charge, the one calling the shots.

If you have been saved, God did not put his Holy Spirit within you so you could attend church regularly and sit in a pew.  The book of Acts does not mention anyone being filled with the Spirit so they could be a good person and sit in a pew.  We don’t read any accounts there of people sitting in church.  If you can sum up your Christian life by saying that Jesus saved me, and now I try to live a good life and go to church, you miss the point.  That is not the Christian lifestyle pictured in the New Testament!  The world was not changed in the book of Acts by non-believers observing the believers living a good moral life and going to church on Sundays.

If you read the book of Acts you will see that almost all of the miraculous signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit did through the believers were done outside the church.  The Holy Spirit wants the world to see you clothed with power from on high.  He wants to demonstrate his power through you to the world.  He wants the world to see you doing the works that Jesus did on their turf, outside the church building.  He wants the world to see your new look.  He wants you to live in the supernatural out in the world.

Living in the supernatural means that you use your own reason, but you are not limited by it.  Living in the supernatural means that you use your talents, abilities and skills, but you are not limited by them.  It means you use your own resources but you are not limited by them.  It means that you are part of a supernatural body of Christ, you are not alone.  It means that you believe that God will act in and through your life in supernatural ways and you trust him to do so. 

Jesus told us a disciple, when he is fully trained, shall be like his master.  So when we are fully trained, we shall be like Jesus, living in the supernatural.  Jesus told his disciples in John 14:12  I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.   Jesus expects us to be doing all the supernatural things that he was doing.  That’s what the man said!  When living in the supernatural we have a new world view.  The Holy Spirit is part of every equation.  He is part of every decision, every opportunity, and every challenge we face. 

When we are clothed with God’s power from on high we will be enabled to live in the supernatural and do three things.  The first of these that we will see the invisible.

We as Christians believe that there is more to our world than what can be seen with the naked eye.  Of course we all believe that there are things too small or too far away to be seen without great magnification.  The Hubble space telescope has opened whole new worlds to us that we never knew existed.  But beyond that, we as Christians believe that there is a world that is part of the visible world, but beyond the visible world, that cannot be seen with any magnification.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18 We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For want is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

We believe that there is an unseen devil who influences our lives and the visible world.  We believe that the devil has unholy invisible spiritual beings assisting him called demons.  We also believe that there are holy invisible beings that do the work of God like, angels, and cherubs and seraphim.  And we believe that the Holy Spirit continues to move through the world carrying out the will of the Father.  As Christians we believe that as we go through life living in the supernatural we need to take into account not only the visible world but the invisible world.

As the Israelites came to the edge of the Promised Land, what if Joshua and Caleb would have believed only what they had seen, like the other 10 spies did when they went in and checked out this new land—giants, walled cities, vast fortifications.  Perhaps all the people of God would have died in the wilderness and God would have had to raise up a new people through Moses.  But Joshua and Caleb saw beyond the visible to the invisible.  They realized that God was with them and guiding them and empowering them so nothing could stand against them.  They were living in the supernatural.  The majority of the spies and the rest of the people were living in the natural.  They could not see the invisible so they ended up dying in the wilderness.

What if Elisha the prophet could not have seen the invisible protection of God when the armies of the king of Aram surrounded the city where he was staying.  Elisha’s servant comes in all in a tizzy, O what shall we do, O what shall we do?  There is no way out.  All is lost.  We are doomed!  He had an Eyor anointing! Have you ever felt like that?  Did you know that panic is not listed in the bible as a spiritual gift?

Elisha responds by praying to God.  Not about the situation, but for his servant who is so worried.  Elisha prays O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.  The scripture never says that Elisha ever went out to look at the situation.  He was already living in the supernatural.  He was able to see the invisible.  He prayed that his servant might also be able to see the invisible.  And we read that the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills filled with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  Elisha wasn’t worried because with his spiritual eyes he saw the invisible—he saw that his physical enemies were greatly outnumbered and greatly out gunned!   Elisha had the armies of God on his side.  Who could stand against such a show of force?

What if Jesus was not able to see the resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost?  Could he have gone through the struggles in the Garden of Gethsemane and crucifixion on Calvary?

All these people were living and moving in the supernatural.  They were able to see the invisible and that made the difference in their lives. 

Are you a Missouri Christian?  You know, Missouri is the “Show Me State.”  Missouri Christians say Show me and I will believe.  But Jesus told us hat we have to have eyes to see the invisible.  He said in Mark 11:24 Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  Missouri Christians say Show me and then I will believe.  Jesus says Believe and then you will see.

You remember the story of Thomas who was not present when Jesus appeared to the other disciples after the resurrection.  He told the other disciples Unless I see the nail marks in his hands…I will not believe it.  Thomas was a Missouri Christian.  And then Jesus appears to Thomas and he believes.  Jesus says to him in Jn. 20:29  Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 

On the Day of Pentecost Peter quotes the prophet Joel in saying that one of the results of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh was that young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams.  This is one of the ways that we come to see the invisible.  God sometimes grants dreams and visions in which he communicates some important truth to us.

So, God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel through a vision of dry bones in which he told the prophet that even though all the prophet could see with his natural eyes was spiritual deadness, God would bring new life to the people of Israel and with his spiritual eyes in the vision Ezekiel saw bones coming together and flesh coming onto those bones and breath coming into those bodies.

God spoke to a disciple named Ananias in Acts 9 and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight street and ask for Saul and lay hands on him to restore his sight.  All Ananias could see with his natural eyes was Saul the persecutor of Christians.  But the vision of God convinced him that this Saul would be healed of his physical and spiritual blindness and he would become a great leader in the church.

As we are clothed with power from on high and as we live and move in the supernatural we are enabled to see the invisible.  We are also enabled to hear the inaudible.

Right now, at this very moment there are inaudible waves traveling through this sanctuary.  Our wireless microphones broadcast inaudible signals through our sanctuary to the receivers at the mixer.  There are inaudible TV and radio waves traveling through our sanctuary at this very moment.  But just because they are inaudible to our ears does not mean they are undiscernable.  They can be discerned with the proper receiver.

Jesus wants us to be those proper receivers tuned in to what is naturally inaudible but what is spiritually discerned.  He says as our Good Shepherd, My sheep hear my voice.  He speaks to his sheep.  If you are one of his sheep you can expect to be spoken to.  But whether you hear him or not will depend on whether you are tuned to the wavelength of the Spirit or not. 

Over and over again in the Scriptures we read of God speaking to people.  He told Abram to leave the comfortable and the familiar land where he was raised, Ur of the Chaldees, and go to a land that God would show him.   God didn’t say where it was, just that he would show him.  He told Moses from a burning bush to go back to Egypt and lead his people out of bondage.  We read in the 16^th chapter of Acts that Paul and Silas and Timothy traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia but they were kept from preaching the word in the province of Asia.  When they came to the border of Mysia, the tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.  They heard the voice of Jesus telling them where to go and where not to go.  Then Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him to come over to Macedonia to help them.  He heard the voice of God in the vision telling them to go to Macedonia. 

The people of God who are living in the supernatural and who are clothed with power from on high can expect to hear from God.  They can expect direction from God, as long as it is their intention to do what God tells them to do when he speaks to them.  God does not promise to speak to those who just want to hear what God wants them to do so they can then decide whether they will do it or not.  But those who want to hear from
God so they can know what to do can expect to hear from God.  God wants to give input to the decisions you make in life.  Don’t you think God’s opinion, and God’s wisdom might be helpful to you?

The apostle John says 7 times in the book of Revelation He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  We need to listen to God with the ear of the Spirit.  The Spirit speaks to his churches. In our Scripture from John’s gospel, Jesus tells us that when the Spirit of truth comes, he will tell you what is yet to come. He will take from what is mine and make it known to you.  Well, on the Day of Pentecost the Spirit of Truth HAS come and he wants to speak to you.

Sometimes this might be in an audible voice.  Sometimes it might be in a voice that only you can hear in your spirit.  Sometimes it can be a growing conviction.  Sometimes it can be a set of divinely arranged circumstances.  Sometimes it can be a combination of a number of these.  And being sensitive to the Spirit’s voice is something that is learned over time.  But the bottom line is that God wants to speak to his people through his Spirit and as we are clothed with power from on high and living in the supernatural we are enabled to hear the voice of God that may be inaudible to others.

And thirdly, as we live and move in the supernatural we are also enabled to do the impossible.  Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 17:20 that doing the impossible is linked to our faith.  He says that if we have a mustard seed sized faith nothing will be impossible for us.

If you SEE what God wants to happen and when you HEAR what God wants you to do about it, then you can DO the impossible.  It depends on your faith and the power of God, not your own power. 

It is impossible to walk on water unless it is frozen or you know where the rocks are.  But Peter walked on water, didn’t he?  We often focus on the fact that he looked at the wind and waves, became frightened, and sank.  But there were 11 other disciples who were playing it safe and sitting in the boat.  Peter was the one who had the faith to step out of the boat in response to the word of Jesus and he walked on water like Jesus was doing.

Jesus tells us What is impossible with men is possible with God.  And the angel of God told Mary Nothing is impossible with God.  It is impossible for the dead to come back to life, but Jesus and the apostles raised the dead.  It is impossible to feed thousands with one boy’s lunch, but Jesus did that.  It is impossible for those born blind and crippled to see and walk, but they did under the ministry of Jesus and the apostles.  And these things continue to happen today.  As Christians are filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to see the invisible, hear the inaudible they are enabled to do the impossible, just like Jesus did. 

What would it be like if we could really begin to live our lies in the supernatural?  What would it be like if our desire was to actually see the invisible, to hear the inaudible, and then to do the impossible?  I believe it would mean Acts 29 would begin in our lives and in the life of our church.  I believe it can happen and will happen as we are open and obedient to the Spirit.

I am going to invite you to join me in prayer at the communion rail during the singing of our closing hymn. 

What do you need God to show you that is now invisible to you?  Come and tell God about that.

What do you need God to tell you that is now inaudible to you?  Come and tell God about that.

What do you need God to do for you that is now impossible for you?  Come tell God about that this morning.