Transcription
Christianity. We are live at Radical Christianity. I am Trina Olsen. We have I am Tina Hoover of Radical Christianity. We have Brad Weidman. Brad Weidman with YWAM Denali. Doug Weidman with At Ministry. Jeff Hoover with Radical Christianity, Michelle Weidman with At the Table Ministries. We're about to set forth on a journey through the book of Acts, and we're going to test out our podcast tonight with Acts 1. We're going to try to get through it. We're hoping that it's going to be amazing for all of you. Yes.
We want you to sit back and enjoy the ride and have fun and receive and plan it like dive into scripture and ask God what is he saying for you. Don't just read scripture to read scripture. You know a lot of people say that they read the Bible in a year. So what what do you get out of it? So, we want to see you get some revelation tonight. And we hope there's some heavy revy. And we hope that we provoke you so much that you go back and read it for yourself to check out the new revelation that God's pouring out in 2026. And we got a few days early. Amen. Amen.
All right. You want to take it first and read just the first couple scriptures? Sure, Doug. I love how you delegate. Come on. Acts 1. Acts 1. Acts 1. That is Acts 1. In my former books, Theophilos, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for my 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.
That's horrible. Wow. Yeah, it is, man. Let's dive into this. What is one of the first things you guys talking to somebody here? What do you got, Brad? So many things. No. Uh uh this is if if you look in into Acts itself, it's written by Luke, the same author of the Gospel of Luke. And Luke just he he's the type of person that's like, I want all the details so I can give a better testimony of what's taking place. And so you just have you have Luke here uh just writing out saying this like to to start off the acts to start off the apostles you first have to know what made them the apostles. Why were they the apostles? Why why the book of acts was even written in the first place. And I mean these first couple six scriptures I think it was six verses more than that. Seven verses. Eight. Five. Five. I know. It seems like so many.
The first five verses here, um, you just have have Luke just plainly saying like this. This is what took place. This is what happened. Uh, before any of them became an apostle, Jesus came and ate with them. He sat with them. He wasn't just up in heaven sitting upon a throne, but before his even his ascension, he's spending time with the disciples, he's he's teaching them and guiding them for what's going to be set ahead of them. And I think to me like just the the the deepness in which Christ wants to lead and guide us to the point where he's like, "Listen, I don't want you going anywhere or doing anything until you've received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit."
And part of that is because we saw Jesus himself didn't even perform his first miracle until he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. And we see that through all the other gospels. And so there's there's this place where you can do ministry activities, but there is an empowering and an impartation and a guiding and a directing of the Holy Spirit that's required. Um, not just because it's a good thing, but Jesus himself sets that example in all the previous gospels. And Jesus himself is telling the apostles right here, like, "Guys, I don't want you. I'd much rather you stay and wait however many days it takes until you are empowered by the Holy Spirit."
And to me, that just kind of speak I know I'm talking a lot here, but to me that just kind of speaks like he never truly wants us just to do everything in our own strength. Amen. From the very beginning, even with Adam and Eve, it was never about just Adam and Eve dwelling and working on the earth and serving. It was about co- unionship, co- relationship with the Lord. And so Jesus kind of pointing all the way back to that again of no, I I want this to be a co-laboring that we do. So much to so that it's not even in your power that you do anything, but it's in my imparting and empowering of the Holy Spirit that you do all things.
That's deep. You know, and I love like he's he's saying he's given instructions through the Holy Spirit. True. So he's he's sharing in a way that we're going to share. He's no different. He's still ex uh still teaching each of the disciples and apostles how to rely on the father and and be guided by the Holy Spirit and they're about ready to receive this gift. You know, if you think about this, like Jesus is so excited. He's trying to convince him for 40 days that he's alive. Like he's alive, people. He's alive. I get excited and um we should because he lives in us, you know. That's right. Amen.
So, he is he is coming back trying to convince them of this promise that they need and it goes back to John 14 and he said the that the Holy Spirit is the promise and and he w he lives with them and will live in them. who lived with them and who's going to be in them. It's Jesus, you know, and and so he's so excited. He finished what he was called to complete in John 17:4. He says, "Father, I give you all the glory on earth." He could have just said, "I give you all the glory." But he said, "On earth." Why? That's because we are the ones that are going to finish this out. And he says, "I give you all the glory on earth because I finished what I was called to complete." And he says that he gives us his glory and he gets glory through us. So as we go and do and we have to wait for the power so that we can have the Holy Spirit flow through us.
Amen. And when that power comes, we can walk on earth representing Christ in a way that will give him glory and the father will get glory as we complete what we're called to. What if the Lord doesn't get glory until you do what you're called to? That might be a bad day when you go to heaven and think that you're going to get the fire insurance cash in. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
I like at the um at the end of five where he talks about but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Um, I'm reading out of the NIV. And so John baptized with water, but he came, Jesus came. And now he's saying, but in a few days, Luke is saying you will, not maybe or anything like that. You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit with, not in, with. Yes. Will and with. Yes. Power. Yeah. There's no question mark there. Power. It's not like maybe if you say yes, you will be. Are you open to the will be or are you closed off to the will be? Yeah. We encourage you to be open to the will be and receive the Holy Spirit tonight as we go through Acts one.
Yes. And it's not just about the gift of tongues. It's the power to walk out your salvation. It's a power to walk in a way that sin does not define who you are, but Christ defines who you are. Amen. Amen. Yeah. I have, you know, he says, "Don't leave, but wait." We're in a, you know, generation right now where we don't want to wait on anything. You know, when I was growing up, if we wanted something, we had to wait till Christmas or our birthday. Now, by the push of a button on Amazon, we could have have it later that day or in the next couple of days. And there's something in the waiting that's important, too. You know, we're we have we're having our flesh to submit because our flesh wants everything instantly. That's good.
And you know, especially in this time frame right now where everything's instant, we just go right, you know, order from our phone or even just drive up to a drive up window to get fast food and we want it now. But Christ is saying it's time to wait. you know, rest in me and allow me to come into you that you rely on me for in the rewards and the waiting and like God's been speaking to me and this just rolls right into what my heart position has been, which is he's been saying to me about not um not being content with the him pouring into you. This is how you allow one of the ways you allow him to pour into you is reading his word and it will change you from the inside out. And what you can give someone else is by putting him in. You can't get him out unless you're putting him in. So, um that living water is through the word and we can take it in and let it just change us inside. Yeah, it's powerful.
All right, I'm going to read 6 through 11 if that's okay. We ready to move on? Unless Tina has something. Unless Tina Tina, you want to share about the the meaning of the Holy Spirit? Just one of the things I was learned about when I was reading over the Holy Spirit is sometimes, you know, we have all these ways we describe the Holy Spirit as being like our comforter, our guide. He just different ways he helps. But you ever think about it, maybe he's more like a defense attorney. He comes before God and he gives us like uh what's the defense attorney do? He goes before the the defend the court the court between the judge and the court in the courthouse and he helps defend you and gives you words to say. He intercedes for you. He represents you. He convinces people. It's just the way he's Amen. It's just a powerful way just that expands upon really what the Holy Spirit can be to all any of us.
And they were about to witness this. Yeah. Like they had no clue what they're about to get. Yeah. But we're reading the story and we know the end of the story and so we have a better grip on this. But can you imagine like can you wait 10 days? Well, they didn't they didn't even know. They didn't know how long they were going to wait. Yeah. You know, and and there's another scripture that says that they they fasted like prayed and fasted, you know. Do you realize that they didn't go to take, you know, soccer mom didn't go and take the kids, you know, um dad didn't come home and and have to cook the meal. Like I I think they literally were on their face going after God. Can we do this? Can we go after God? Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. All of us here are doing it. Just do it. Just do it. Yes. Is that the Nike thing for Jesus? For Yeah, absolutely.
Well, to piggy off back off of that, just something that popped into my head is we're Yes. We so we so focus on like you can be so focused on you need the Holy Spirit in order to perform miracles. But the reality of it is is the disciples were performing miracles before the Holy Spirit was ever imparted to them. Yeah, like Jesus sent them out two by two before he was even crucified and they were casting out demons. They were healing the sick and all these things. And so it's not even like sometimes we can even cheapen what the Holy Spirit is to oh he's just our battery source so we can perform. No, like he he is a he is a he is an individual. He has an identity. He is a being. He is someone to be related to, to be connected to. Like you can't just have an object comfort you. A a comforter is not like just a blanket that you put around yourself. Like a guide is not just a GPS. Like it it's not just these like we we sometimes I think even in our English language like we cheapen what's actually there. But really, when you look at the wording, when you look at the the the Greek and the Hebrew of what help means, your helper, your counselor, your guide, it's really saying this is the one who will make up for what you lack.
And that goes all the way back to to Genesis when when God talks about producing Eve and bringing Eve. It wasn't that God like Adam needed a helpmate as in Adam was lacking in anything himself or he needed a servant. God was saying you lack the ability to fully display my love on earth and so I'm going to give you what you lack which is another person to fully display my love on earth. And so, Holy Spirit, like it's almost like parallel to what happened in Genesis when God created Eve in the sense of I'm now going to give you myself, a part of myself, of who I am that makes me God so that you lack in nothing. I'm going to give you to make up for what you lack. Everything you can do in your strength will never be enough. So I'm going to give you the one which is of myself to make up for every single area. Which is why Jesus says to him and I think it's in John like it's important that I go so someone better comes so something better. Like if Jesus is saying holy spirit is better than himself. Like come on. Yeah. Like let's not cheapen him. Let's not cheapen who the Holy Spirit is. Not what but who.
Amen. Wow. It's good. Yeah. And do we realize who lives in us? Yeah. Like do we realize like like you were talking about Christmas like we want that thing in the natural that is going to be burned away. But we're not willing to go and get on our face or wait for God. And I get it. Some people don't understand who he is, right? And we haven't represented him very well. So, I just want to encourage you like go after these scriptures and find out who he is in you. Amen. Yeah. Go for it. Yeah.
In Matthew 10 10:6, it says, "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." But we we're it's today's time. Go to the lost sheep now in this time. As you go, preach this message. And it was talking about the message earlier about Jesus. And and this is what we're we want to do. We want to share with you the goodness that we experience out of the um what we have received from Jesus. And that is the Holy Spirit. And as we continue to move into some of more of that scripture, we're just going to um unpack that even more.
This is only the first five verses. So, come on. Like, let the anticipation build up in you and go after this like go after this like there's no one else's business, but you your life your life literally depends on this. What if what if it's not enough just to believe? Yeah. Because if you believe, there's something that changes in your heart. If you truly believe in Christ, when you believe in something, when you get that brand new car that you've always wanted, man, you're out there shining that baby up and you got the, you know, especially if it's convertible, you're going to ride with the top down even in the snow, you know, and you're going to have it jamming and you're going to have your favorite music on and you're going to want everyone to see this. Yeah. Why don't we do that with Jesus?
So, I had to have something to add on top of that is that let's let's think about in a few weeks there's a thing called the Super Bowl. Why don't you get as excited about Jesus as you do the Super Bowl? Now, that would be a world changer right there. Oh, yeah. That would be a good day for me. Yeah. He's going to be tossing up a big long throw to you. Yeah. Come zone. Yeah. Angel's in the end zone. Yeah. Yeah. I would be interested.
I love it. I love it. Not in the Super Bowl. All right. Go for it. All right.