Transcription
God, we don't just bless You for what You've done. We bless You for who You are. Who You are. You are the great Jehovah. You are our Elohim. You are our Adonai. You are Emmanuel. You are with us. God, we honor You. We bless You with this time, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Be seated.
Listen, if you don't mind, real quick, grabbing your Bibles, grab your app, grab your notes. We're gonna be jumping right into the Bible here. We're gonna be looking at the Book of Acts. We're in the series for the next seven weeks in the Book of Acts, and it's exciting. It's gonna be wonderful what we learn and what we unfold in this book. We even have a journal and devotional to go along with this, so you can take this home, and you can get those out in the lobby because we wanna spend this summer talking about what is God saying to us as a church. We've walked from the Unstuck series. We went into Made for More, and now what is God calling us in this Book of Acts? We are an unstoppable church, and this is what it looks like.
So we're going to, we're gonna look in the Book of Acts and say, "Was it-- What does it say to us? What is God revealing to us?" I just wanna let you know right now that the Book of Acts is the blueprint for how church is supposed to be run. It is the blueprint for where church began. It's called the Book of Acts because it is the acts of the apostles after Jesus ascends into heaven. So that's why. So if you're wondering, "Why is it called Acts?" It's simple. It's, it basically what they did when Jesus went to heaven.
But we're gonna jump right in here, Acts chapter one. Y'all ready? Yes. Acts chapter one. Actually, let me back up a little bit. Matthew chapter 28. Again? Yeah. I know, I'm going to a whole 'nother book. In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus has just says, "All authority in heaven and Earth have been given to me." And then he's talking to the disciples, and he says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
Think about this for a moment. Jesus is giving a global mission to a bunch of ordinary people, bunch of ordinary men who have no influence, no structure, no resources. All they have at this point is obedience. And then after all that, He leaves. But then he comes back. Spoiler. And in Acts chapter 1, but Luke, one of the apostles, writes this. He says, "In this first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering, by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God."
So after He rose from the grave, Jesus spends forty days with the apostles and other believers. Forty days. Say forty days. Forty days. And verse four, "And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise." Jesus, He lives, He died, He's risen, He's hanging out with them for 40 days. And He's about to leave. And you would think this would be a great time for Jesus to give them some instructions. "Hey, guys, I'm about to leave. You guys are going to be the first church, so here's what you should do. This is how you build church. This is how you build a worship team. This is how you pick musicians. This is how you find out Pastors, and Deacons, and the small group. This is how you build that."
And Jesus doesn't do that. He gives them no structure on how to build the church. He says something completely different. He says in verse number four, "Do not leave Jerusalem." Don't depart Jerusalem. But wait for the promise of the Father. Don't wait. Don't move. Just wait. Don't go anywhere. Stay in Jerusalem. Wait for the promise of the Father.
Is there anybody that really likes waiting? N- nobody really likes to wait. I've never heard anybody wake up and say, "I prayed a prayer this morning," and it was like, "God, let me wait." I've never heard anybody get stuck in traffic and say, "This is exactly how I wanted my afternoon to go." We don't like waiting. I don't like to wait. I don't like waiting in lines. I'm even the kind of person, I don't even like to wait for the microwave to get to zero. It doesn't need them extra four seconds. We don't like waiting, but sometimes God calls us to wait because in the waiting is where He is doing some of His deepest work.
While we're waiting, and I know some of you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, Pastor Daryl, this doesn't sound right, because last week you told us to go." Last week you said move, now you're saying wait. Which one is it? Yes. It's both. It's waiting and it is moving. When Jesus tells you to wait, you wait. But when Jesus tells you to go, you go. It's both. It's not either/or. God requires us to do both of them, and they're not waiting out of procrastination. They're waiting out of obedience. Sometimes we wait out of disobedience and frustration. So they're waiting out of expectation. They're waiting because of what He said. They're waiting because, they're not just waiting on nothing. He says, "Wait for the promise of the Father." There's something coming. It's different.
Have you ever… l- let me put it like this. Have you ever gone to pick somebody up at their house and they're about a half hour late? And you just wanna get to where you wanna go. So you're waiting in frustration, and even by the time they get to the car, you're like, "For real?" We've missed the beginning of the movie. We missed the best part of the party waiting on you. But what if you found out that they were in there getting all the money so they could pay for the trip? I'll wait. There's a difference between waiting in frustration and waiting in expectation, and the disciples are waiting in expectation. They're not being still, they're waiting, and they're waiting on the promise of the Father. They're not waiting on the promise of man. They're waiting on the promise of the Father.
Why do they need the promise of the Father? Because when Jesus calls you to do something that you can't do on your own, he then has to provide something that you don't currently have. Waiting on the promise of the Father. Jesus says, "John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit? Yes, the Holy Spirit. Why do I need the Holy Spirit? Because the mission is bigger than you. This is why I'm telling you to wait, because there's some preparation that has to happen and, I need you to wait. And obedience is not just moving when God says move. O- obedience is also waiting when God says wait. I'm preparing you for something, 'cause the mission is bigger than you.
There's moments in my own life, multiple moments, where God called me into something that was bigger than me, and so I needed what He had because it's bigger than me. When I got married, bigger than me. Having children, bigger than me. Moving to Tampa, bigger than me. Leading people, bigger than me. Preaching and teaching the Word of God, bigger than me. Every time God calls me into something that's bigger than me, my first response is usually not confidence. My first response is usually awareness. It's the awareness that I cannot do this on my own. I've gotta wait for the promise of the Father. I understand that God-sized assignments reveal our need for God-sized power. What if the reason the thing that you're going to, going through feels impossible because it was never supposed to be possible without God?
He says, "For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not too many days from now." Interestingly enough, the disciples know exactly what he's talking about. When he tells them that, "You're, waiting on the Holy Spirit," they've heard this before, but Jesus is actually referencing Joel chapter two, verse two, where it says, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." It shows up again in Ezekiel 36. It shows up again in Isaiah 44. It shows up again in John chapter 14, cha- 15, and 16. Jesus is talking about this promise of the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit.
And then he goes deeper in verse number eight. He says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses." Jesus is saying, "The mission that I have for you is global, and the mission that I have for you, you can't do in your own strength. You need something that's greater than you. You will receive power, and then you will be my witnesses. You will receive power, and you will be my witnesses." He's telling them the identity before they even get the Holy Spirit.
Why is that important? Because identity is important. Because identity comes before the assignment. I, we, need to know who we're called to be and who we are as a church. When culture is confused, church should be clear. He's calling us. He's identifying who we are. Everything in the world is trying to take away your identity, and culture does not get to rename what God has already established. You will be witnesses. If God calls you favorite, you're favorite. If God says you're forgiven, If God says you're redeemed. If He says you're loved, you're chosen, you're called, then you're loved, and you're chosen, and you're called. So he's reminding them of who they are first.
Why? Because the moment that God tells you who you are, the enemy will try to show up and tell you that you ain't. That's right. That's right. Oh, you think I'm just playing? It happens in Genesis. Before Adam has a job, he gets an identity. Before he's tending the garden, he has an identity. What's his identity? You're made in the image and the likeness of God. Your identity confirms your purpose and it, and your direction, and it gives you clarity in your life. And what is the first thing the enemy comes and do? He says, "Did God really say that?" Because God is His word, he's attacking his identity. Did He really say that? It even happens with Jesus in John chapter 21. It happens with Jesus. When Jesus goes into the wilderness. Before Jesus goes into the wilderness and Jesus gets baptized, it says, "The heavens opened up, and a voice came from heaven, and a dove descended from heaven and said, 'This is my Son in whom I'm well pleased.'" Several passages later, the enemy comes to Jesus and says, "If you are the Son." The moment that God confirms, Satan will come and try to challenge.
So Jesus is letting them know right up front, "Hey, you will be my witnesses. You, and you need something that's going to sustain your identity." Because your identity cannot be sustained through culture or social media posts or your family or who you think you are. Your, identity has to be s- sustained in who Jesus says you are. So He says, "You will be witnesses, but you need the power." This word power, dunamis, wh- which means a whole lot of power. A lot of people will, when they see that word, it's actually where we derive the English version of dynamite, and a lot of pastors will read this and say that this means explosive power. Yes, but that's only partially true. It's not just explosive power. It is, it's the power to do things that you could not do on your own. It's identifying power. It's clarifying power. It's power that opens your eyes in ways that you've never seen before, and you need some power.
You need power to be a good parent. You, you need power to be a consistent anything. You need power. Why? Because people get on my nerves. You need power not to ram your car into somebody on the highway. You, need power to not say the thing that you wanna say, but you shouldn't say, but it would feel good if you did. You need power, and you don't need natural power. You need supernatural power. Every now and then, you need the Holy Spirit holding your tongue. Every now and then, you need to h- you need to give the password to your phone to the Holy Spirit. You need that kind of power. Power to transform, power to change, power to know what direction God is calling you to. You need power. Everybody say power. Power. Power. Power. Whoo, I'm excited. Slow down. I gotta slow down. Say slow down.
You need power. You need Holy Spirit power. The Holy Spirit is the engine that moves you toward the purpose that God has called you in. You need power. I believe that there are a lot of people who come to church regularly, consistently, don't have power. You're Ferraris with no engine. What good is a Ferrari? It's pretty on the outside, nice leather seats, going nowhere. You need power for mission. You need power for transformation. You need the Holy Spirit. It will drive you in the direction of God's purpose for your life.
And let me make this very clear in this room, because I don't want there to be any confusion when we talk about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a feeling. The Holy Spirit is not a feeling in a service. Doesn't mean you can't feel something. The Holy Spirit is not a, eh, eh. Did you feel that? I felt that. Eh. Holy Spirit is not a feeling. It's not what the Holy Spirit is. It's not a moment in a service. The Holy Spirit is God. Amen. The Holy Spirit is God. He's the third person of the Godhead body. He is present, He is personal, He is active, and He's always been here. Amen. He's not new. He's not new. He is God. He's been here s- from the very beginning.
In Genesis chapter one, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth was formless and of, and void." And there was darkness, and the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters from the very beginning. In Genesis 1:26, it s- it says, "Let us make man in our image." Who's us? God the Father, God the Son, God the- Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has always been there, and we need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the reason that the first church took off. The first church didn't explode and increase because they had good lights and a great worship team. The first church didn't take off because they had eight campuses. It took off because they had the Holy Spirit. And the same Holy Spirit that grew the church is the same Holy Spirit you need to grow you. Yeah. That's the same Holy Spirit that will grow your business. That's the same Holy Spirit that will mend your marriages and your relationships. It's the same Holy Spirit. Same one.
Then, Jesus says something powerful. Jesus is about to bounce. He's about to be double deuces. Jesus actually starts floating away. The Jesus that they had spent all this time with, the Jesus that they've seen walk on water, and heal blinded eyes, the Jesus that they've seen raise the dead, the Jesus that they actually saw be beaten, put on the cross, and He rose again, He's leaving. And He's leaving in the dopest fashion ever. He doesn't have a chariot. There's no car. He's floating away. Can you imagine everything that you believed, everything that you hoped for, it actually came, and then it... Have you ever seen a kid lose a helium balloon? They're watching it like they can get it back. He's floating away and they're watching it.
In verse nine, 10, 11 says, "And when he had said these things and they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood next to them in white robes." These two men were angels. So while the disciples were standing there looking up at Jesus, two angels show up in white robes. And here's what they say, "Hey- Why y'all looking up? Jesus is gone. Why are you still standing here looking up? Jesus is gone. He's been taken up from you into heaven, and he will come back the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Why are you still looking up? You got stuff to do. Why are you still gazed up in the heaven and he already told you what you need to be doing?" There's an old quote that says, "Don't be so heavenly bound that you are no earthly good." Why are you still looking up? I think some of us, we get stuck looking up because we remember what Jesus did, but we've forgotten what He told us to do. So we just stand there. There's some things to do until He returns. You, can't stand here just looking up. You've gotta go somewhere and do something. Why? There's some families that need healing. There's some souls that need to be saved. There's some businesses that need to be built. You cannot stay here. He's coming back, but until He does, we're helping families find and follow Jesus. Amen. Yeah. Until He does, you got some serving to do. Until He does, you've got some healing to do. You've got some forgiving to do. You've got some building to do. So don't just stay stuck there. Say this with me. Don't stay there. Don't stay there. Don't stay there. Don't stay there.
Now I'm gonna leap forward. We were in Acts chapter 1, now we're jumping all the way to Acts chapter 2. You ready? Yeah. We're jumping to Acts chapter 2. Jesus has just left. He told them to go back to Jerusalem. He says, "Go back to Jerusalem and wait." A whole bunch of other stuff happened. You're gonna find that out when you read your journal and all that stuff, and you're gonna go home and read yourself. You're gonna say, "Pastor Dale, this was amazing. Why didn't you talk about that?" Because we can't talk about everything.
Chapter 2 says, "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues, as of fire, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." They start speaking in tongues. They were all in one place. Together. Other translations translate it, they weren't just in one place, but they were on one accord. It doesn't mean that they all voted the same. Doesn't mean that they all wore the same stuff. It means that they had one purpose, one mission, one goal. What would it look like if we as a church said, "We're gonna have one purpose, one mission, one goal. Not my preference, but one purpose, one mission, and one goal"? What would it look like if every campus, every ministry, every leader said, "We're gonna have one purpose, one mission, and one goal"?
Look at what happened. When they were all on one accord, the Holy Spirit showed up. Yeah. He showed up. It was a mighty, rushing wind. There was no hurricane. He showed up and they began to speak in other tongues that they did not learn. When you continue to read, what's happening in Pentecost at that time, Pentecost was not random. This moment was like Times Square in New York during New Year's Eve. Everybody was there. Everybody was there from all of these different countries and provinces who spoke different languages, so they're actually hearing them speak in their own tongue, tongues they did not learn. When you continue to read, they actually say, "How is it that they are speaking my language and I know they don't know my language?" How is it that… It says that they were perplexed and amazed. Ooh, I love that. They, saw something that they couldn't put an answer to and they, were perplexed and amazed.
After they were perplexed and amazed, somebody silly said something. Because here's what, when we don't lean into the amazement, we get negative. The next thing that somebody says was, "They must be drunk." All of them? By the way, it's 120 of them at this point. There's 120 followers. There's 120 disciples that have fallen into the streets, and now they're speaking in tongues, and somebody says, "They must be drunk." And Peter, the same Peter that was running away, the same Peter that got scared, who's now filled with the Holy Spirit, is about to preach. The same Peter that denied Jesus three times, the same Peter who was a coward, is now a preacher. That's the power of identity and the Holy Spirit. It- that's the same Peter.
Peter says, "No, they ain't drunk. Let me tell you what's really going on." And Peter begins to preach this message that's incredible, that you're gonna go home and read. He, preaches this incredible message, and the message is so good. Is it verse 37? Ooh, yes. Verse 37, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart." So when they heard him preach, it convicted them. "And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" Listen to what's happening. Peter is preaching, and they interrupt his sermon to say, "What do we gotta do? What do we gotta do?" And Peter says, "Repent and be baptized."
Do you know that I wish somebody would stop me in the middle of the sermon? I mean that in a real way, and say, "I got it. What do I gotta do? I hear you. What do I have to do? I- you've, said enough. What do I have to do?" I would love for a weekend just- people just start running down the aisle as soon as I say, "Hal- hallelujah," and y'all just running, "What do I gotta do?" Why? 'Cause it don't take a whole lot. He preached the word. They said, "What do I got to do?" He says, "Repent and be baptized." They said, "Okay."
When you get to the end of that verse, fir- 41, it says 3,000 souls were saved that day. 3,000. That's only counting the men. It's not counting the women and possible children who were saved. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. No opening music. No worship leader, no band, no lights, no comfortable seats, no nice air conditioning. Just the Holy Spirit and some people who surrendered. And over 3,000 people in one day said, "I gotta get whatever it is he's saying." That's the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do what God has called us to do without the power of the Holy Spirit.
What would it look like If we leaned into what God wants us to do instead of what we like doing, because I know I, I've been in church my whole life. My whole, whole. My whole life. My aunt used to tell me that two days after I was born, I was back at church. My mother was pregnant to the end and she came back for choir rehearsal. I've been in church my, so I know church. I know church pe- I know that sometimes we can get so comfortable that church becomes a clique. I know that sometimes we, can get so comfortable that church just becomes a thing that we check off on our calendar instead of the place where we are being e- encouraged and equipped to do what God has called us to do outside these walls. You need the Holy Spirit.
And I believe with all my heart that God has called us to do great things more than what we've done. I know that there are some people that say, "I'm comfortable with what it looks like. I don't want us to get no bigger." We gonna get bigger. Amen. A- and, somebody gonna push you out of your favorite seat. Why? Why? Because healthy things grow. And this is not about numbers, this is about transformation. Healthy things grow. Sheep produce sheep. Healthy things grow, and we're going to be a church that's growing. We're not going to be a church that stands still and, stays stagnant. We're gonna be a church that gets loud. We're gonna be a church that's moving with the Holy Spirit.
And let me say this, ooh, because we're there. Oh, my goodness. At Grace, we believe that God has given us the scriptures, and everything in the scriptures is available to his church today. We believe in the gifts of the Spirit. We believe in the ministry of the Spirit. We believe that God heals, that He speaks, that He comforts, and that He empowers. And yes, we believe that speaking in tongues is one of the gifts described in scripture. 1 Corinthians 12:11 talks about all the gifts of the Spirit. Go home and read it. 1 Corinthians 12, it talks about the gifts of the Spirit. There are n- there's nowhere in the Bible, not nowhere, not none-where, there's nowhere in scripture that it says those gifts no longer exist, that those gifts were only for the first century church. It doesn't say it, and we don't have the right to rewrite the Bible for what feel good for us. We don't pick and choose.
But also let me make this clear. We believe in all the gifts of the Spirit. We do not believe that any one gift is ultimate, and no one gift shows the measure of s- spiritual maturity. The greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit is not emotion. It's not a moment. The greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit is a transformed life. Amen. That's the evidence.
I got off track somewhere. But I wanna say this. When you wake up tomorrow, say this, "Holy Spirit, lead me today." Lead me. And then actually expect the Holy Spirit to answer you. Look for the conversations. Look for the conviction. Look, listen for what God has for you. Ask Him to lead you. The goal of having the Holy Spirit in your life is not that the Holy Spirit, that you get… That He gets more of you. The goal is that you get more of Him. That's the goal. That there's more Holy Spirit and less Daryl. There's more Holy Spirit and less attitude, more Holy Spirit and less preference. The Holy Spirit.
In a moment, we're gonna worship together. But before we do, There's a question that I want you to be able to answer. You're gonna spend the next few moments thinking about this question. What have you been doing without the Holy Spirit? What have you been doing without God? Maybe it's work, maybe it's marriage, maybe it's family, maybe it's career. What have you been doing without God? And here's what I encourage you to do right now. Give it to him. Let him have it. God say, "This is, this doesn't even belong to me." You're carrying a weight, whether it's pressure, anxiety, overthinking, whatever it is, you're carrying a weight that you were never meant to carry. So think about that. What have you been doing without the Holy Spirit? And then ask God to lead you, fill you and empower you to do what He's called you to do. Amen.