Unhindered Power - Week 3

7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

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Scripture Reading by Lady Pepper (Show Slide)

(Show Slide) Thank you Lady Pepper for the announcements and the reading of God’s Word.

Welcome! to everyone and especially those who are joining us for the first time. My name is Pastor Doc, and I will be sharing the Word of God with you today.

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Show Video - Unhindered Power wk 3

Title of the message this Morning

Unhindered Power

Week 3

Big Idea:

The Holy Spirit is the main “power source” of Christians.

The Spirit is a multi-functional, multi-faceted wonder that is an imperative component to living an empowered and unhindered life in Christ.

In the Spirit we have, among many other things; strength to share, strength to persevere, and strength to love.

Prayer:

“Lord thank you for sending the Helper, the Advocate, the Comforter, the Spirit.

Fill us to overflowing and help us to walk always in the power of the Spirit as we journey through this life and onto the next.”

Scripture: Acts 1:8, 28:28-31, 4:18-20

(All scripture taken from the NIV translation unless otherwise noted.)

Introduction

Power is an interesting thing isn’t it?

It’s all around us, it impacts our lives every single day, and yet at the same time - what is it?

How do you accurately measure power?

Can you get more of it?

Can you lose it?

And as it pertains to Christians…

What exactly does it mean to live empowered by the Spirit?

As we continue on in our series Unhindered, I’m excited to tackle this idea of power and I’m looking forward to unpacking what on earth unhindered power could mean for followers of Jesus.

The same Jesus who commanded legions of angels and yet humbled himself to the point of death and humiliation.

His power was an otherworldly one.

It was something that has never been seen before or after…

Even “Napoleon Bonaparte, the great military genius, looking back over his years of conquest, is reported to have said, ‘Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I have built great empires.

But upon what did they depend?

They depended on force.

But centuries ago Jesus started an empire that was built on love, and even to this day millions will die for him.[1]”

The weapons, if you could call them that, of Christ were love, grace, mercy, and compassion.

And He is arguably the most powerful person to have ever walked the earth.

Main Teaching

The main “power source” of Christians is the Holy Spirit.

This, the least understood member of the triune Godhead, also happens to be the one that Jesus felt we needed even more than himself.

In fact in John 16:7 He says, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Advocate is just one of the many names used to describe the Holy Spirit throughout the bible.

Some others of note are;

● Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2)

● Spirit of the Lord (Judges 3:10)

● Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11)

● Spirit of Truth (John 14:17)

● Advocate or Helper (John 14:26)

● Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding (Isaiah 11:2)

● Spirit of Counsel and Might (Isaiah 11:2)

● Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2)

● Spirit of Glory (1 Peter 4:14)

● Eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14)

● Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2)

● Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15)

● Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9)

● Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:29)

● Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4)

● Spirit of Promise (Ephesians 1:13)

● Spirit of the Living God (2 Corinthians 3:3)

● Spirit of Revelation (Ephesians 1:17)

● Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind (2 Timothy 1:7)

● Oil of Gladness (Hebrews 1:9)

Of all these names, which resonate with you the most?

Which names have you heard before, and which are new to you?

Would it surprise you to know that this isn’t an exhaustive list…

The Holy Spirit is a multi-functional, multi-faceted wonder that is an imperative component to living an empowered and unhindered life in Christ.

Today we’re going to look at three specific areas where we see the strength of the Spirit come alive in the church.

Living an unhindered life in step with the Spirit means we have, among many other things; strength to share, strength to persevere, and strength to love.

I. Strength to Share

When Jesus ascended into heaven He left the disciples with this command;

Read Acts 1:8

As you can see, Jesus promises his followers that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they will be empowered witnesses to his message in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

It is important to recognize that in naming Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, Jesus was clearly identifying just how far and wide the message would be shared.

His command was to evangelize and spread the gospel message all around the world.

And to be clear, this is no small task, which highlights the importance of divine power and enablement in the process.

As many of you know, the gospel message isn’t always a welcome one.

In fact, there is often great hostility and peril in preaching the saving truth of Christ to others.

In Acts chapter 4 we begin to see just how much trouble those early disciples were getting themselves into.

Peter and John are even instructed by the Jewish leaders at the time to STOP sharing the gospel, but look at how they responded;

Read Acts 4:18-20

This is not a human response, this is what having the strength to share looks like.

These “ordinary men” were able to do extraordinary things because of the Holy Spirit in them.

And the crazy part of this is that the same Spirit that enabled Peter and John is also enabling you and I.

We’ve also been given power through the Spirit.

We also have the strength to share with others and to take the gospel message to the very ends of the earth.

We also have the power to stare down persecution, humiliation, and anything else the enemy may use to discourage us from telling others about Jesus.

Will it be easy? No!

Will we have difficulty? Yes!

But just like the disciples we read about in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit will also give us the strength to persevere as we seek to answer the call of Christ in our lives.

II. Strength to Persevere

Pastor -

This could be a great place to share about a time or season in your life when you faced adversity and/or difficulty that required you to persevere.

Try to highlight how God brought you through, enabled you, and gave you the strength you needed in the season.

Everyone suffers at some point or another.

Everyone experiences pain, hardship, and adversity.

Everyone has trauma.

No one is exempt and no one gets a free pass… And if we had the time today we could go around the room and swap stories of suffering, pain, disappointment, trauma, and loss.

I’d also bet that we could swap stories, like the one I just shared, of the seasons that God sustained us and the ways that He gave us the strength to persevere.

The truth is that there are seasons that we don’t have the capacity to work through on our own— We NEED help.

We can feel hindered, stunted, and discouraged in our life and faith.

But thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can experience unhindered access to divine power, strengthening, and the ability to persevere through any situation we face.

Not to say that we miraculously transform into superhuman-incredible-hulk type beings, but to say that “God’s grace is sufficient; His power is made perfect in our weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) He will complete the work He started.

He will give us the strength we need to share the gospel, to persevere, and lastly, to love.

III. Strength to Love

In his book, Strength to Love, Martin Luther King Jr. addresses this very issue.

He says, “Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

And to achieve “inner spiritual transformation” we need help.

We need an advocate, a guide, a companion to lead the way.

We need the unhindered power of the Holy Spirit, which God has graciously given to us already.

When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 5:44, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” He’s giving them an impossible command.

In our human-ness it is incomprehensible how a person could “love” an enemy or pray for those persecuting them.

But in Christ we are new creations.

In Christ we have eternal hope that impacts our temporal life.

In Christ we have diving power, strength, and ability to do the impossible things of life.

Pastor-

Through the life of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who, along with her family, helped hide Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, we see many stories of impossible love.

In one particular instance, Corrie was in the Ravensbrück concentration camp and became ill.

One day, she was assigned to clean the latrines, a job that was considered to be the lowest and most degrading in the camp.

Corrie was so weak and ill that she could hardly stand, let alone clean the filthy latrines.

As she stood there, struggling to keep her balance, a fellow prisoner, a woman whom she had never met before, came up to her and whispered, "Don't worry, sister. I will do it for you."

This woman proceeded to clean the latrines for Corrie, even though it was a dangerous task that could have led to punishment or even death.

This act of selfless love deeply touched Corrie and gave her the strength to keep going, even in the midst of such terrible circumstances.

She later wrote, "It was the first time since I had been in the camp that I had experienced the presence of God so powerfully."

This story demonstrates that even in the darkest of times, love can shine through and give hope and strength to others, even in the midst of persecution.

Where have you seen this kind of love in your life?

Where do you see opportunities to love others, even impossible people, with the love of Christ?

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is a gift, freely given by God to those who believe in Him.

In John 14:16-17, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as "another advocate" and says, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth."

In this passage, Jesus is promising that the Holy Spirit will be given to his disciples as a gift to help them and guide them.

Where do you feel the Spirit leading you today?

Where would you like to experience more of the unhindered power, strength, and ability of the Spirit in your life?

To share the gospel with others?

To persevere through difficult seasons and situations?

To love the unlovable?

In the Old Testament the Spirit only showed up on special occasions to specific people for specific times/seasons.

But now, through Christ, the Spirit isn’t hindered by times or seasons.

The Holy Spirit is available to all who believe.

And through the Spirit we can experience divine power, strength, and ability.

Let’s pray together for a greater filling, understanding, and appreciation of this incredible gift that God has freely given to us.

Let’s meditate on these powerful words of the Apostle Paul from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Let’s pray together.

[1] King, Martin Luther, Strength to Love. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, pg 56-57

Now for those of you who do not know Jesus!

Salvation:

The Word of God says in:

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

PastorDoc@FaithVision.org

Church Office: 909-922-8090

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Greg - Health issues

Lord we pray not in our own strength, but in the power and in the name of our Lord and Savory, Jesus Christ!

Closing Blessing

The New King James Version - 2 Corinthians 13:14

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

This is Pastor Doc & Lady Pepper with:

Faith Vision Christian Ministries

See you next Sunday @ 10:55 on Facebook Live!!

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Have a Great Week! GOODBYE !

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