BEFORE & AFTER

INTRO-

Good morning! My name is Ryan, I’m one of the pastors here at Georgianna.

It’s so good to be with you in worship today…

[MENTION LIVE STREAM AT 9:45]

I’m grateful to you all for being here today… I’m grateful to Pastor Corky for giving me a chance to really dive deep with a 3 week message series about the Holy Spirit.

After all, as we talked about last week,

***Romans 8:11 (NLT)

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

THIS is why this is so important for the church today… it is the Spirit of God who makes this whole thing more than just history… more than just a moment in time… but a living, breathing movement for God’s Kingdom today.

Because…

***Romans 8:11 (NLT)

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

Let’s say that one more time together...

***Romans 8:11 (NLT)

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

Let’s pray together…

OPENING PRAYER

Holy Spirit come!!!

WE

‌There are moments which mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts: before this and after this... Sometimes you can feel such a moment coming.

Are you familiar with this feeling… Have you had these moments before?

Maybe it was your marriage… or the birth of your child… or your graduation?

Here’s an interesting one… maybe it was your sobriety?

I’ve had so many conversations with just absolutely inspirational men and women… and they’ll say “Oh yeah that was before… or that was after I got clean.”

BIG MOMENTS.

It may not always a good thing.

“That was before my mom died...” “That was after I was laid off...” or “after my divorce...”

This happens for us even as a collective community…

Everything changed with air travel after what? After 9/11, right?

We’re already talking about life used to be before COVID…

Life was massively different before the internet right? One of those hinge-points in our culture

***In fact, one of my favorite cartoons is about this one in particular...

LIFE BEFORE GOOGLE, A SHORT STORY

I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING I’D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT.

WELL, THAT’S A SHAME. THE END.

We have this massive, seismic moments in our lives… where everything feels like it shifts… and you just know things will never be the same.

And they become anchor points in the stories you tell and the memories you keep… you talk about when things happened in relation to events like these…

I became aware of this quote several years ago and it’s always stuck with me… because of how universal it is… we all have these points in our lives.

It sounds like it was the work of some amazing philosopher or maybe a psychologist studying the brain and memories...

This is actually from the great theologian…

***Denzel Washington :)

Actually it’s not even really him… it’s a character he played in a movie called Fallen in the late 90s…

It’s brilliant… it’s so poignant… and it has almost nothing to do with the rest of movie....

But you know exactly what it means… chances are there’s 1 or 2 big events that you’re thinking of right now.

Anchor points… where everything changed on the other side.... and life is now defined as before this and after this…

______________________________

So last week we DID start this short series on the Holy Spirit.

And we looked at the unique ability of the Spirit to breathe life and blow fresh wind into the ministry and the example of Jesus… to guarantee it as a movement long after Jesus’ physical presence is gone.

Through Jesus God is WITH us… and through the Holy Spirit God is IN us… moving and working and calling us forward.

So don’t simply be inspired by a message and by a story… be infused with the power that was behind that story all along.

Because...

***Romans 8:11 (NLT)

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

GOD

In last week’s text we looked at Jesus’ farewell discourse as He lets His disciples know that He is leaving.... but He is not leaving them abandoned.

And we get a specific idea of just how big a deal the Holy Spirit is.

See, according to Jesus Himself… it is for our good that He leaves and the Holy Spirit comes instead.

Still just a wild idea to me.

And just before Jesus ascends He has this somewhat cryptic message for His followers.

The resurrected Jesus sits down to a meal with them and He tells them, whatever you do… do not to leave Jerusalem… just wait there …

What must that have been like, right?

Like listen I know everything is upside down now and you feel like the rug is out from under you… you’re wondering What Now?

And God says… “I know… and I’ll meet you in Jerusalem.”

How hard would that have been?

__________________________

Who in here like surprises?

Who in here HATES surprises?

I know there are some of you… I planned a surprise for Allison one time… one time… and that was enough for me to know better.

Corky doesn’t like surprises either… I’m aware of this.

Neither Corky nor Allison… I can’t plan a surprise party for either of my bosses… they would hate it.

Now even if you like being caught off guard… I would imagine the very idea of waiting around for something yet unknown, in an uncertain time when you’re desperate for what is next… this is not the pleasant anticipation that you would enjoy.

How much faith does it take for you to hear Jesus say I’m leaving… just hang out in Jerusalem… and for you to just… wait….

We want to fix our own problems so bad sometimes… and God might be saying, No- you need to wait on me.

Because, as we’re going to see today… something HUGE might be in store if we wait on what GOD is doing.

PASSAGE

And then it happens… The story is in Acts chapter 2 if you want to go there with me (Bibles/phones)

50 days after Passover (this is the Jewish event that surrounded the crucifixion)… 50 days later the disciples are gathered together for another Jewish holy day…

It was called Pentecost and it celebrated the giving of God’s law to Moses centuries before.

And as God so often does… He breathes new life into old traditions

Here’s how it goes down...

Acts 2:1–12 (NIV)

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia,

[WOULD YOU EVEN KNOW IF I WAS MISPRONOUNCING THESE??? :) ]

Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

REFLECTIONS

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It is obvious that the Holy Spirit and the VERY early church have collided at Pentecost. And it’s something…

But WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

The very Spirit of God enters the room… the description is fascinating… look back at this with me…

It says there was “a sound from heaven LIKE the blowing (one translation says “howling”) of a violent wind”… They saw what SEEMED to be “tongues of fire” that rested on each of them…

You know what this tells me? It was probably really hard to describe.

One thing to keep in mind with scripture… sometimes there are wild things that are happening and the writer is probably just doing the best they can to wordsmith that :)

God’s own Spirit shows up and it’s chaotic and loud and hard to put into words…

And they can’t figure out what it means…

_____________________

And this is where I want to live today...

For some of you, you have heard the story of Pentecost countless times… others this might be a first.

But this is essentially the birth of the church… this matters to us thousands of years later....

So just like those in the room back then… I have to ask, “What does this mean?”

___________________

Easter… just a couple of weeks ago… Corky preached a sermon called “A Before and After Story.”

And it was about just how much our lives could change from before to after our decision accept this new life and follow Jesus.

And this past week I went into his office and I said, “Listen I don’t know if I can preach Pentecost without talking about how different things are before and after the Holy Spirit.”

And we both decided it was probably fine because no one remembers sermons for more than just a couple of days… it’s all good :)

But truly in the same way we have these anchor points in our lives… in the same way you might say your life is completely different after Jesus… THIS is also what happens with an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

There is a marked difference… there is a distinct page turn when we talk about what is happening before the Holy Spirit and what is happening after the Holy Spirit...

And the page turns at Pentecost.

____________________________

And so I want to take a look at a few before and after stories today, that you encounter in and around Acts 2.

And when you look closely at the beginning of Acts you’ll see that the people who show up in chapter 1 are dramatically different in chapter 3.

And if they had heard from the great Denzel Washington as we did at the beginning… they would say that chapter 2 - PENTECOST- was one of those moments for them...

____________________________

I want to start by talking about Peter…

You know Peter, right?

The headstrong, emotional roller coaster of a disciple who would chop a guy’s ear off to defend Jesus in one moment… and then deny he knew him the next?

Yeah, he’s not really the picture of stability...

If you were going to build a movement, he would not be your cornerstone.

He’s extraordinarily flawed… acts before he thinks… makes tons of mistakes… and wears his emotions on his sleeve.

Luckily none of us can relate to this… :)

_____________________________

And then comes the Holy Spirit.

And on the other side of Pentecost Peter finds his feet.

He delivers one sermon… has never preached before that we know of… one sermon… 3,000 people get saved.

I had a televangelist joke in there… but I took it out. Just wasn’t a good idea.

WISDOM.

Peter emerges as a powerful preacher… and you read on and he is healing… and he’s teaching… and he’s butting heads with the religious leaders…

You know who he’s starting to look like…

He looks a whole lot like Jesus.

Because...

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, [lived in Peter].

_____________________________

And Peter is not alone in this before and after Pentecost thing…

Let’s talk about the rest of the disciples… they have a before and after story.

If you have read much of the gospels in the New Testament… Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John… you may get a frustrated or annoyed feeling when reading about the disciples.

They are constantly coming up short… they’re not really picking up what Jesus is laying down.

In fact, the book of Mark portrays them as so dim that some professors and theologians will refer to the disciples, particularly in Mark, as the duh-sciples.

Jesus is right in front of them… and they usually miss it!

_____________________

It’s like the same feeling you get when you watch a scary movie and inevitably the group decides to split up at the worst possible time.

No… you guys know better than this

This is what it is like sometimes to read about the disciples.

No, don’t go down to the scary basement....

And don’t stop looking at Jesus when you’re walking on top of a lake.

Just kind of basic stuff...

_________________________

Even after the resurrection… you have Peter and a few others just go back to fishing

You have a couple of others who are headed home to Emmaus.

You have Thomas who just simply can’t believe it… and honestly, Thomas is probably just saying out loud what the rest of them were thinking!

You can move on into Acts 1 and they’re still struggling.

One of my favorite moments in chapter 1 is when Jesus ascends into heaven and you get the impression that the disciples stand there like staring upward just a little too long…

This is Acts 1:10…

Acts 1:10–11 (NIV)

10 ***They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?

They just stand there paralyzed long enough… that God is like “Okay we need to send a couple of angels before these guys go blind looking at the sun...”

From the ascension then it seems like they just hunker down and pray… and not that that is a bad thing, but nothing really worth noting is happening around them...

The movement seems like it has lost something.

In fact, the only decision they seem fit to make is kind of a no-brainer anyway… They simply to replace Judas… that’s just what makes sense to them in the moment.

You get the idea that this is kind of a scared, timid remnant.

They’re down to about 120 believers around them.

____________________

SIDENOTE:

I want to ask… what happened to the 5,000 that were fed?

Or the 4,000 more after that?

What happened to “the crowds” that constantly followed Jesus?

It seems like they got what they needed, but they didn’t stick around.

Church: Consumer Christianity is NOT a new phenomenon!

_____________________

And then comes the Holy Spirit.

And on the other side of Pentecost they have crowds around them… and they grow from 120 to over 3,000...

They go from timid and scared and just staring up at where Jesus once was.... to moving confidently ahead… boldly into the ministry they have been called to.

You know who they’re starting to look like… they’re looking more and more like Jesus.

Listen… if the story of the disciples just stopped after the gospels… we would not be referring to these guys as the church fathers.

They were more like Jesus’ bumbling sidekicks…

But…

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, [was living in them ].

And after Pentecost they take their place in history is heroes of faith.

_________________________

Let’s talk about one more before and after story… we talked about Peter… we talked about the disciples… let’s talk about The Church.

You don’t hear a lot about a “church” before Acts 2.

Sure there’s a following around Jesus… but it’s one that seems all but gone when He is executed.

There ARE disciples… but well… we’ve talked about them already. They’re a little underwhelming at that time.

Jesus says He’s going to build a church… with Peter as the head… not my first round draft pick...

And really in the time of Jesus… the prevailing thought is that if there is a movement of the people of God… it’s going to be this one nation of set apart people.

It’s a bit exclusive isn’t it?

None of this is really what we’ve come to know as the Church.

___________________________

And then comes the Holy Spirit.

And the really significant thing about this Jewish festival of Pentecost… is that nations would travel in for it.

Many different people groups… we listed them a few minutes ago… they would head to Jerusalem for it.

And suddenly Jesus telling them to wait in Jerusalem makes a lot more sense.

And at Pentecost… instead of the nations and languages being a cause for division… it was a canvas for a miracle.

You see all the way back at the Tower of Babel you see the creation of languages as a story of separation and scattering.

Now at Pentecost the Holy Spirit fixes what is broken and we understand that the message of Jesus can cross boundaries and nations…

And we know now that ALL people are the people of God.

And after Pentecost things continue to spread… and in Acts chapter 10 there’s like a Pentecost part 2 where we see the Gentiles… those who weren’t Jewish… they have an encounter with the Holy Spirit as well.

And you see the church form… and it unites people… and inspires people… and welcomes new people in…

And you know who it’s starting to look like… It’s looking a whole lot like Jesus.

Because

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, [was living in the early church].

APPLICATIONS

Based on what I read at the beginning of Acts… I would tell you that if you don’t have a before and after story… then you haven’t truly encountered the Holy Spirit.

The impression that I get is that once Acts 2 happens to you… then you just simply can’t stay the same person in chapter 3 as you were in chapter 1.

You may even want to mark your spiritual life like this… “Oh that was before or that was after my Pentecost...”

SO WHERE ARE YOU?

You may feel like you’re still in chapter 1… you’re here… maybe a bit unsure… maybe a bit timid…

And just like the disciples, you’re waiting for God to move…

Church, God is faithful… and in Luke it specifically says He will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him...

You can just ask God to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

NOW… don’t let that scare you off… If you’re having those Pentecostal visions of people shouting and falling on the floor… I’m not saying that doesn’t happen and it’s not heartfelt.

But when I say filled with the Spirit, I mean that God would give you power and strength and you would simply live your life as if He is in control.

I pray to God that I would be filled with His Spirit… every. day.

I want to have a Pentecost moment every single morning as I start my day.

___________________________

Or maybe you’re on the other side… You know what Pentecost feels like. You know that the Holy Spirit moves and works within you...

And maybe you have the same question as they did back then.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What do I do with this?

Does it just STOP at Pentecost?

Is it just about the warm fuzzies or the mountaintop experiences?

Listen the Holy Spirit might just have a powerful impact on worship… and it is beautiful when that happens...

But don’t forget that Pentecost is just chapter 2… in the very full story of Acts.

___________

When we talk about a Holy Spirit experience and we wonder WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? we’re actually going to dive deeper into this next week...

But for today… I think there is one outcome in particular that we need to be aware of…

You see, Jesus told us WHAT THIS MEANS in chapter 1 before it even happened.

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;

[THIS IS PENTECOST, RIGHT?]

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

You see Pentecost can be seen as a reversal of the Tower of Babel… instead of the nations being divided by language… they come together despite their languages.

And the Church grows.

And it continues as the Holy Spirit impacts other places and other areas

And the Church grows.

and even starts to include the outsiders (people like you and me)

And the Church grows.

Here’s how to know that the Holy Spirit is at work within you… That feeling of change… that feeling of an AFTER story...

You will WANT that for other people.

You will WANT that for other people.

This grows because you want it for others.

___________________________

I hear these phrases in church circles pretty often…

“the Holy Spirit showed up in church this morning”

or “that was some real Spirit-led worship”

Maybe you’ve heard this before…

And sometimes it comes from someone… this is so frustrating… it comes from someone who is still a jerk at the office… and they’re rude to the waiter… and stingy with their money…

And you get the sense that, yeah, maybe the Holy Spirit was in the room… but they didn’t have an “after” story...

There wasn’t a chapter 3 after Pentecost. There was nothing different.

It seems like it was Holy Ghost gluttony… like they may have just soaked it in in a worship service… and they didn’t share it with anybody.

And the sense of going to the ends of the earth… or creating a space where all are welcome is lost.

***Listen the Holy Spirit’s endgame is not just to give you warm fuzzies on a Sunday… it is to help you look more and more like Jesus Monday through Saturday!

And because YOU look like Jesus… this thing grows.

_____________________________

There’s is a pretty obvious reason why Pentecost is the birthday of the church.

Because the outcome, the “after” story is that THIS. SPREADS.

Without Pentecost… the church is never born… we don’t have any of this.

And if we encounter the Spirit of God, only to keep it for ourselves, and just soak it in on Sundays… then everything stalls.

But the story of Pentecost and the story of something that grows and spreads... is OUR STORY. This is our DNA

You want to know what Pentecost means? What being a church means?

It is to experience the same power that raised Jesus from the dead… and to WANT it for others.

To see your friends and family…

cashiers…

waiters…

personal trainers…

employees

bosses…

teachers…

And to WANT Acts 2 for them as well.

To know what it feels like to be a child of God, walking in His Spirit… and to WANT that for someone else.

You’ve heard this from Corky before… the church is the only organization on the planet that exists for those who are not here yet.

That is what it means. That is our “after” story… and things look different from here on out.

That is what things look like on the other side of Pentecost.

__________________________

Your story with the Holy Spirit WILL be a before and after story… there’s just no other way about it.

You can’t have an encounter with the Spirit and leave the same way you came.

The story of scripture and the story of so many saints in history… and the story of so many believers today… and the story of my own life IS a before and after story.

I still remember my moment...

It actually wasn’t as long ago as you might think… but when I think of my own spiritual life… there is something markedly different before and after 2018.

It wasn’t like I wasn’t a follower of Jesus… I was already a pastor actually.

But in 2018 the Holy Spirit showed up in my life… powerfully… and when I needed Him most.

And I’m not the same man I was.

And church, I want that for you and I want that for anyone that I come in contact with.

WE

So what does it look like for you to move from Chapter 1 to Chapter 3.

What does it look like for you to welcome the power of God’s Spirit into your life?

Or what does it look like for it to have changed your life so much… that you want to see it in others?

That is truly what Pentecost means.

CLOSING PRAYER

Who You are, who we are, who You’ve called us to be…

LET’S STAND AND SING AND ENJOY GOD’S PRESENCE AND SPIRIT TODAY.

BENEDICTION

The Holy Spirit and church collision IS our beginning… It’s the beginning of a story that is still being written… and was added to this morning.

Pentecost is your birthday church.

Actually the Sunday of Pentecost is coming up in just over a month… we should celebrate.

Maybe we’ll have donuts or something :)

Listen… don’t let this stay in here. If this is how far it goes… then we’ve missed something significant.

This is meant to go out… like a violent wind… it’s meant to cause a ruckus that might bring a crowd.

Not necessarily to here… maybe to here...

But this is meant to bring a crowd to faith in the one and only abundant life that I know… a life changed and made new by Jesus.

I love you church… we’ll see you next week :)