Holy Spirit Guides Us

May 19th 2024

Series: Who is the Holy Spirit?

Sermon Title: Holy Spirit Guides Us

Topic: Journey to help us learn who the Holy Spirit was, is, and will always be and how the Holy Spirit is active in our lives today.

Key Passages: Genesis 6: 1-4, 41:38

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will explore the ways the Holy Spirit guides us.

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Dedication, Baptism, or Ministry Highlight:

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Start with something personal from your family life recently to help people get to know you.

Celebrate salvation’s / re-dedications / baptisms last week.

Those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

We are in a series that is taking a DEEP dive into who the Holy Spirit actually was, is, and will always be.

How God the Father.

The Son Jesus.

The Holy Spirit….

How they are ALL the SAME…

And how they are ALL different…

PAUSE

Today, we will keep building off that foundation and begin looking at how the Holy Spirit was active and moving in the Bible….

Starting today, we are going to begin in the Old Testament….

Or the first ½ of your Bible….

And we are going to look at how the Holy Spirit was present there…

After we spend some time learning about that, we will move into the New Testament….

Or the second half of your Bible…

And do the same thing: look at how the Holy Spirit was present there.

Sound good church????

PAUSE

Now grab your Bible and open it up to

Genesis 6

As you are getting to Genesis 6, let me say this…

The name “Holy Spirit” is EXCEEDINGLY rare in the Old Testament.

However, the Old Testament references around 100 references to God’s Spirit.

There are around 400 references to the “wind” or “breath” of God.

There are LOADS of passages that talk about the “spirit,” and it can be hard to determine if we are talking about our human spirit or God’s spirit…..

Mainly because there is this connection between God’s Spirit and ours!

PAUSE

So, this is going to be a fun journey!!!!

And by the way…..

New Person Bible Connection:

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!!

PAUSE

Two weeks ago, we talked about how the Holy Spirit gives us identity as we see at the very start of Genesis chapter 1…

And I would encourage you….

If you missed that message, go back and listen to it online.

We talked very clearly about how we can be confused about identity in our modern world and how the Holy Spirit can clear that up…

But if you look in your notes….It lists all the locations in the first 5 books of the Bible where the Holy Spirit is mentioned.

Holy Spirit in the Old Testament: Genesis 1:2, 2:7, 6:3, 41:38. Exodus 31:3, 35:31. Numbers 11:17,25-26,29, 24:2, 27:18. Deuteronomy 34:9.

I find it quite interesting that Genesis 1 & 2 the Holy Spirit is there giving identity and life to mankind…

Then we do not hear about the Holy Spirit in chapter 3-5…

Then when the Holy Spirit is mentioned again it is at the start of chapter 6 and it is in limiting life of humans….

Let me show you…

Genesis 6: 1-4 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,

2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

Pause here for a second…

For those of you who LOVE to dive deep into the Bible.

Underline sons of God…

And go study that…

That is a fun rabbit hole!

I will come back to it in a minute…

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Stop there.

There is the Holy Spirit again.

God’s Spirit will NOT contend with humans forever…

God decides to limit human life span to 120 years…

Think about what we have learned about the Holy Spirit already…

The Holy Spirit is guiding mankind…

God’s Spirit is actively involved in the lives of humans, striving to guide them toward righteousness.

The Spirit’s striving implies efforts to lead people away from sin...

To convict them when they choose sin instead of righteousness…

To draw them closer to God.

This happened through various means, prophetic messages, inner convictions, and moral guidance.

BUT as we know from reading Genesis 1-5 mankind then, just like today, keeps choosing the WRONG path…

So…

God acknowledges human mortality and the limitations of our existence.

Despite the Spirit’s efforts….

Humanity’s inclination toward sin and rebellion is pervasive...

Therefore, God decrees that human life spans will be limited to 120 years.

PAUSE

This verse serves as a reminder of God’s patience…

His desire for humanity’s well-being…

And the consequences of continued disobedience.

It emphasizes the need for repentance and turning toward God while there is still time.

PAUSE

Here is the point church…

The Holy Spirit guides us toward our best life.

Repeat

That is what the Holy Spirit has been trying to do from Genesis 1 all the way to this point…

But see we get FREE will…

God lets us choose to accept to follow Him or NOT…

And thousands of years ago….just like today… it seems most people want to choose being guided by the devil and not the Holy Spirit…

PAUSE

And church…

Please listen to me….

I can promise you…

The things this world promises you is hollow…

I know the allure of becoming RICHis great…but money will not make you happy….

I know the allure of becoming the next INFLUENCERis great…but fame will not make you happy…

I know the allure to working hard so you can RETIRE and live the good life…but even retiring and living at the beach will NOT fill you!

PAUSE

The only thing that will complete you…

The only thing that can fill you…

The only thing that can bring you un-ending JOY….

Is a REAL relationship with God!

Is a REAL relationship with Jesus!!!

Is really following the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your life!

And that is why we are in this series to help you in just that!

LONG PAUSE

Let’s keep reading…and this if for you deep Bible people again… Verse 4…

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.

They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Again….

We are not going to park here and unpack this because I want to encourage you to do a little digging deeper outside church!

Dive into…

Who are the sons of God?

What are Nephilim?

Who are these heroes of old?

Who are these men of renown?

If you like to dig into stuff….

Have some fun later and dive into that!

And feel free to come see me or any of the other pastors and talk about what you discover! It is some interesting stuff!!!

PAUSE

But after Genesis 6:3 references to the Spirit go largely silent until almost the end of Genesis…

Move in your Bibles to

Genesis 41

At this point in real human history is the story of Joesph.

A guy who was given by his brothers into slavery…

A guy who then went on to have a rough go of it in life…

A guy who kept getting knocked down NOT because of his choices but because of the choices of others…

Maybe you can relate to that…

Maybe you have been hurt by others.

Maybe your parents separated and you don’t know why.

Maybe you were fired because of someone else's issues.

Maybe you go in trouble at school and it was not your fault.

Maybe someone broke up with you over something that was not true.

Life can be HARD…

Life can be unfair…

And where we pick up in the Bible is after Joseph had seen NO breaks in life….

When life was bad and just getting worse…

PAUSE

But I want you to see something about Joseph and encourage you to live like him….

Genesis 41:38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

Do you hear what the ruler of Egypt said?

“Can we find anyone whom the spirit of God is SO obviously present in?”

He is asking…

“Have any of you…ever seen someone who God CLEARLY speaks to!”

This person who BELIVED he was a god!

He admits he is seeing a REAL God’s Spirit in Joseph….

PAUSE

And here is why I want to focus in here….

Joesph’s life was HARD!

His brother’s HATED him.

His brothers wanted to KILL him.

He was sold into slavery by his OWN brothers!

Then when life started to look up…

When is owner started to bless him…

He was wrongly accused by a woman and thrown into jail!

Life goes down the tubes again….

Then when life starts look up in prison…

Like he might get help and get out…

He was overlooked even when he helped others out...

PAUSE

But here is the key church….

Joseph kept living for God even when life was not perfect.

Joseph kept living for God even when life was going TERRIBLE!

Joseph had EVERY reason in the world to HATE God!

God did not stop him from becoming a slave!

God did not stop him from getting thrown into jail!

God did not clear him name when a woman falsely accused him!

God did not make sure he got credit when he helped other people!

PAUSE

God….

Seemingly did nothing..

God…

Seemingly forgot about Joseph…

PAUSE

But even when Joseph did not see the activity of God in his life…

He kept living for God…

He kept trusting God…

He kept following God…

Something that is SO HARD to do if we are honest.

See, here is the point church.

Just because we can’t feel God’s Spirit.

Just because we can’t see the work of the Holy Spirit.

It does NOT mean He is not guiding and working!

PAUSE

Church….

Right here in the Bible….

The ruler of all of Egypt SEES God’s Spirit in Jospeh!

And this is the turning point in his life!

After this AMAZING things happen in Joseph’s life that there is NO WAY he would EVER have imagined were possible!

He becomes a free man.

He becomes a rich man.

He becomes an influential man.

He is reunited with his family!

He rescues his family!

He becomes a savior to his family that wanted to kill him!

And SO MUCH MORE!!!

And it was ALL because he kept living for God…

Even when he did not feel God.

Even when he did not see God.

Even when life was hard.

And I want to encourage all of you to do the same.

Don’t give up on God.

Just because life is hard…does NOT mean God is not working in the background on something GREAT!

Let me share a story about a time this happened in my life in closing…

Let me share your life application with you today….

For those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.

We end our messages with a Life Application.

It is simply something to help you go home and process this message with someone else.

Something to help you continue to ponder how you can apply today's message into your life.

So here is what I want you all to spend some time processing and talking with someone about.

Life Application: The Holy Spirit wants to be your guide in life. How could you being to follow His leading more in your life?

As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer: