Go where the Wind of the Holy Spirit Leads
Notes
Transcript
Bible reading Acts 2:1-13
Sermon on Acts 2:14-41
Introduction
Strong wind can be a great danger.
In coastal communities small boats are warned to stay in the harbour when the wind is really strong.
In the Bible we see accounts of strong winds whipping up storms and experienced fishermen being terrified.
In Luke 8:24, Matthew 14:24 and Mark 4:37 we read of times when the disciples were in a small boat and the wind and subsequent waves made them terrified.
Here in Queensland we have experience with strong winds, from cyclones to severe thunderstorms, we have all seen the damage that strong wind can do.
A good breeze is seen as helpful, it cools things, makes the windmill turn and fills the sails of boats.
But a strong wind is something to avoid.
But when it comes to the wind of the Holy Spirit, we want to run into it not away.
We need to let the wind of the Spirit take us where he wills.
Yet all to often the church choses to play it safe and hide instead of letting the Holy Spirit fill our sails and lead us where he wills.
To use the sailing analogy.
The marina and surrounding facilities are the church.
A yatch club for fellowship and lessons on boating.
The boat ramp and shipwrights yard for repairs, a bit like counselling.
The docks like the carpark.
The sail boats like your actual body, that goes out into the world to do the work of ministry.
This past week you have had opportunity to engage with the daily devotionals from Queensland Baptists titled Fan the Flame.
Each Sunday between now and Pentecost I will pick up on a key idea from the past weeks devotions.
The leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit is the wind that fills our sails.
We need to not be afraid, we need to embrace that which the Holy Spirit brings because it is the only way that the church is truly empowered to do what Jesus commanded.
The Bible is clear the Holy Spirit is the indwelling power of God that fills us to be Christ’s witnesses.
Joel prophesied it Joel 2:28
28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.
John the Baptist spoke of it Matthew 3:11
11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John the apostle wrote about it John 14:15-17
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
And again in
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and fill the disciples with power to do his will in Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
And in John 3:5–8
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
All of this tells us that the events of the day of Pentecost and throughout book of Acts are really significant.
God had this planned, he had been putting things in place
This event was incredibly important for the disciples and it is for us
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost empowered the disciples for ministry.
They faced an awesome task, they had seen the risen Christ, they were excited by this fact, it gave them confidence and a greater understanding.
But any attempt to share this would have been in their own human strength.
They would have never succeeded if they had tried this on their own.
Jesus clearly said in Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
They were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:4 tells us “4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”
Here we see the birth of the church.
It was an incredible unique event, which signalled the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within all true believers.
Up until this point the Holy Spirit had been given to selected individuals for specific purposes and sometimes only temporarily.
Now the Holy Spirit is poured out on all believers for all time.
The Holy Spirit was given so that believers would be empowered to witness to Christ’s Lordship.
The Holy Spirit was given so that believers would be empowered to recall the words of Jesus and his life and to write it down as Scripture in the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit was given so that believers would be agents of God’s power in performing miracles to witness to Christ.
The Holy Spirit was given so that the disciples would be sustained through the challenges that living for Christ would bring.
The Church today has the same Holy Spirit, the same purpose and the same empowering and the same mission.
The key message that jumped out at me from this past weeks devotions was that Jason and Dan who wrote this weeks material both had to deal with the fear they felt in order to step out and allow the Holy Spirit to minister through them..
Now I know Jason reasonably well, Dan not so well.
Today you might look at them and go they are both superstars.
And they are.
But as they have both testified this wasn’t always the case.
In different times and in different ways they have both had to take that step of trusting the Holy Spirit.
Of taking that step of faith, relying on God to do what they could not.
It is exactly the same for us.
The call is to trust the Holy Spirit, to look for where the wind of the Spirit is blowing and jump on board.
To use the analogy of the sailing boat.
You might not have much, in fact your boat may be just a couple of drums tied together with a broom stick and an old sheet for a sail and an oar for a rudder.
But if you get out on the bay or the lake and slowly sail up and down in the shallows you will be sailing.
It won’t look impressive, but it might be that a small family is watching you.
They aren’t wealthy, they can’t have the flash yatch that they see further out on the bay.
But they see your little craft and wave at you.
You sail a little closer and they wade out to see you.
You talk and share the simple joy of sailing and they are inspired and challenged to do the same thing.
They also build a little sailing craft.
You invite them to the yatch club.
They take the sailing lessons and learn to sail.
They pass on the simple joy of sailing to many others.
That my friends is an analogy of how the gospel is shared.
But we have fallen into the trap of sitting in the yatch club
I think the danger for Christians today is that the church is like sitting in the yatch club and looking at the boats tied up at the dock.
The excitment isn’t in the yatch club, the action is on the sailing boat.
Instead of jumping on the boat and venturing out into the bay and seeing where the wind takes us, we sit in the yatch club where there is tea and coffee and lovely meals and comfortable chairs and lots of other people just like us enjoying a late morning tea.
Otherwise known as brunch.
That turns into an extended lunch.
And then afternoon tea.
And maybe even then dinner.
Meanwhile the sailboat sits at the dock.
Tied up,
Not doing what it was designed to do.
The wind of the Holy Spirit has blown all day.
And we have sat in comfort, watching the flags flutter in the wind and said, its a good day for sailing and then simply enjoyed the company.
Sail boats are meant to be empowerd by the wind and sail.
Christians are meant to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and share Christ.
The problem is that many Christians today either sit in the yatch club, watching others.
Or worse still decide that they don’t need the wind of the Holy Spirit and can do things in their own strength so take the heavy old timber row boat out.
Let’s go where the wind of the Spirit blows
