Tear Down The Walls

INTRO

You know, sometimes the most powerful thing in our lives isn’t what we have in our hands — it’s what we carry in our hearts.

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camps. He lost everything — his freedom, his family, even the knowledge of whether his loved ones were still alive. But in the middle of that unthinkable suffering, something happened.

One day, while marching through snow with frozen feet, starving and exhausted, he suddenly found himself thinking of his wife. He didn’t know if she was still alive, but he said this moment changed everything. He wrote:

“I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

What kept him going wasn’t food or freedom — it was the love of his family. The thought of her gave him the strength to survive the nightmare. Even without knowing her fate, that love was enough to carry him through the pain.

And here’s the truth I want to start with today:

The love we give to one another in our families — the way we show up, speak life, and stay faithful — it can carry someone through the darkest valley.

Some of you are here today because someone loved you through a painful chapter. And some of you have the chance to be that kind of strength for someone else — not because you’re perfect, but because love is powerful.

MAIN POINT

The way God has shown us His love is to give us the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7 NLT

But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.

Acts 1:8 NLT

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.”

PENTECOST SUNDAY

“Pentecost isn’t just a Bible story — it’s the moment that made it possible for people like us, 2,000 years later, to still experience the power, presence, and purpose of God.”

Pentecost SUNDAY is the day we celebrate when God sent the Holy Spirit to empower the followers of Jesus.

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT??

ROPE?

1. THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO ANOINT YOU.

Luke 4:1 NLT

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

Luke 4:14 NLT

Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.

Luke 4:18 NLT

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,

A. Anoint = To empower. To embolden. To animate.

TIMIDITY AND UNCERTAINTY CAN BE STUMBLING BLOCKS OF EVANGELISM.

Matthew 28:19 NLT

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

C. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE PERSON OF POWER WHO LEADS YOU OUT SO YOU CAN RETURN AND OPERATE IN HIS POWER TO PROCLAIM JESUS TO THE WORLD.

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D. THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO PARTNER WITH YOU.

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2 Peter 1:20–21 NLT

Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

2. THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO TURN YOUR WEAKNESSES INTO STRENGTHS.

A. WEAKNESS COMES IN MANY FORMS: CIRCUMSTANCE, CLIMATE, INTERNAL STRUGGLE, FAILURE, WEARINESS, FLESH.

THE HOLY SPIRIT OFTEN SHAPES US IN THE WILDERNESS.

B. THE TEMPTATION IS TO USE ARROGANCE TO PROJECT FALSE STRENGTH.

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NLT

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

C. TRUE STRENGTH COMES FROM THE POWER OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.

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D. THE STRONGEST POSITION WE CAN TAKE IS TO BE A PEOPLE THAT ARE FULLY RELIANT ON THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR LIVES.

1 Corinthians 2:12–13 NLT

And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO EMPOWER YOU.

“You can have knowledge, and you can be meticulous in your preparation; but without the unction of the Holy Spirit you will have

no power…” - Martin Lloyd Jones

Acts 2:14–18 NLT

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.

A. GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES.

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B. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES US POWER.

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C. WE’RE NOT MEANT TO DO THIS ALONE.

OUR JOB AS BELIEVERS IS TO BE FULLY PREPARED TO LEAD AND FULLY PREPARED TO BE LED.

WHEN WE LIVE FROM ACCEPTANCE, RATHER THAN FOR ACCEPTANCE, ONLY THEN CAN WE GET OUT OF THE WAY.

D. THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO PUT A MESSAGE IN YOU SO HE CAN WORK THE MESSAGE OF TRANSFORMATION OUT OF YOU!

RESULT: RESULT OF INFO

DON’T FORGET THE STRING.

WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO THE BEACH, COOKING TOGETHER, HAVING SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFAST, WATCHING MOVIES TOGETHER, GOT TO A SPORTS EVENT, OR GOING TO TARGET, REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU HAVE A HOME IN ETERNITY, AND ASK YOURSELF ARE YOU LEADING YOUR FAMILY THAT WAY!

CHALLENGE: PERSONAL CHALLENGE

1. Invite Him to fill and lead you.

2. Invite Him to prepare you.

3. Invite Him to shape you.

4. Invite Him to anoint you.

CONCLUSION/CLOSE

1 Peter 4:11 NLT

Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NLT

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.