Spirit-led #1

My dad had a way with discipline. He was so good at putting me in moments that were incredibly difficult but forced me to think and work for the lesson that was at the end.

In my parent’s house, a lot of things had to be earned.

One summer, my parents agreed to give me my first iPod touch. The old iPod Nano was cool, but definitely didn’t have the capacity of a touch!

I was pumped. There was one condition… I had to paint the entire fence around our pool.

This sounds easy, but this deal was made in the summer heat of Southwest Georgia.

Driven by what could have been received at the end, I committed to the challenge

It was horrific. 100+ degree heat. Gnats crawling in your ears, eyes, nose, everywhere!

It was miserable. I couldn’t play ball with friends, couldn’t hang out with anyone… My role was to paint the fence for the reward at the end.

I was young and hard headed. It was summer so sleeping in was a given meaning that most of my time spent painting was at the peak of the heat.

My dad would make his rounds and inspect my work, often calling me back to re-do a board or two.

Only about a 5th of the way in, I couldn’t do it anymore. I begin to grow in frustration. My sister got one for having straight A’s. The only thing I made consistently in school were free-throws and friends. One of those has gotten me a lot farther than life than most with straight A’s- just saying.

That is a dangerous thing to recognize in middle school.

So I begin to think about how I could persuade my dad to maybe only make me paint half or maybe even start a business to hire help or something.

The heat was just too much.

My dad, coming outside to inspect my work, hears me out. He looks at me almost like he was excited for the opportunity to point me in an obvious direction.

“So the problem is it is too hot?”

“Yes sir.”

“And you can’t stand the heat which makes painting the entire fence a bit too difficult.”

“I don’t know about too difficult but yes, dad, it’s way too hot.”

“And you haven’t thought about how you could cool off… As if there might be a pool right behind you that remains 100% accessible to you.”

In that moment, I realized what I had been missing the whole time.

From then on out, I would paint a couple boards, hop in the pool to cool down, get out and paint, hop back in, etc.

In a matter of a couple days, the job was completed.

Dad got a repainted fence and I received the iPod Touch!

I can’t wait to use my kids to do the things I don’t want to do!

Life as a Christian can sometimes feel like painting fences in the dead of summer.

It’s hard. It feels like endless suffering. We know there is a reward, but the reward hangs in the balance of how much more of this life we can take.

We want to please God. We want the reward eternal life. We want affirmation from God.

But we are tired of taking the heat.

Yet none of us are seeking to be replenished and refreshed by the accessible pool, that is, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

None of us are tapping in and depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit for endurance, for guidance, for cleansing, and for renewal.

So we white knuckle our way through until we find ourselves justifying ways we can compromise in order to get out of our suffering.

Many of us are in the position of asking whether or not this life is worth it, if what God has called us to do is possible… If the reward is real…

With the presence of the Holy Spirit in you and me, His presence enables us to press on, to be transformed, and experience a renewing transformation in the midst of our efforts in serving the Lord with our reward in sight, eternal life in heaven.

Who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do for us? What does He do in us? And how can that shape the life God has for us?

Throughout our study in Colossians, we have laid out the mission of our church and the vision for our church that we are pursuing over the next 5 years.

We are broken people becoming authentic followers of Jesus.

Our desire is to see the…

Presence of Jesus in every corner of South Tampa through you.

Claiming your corner looks like this!

Identify your corner.

Wheres the place and who’s your person that God has already placed around you?

Intercede for your corner.

Pray daily for that person and that place, for open hearts and opportunities to share and invite.

Impact your corner.

Live out your faith by sharing God’s story in your life and through it.

One of the most important recognitions that must be made is this-

We are able to accomplish this vision of Jesus in every corner because of our true reality…

Jesus’ Spirit in you.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Our life without the presence of the Holy Spirit and our dependency upon him is as useful as a ship in the ocean without sails…

If we have not the Spirit of God, it were better we had never been born. (Charles Spurgeon)

Through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are able to make a CASE for authentically following Jesus.

CASE standing for a life that is compassionate, available, spirit-led, and empowering.

A part of living a life that is authentically following Jesus is learning how to live like Jesus did- living a life that is Spirit-led.

A life filled with the Spirit is a life surrendered to the will of God.

The next passage in Colossians that we are going to walk through is this-

Colossians 4:2–6 ESV

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

This passage bears the fruit of someone who is filled with the Spirit of God and walking a life led by Him.

Next week, we will outline the practicality of what life looks like while being led by the Spirit.

Today, I want to first introduce Him to you.

The greatest tragedy of the church today is that the Holy Spirit is so much a stranger in the church. (Leonard Ravehill)

The Holy Spirit is not something to feel, He is a person to know.

He is the agent by which transformation takes place.

The Holy Spirit, first and for most, is God.

The Holy Spirit is God.

Just like Jesus walked on this earth but was fully divine, the Holy Spirit is unique in His role, but fully God.

This is the mystery to which we refer to as the trinity: the reality that the Bible talks about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as being three distinct persons yet clearly identifying each of these persons as God.

Although no illustration is perfect, think of their relationship like three musical notes that create one beautiful harmony.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force-

We don’t refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it.” The Holy Spirit is a “He.”

He is a person with the ability to act, will, and even be grieved.

Ephesians 4:30 ESV

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

The Holy Spirit is what empowers gospel ministry.

Matthew 3:16 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

Luke 4:1 ESV

1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Jesus was filled with the Spirit while ministering on earth.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The disciples too.

When our faith is placed in the person and work of Jesus and we commit our lives to knowing Him and following Him, we are empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

This enables our mission.

This is why Paul says,

Galatians 5:16 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

He also describes what this life filled with the Spirit is like-

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

The overconsumption or abuse of alcohol results in the inability of self-control.

Paul is painting this picture with that in mind-

A life filled with the Spirit is a life surrendered to the will of God.

The Holy Spirit is called a helper for this reason- He helps us fulfill God’s purpose on earth!

Watching the Florida State game last night-

with the same amount of confusion as joy-

I would watch the our QB throw his hands over his helmet ear holes before making his next play.

If you know how much the game has progressed you know what is happening-

The qb is receiving instructions and warnings from the coach through an ear piece speaker in his helmet.

While simultaneously cutting out all of the distractions! (Doug Phillips).

This enables him to receive play calls and hear from his coach clearly and effectively.

The Holy Spirit is acting as our play caller- guiding us in our next move through confirmation and assurance given in the form of God’s truth from His word and peace from His presence.

His presence is inside of every believer.

The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is not a gift that is set aside for chosen Christians- He is a gift given to all of us who believe.

Romans 8:9 ESV

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

The Holy Spirit is essential for following Jesus and being changed by Him!

It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to obey Jesus, to pray, to defeat sin, among other things.

In John 6, Jesus is playing the role of master Yoda to these disciples.

He’s teaching them lesson after lesson using metaphors and illustrations.

He says things like…

English Standard Version Chapter 6

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

English Standard Version Chapter 6

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

We know that what Jesus was teaching was that we are to be totally dependent upon Him for the sustainability of not only our life one earth, but the assurance of eternal life in heaven!

But we have all been in the place of the disciples here-

They had been doing ministry all day- they have been working hard. They are tired. All they want is straight forward instructions…

But here Jesus is, using metaphors and illustrations…

Look at their response…

English Standard Version Chapter 6

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Jesus, please!! Just tell us what you want us to know?!

Jesus, acknowledging they were short on attention, answers this way…

English Standard Version Chapter 6

Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.

In other words… He was telling the disciples that muscle, determination, and will power will not make anything happen.

It is only the enabling powerful presence of the Spirit that wills to work in and through us.

It is the Holy Spirit you must surrender to.

A life filled with the Spirit is a life surrendered to the will of God.

The reality for us today is this- We are either full of the Spirit… or full of ourselves.

I mean that in every way.

God’s design for you on this earth includes your submission to the guidance to the Holy Spirit to be changed and be a part of change.

Maybe some of us today aren’t seeking to be filled with the Spirit because we are full of other things.

What could you be filled with?

Maybe you career? Kids? School? Fear? Worry?

[Gospel Invitation}

… The Spirit was gifted to you in your pursuit of God and recovery from brokenness…

The Spirit will always be in you but your desire to “be filled with the Spirit” is simply your desire to obey His guidance in Jesus’ truth.

Maybe today, your request before the Lord is to clense yourself from what is currently filling you

From what is currently consuming your life,

And to be filled with the desire to follow Jesus and depend on the Spirit.

Invitation Options

Decision Card in back of chairs

Salvation

Baptism

Prayer

Place card on stage, take to welcome tent, leave it on your chair face down.

Prayer Tag

Person and Place

Prayer Wall

Repent from your sins, trust in the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life.