Fresh Fire

Worship, Testimony, Corporate Prayer

Welcome Home

Welcome Home to everyone here in the room, and everyone joining us online on Facebook @crosscreekfl and YouTube @crosscreekflorida. If this is your first time, please go ahead and scan that QR code in the seat-back in front of you, or you can fill out the little contact card from your Welcome packet and leave it in the offering later.

Opening

If you have your Bibles with you today, go ahead and open up to Acts chapter 2. While you find your place, I want you to notice something. We often think of Pentecost as a strictly New Testament, Christian event. But did you know that the first-century believers gathered in that upper room didn’t invent this day at all? They were gathering for something ancient.

Pentecost began as a Jewish festival called Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, which occured fifty days after Passover. Historically, Jewish families from all over the world traveled to the Temple to celebrate, commemorating the first covenant - the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.

Let’s imagine for a moment that we are among the Israelites in the wilderness. Seven weeks ago, we escaped slavery in Egypt. We survived the angel of death by the blood of the lamb. We walked through the middle of the Red Sea on dry land. We’ve been eating miraculous bread from heaven, following a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

And now, we are standing at the foot of a mountain that is physically shaking. The peak is buried in thick, black smoke. Lighting flashes violently across the sky, and a trumpet blast echoes through the canyons, getting louder and louder until your chest vibrates.

This was Mount Sinai. God brought them here to give them His law, but the sensory overload was too much. The Bible says the people trembled, backed away, and told Moses: ‘You speak with us and we will hear; but if God speaks to us directly, we will die.’ (Exodus 20:19)

They chose distance over intimacy. They demanded a mediator.

And, for 1,500 years, that distance remained. The law told them how to live holy lives, but it couldn’t change their hearts. It wasn’t until Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that this heart issue would be addressed. Belief in Him would deliver us from our own Egypt - the bondage of sin and death.

And exactly 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, everything changed. God didn’t call His people to a terrifying mountaintop. He met them where they were waiting - in an ordinary room.

And this time, the fire didn’t stay on top of a mountain to keep people away. It broke apart, entered into the room, and rested directly on them. A violent wind filled the house, flames of fire rested on those gathered, and miraculous utterances filled the space. They didn’t run. They didn’t look for a human mediator. They were filled with the very presence of God!

Acts 2:1 says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” The people of God were finally united in heart and mind, ready to receive the powerful infilling of God’s presence.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. And my prayer today is that we would be in this one place, with one accord, united in heart and mind about the Holy Spirit and His baptism. The message of Pentecost is simple: God is not a distant fire to be feared on a mountain. Through the Holy Spirit, He wants to be a fresh fire living and active inside of you.

Pray

Father, we ask for a supernatural unity in this room today... Make us one in mind, one in spirit, and one in purpose so that we are completely ready to receive what you want to pour out today... Lord, we ask that you break down every barrier of fear, doubt, and self-reliance that we brought through those doors. We don’t want distance; we want intimacy... Holy Spirit, fall fresh on us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Introduction

Let’s read Luke’s account of exactly what happened in that room.

Acts 2:1–4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

To truly understand the weight of what happened in that upper room, we have to recognize the significance of this precise timing - exactly fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection. Why? Because He hung on the cross as our ultimate Passover Lamb.

There is a deliberate, divine link between Christ’s triumph at the cross and the Spirit’s empowerment. The cross purchased our freedom, but Pentecost empowers our purpose.

Now, here is the tension we face today: Many in the modern church believe this power was just a temporary spark. They treat it like an ancient museum piece - something to be admired in history but ignored in practice.

But at Cross Creek, we believe the baptism with the Holy Spirit was not just a historical event for them - it is a living promise for all believers who desire it even now. If we want to see supernatural impact in our families, our city, and our culture, we cannot rely on natural strength. We need the same power that shook that room.

Today, I want us to look at three undeniable truths about this fresh fire.

Body

Point 1 - Holy Spirit Baptism is for now

The very first truth we must establish today is this: The baptism with the Holy Spirit did not expire in the first century.

Many well-meaning Christians are taught a doctrine called cessationism - the belief that miraculous gifts and the supernatural baptism of the Holy Spirit ceased when the last apostle died. They treat the upper room fire like a temporary spark used just to kickstart the early church.

But scripture explicitly tells us otherwise. Look at how the Apostle Peter defends what is happening to the mocking crowd outside the upper room. He stands up and quotes the prophet Joel in Acts 2:17 “‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh...”

The ‘last days’ in biblical theology started at the cross and continue all the way until Jesus Christ returns in glory. That means, the promise of the poured-out Spirit belongs to the entire church age.

Peter drives this nail completely into the wall in Acts 2:39 when he declares, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Look at the progression: The promise belongs to the first generation (‘to you’), the next generation (‘your children’), and every single future generation, including us sitting right here at Cross Creek (‘all who are afar off’). If you are still called by God, you are still qualified for the promise.

Jesus Himself settled this debate in Luke 11:13 when He said: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

In the original Greek test, Jesus uses a specific form of the word ‘give’ that denotes continuous, ongoing action. It literally reads: ‘How much more will your heavenly Father keep on giving the Holy Spirit to those who keep on asking Him!’

Our Heavenly Father is not holding back. The issue in the modern church is not that the Father has stopped giving; it’s that His people have stopped asking. We need what they had!

Point 2 - Holy Spirit Baptism is a secondary experience

The second undeniable truth we must look at today is this: The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a distinct, secondary experience that happens after salvation.

Many believers are taught that the moment you get saved, you get everything the Holy Spirit has to offer, all at once. But Scripture paints a deeper, more progressive picture.

Think of it this way: The Holy Spirit is in you for salvation, but He comes upon you for power.

Salvation is about the Holy Spirit giving you new life. Holy Spirit baptism is about Jesus giving you power for ministry. Just like the ancient Israelites, escaping the bondage of Egypt is only the doorway, not the destination. Passover (Salvation) justifies us by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), but Pentecost (Baptism with Holy Spirit) empowers us to march into our calling.

We see this pattern repeatedly in the Book of Acts. In Acts chapter 19, the Apostle Paul encounters a group of disciples in Ephesus and asks them a crucial question: ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ (Acts 19:2)

If receiving the full infilling of the Spirit was automatic at the moment of salvation, Paul’s question makes absolutely no sense. These people were already believers, yet Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they immediately began to speak in tongues and prophesy.

Don’t let anyone convince you to settle for only half of your inheritance. Salvation gets you out of Egypt; Holy Spirit baptism equips you with the fire you need to conquer the promised land!

Point 3 - Holy Spirit Baptism is essential for every believer

This brings us to our third and final truth: The baptism with the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for every believer.

The pressure on our families, our marriages, and our faith is intensifying. If we try to survive this culture using our own natural strength, moral resolve, or human intellect, we will fail every single time.

External rules can never contain internal rebellion. It’s like putting a cage around a wild animal - it restrains the behavior, but does nothing to change the inner nature. Operating entirely in our own flesh, we are systematically incapable of keeping God’s standard. Full stop.

Look at the exact moment this human failure was displayed in history. While Moses was up on the mountain, the people below had lost their minds! They built a golden calf, and fell into chaos. Exodus 32:28 tells us that “about three thousand men fell that day” under the letter of the Law.

Now, fast forward 1,500 years to the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit is poured out. Peter stands up with supernatural boldness, and preaches Christ. Acts 2:41 concludes that on that day “about three thousand souls were added to them.”

This is not a coincidence; it is a divine fulfillment. At Sinai, the Law brought death to three thousand. At Pentecost, the Spirit brought three thousand to life! What the Law kills in the flesh, the Spirit makes alive in grace.

Yet, trying to live without this power is exactly how many Christians live today. We rely on lists, willpower, and human effort. We try harder on Sunday, we make resolutions on Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon, we are exhausted, defeated, and trapped right back in the same old cycle of habitual sin. We have become a saved, but powerless church.

And that is exactly why Jesus looked at His own disciples and gave them a strict, non-negotiable command in Luke 24:49. He said “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Greek word for ‘endued’ literally means to be completely clothed or enveloped in a garment. Jesus was telling them: ‘Do not attempt to do My work without being clothed in My presence. Do not try to fulfill a supernatural commission with natural power.’

If the disciples who walked and talked with Jesus for three years of the ultimate Bible-college education weren’t ready to take a single step into the world without this baptism, why on earth do we think we can survive without it?

Summary

As we close this morning, let’s bring our hearts back to where we started. We looked at two mountains and two fires. Mount Sinai, where the fire stayed at a distance because the people were terrified. And the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, where the fire came down and rested directly on every single believer.

Church, we have to stop trying to live our Christian lives at the foot of Mount Sinai. God never intended for you to walk out your faith by human power alone. And this promise did not expire in the first century. It is for now.

Close/Altar Call

Every head bowed, every eye closed across this room and for everyone watching online.

If you are here today and you say, ‘Pastor, I love Jesus, but I am exhausted. I’ve been trying to live this Christian life in my own strength, and I am running on empty.’ I want you to step out from where you are standing right now and meet me here at the altar.

If you say, ‘I know I’m saved but I’ve never asked for the baptism with the Holy Spirit.’ Come forward right now.

- wait -

As they come, let me speak to those of you sitting in your seats or watching online.

You don’t have to step into an aisle to receive this fresh fire. The Upper Room wasn’t holy because of it’s architecture; it was holy because of the alignment of the hearts inside it.

Whether your feet are moving down to this altar or your hands are opening right there in your seat, your next step is simply to trade your human willpower for His supernatural power. Our Heavenly Father is holding nothing back.

Intercessors, please come and lay hands on these precious ones who came forward.

Let’s stand and lift our hands together across the room as we pray.

Pray

Father, we thank you for the triumphant victory of the cross that delivered us from the bondage of sin. And we thank you that you did not leave us as orphans, but you sent us the Helper.

Holy Spirit, we acknowledge our absolute desperation for you. Forgive us for the times we have tried to fight supernatural battles with natural weapons. Forgive us for settling for a form of godliness while denying its power. We willingly receive your fresh fire today.

Right now, in this one place, with one accord, we open our lives to you. Clothe us, envelop us, and baptize us with your power from on high so that we can walk out of these doors and be a bold, unstoppable witness to our families, our city, and our world.

- wait -

We also joyfully bring our tithes and our offerings in to your house today. We choose to trust your economy over the world’s economy. Multiply every seed sown today. Empower us to use it to reach the lost, and keep the fresh fire of your Gospel moving in our city and across the earth.

In Jesus’ name we pray… and all of God’s people said, AMEN!

Benediction

Be bold, be fearless, and be a supernatural witness to everyone you meet. Go in the power of the Spirit, we’ll see you next week!

Small group Questions

In notes and on slides (don’t read)

Why do you think modern believers sometimes choose safe religious rules instead of close, everyday intimacy with the Holy Spirit?

In what area of your life right now are you running on the "willpower" of your own human effort and feeling completely exhausted?

What is one specific situation you are facing this week where you need to stop relying on yourself and actively ask for supernatural power?