Refresh My Memory

Welcome

Today were are going to talk about the importance of being reminded of the Love and Power of Jesus.

Prayer

I Need Reminders

I don’t like that I need reminders but the truth is I need them. I need to be reminded of meetings, counseling sessions, family plans, phone calls, Vet appointments even hair appointments. As a matter of fact every time I make and appointment for something and they ask if I want text reminders…I SAY ABSOLUTELY...

Reminders are annoying sometimes…they always seem to pop up when I am in the middle of something…Reminders are embarrassing…every once in a while when I am reminded I am embarrassed because I need them…in fact I get a little irritated sometimes when people remind me of things even if I have forgotten.

That does not change the fact that I need them. Without reminders via June, text, calendars and even my wife my life could be a series of missed meetings, menial tasks and meaningful events and opportunities.

We all need reminders from time to time so that we do not miss out on the important events of our lives even if those reminders are sometimes annoying, inconvenient or embarrassing.

If we are not reminded of the important things in our lives it is likely that we will replace the important with the easy...

This concept of being reminded is one of the functions of the Holy Sprit in our lives. The Holy Spirit is the right now presence of God in our lives that is constantly reminding us of the Love and Power of Jesus.

When the Spirit manifested himself in Acts and fell on Peter for the first sermon after the resurrection the main point was to remind the people of everything that happened just 40 days ago so they could discover the faithfulness of God and Love and Power of Jesus.

Quick set up…one accord…speaking in tongues…etc...

Acts 2: 22-32

Acts 2:22–32 NLT

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ 29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.

Peter referred to Jesus as the Man that God had promised.

We tend to focus on the deity of Jesus thinking of Jesus as God which is true…but the idea of Jesus God coming back to life would not have had the same impact on the people of Jerusalem. However Jesus as a man coming back to life is what inspires hope. Jesus being fully human and fully God is a very important concept and we will come back to this later. The Truth of the humanity of Jesus is key

Jesus resurrection was not a miracle but an inevitability

A miracle would imply something out of the ordinary, something that was not possible but Peter is trying to underscore that Jesus resurrection was inevitable. Jesus is not subject to death but death is under the authority of Jesus. While this is a miracle to man this is normal to Jesus.

Even Jesus in his humanity has power from God…This is vital because Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit wants every human being to have the power of resurrection.

The people could not deny Peter because they had witnessed everything with their own eyes.

Peter with the help of Holy Sprit reminded them of everything that was promised and everything that they had participated in when it came to Jesus. They are living witnesses to the fulfilment of God’s promise…A Jesus endorsed by God through miracles and resurrection.

They witnessed the miracles as well as resurrection.

We will see next week how this opened their eyes and hearts…but today we are focused on the idea of the need to be reminded…

Even though we may hate repetition if we are not continually reminded of the most important things in our lives those things can be forgotten.

When we forget the magnitude of Who Jesus is and what He has done we tend to rely on our own reason instead of allowing ourselves to be awed by the overwhelming Love and Power of God.

The Holy Spirit is a Constant Reminder of Jesus Love and Power.

We are Reminded that Jesus faced all that we faced.

Jesus understood what it was to be hungry, marginalized, thirsty, tempted, scared and Isolated....Yes he understood isolation…The very things we are all dealing with today Jesus understands.

…Jesus understands Isolation…He understand what it is to suffer…but He also knows the thrill of victory over all of those feelings and circumstance…If Jesus being fully human and fully God can overcome his people can rest in their ability to taste this victory as well.

We are reminded that God is not taken by surprise

Verse 23 tells us that God was not surprised by what had happened in fact this was part of God’s Plan for His son…Jesus being betrayed was inevitable....Jesus eluded to this when Judas betrayed him and Peter preached that God already knew this as well.

While it would have been easy to blame the Romans for Jesus death (Lawless Gentiles) Peter reminded the crowd that they too were complicit in all of this. I have struggled with this a lot because this verse is often used as an excuse to beat people up. It is also used to make people believe that the Holy Spirit’s main job is to convict us…make us feel horrible for what we have done...

While conviction is part of this I believe the main reason Peter used this was not only to make them feel conviction but share how unconditional the forgiveness of God is...This was all part of a plan that had them…US in mind

We are reminded of the Love and Power of God by Jesus Resurrection

No matter what we have done or what we are going through the love and power of the resurrection has authority over all things and circumstances. Our mistakes do not define us…our financial position does not define us…Pandemic does not define us…Political party does not define us.

Our Identity in Christ is what defines us. We are reminded of the lengths that God went in sending Jesus to us and that despite the denial of who Jesus was there is still forgiveness available.

We Must Welcome The Reminders of the Holy Spririt

Intentionally make space to hear from Holy Spirit...

Celebrate The reminders

Respond to the Holy Reminders when the Holy Spirit speaks

Allow yourself to be comforted by the awesomeness of the ressurection story and what it means for you.

We All Need Continual Reminders Even if we think we do not.

This is why we end each week with the Lord’s Supper…So that we can be reminded of the Love and Power of God.

There has never been a time where we are more in need of the Love and Power of God than now. Let us come to the table together in Thanksgiving and Hope that the Love of God would be so real in our lives that our overflow would transform our own minds and hearts as well as those we have connection with.

Communion