BREAKING FREE FROM NORMALCY

Text: ACTS 1:6-8 ESV

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.” Acts 1:8

Sermonic Tone: Challenging— THE STRUGGLE FOR NORMALCY—THE NEED TO RESPOND UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE AND PERFORM UNDER SEVERE STRESS IN SITUATIONS I CAN’T CONTROL, AND IN WAYS THAT ADVANCE THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!

Thought: Most of us don’t like what we don’t understand or control!! We feel uncomfortable with confusion. Taking me out of the place of normalcy—living between the times between the chaos and control.

Normalcy: is a state of being normal, usual, or expected. When something returns to a state of normalcy, it is returning to the way that it ought to be. It refers to that which is typical, expected or a return to how it was before.it is another word for normality.

(1) A ________________of ____________________________!

“Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel…” Acts 1:6

· Old problems or challenges have been in the past solved by old known and existing techniques—but what happens when old solutions can’t solve new problems? Cf. Numbers 11:1-5 [People complaining about the instability of the journey]

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(2) The ________________of ___________________________!

“Its not for you to know the times and seasons the Father has set by His own authority…” Acts 1:7

· The fear of entering into the expanding world of “difference”—

“For many, difference can only be maintained through control. For too many peoples their sense of safety, comfort, and normalcy only comes in and through forms of segregation, because they have never seen or felt anything otherwise. Segregated spaces are for them the places where they see and know themselves.” ~ Willie James Jennings Commentary on Acts

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(3) The ________________________of ___________________!

“And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8(b) ESV

· Adaptability:

o (1) the ability to adjust to new conditions or changing circumstances; (2) the capacity to be modified for a new use or purpose

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To adapt, one has to be open to change= FACING AND DEALING WITH PROBLEMS AND SITUATIONS IN WHICH THERE ARE NO SIMPLE, PAINLESS SOLUTIONS!

John Wooden, former great basketball coach at UCLA says, “Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time.”

· The Holy Spirit will empower me to make the most out of a bad situation!

· The Holy Spirit will change me in order to maximize unfavorable conditions!