Forgotten God

[Read the Creed]

Home Alone 1&2 the rest are garbage and you shouldn’t watch them

They forgot Kevin!

The premise always baffled me, how could you possibly leave your kid behind?

He’s too important to be forgotten, right?

In church, we talk a lot about God the Father, we talk a lot about Jesus who is God the Son, but sometimes if we’re not careful we forget about God the Holy Spirit.

Trinity Basics:

Father, Son, Spirit (2 Cor 13:14)

1 God in 3 Persons

same substance

equal in power

equal in glory

Read John 14:15-18, 23-26

Advocate Against the Enemy (John 14:16)

The first thing Jesus says on this topic of the Holy Spirit is that God is sending another “Advocate”

Your bible translation might say Helper, it might say Comforter, it might say Counselor

The Greek word there is Paraclete. Say paraclete.

It can be translated a number of different ways:

Advocate

Comforter

Encourager

Counselor

Helper

I love that this is how the Holy Spirit has revealed himself to us:

When you are hurting, and need a someone to come alongside you, God the Holy Spirit is your Comforter

When your life isn’t turning out the way you hoped it would, God the Holy Spirit is your Encourager

When you’re not sure where to go or what decision to make, God the Holy Spirit is your Counselor

When you can’t do it on your own anymore, God the Holy Spirit is your Helper

The translation I’m using, the NLT, uses Advocate. Here’s why:

Paraclete, turn to someone else and say Paraclete, Paraclete is a legal term.

Illustration: Court Room Scene

God = Judge

Accuser = Satan (Satan literally means the accuser)

Advocate = Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is fighting for you against the Enemy

and this is gonna set up the next four points of this message:

Realest Relationship (John 14:17-18) (John 16:7)

As Jesus is speaking to his disciples, he promises them that the Holy Spirit is with them right now and will be in them in the future.

Remember, Jesus is having this conversation before the crucifixion and resurrection. The Holy Spirit is given at Pentecost in Acts 2.

Jesus is promising them that the Holy Spirit will live in his followers, which communicates that a relationship with God is possible. That God is going to not only be with them wherever they go, but inside of them at all times.

You and I are living after Pentecost. That means that every follower of Jesus in this room, in this church, in this world has the Holy Spirit living inside of them. It’s the realest relationship imaginable.

But i’ve heard a lot of people say this, and maybe you’re someone who has thought this before, i know I am, they say “I just wish Jesus was still walking around on earth. I have questions I want to ask him, it would help me know he’s real...”

Hear what Jesus says about this:

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.

Jesus says it’s actually better for you and me that he’s at the right hand of God and that the Holy Spirit lives in you. The Holy Spirit living in you is better than Jesus walking next to you. Think about that.

The Holy Spirit is equal in God-ness with Jesus and the Father. And The Holy Spirit lives in you.

So let’s tie this back to the word Paraclete.

The Holy Spirit living inside you means that you don’t have to go looking for God when you need comfort. He’s already with you.

The Holy Spirit living inside you means that you don’t have to go looking for God when you need encouragement. He’s already with you.

The Holy Spirit living inside you means that you don’t have to go looking for God when you need help. He’s already with you.

Guide to Truth (John 14:23-26)

Still with me?

#3 the Holy Spirit is the Guide to Truth

Jesus says that if you love God, you will do what God says.

The Holy Spirit plays a role in this part of your life too.

He is the guide into truth. He teaches you what it means to obey and follow God and he reminds you of what Jesus has said.

God’s Word is our ultimate source of truth.

Wanna know how followers of Jesus should respond to issue and conversations in our culture? Go to God’s Word.

Wanna know how followers of Jesus should live in relationship with others? Go to God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit never makes a big deal about Himself, he makes a big deal about Jesus. So as the Holy Spirit is working inside of you He is going to take you back time and time again to what God has already said in his Word. The Spirit is going to remind you of the words of Jesus our savior.

If you’re reading the Bible and you feel like you don’t understand it, ask the Holy Spirit who lives inside you to guide you to the truth and light up God’s Word for you.

If you’re praying to God and you feel like you don’t have the words to say, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayer time.

as the guide to truth, the Holy Spirit is going to lead you and remind you.

Power Behind Your Purpose (Acts 1:8)

Let’s jump out of John’s Gospel and into the book of Acts for #4

This is Jesus talking again

Read Acts 1:8

Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us power.

Jesus isn’t talking about physical strength - you’re not gonna bench 300lbs just because you have the Holy Spirit

Jesus isn’t talking about political influence - you’re not gonna become president just because you have the Holy Spirit

The power that the Holy Spirit gives is not natural but supernatural. Because God is supernatural. This power is the power behind your purpose as a follower of Jesus.

You become a witness for God, someone who shares about how amazing Jesus is, because of the power that the Holy Spirit gives.

You become confident in your walk with God because of the power that the Holy Spirit gives.

You receive authority as a follower of Jesus because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

You can go to God directly because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

[GOSPEL BREAK]

Right now, i realize this is the middle of my message, i still have 1 more point to make, but if you’ve grown up going to church but you feel like you’ve never had a relationship with the living God or you’ve never trusted the truth of god’s word, or if you’ve never experienced the supernatural power of the holy spirit, i just want to invite you right now to take a minute. Assess in your own heart, have you trusted Jesus?

Giver of Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor 12)

Last point for tonight.

The Holy Spirit if the giver of Spiritual Gifts.

Every follower of Jesus has the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives spiritual gifts to those that follow Jesus.

Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities that build up the church. I don’t mean flying or invisibility or super strength.

I mean things like serving, teaching, wisdom, encouragement, faith, giving, leadership, mercy, speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy. These are Holy Spirit powered attributes that might be above and beyond what you could do apart from the Holy Spirit.

If you want to look more at Spiritual Gifts read 1 Cor 12 and Rom 12.