Let Your Kingdom Come - Part 1 - The Spirit and Us

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We have a vision for 2022 as a church.

We are here to help build the kingdom of God

And this sounds like such an easy, such an obvious thing.

But I think it’s going to ask more of us than we want it to. And it’s going to take us places that we weren’t expecting.

I’d be doing a disservice to God if i wasn’t clear about that up front. Building the kingdom of God here and now is going to require change and courage.

But God has an amazing vision and an amazing plan for our town. And we need to be in on it.

And this is at the heart of our prayer focus for January - that we would prepare ourselves for whatever it is that God has planned for us this year.

And I think there’s one big, big thing that we need to start off with this year, to get that ball rolling. And that is this simple truth:

We absolutely need the Spirit

We wanted to start off this year by just inviting the Spirit in fresh. He’s always been here and with us, but, I want us to fully understand what it means to invite him in.

I think Galatians 5 has an amazing teaching on this, and we’re going to go through that today.

Galatians 5:16 NIV

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

Paul talks about this two-sided issue. And he calls it, the Spirit and the Flesh

The flesh represents us

Now, notice that I didn’t say ‘it represents the bad side of us’.

and the list that paul gives for the flesh has some pretty bad stuff in it. Idolatry, witcraft, sexual immorality, drunnkenness. Those are big deals.

But what else is there? Fits of rage. Discord. Jealousy. Envy. Selfish ambition. Dissension. Factions.

It’s easy for us to point a finger at somebody and say, ‘That’s a big deal!’. But if we’re selfish? If we cause there to be factions? If we cause dissent?

Paul never meant there to be 3 sides - The Spirit, the Bad People, and Me

There’s only two here - the spirit, and the flesh. God and us.

And paul points out - the US side of the equation is pretty naturally dead set against the SPIRIT side of the equation.

Galatians 5:17 NIV

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

And there’s the defining aspect of the ‘flesh’ side. Did you catch it ? It’s at the very end of that verse.

The flesh, the US side of the battle, is defined by this phrase:

‘I will do what I want.’

Now, we don’t ALWAYS say it like this. Sometimes, we try to couch it in good language.

‘This is what I think is right, so I’m going to do this, no matter what you say’ OR ‘This is what the Spirit wants, and you’re obviously wrong about it’.

And don’t get me wrong - we have freedom to choose. We have freedom to disagree. We have freedom to be on different perspectives on an issue.

But the US side of this battle primarily says, ‘this is about ME and how I see it’.

Now here’s the scary thing. this is such a big deal that JESUS had to pray against it in his own life.

The garden of gesthemene - NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS BE DONE.

And paul warns against this earlier in this section.

Galatians 5:13–14 NIV

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul is saying, yes, you are called to freedom. But our NATURAL bent is to use it to indulge ourselves, to focus on ourselves. The US wants it to stay on US. To be about US.

And paul says it plainly -

The US side is against the SPIRIT side

If we make it personal, it’s even harder to admit. ‘I am against the Spirit’. I am against God.

I told this story about an escape room. The thing is, whether we know it or not - the US side of things is fighting to keep us in that room.

but there’s two big things that I want you to understand today.

This is true. About all of us. Always. AND.

God has an answer.

Because remember - there’s two sides to this battle.

Galatians 5:24–25 NIV

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Us and the Spirit. And the US side is constantly fighting against the spirit.

But the Spirit? He fights for us.

Because whatever we’re doing, wherever we’re going, the Spirit is coming beside us and saying, ‘Hey, calm down calm down, let’s just go in this direction’.

The Spirit is constantly trying to lead us out of the downward spiral of the flesh. He’s constantly trying to bring us back, point us back in the direction of God.

As much as we naturally are working against the Spirit - he’s working FOR us. To help us, to guide us, to save us.

And that’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.

And Paul says, the easiest way to walk the path towards the kingdom? Just go the way the Spirit’s going.

I know that sounds so simple, but practically speaking - it’s a challenge.

Now, can i take a sidebar here? I talked earlier about Jesus praying, ‘not my will but yours be done’.

The thing about not my will. STORY - PAT DRIVING BACKWARDS DOWN STREET

If you’re going the way you want, it’s about your will. If you’re going the opposite way you want - it’s STILL about your will.

It’s not about ‘NOT MY WILL’. It’s about not my will BUT yours be done.

That’s why, to Paul, there’s two parts here.

We need to LIVE by the Spirit

This is a great way to describe what we call ‘Salvation’.

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Paul says, this thing we call LIFE, it REALLY starts here. Birth ensures that we live. Salvation ensures that we live in perfection for eternity.

But then, Paul says,

We need to KEEP IN STEP with the Spirit

And that’s where the work comes in.

The Spirit’s constantly moving. Constantly doing new things.

Keeping in step with the Spirit means that

We stop saying ‘I want’, and start asking ‘What does the Spirit want?’

Paul calls this action ‘crucifying the flesh’.

I was talking to someone the other day about change.

POINTS: to me, success was found best in looking at whatever was in front of me and saying, ‘Ok, now what should I do next?’

We have that natural bent to stop, to fight, to make things work ourselves. But that’s the US in us flaring up.

In every situation, we need to CONSTANTLY be asking this question - ‘what does the Spirit want for me today?’

See, if we hold this conviction that our natural selves are constantly at war with the spirit, then every time we flare up, every time we stand up to go HEY WAIT THAT’S NOT RIGHT I THINK WE SHOULD and we raise our fist and we storm off in some random direction - we should pause. Take a breath.

And remind ourselves. It’s not about me and what I want. It’s not about the path I think I should take. It’s about the Spirit and what He wants. Where HE is going. And then ask the question. ‘Holy Spirit - what do YOU want’.

And then…wait for an answer.

What does the Holy Spirit want for you today?

We’re going to take a moment, play a song, and we want you to reflect on that.

Maybe the step you need to take is the first one.

It is a WONDERFUL feeling to know that, with God, we have someone who is CONSTANTLY fighting for our good, constantly fighting to bring us back into His presence, into joy and peace and love.

We invite you take this first step with us.

Maybe the step you need to take is the next one.

The Spirit has a long path ahead for us as a church, and we are expecting GREAT things. So we invite you to come with us and the Holy Spirit on the journey.

I can’t promise things will be easy. But they will be good. And we will see God’s kingdom come.

After we play and sing this song, we’re going to jump right into communion. So if you’re tuning in at home, you’re invited to gather something to take communion with us.

PLAY NOTHING ELSE

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.