Sermon Tone Analysis

Before Palm Sunday and Easter, we were in a series called Artiōs, which is all about reaching our potential in Christ.

And part of reaching our potential is knowing our true identity in Christ.

But before we can know our true identity, we need to know God's identity and character – because ultimately, we receive our identity from Him.

We left off talking about the attributes of God.

We will continue that conversation next Sunday.

This morning, however, I believe we need to talk about a person who not only plays a vital role in the development of our identity but plays a vital role in daily Christian living.

Unfortunately, this person is often neglected or overlooked.

I'm talking about the Holy Spirit.

Now if this church is going to reach its potential, we will not reach anything without the partnership of God's Spirit.

If we do not seek and allow the Holy Spirit to have authority and influence in our lives, then we are forfeiting power, victory, and influence in our homes and communities.

I don't know about you, but I want to be a Christian who walks in the power and the authority of Christ, and I want to have a church that's operates in the power and authority of Christ.

I want my life to be transformed by the Spirit, and I want to be a part of a church that transforms the lives of others.

I want to see the Spirit of God moving in our lives - not just on Sunday morning, but on Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday ....

So, all I want to do this morning is expose us to what the Scriptures say about God's Spirit, how He operates in our lives, which then I hope will propel us toward seeking and submitting to the Holy Spirit.

Planting the seed – once we’re finished with Artios, we’ll about this in greater detail.

As we go along this morning, and we’re listening to the Scriptures, pray - ask the Lord to reveal what He wants you to know.

And ask yourself questions like, “Is this a reality in my life?

Have I experienced that?

Does that happen to me or through me?

Before I read some Scriptures about the Holy Spirit, and this is by no means exhaustive, let me give you an overview of our interaction with the Holy Spirit.

We are to askfor the Holy Spirit, We are to receive the Spirit, Be baptized in the Spirit, We can be in the Spirit, We are to be filledwith the Spirit, We are to keep in step with the Spirit, Pray inthe Spirit, Live by the Spirit, Walk by the Spirit, and we are to eagerly desire spiritual gifts.

We can grievethe spirit, resist the spirit, harden our hearts toward the Spirit, and blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit can speak to us, remind us, comfort us, convict us, send us, restrain us, supernaturally empower us, intercedefor us, help us, seal us, and reveal spiritual things.

Curious- just from that list without even reading Scripture what's going on in here?

Take notes.

Let’s look at only a few Scriptures.

Not going to answer all our questions today – not my goal.

My goal is to compel us to seek the Lord and the infilling of the Holy Spirit so we can live Spirit-filled lives.

Difference between a saved life and Spirit-filled life.

Baptism = emersion (emersed with the Spirit).

Fire = purification (blood of Jesus).

Question – have I been baptized with the Spirit?

Why do we need to know that Jesus, the Son of God was full of the Holy Spirit?

If Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, how much more do we to be filled?

What does the Holy Spirit do?

He points us to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit helps us point others to Jesus.

Power = ability or strength and it’s not of our own

Power from the Spirit.

Authority from Christ.

Being filled with the spirit begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ.

It's also about consecrating our lives to His authority – to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

My initial baptism of the Spirit took a long time – God had to work through sin, confusion, stubbornness … the more I yielded, the closer I go until one evening!

So much more we could talk about.

A) What has the Lord revealed to you? B) Spirit-filled – baptized?

Randy’s class.