The Summer of the Spirit

This week we are going to start a new series of messages about the Holy Spirit and how He operates in the Church. We are going to be looking at three chapters of the Bible throughout the summer; 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14…

My goal is this series is to talk about what it means to be Spirit-filled. When most people hear about Pentecostal churches they have some preconceived notions many of which are wrong. They think about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues. Or they think about the emotional response of Pentecostals. They think that when we come together that we are jumping around, raising our hands, or swinging from the chandeliers, or rolling babies down the aisle. I think most people would be disappointed to see just how normal we are.

Being Pentecostal is much more than the outward manifestations. In fact, it goes much deeper than that. Being Pentecostal means that we expect, allow, and prepare for God to interrupt us so that He can guide us in our life. My prayer before every service is that God would interrupt whatever we have planned. Why? Because I want to make sure that you and I have a genuine experience in His presence. sometimes if we aren’t careful we can program God right out of our services.

I don’t know about you but I need God interrupt me… I need God to come down move powerfully…I need revival in my soul…

Some of you are out there in the world all week long being drained of every bit of God’s Spirit and you need to be refilled…That takes a powerful experience with God through the Holy Spirit.

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

It isn’t our might that will revive us!

It isn’t our power that will revive us!

It is the Spirit that will bring revival!

It is the Spirit that will bring life!

It is the Spirit that raises the dead!

It is the Spirit that brings the healing power of God!

It is the Spirit that will lift you up!

It is the Spirit that takes your prayers before God!

The Church doesn’t need might. It doesn’t need power. It needs the Spirit! We need to be interrupted by God’s Spirit! We need to hear from God!

What makes us Pentecostal is we expect God to interrupt us, we allow God to interrupt us, we are prepared for God to interrupt us, we want God to interrupt us…

More than ever we need a move of the Holy Spirit…

Now don’t minimize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit because those manifestations show us that the Spirit is at work. They show us the might and the power of the Spirit…

So, let’s jump in…

We are going to have a great summer learning about the Spirit…

Palm Sunday Message...

On the day Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem the Bible says ALL the city was moved. Whether they realize it or not the Jews have already declared Jesus as their king. With their own mouths they did it…but they changed their mind by Friday when they called for Him to be crucified…But here’s the thing…You can’t take back a coronation…

Once your king is coronated the only way to get rid of Him is to overthrow Him.

So, the Jews have rejected Him as their king…The stone that the builders rejected…But there is one other little problem…

They crucified Him…

The killed Him…

They rejected Him…

Even Pilate coronated Him with the sign on the cross…

They buried Him…

But He didn’t stay dead…

He arose from the dead and so their coup didn’t succeed…They had proclaimed Him the king…The Devil pushed them into rejecting and killing Him…

But He lives…

He was wounded…

He was beaten…

He was killed…

But He has also risen from the dead…

The only way to get rid of a king is to kill him…

The King of Israel is still alive…

Just a Reminder!

This is from yesterday's message...

A reminder of who we really are:

God has amazing plans for you…

He has chosen you…

chosen you to be a saint…

chosen you to be holy…

chosen you to be blameless…

chosen you to be His child…

chosen to give you every spiritual blessing from heaven.

That is who you are…

That is who God wants you to be…

That is who the Holy Spirit will give you the power to be…

That is who you can be.

Next Week: We are alive!

Becoming the Real You!

Has anyone ever asked you this… “Who are you?” Have you ever asked yourself that question? That’s when things get really scary. If you’re like me you are really uncomfortable with that question. Because the truth is nobody knows us better than we know ourselves. Ah! But that’s where we are wrong. St. Augustine wrote that God knows us better than we know ourselves and that He is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

Here’s the problem sometimes we don’t like the person we know ourselves to be! Yes, we are “saved” and yes, we are definitely forgiven. But we still may have a long way to go to become the person God expects us to be. Here’s the question I am always asking myself… “Who does God want me to be?” 

Well, at Chardon Assembly of God that’s what we will be talking about in the new year.

So… Who are you really?

The Miracle of Christmas!

I often hear people say something like this...

"I really dread the holidays."

Usually, they are talking about how busy they will be, or maybe there are bad memories associated with this time of year. But imagine with me that YOUR birthday was coming and the people who loved you said, "I really dread your birthday." Well, it happens to Jesus every year. And guess what it isn't His fault. The problem is we aren't doing it right.

We have let the celebration distract from the meaning. don't get me wrong, we should celebrate Christmas, I really enjoy the decorations, the family gatherings, parties and especially the gifts! But none of those things are necessary to find the real meaning of Christmas.

Think of it! The Son of God left everything to become human. He left heaven, and He left the very presence of His Father. To come to earth for one purpose to die for our sins. Just so you know Jesus has never given up His humanity. He is and will forever be in human form...God with us! That is the real miracle of Christmas.

So, don't dread it! Don't let all the busyness of the celebration steal from you the real joy of the Christmas season. I might just make you start to love Christmas again!

If You Have Ever Been Wounded By The Church?

Have you ever been hurt by a Church, Pastor, or other Christian? I bet you have! If you have been in Christian circles for any length of time something unpleasant has most likely happened to you. The really difficult thing about this is that these are the places and people who are supposed to lift us up; the Church is where we should go to receive strength and encouragement. So that makes the betrayal all the more painful. Over the years I have ministered in some very fine churches to wonderful people, but in every one of those places I have been wounded. I am not writing this as an indictment against the Church or Christians, but to help guide you towards a proper and healthy response.

Way too many people who have experienced this kind of pain respond in a way that actually hinders the healing and furthers the hurt. There are a couple of things I want you to remember...

1.   Jesus was also wounded by the religious people of His day. After all we were told that the things that happened to Jesus would happen to us too. So if you have been hurt by the Church or Christians you are in good company. Some of them may have actually been well meaning, thinking that He was a threat to the faith. This brings us to the next point.

2.     Sometimes we are hurt by those who think they are doing the right thing. The case could be made that Saul thought he was doing the right thing by persecuting the Church. The Bible says that Jesus said this to Saul...it is hard to kick against the goads. The short story on this statement is that God had been working on Saul for a long time. He wanted to serve God but he did it all wrong.

3.    Christians are saved from sin but still not perfect. I could go on and on about this one! What I am about to write will maybe shock you...just because someone is a Christian doesn’t mean they have acquired grace. Every hurt I have experienced at the hands of Christians could have been avoided if there are had been grace. Grace is the missing ingredient to perfect Christian living. (During this time of transition this is what God is teaching me, I have a long way to go and a lot more to learn about this!) I have to pray every day that God would help me extend grace, it’s hard!

4.   What happens in Church isn’t always blessed by God. I want to be very clear on this...it is never God’s plan for anyone to be hurt in the Church or by other believers. I know firsthand that many, many times things happened under my leadership that was not of God’s making. Even some things I have done! We will get to that later. What I want to say here is, don’t blame God for the hurt that you experience in the Church!

5.      Often the Pastor or leader of the Church isn’t aware of the hurt that is being caused. When I left one of the previous churches I pastored I started hearing some things that shocked me about how some members of the congregation were treating others. In one case a couple was actually telling people they didn’t belong and should leave. I was mortified by this, but what made it worse was that these people thought it was coming from me. I know this is hard to do sometimes but take it your Pastor, believe me he needs to know, he wants to know!

6.  This is the hard one, it is possible that you too have hurt someone. This is where self-examination is needed. You would think that someone who has been hurt would be more sensitive, often that isn’t the case. If fact, show me a hurt person and I will show you a person who is predisposed to hurt others. Take a hard and honest look at yourself and let God change you.

7.  This is spiritual! One of the things I am coming to recognize is that everything and I mean everything has an element of the spiritual attached to it. Over the years I have noticed that I have been hurt more in my Christian relationships than the others. Why? Because the evil one is working against us. He wants to discourage us and make us feel like we are alone. He will take every advantage to disrupt our walk with Jesus. That hurt is really a spiritual attack from the enemy. See it for what it is...an attempt not only to destroy your relationships with the Church and other believers, but ultimately to destroy your relationship with God. Don’t you dare let him win!

Let me encourage you with something God is showing me...He wants me to use my hurts to help the hurting.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

I don’t know about you but I’m fine with that!

What if I’m a racist?

Lately, America has been forced to deal with the issue of racism. As a white man I can honestly say I haven’t really given it much thought. Oh, every once in a while, when something happened in the news I would give it a thought or two, but then quickly retreat back into my own world. I was even naïve enough to think that once a black man had been elected as president that the issue was put to rest once and for all. I believed that America had finally come to the place where race didn’t matter. But honestly, it never has mattered much to me, maybe because I am white. I have never been touched by discrimination. I have never been followed around a store by security because of the color of my skin. I have never had someone avoid me on the street because I am white. Never have I been insulted because of my race. No one has ever passed judgment on my character due to my race. I have never been considered a threat to anyone’s safety because of my appearance. I have never been stopped by the police simply for driving in the wrong part of town. And the list could go on. And guess what? I don’t even think about being white, because it simply has never been an issue.

After all that has happened lately, it just seems wrong not to think about these things. I hear a lot about “white privilege” Are there benefits for being white? I don’t know because I have never considered it. Would I even know since I have never thought about it? But the question that haunts me right now is personal…

Am I a racist…?

I love people! I have no one that I can say is my enemy. (Ok, I admit some people annoy me and there are plenty of people I annoy!) I love talking to people especially people who are different than me; there are all kinds of interesting things to talk about with people of different backgrounds, life experiences, and cultures. I can honestly say that I am not intimidated because of someone’s race; in fact my curiosity creates a strong desire to interact with people different than me. By the way, this doesn’t just go for race but religion, politics, and a whole host of other differences. But I will have to concede I sometimes get nervous because I don’t want to offend, since often I am unfamiliar with what is offensive I say things and do things that offend.

But that isn’t my heart...

And that is my point! My mouth may say something considered racist but I truly don’t know that it is… So in writing this I’m asking that there be a path to forgiveness without labeling me something I do not want to be. I also realize that it is my job to learn these things; it isn’t the responsibility of others to teach me. So I am willing to learn how to be a better man, a better white man, a man who sees the struggles of others and is ready to do something about it!

**I wrote this some time ago but have purposely waited for a time when emotions aren’t running high.