Deeper Wk 2 - Deeper with the Holy Spirit

Thank you, praise team, you guys can just sit back for just a quick second. Church, I want to welcome you to One Church. My name is Pastor Ryan. I am the lead pastor of our church and I'm always excited to be in the presence of believers. I don't know about you, but it does something for my soul when we can gather in such a way that where we can take time out throughout the week and just talk about who he is and what he's done and what he will continue to do. And if this is your first time today, we as a church, God gives us a word every year that really give us a guidance, Give us some guardrails to really kind of focus into what God has called us to do. Last year, 2021 was a year to move forward, and this year God has called our church to go deeper. And so what I told our church last week, guys get ready because for the next eight weeks, maybe ten weeks. That we are going deeper. And that the scripture that God gave me was is Colossians 2:6-10, and this is what the scripture says, it says. And now just as you accepted Jesus Christ. As your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Because truth be told, many of us, as we get saved and walk a life through Christ, sometimes we we stop following Christ. You know, we stopped going to church. We stopped doing those things that God has called us to do, who God called us to become.

He says to continue to follow him, so let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him, that your faith will grow strong. The truth that you were taught will begin to overflow with thankfulness. So churches, as we began to really walk out these next several weeks, we are called to go deeper. My prayer is that you guys will continue to walk with me. And go deeper. That you're not satisfied with where you're at with your growth, that you're not satisfied with where you're at. This sermon, this series is just as much as for me as it is for you, because God to say, right, I can't you can't lead the church where you're at. You can't lead your family, remaining the same. You can't be that Christian that you were yesterday - that I need you to go deeper. And as we begin to look at last week, we talked about to go deeper that we have to consistently stay connected. The God has called us to stay consistently, stay connected to the source. And the key to going deeper is to stay close to the source, and the source is a living water that you have to be connected to the source. If you look at a tree and its roots, the root systems is always traveling in such a way that it's going deeper to find a water source. Are you connected? To the source of the living water? Then we have to consistently proclaim who He is.

We looked at scripture where the disciples decided to take Jesus with them everywhere that they went, that they proclaimed who Jesus Christ was. I testified last week, you know, going through my faith walk with Christ. Sometimes when I was out in the streets or just living life or going to work that I didn't always take Jesus with me, right? Sometimes we get to certain environments that, you know, we want to kind of be cool with, our friends were at the coffee shop, you know, in our conversation change, our language changes. Based on our surroundings would determine where and who we say who God is. Then also last week, we talked about that we have to consistently ask. And we should ask. Ask God to be with this, ask that Christ would be with us. And so as we begin to look at our lesson for today.

John 14:15-18, Very truly, I tell you. Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they would do even greater. Things and these Because I'm going to the father. Jesus was telling his disciples that they will begin to do greater things. And I thought about this a few weeks ago, maybe about a month and a half ago. Jesus, you know, Jesus turned water into wine. You know, he walked on water, he began to raise the dead and heal the sick. So God, Christ is telling us that if we are believers, that greater things that we are able to do because of the source that we are connected to. Man, we could put wine, what's that wine place, whatever, we can put them out of business? Right. With some holy water? Amen? If Jesus turned water and wine, but I don't think any of us can do, but the whole point is greater things that we can do. Verse 15 says this and John. He says, If you love me, keep my commands. In our ask the father, he would give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. Next verse. The spirit of truth, the world cannot accept him because that neither sees him nor knows him. But… you know, but, I love big butts in the Bible, man. But. But you know him for he lives with you and he will be in you. John 16:5-7, , But now I'm going to him who sent me. None of you ask me, where are you going? Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly, I tell you, It is good, is for your good that I go away unless I go away, the advocate, the comforter, the helper, the sustainer of who we are would not come to you. But if I go. I will send him to you. So for my title today. It's to go deeper with the Holy Spirit. I want you to look at it says deeper with. That's a partnership. Deeper with the Holy Spirit.

And so we're going to sing this, the chorus to Holy Spirit again. Because truth be told that we can't go deeper Without the Holy Spirit. And so if you just kind of faked it a little bit, this is your do over. I want you to begin to really proclaim who Christ is and what God sent us as an advocate and a helper. And so the praise teams going to help us. It says Holy Spirit. You are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God. It's what our heart longs for. To be overcome With your presence. - - Father, we welcome you into our hearts. Holy Spirit, we welcome you. Into our homes. Holy Spirit, we welcome you in the middle of our depression, in the middle of our anxiety, in the middle of our bitterness, in the middle of our rage. Holy Spirit, we we welcome you in the middle of our marriages that are our going astray, father, we thank you God, that there's restoration taking place right now. Holy Spirit, we welcome you in the middle of our brokenness. Father, we welcome you in the middle of our relationships, in the middle of our church, in our jobs. Holy Spirit, we welcome you in the middle of our thoughts and our actions, even in our addictions. In the middle of our insecurity. In the middle of our pain. Our doubts and our disbelief. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here today, come flood this place. and fill this atmosphere. Father, it’s your glory that our hearts long for. To be overcome by your presence and now the presence of this world and not the presence of this of our enemy God, not the presence of the things that we have, the desire to take or buy or purchase, God. But your presence is the only thing that we seek. So Holy Spirit have your way. We surrender it all to you today. Father, you want to go deeper. We can't go deeper in you without the helper. So, have your way God, have your way, holy spirit, we thank you, God, and we honor you. It's in Christ, Jesus, our Lord and our savior, we say Amen. Amen. Thank you, worship team.

See, the Holy Spirit is our advocate, it's our helper, it's the person that God sent to help walk this life out here on Earth. And since truth be told that the Holy Spirit is misunderstood. Churches don't provide an accurate teaching around this matter. See, the Holy Spirit is an individual, the Holy Spirit is a person. And look at this startling fact, nearly 60% of Americans who regularly attend churches, Christian churches. See that there's no such thing as the Holy Spirit. 60%. Of believers. Who attend church? I mean, they hear the gospel on the regular. That there's no such thing as the Holy Spirit. Here's another fact. That four out of ten Christians believe that Satan is not a living being, but a symbol for evil. See, I have a problem with that. If you want to quantify my studies, go back and look at Barna Research, Barna is a research company that is specifically given for Christians. So you have a problem where 60% of Christians, that means six out of every ten believers. That's more than half. Don't believe that the Holy Spirit exists. You see, the devil wants to create confusion. He wants to remind you of who you are. You know you're a liar and a gosspier and a cheater, a fornicator and a drunkard. And that's because. The devil knows your name, but he calls you by your sins. But Christ knows your sins but calls you by your name. So he knows your sins. That’s the attack of the enemy, he wants to call you about who you were. That's B.C. If you don’t know Pastor Ryan before Christ. Oh, let me tell you, I was a hot mess. I'm still a hot mess on certain days. But before Christ. I've been redeemed now, I've been restored. See, we can't go deeper without the Holy Spirit. six out of every ten believers. Says there's no such thing as a Holy Spirit. That means they don't believe in the Trinity. They don't believe that God is a triune God that he is God, the father, God, the Son and God the Holy Spirit. That means you don't truly understand the foundations of our Christian belief. Which translates to that you don't understand who God is. That you don't understand our mission. That you don't understand our power. And most importantly, you don't understand our salvation.

So today we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit. So let me just give you some backdrop about John Chapter 14 and 16, this is the night before Jesus was hung on the cross. This was prior to Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. This is where the disciples was talking with Jesus as Jesus began to tell them that, you know, if the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. This is when Jesus is telling them that I am the vine and if you abide in me and abiding you that you must remain in me. This is when Jesus is having a conversation with the disciples talking about if they persecuted me. Surely they were persecute you. And see, these are all golden truth, but the disciples saying, but wait, Jesus, why, why are you telling us all of this information? Because he's saying. I'm going away, I'm going back to the person who sent me here. But I won't leave you as orphans. I won’t leave you as orphans, I’m gonna ask the father who sent me, To send an advocate to help you walk out this life that we call Christianity. Because you can't do it by yourself. You don't want to do it by yourself. So we must understand this first point. That the Holy Spirit is a person. It's not a thing. It's not a it, it is a person. You have to get it. John, Chapter 14 says this, and this is one of our opening scriptures, John Chapter 14, says this verse 16. I will ask the father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth, the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you and will be with you. And watch this. This is a teaching point.

I want you guys to get this. Let's go back to verse 16 were quick. And I will ask the father and he will give you another advocate, let's stop right there. We have this is in obvious translation. The new international version. And I did this on purpose, as you're studying the scriptures, you have to be careful what version of the Bible that you're reading because you will miss key points of what scriptures will want to say to you. What do you mean, Pastor Ryan? This is in our version. - - I want you to bring up the new King James version and pull that up on the screen real quick because the Scriptures is going to read the same, but different. And we'll read this really quick. I'm just going to point it out because I have it in my notes. The new King James, any time I study, I always read King James version first. Then I go to New King James version for me to get the context of what I'm reading normally I read the NIV or the message translation or the passion translation. The reason why I do that because I want to make sure I get the original text as much as I can get it when it was translated. And this is what it says. It says this in verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments, which we heard that before, and I will pray the father and he would give you another. In my translation in the new King James version, there's a capital H for he. Why is that important? Because they're talking about the Trinity, the talking about God. The scripture says this, and he will give you another helper, capital H, that he , capital H, may abide with you forever. The spirit of truth which the world cannot receive because it neither sees him, capital h, nor knows him , capital h, But you know him, capital H. This is so important. Once you see this capital, h, we know that he's talking about our God. If you're reading scriptures, another one just to give you a point of reference - when you're reading your Bible and you're studying the scriptures, when you're talking about God. Watch out for if it’s a little g or a big G? Why is that? Little G's are referencing the gods of idols, of baals. You know the devil. But big G is referencing Jesus Christ God the father. God, the Holy Spirit. So those small nuggets when you're reading your scripture. It gives you so much more context to pull that in. Why is that important?

It's because the Holy Spirit is the agent sent to accomplish the work here on Earth. I want you to get that the Holy Spirit is the agent, the person sent here. To accomplish the work here on Earth, see, the Holy Spirit is not a promise. It's not only a promise, it's a person. So you can have a personal relationship with stuff. You have a personal relationship with people. You know, like I'm going to take my car out, right? That's what we say, I'm going, go take my car for a ride. Car can't talk back to you. But if I'm going to take Felicia out. I'm going to take her out because I'm in a personal relationship with her. See, we have attachments to objects, but we have relationships with people. Oh, it's quiet, it's OK. I'ma keep going. Your relationship with Jesus is the most important, important relationship that you have - your relationship with, Jesus Christ will be the most important relationship ever. See, people struggle having a relationship with something that they can't see. Pastor Ryan, how do you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit? I can't tell you how I can give you some pointers of how to cultivate their relationship. It just takes faith. You have to have faith. See the Holy Spirit’s been here for the very beginning. I talked about this a couple of months ago in Genesis Chapter 1, when God in the beginning when he said God created the heavens and the Earth, right? And he goes and talks about, Let us go down and make man in our image. He says, Let ‘us’ key point ‘us’. That's the Trinity being spoken there. In John 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. And he was in the very beginning. All of that. Yes, the Trinity.

We have to begin to understand the deity of Christ. The progression of God. See in the Old Testament, God, the father. All right, they put that up there. Let me go back here quick on my backtrack. Is this the new King James version or KJV. New King James. See the difference. If you love me and keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he. Capital H will give you another helper, capital h, that he may abide with you forever. You see the difference in it. Big difference, thank you, guys, thank you, tech team, I love our teach team boy, y'all own it. Love you guys. The progression of God. Old Testament God, the father, Jehovah Jireh, he's a provider, he was Holy. That's the Old Testament, right? God was holy in the Old Testament, so he spoke through prophets because he is holy that he cannot even come in the presence of sin. So he had to send his son to be our savior. And then he sent a helper to help us walk out this walk with Jesus Christ. help us walk our life as Christians. So how is God three persons? There might be a picture on the screen about water, ice and steam. And so if you look at this picture. The Holy Spirit, we see Christ. We see the scriptures that Jesus is God is God, the father, God, the Jesus Christ and God, the Holy Spirit. And I normally use the illustration where there's water, there's ice and there’s steam.

Water is H2O. But then if you freeze, it becomes ice. Which is Jesus. And if you boil it and the steam comes up, that's the Holy Spirit, the same component, but in three different forms. And that's how Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit is. See the Holy Spirit agency sit here on Earth to accomplish the work. Point number two. The Holy Spirit prompts. He prompts. What do you mean? He is our GPS. He's not our global positioning system, he's God’s positioning system. See the Holy Spirit position us and tells us what we should do. Think about it. You guys got gps on your phones, and every time you go in a direction, you have to kind of reroute or whatever the case may be. Sometimes I'll call it my spidey senses, right? You know, if if you're going to walk in, you know, you're praying and actually go for certain things. You know, I felt that was kind of right. This is, you know what? I was leading to be done. And you know, people like, man, that was just I felt it in my spirit that was the Holy Spirit speaking to you. What you should and should not be doing. It’s not spidey senses. It's not an umption. It's the Holy Spirit prompting you to do what is right. See, the Holy Spirit gives us direction, not destruction. The Holy Spirit gives us direction and not destruction. Some ask you this, how often do you listen to the Holy Spirit?

How often do you dismiss the Holy Spirit? If you have been walking with God for some time. The sins that you have left in your life are the sins that you like. If you've been walking with God, if you've been on this journey as a Christian, for some years, The sins that remain in your life are the scenes that you like. Because I promise you, the Holy Spirit has been prompting you to do something about it. The Holy Spirit has been telling you and is revealing things to you that you should not be doing those things that you should be saying. What God has revealed to you and your prayer time are the things that God wants you to do with first. The things that God has been talking to you, the things that God has been telling you to do, the things that God has been revealing to you for quite some time. But how do you do that? Like, how do you begin to grow close and cultivate this relationship with the Holy Spirit? Just to be still. How can I learn to listen to the Holy Spirit? three things, and this is not in the notes. You can read you can pray and you can remove. Read Scripture, spend time with God. Memorize the scriptures. Join a cgroup, cgroups are what we call life groups - is that midweek recharge where you know, where you kind of have their reset during the week before you get back to church on Sunday.

Begin to memorize scripture, you take it to heart that I'm not ashamed of the gospel - that is the power that brings salvation. Pray his word. God desires that we pray his word back to him, God desires that we proclaim his word back to him. And they can begin to remove the noise in the business of your life. In 1 Kings, there's Elijah. I think it's first Kings chapter 4: 18.. I'll get it for you guys, but Eliza. He can he begin to put his head between his knees? Why is it? He was trying to remove the distractions of his life. Clear your schedule. Wake up early. Early shall I seek him - Scripture tells us, behold, I stand at the door knock, if you hear my voice, I will come in and we will begin to have dinner or supper or begin our eat with you and you eat with me. God is knocking at your door. He's been knocking for a while. Only thing you have to do is open it up. Point number three.

The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit prompts. And lastly, the Holy Spirit provides. What do you mean by improvised Pastor Ryan? He provides gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one of us for the profit of all. It means the gifting is that God has given us that he is endowed with this. For one, is given the word of wisdom through the spirit. - one is given to the word of wisdom through the spirit; to another, the word of knowledge through the same spirit; to another faith, The same spirit to another gifts of healing by the same spirit to another, the working of miracles is another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another different kinds of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues. But one in the same way, this spirit works in all of these distributing them. Each is individually as he wills.

So why do I have milk up here? And Jason Ima have you run to the back? I need a deep spoon. You got to go deeper. So I'm a speak on a couple of different things real quick. I've been in churches where they taught that you're not saved unless you speak in tongues. That is a lie. That is a lie from a pit of hell, and we call it like it is. You do not have to speak in tongues. To be a believer. There's churches and pastors out there that would teach that you're not truly saved unless you have the gift of tongues. That's not what scripture says. And because there's so much about the Holy Spirit, there may be a part two next week. So I want to do this, you know, like illustrations. So when God formed us, he shaped us, informed us, right? He has our vessel. But when you were when you give your life to Christ. He makes us, he washes us what the scripture says, like white as snow, right?

So this this milk is the washing of believers once you give your life to Christ. Man, it's this this is some good stuff right here. So as believers the Holy Spirit endows us, he inhabits our presence. So every believer, once you give your life to Christ. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us to each one of us a gift. So there's some gifting is right. Some of us have a little bit of gifting. But we all have gifting. God has endowed some to have more. So here I am a believer - redeemed and washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now everything that the enemy has called dirty, I'm now clean. Everything that the enemy says that I'm not , God is saying I am. Because he has washed us. And so God has given us giftings. But I begin to ask myself. They're just sitting. If you are a believer. The Holy Spirit has poured into you gifts. That scripture I just read. It's not for me, it's for the profit of everyone else. But then why in the world? Are my gifts just sitting there? You know what, God says, you know what, the assignment that I have on your life, I'm going to give. I'm a pour out more gifts in your body. There's a lack in the church, big C. Every church, not only one church, but every single church across the world. There's a lack where believers are sitting on their gifts. You may say, well, past run, you have a full praise team up here, if you know the hurdles that we had to jump through this morning. Y'all saw my wife back there playing the keyboard. That's not her first gift. Well, let me rephrase it that that is not her first talent. Because there's a difference between gifts and talents, see talents, you can cultivate talents. You can go to the gym and work on a day after day. Talents are just skill sets that you can produce over a period of time that if you give it time and energy, it can be perfected. But the gifts that Christ gives us as believers are still sitting there. And so this is just a plug. If you're not serving - If you call this your church, you need to be serving somewhere.

We need your gifts. This community needs your gifts. But you say, Pastor Ryan, we have 8 people that sing and we have all the musicians, but we need more. We need. We need more tech people. We need more people back into back with the kids and our youth. We need more people greeting people. We need more people. And on Wednesday nights, we need you. Stop sitting on your gifts. Because, you know, we're a believer. And I'm filled with the Holy Spirit because there's evidence of the Holy Spirit. But God is saying I don't need you to sit - I need you to stir those gifts up. And it's something about when you begin to stir the gifts of the Holy Spirit. - And that's what God wants us to do is just not to sit on our gifts. He wants us to stir up. That gives us with things. He wants to you to begin to stir up the gifts that God has endowed, which he wants you to use your gifts for everyone else and not just for yourself. My prayer. And I might do like, say, a part 2, because I didn't even hit on really the fullness of what the Holy Spirit is, that I need a whole series of just a Holy Spirit by itself. God desires us to utilize our gifts. And yes, our talents. To give him glory. Because the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit provides gifts and talents. And the Holy Spirit prompts. He's God's positioning system.

Because if you have faith to believe for salvation. You have to have the faith to know that if God said it, he would do it. I don't know where you're at with you, walk with Christ right now or if you're even walking with Christ. The Holy Spirit is a person who helps us. And so Im ask you today, as we stand if you desire to be in the fellowship of believers who are going to go to heaven, if you never proclaim Christ as your Lord and Savior. I just encourage you just to come up front. Let our leadership team pray with you. Let us do the prayer of salvation. But most importantly. Know, that we have a person that God has sent to help us walk this out. And know that you have the power and the ability to walk with him as he empowers you to do the work of the Lord. He hasn't called us to do it by ourselves.