Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. We're in this series called
Servants. devoted to God. We're well underway
in this series, and I hope it's been very helpful
for your journey of loving God and serving Him
with devotion. The moment Jesus saved us, not
only did we become children of God, we also became
servants for the purpose of building God's kingdom
on earth in partnership with Him. In Jesus' life
and ministry, the kingdom of God was a central
theme. And you and I, as servants devoted to
God, have been called now to make the kingdom
of God also the central theme for our life and
ministry. And as we have already learned, being
part of this kingdom comes with a new culture.
The culture of the kingdom of God is vastly different
from the worldly culture that we used to be part
of. Being and thinking and behaving in the culture
of the kingdom is just completely different.
So we need to adjust to that culture. We need
to learn this new way of being, thinking and
behaving. And one of the things that we need
to learn is the power of the kingdom of God.
The driving force behind the expansion of God's
kingdom. And as we will learn today, the power
of the kingdom of God. is the Holy Spirit. Ever
since the Holy Spirit was poured out on a group
of 120 believers in the upper room on the day
of Pentecost, the news about Jesus starts spreading
like wildfire. It happened first in Jerusalem,
but soon it went out to the other parts of Israel.
And soon after, the gospel was shared with countries
surrounding Israel. And from there, it took a
flight. And it impacted the world. And today
this group of 120 believers 2 ,000 years ago
has grown into a worldwide movement of billions
of people who are gathering in tens of millions
of local churches all around the world. That's
powerful. The kingdom of God is expanding. But
what has caused this movement? What is causing
this movement? Well, the Holy Spirit. He is the
power of the kingdom. He is the one who has caused
the movement of the kingdom and is causing the
movement of the kingdom. And for a proper introduction
to the Holy Spirit in the larger story of God,
we need to turn to page one of the Bible. It's
there where we are being introduced to... The
Holy Spirit. This is how the word of God begins.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty.
Darkness was over the surface of the deep. And
the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Before creation. The Holy Spirit was already
there. What was he doing? Oh, he was hovering
over the waters. He was hovering over that what
was still dark and empty and formless. But he
was ready to speak life and beauty into all of
that. Psalm 33 says that the heavens and the
earth were created by God's Ruach. God's breath.
Ruach is the Hebrew word for breath, but exactly
the same word is being used for spirit, like
here in Genesis 1 and in different places. It
was through God's breath that the world was created.
So when God began to speak and he said, let there
be light and let there be a heavens and earth
and land and sea and nature and animals and seasons
and people. So it came to be, as we know from
the rest of the story of Genesis 1 and 2. And
the Holy Spirit was deeply involved in that work
of creation. The Holy Spirit was from the very
start involved. He had a prominent role in creating
light and life and order in places of darkness,
emptiness. And chaos. And the Holy Spirit never
stopped doing so. When you follow the story of
redemption throughout the Old Testament, the
story of God saving his people back to him because
sin entered the world and people were confronted
with, again, darkness and emptiness and chaos.
Throughout that story of redemption, the Holy
Spirit continued to play a prominent role in
this new creation work. The Holy Spirit empowered
certain people for specific assignments in this
redemptive work that God was undertaking. We
read about leaders like Moses and David and Samson
and prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel and Eliza
who were empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak
truth. to God's people, but also to perform miracles
and signs all for the sake of God wanting them
to return to him. He wanted to redeem them. And
again, the Holy Spirit was deeply involved in
creating new life, new light, new order in that
what had become dark and empty and chaotic. And
it was during this time of redemption where God
started to enlarge the scale, where a life, a
game -changing element came into play. Not only
did God want his Holy Spirit on a few people
for specific assignments, no, no, no, no. God
wanted all people to have the Holy Spirit, which
is why through the prophet Joel, this is what
God promised. I will pour out my spirit on all
people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men
will see visions. Even on my servants, both men
and women, I will pour out my spirit in those
days. That's a game changer. God's strategy now
changed into, hold on, not a few people. No,
no, no. Everyone whom I'm saving to myself, I
will pour out the Spirit on them. That changes
the perspective on God's kingdom building. The
Holy Spirit for all. And as you probably know,
this promise speaks into our era. The era after
the day of Pentecost. The era after Jesus came
to launch the building of God's kingdom on earth.
And now I've brought Jesus into the picture.
Look at what happened to Jesus right before he
began his ministry on earth. When all the people
were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.
And as he was praying, heaven was opened and
the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form
like a dove. Apparently for Jesus to undertake
his kingdom building ministry, he first needed
to receive the Holy Spirit. In a chapter later,
in Luke 4, when Jesus is quoting the words of
the prophet Isaiah, he fills us in on what this
actually means. The spirit of the Lord is on
me, says Jesus, because he has anointed me to
proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery
of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed
free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Where did Jesus get his anointing and his power
from to proclaim the good news of the kingdom
and to do all these signs and miracles? From
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power
of the kingdom of God. Do you see the essential
role that the Holy Spirit has been playing from
the beginning and is playing until this very
age in God's strategy for building his kingdom?
We need to understand that building the kingdom
of God does not rely on our expertise, on our
intellect, on our skill, no matter how gifted
we are. It relies on the power of the Holy Spirit.
And can I tell you, if Jesus needed the Holy
Spirit to undertake his kingdom building ministry,
you and I certainly need the Holy Spirit for
our kingdom. building ministry. Today I want
to look with you at the early church in the book
of Acts to see what it means, what the power
of the Holy Spirit really means also for our
day and age. But before we go there, I want to
give you an illustration that I believe will
help us understand how this works. The power
of the Spirit empowering us. And I want to show
you this picture. If you come from a windy country,
like my country, you know what this is. You know
what this is? Windmills, right? Or wind turbines.
Yeah. Thailand has a few fields, so if you want
to see one or many with your own eyes, it's just
an hour and a half drive to visit one of those.
I'm not sure why you would do that, but hey,
if you want to see one. You know how a windmill
works? A windmill... harnesses the wind, and
the wind allows the windmill to produce power.
Here's how it works. When the blades of a windmill
are rightly positioned towards the wind, the
blades will begin to turn, which will cause the
rotor to turn, which will set in motion the generator
that is, I'm not an engineer, but there's a generator
apparently in this windmill construction, and
that will generate power to give away to the
grid. You know what a windmill field is capable
of doing? It's capable of generating power to
power up cities and nations, to set alight cities
and nations and to cause life and business and
all of that to happen. That's the picture that
I want to give you, the illustration of thinking
about the power of the Holy Spirit empowering
us. And I promise I will get back to this illustration
at the end of this sermon. Empowered by the Spirit.
If you wonder, hey, where did I hear this phrase
before? Well, you walk by it every Sunday morning.
to this worship center. If you're in Jubilee
Center, you won't see it. But if you're normally
here, you will see it because it's one of the
foundations of ECB. Everything we do here is
empowered by the Spirit. Why have we put that
on the wall? Because we believe it is true. Without
the power of the Holy Spirit, we will not accomplish
a thing. Today I want to share with you three
insights from the early church in the book of
Acts to help us understand and live out what
it is to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Here's
the first insight I want to share with you. The
Holy Spirit helps us overcome our reservations.
What we see happening on the day of Pentecost
in Acts chapter 2, is that the 120 people who
were in the upper room first had zero reservations
in sharing the message of Jesus with the people
on the streets in Jerusalem. There were many,
many nations gathered there on the day of Pentecost.
They were celebrating the festival of Shavuot,
which was an existing Jewish celebration. So
people from all kinds of nations were there,
and hey, They heard the news about Jesus in their
own language because the Holy Spirit had gifted
these people to speak in tongues. Boldly, they
were proclaiming the news of Jesus. And at a
certain point, Peter, the apostle Peter, had
taken the microphone. He had preached his best
sermon ever. He did an altar call, and 3 ,000
people responded and came to faith in Jesus on
that day. What had happened to these people who
just a few weeks before were so scared, were
so afraid to be seen with Jesus because the Jewish
leaders and the public opinion was strongly opposed
against Jesus, afraid. What happened to this
guy Peter who just a few weeks before had publicly
renounced knowing Jesus? What had happened to
these people that all of a sudden they were bold
witnesses, no longer afraid? Well, the Holy Spirit.
That is what had happened to these people. As
Jesus had told them a few days before the day
of Pentecost, Jesus had told them, you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea
and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Where
they had felt anxious and fearful before, that
was all gone after they had received the Holy
Spirit. There was no way that they could not
speak about Jesus and they became powerful witnesses
on that day in Jerusalem not just on that day
the Holy Spirit continued to empower them like
we read in Acts chapter 4 after they prayed the
place where they were meeting was shaken and
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
they spoke the word of God boldly Bold and impactful
witnessing is a mark of the power of the Holy
Spirit on the life of believers. In order to
build the kingdom of God, the news about the
kingdom of God needs to go out. And we are the
designated ones, the called ones, to communicate
that message. But if we don't have the Holy Spirit,
We'll make lousy witnesses. If the 120 in the
upper room would not have had the Holy Spirit,
they would probably still today be in that upper
room, afraid as they were for their reputation
of being arrested. Without the Holy Spirit, you
and I make lousy witnesses. If we will witness
at all, afraid as we are of our reputation, the
opinion of others. Or maybe we're just afraid
because we don't know what to say. But we have
been given the Spirit, who is not a spirit of
timidity or fear. He is a spirit of power, helping
us to be bold and impactful witnesses to build
God's kingdom on earth. Here's a second insight
about being empowered by the Holy Spirit that
we get from the book of Acts, the early church.
The Holy Spirit enables kingdom impact beyond
our limitations. You know, we are capable people.
You know that, right? Do you know that? We're
very capable people. Psalm 8 says that God created
us. He made us just a little bit lower than...
The angels. So apparently God wants us to be
able and he wants us to accomplish things. But
God also wants us to know that we have our limitations,
especially when it involves the expansion of
his kingdom. Listen to these words that God spoke
through the prophet Zechariah. It's where God
said, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit,
says the Lord Almighty. God spoke these words
to a man called Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the
governor of Judah around the time when the people
of Israel came back from their exile in Babylon.
And Zerubbabel had to lead a massive building
project. He led the rebuilding project of the
temple in Jerusalem. But before beginning his
project management task, this huge, immense assignment,
God wanted him to know, Zerubbabel, this project
will not succeed because of your smarts, your
capabilities, your skills, your expertise, the
fact that you're a really good leader. No, no,
no, no. Your role is very important, Zerubbabel,
don't get me wrong. But it will only succeed
by my spirit. And these words God is speaking
to you and me. He's saying, guys, you have a
very important role in building my kingdom on
earth. But it's not your smart, your skill, your
intellect, your expertise. It is by my spirit.
If it's not, the mission will fail. If it is,
the mission will succeed. Here's an important
lesson to take away from these words. Do not
push for things that only the Holy Spirit is
capable of. And one of the areas that we have
to apply this to is in wanting to see our loved
ones coming to faith in Jesus. Of course, salvation
is important. Salvation is where it all begins.
I mean, if you're not saved, you will not be
able to enter the kingdom of God. But can we
be honest here? As we so badly want to see our
loved ones coming to know Jesus the way we know
Jesus, every once in a while at least we throw
in some of our tactics, don't we? A little bit
of massaging here, maybe some manipulation, some
pressure here and there. Try to talk them into
a relationship with Jesus. It's what I tried
with a friend of mine who I met in college 30
years ago. He was and is not a believer, and
I was and I am. And he was very open to the conversation
about God and about faith and about Jesus, so
we talked a lot. during the first years of our
friendship, about Jesus. But he was not making
a lot of progress, at least not fast enough to
my liking. And I got annoyed. So I upped my game.
I threw in some more powerful arguments. I challenged
him on his lifestyle. I tried the harsh way.
I tried the nice way. Nothing worked, okay? It's
because I tried to push for things that only
the Holy Spirit is capable of. You cannot talk
your child, your parent, your friend, your colleague,
your spouse into faith in Jesus. It doesn't work
like that. What your child, your parent, your
spouse, your friend, whomever you're doing life
with needs is conviction. And conviction is something
that only the Holy Spirit is able to give and
should be giving. Not you, not me. As Jesus was
explaining to his disciples that the Holy Spirit
would come, this is one of the things that he
said about the Spirit in John 16. When the Holy
Spirit comes, he will convict the world of its
sin and of God's righteousness and of the coming
judgment. Salvation involves conviction of hearts
about sin. As I mentioned, this is something
that only the Holy Spirit can do. The more you
and I will try to convict our loved one, the
more condemned they feel. Let me say that again.
The more you and I will try to convict our loved
ones, the more they will feel condemned. Don't
confuse your bold and impactful witnessing for
talking your friend into a relationship with
Jesus. Do the following. Use your story. Share
your life. Give the Holy Spirit something to
work with. But then, hands off. You get on your
knees, you cover it in prayer, and you wait on
the Holy Spirit while you are doing life and
giving your story and testimony. Salvation. And
conviction, the other way around, conviction
and salvation is not your work, not my work,
it is the Holy Spirit's work. Where we have the
joy of ministering to those we love, sharing
Jesus with them, the results are totally His,
okay? By the way, this is not the only area where
the Holy Spirit enables impact beyond our limitations.
The Holy Spirit also gives us abilities that
are beyond our natural skills and knowledge and
expertise. We read this from the early onset
in Acts chapter 2. Early church, everyone was
filled with awe at the many wonders and signs
performed by the apostles. And a couple of chapters
later in Acts chapter 5, we get more detail of
what this looked like. More and more men and
women believed in the Lord and were added to
their number. And as a result, people brought
the sick into the streets and they laid them
on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow
might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds
gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem,
bringing their sick and those tormented by impure
spirits, and all of them were healed. Wow, this
sounds a lot like the ministry that Jesus did,
right? He preached the message of the kingdom
of God, but he also performed miracles and signs,
healing the sick and casting out demons and whatnot.
And now all of this is happening with Jesus not
being around? Yeah, happening indeed. You know
why? Because Jesus delegated the authority to
use the power of the kingdom to his disciples,
to his followers. Read about it in Matthew 10,
right before Jesus was sending his disciples
on a mission trip. These are the instructions
that he gave them. As you go, proclaim this message.
Preach the gospel. The kingdom of heaven has
come near. But also heal the sick, raise the
dead. Cleanse those who have leprosy. Drive out
demons. Freely you have received. Freely give.
Jesus delegated the authority to use his power
to his disciples. And the book of Acts is a witness
to that. While preaching the message of the kingdom
of God that has come, the apostles were healing
the sick. casting out demons. And there are even
two occasions, Peter and Paul, both of them had
the privilege of raising the dead to life. And
friends, this is not just for the early church
in the book of Acts. Jesus has delegated to us
the authority to use his power to build God's
kingdom on earth. This is why here at ECB, we
do see people get healed. This is why here at
ECB we offer deliverance, helping people to be
set free from the demonic oppression of evil
spirits. It's because we believe that Jesus has
delegated his authority to us and we intend on
using it. Let me say there is a lot that we do
not understand about Jesus' authority. We need
to remember. that it's delegated authority, and
God always operates on his terms. So we don't
understand why one time God heals, and other
times he allows someone to pass away. But we
do understand a couple of things. God always
knows perfectly well what he is doing, whether
it's through healing or through allowing someone
to pass and be with him. We do believe and know
and see that God works with miracles and signs
in our day and age. And we have been given the
authority to use the power of the kingdom for
our ministry of building God's kingdom here and
now. Let me make a quick sidestep here. Have
you ever wondered why God does miracles? I mean,
it's cool that he does, right? We all enjoy hearing
and seeing stories of people getting healed and
people delivered from demons and all of that.
But our entertainment is not the purpose for
God to actually do those miracles and signs.
Hear me, please. Whenever God does a miracle,
he is reversing the impact of sin on creation.
Before sin entered the world, there were no demons
that harassed us, there was no sickness, there
was no death. But now, because sin has entered
the world, the system is broken and we are confronted
with all those things that we don't like, right?
So whenever God does a miracle, he is reversing
the impact of sin and effectively he is allowing
his kingdom to break in. So whether it is a sinner
repenting from his sin, coming to faith in Jesus,
or someone healing from cancer, or someone being
set free from the demonic oppression of evil
spirits, God does that to reverse the impact.
And effectively, we can say, hey, the kingdom
has come in that place, in that person, in that
situation. So what is the role of the Holy Spirit
in all of this? Well, as I already shared, the
Holy Spirit gives us abilities that often we
don't even understand because they go beyond
our limitations. And the Apostle Paul speaks
about these abilities in a couple of places in
the New Testament, like here in 1 Corinthians
12. Now to each one the manifestation of the
Spirit is given for the common good. To one there
is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom.
To another, a message of knowledge by means of
the same spirit. To another, faith by the same
spirit. To another, gifts of healing by that
one spirit. To another, miraculous powers. To
another, prophecy. To another, distinguishing
between spirits. To another, speaking in different
kinds of tongues. And to still another, the interpretation
of tongues. All these are the work of the one
and the same spirit. and he distributes them
to each one just as he determines. So when you're
a follower of Jesus, you have received at least
one, but probably more, spiritual gifts, gifts
that the Holy Spirit has given you. Not for yourself,
as we read, it's for the common good. It's to
build up the church. It's to edify others. It's
to build God's kingdom here on earth. And there
are different gifts. We all have the same gifts.
Apparently the Holy Spirit wants us to work together
so that all the gifts that Paul speaks about
are represented in our building of the kingdom
of God. So what is our role in getting these
gifts? Well, I know that in many cultures it's
not really appropriate. to ask for gifts, right?
In my culture, you just wait what you get for
your birthday and you say thank you even when
you don't like the gift. That's how we do things.
But in kingdom culture, it's different. This
is what Paul says two chapters later. Follow
the way of love, yes, it's most important, and
eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially
the gift of prophecy. What's our role in getting
these gifts? Desire them. Pursue them. Boldly
ask for them. Open yourself up to them. Asking
Holy Spirit, tell me more. Explain me more. How
do I use this? The Holy Spirit wants you and
me to discover the gifts that he has given us,
to understand them and to use them in his power,
but for the sake of building his kingdom. If
you're wondering about your spiritual gifts,
maybe you've never wondered this. I've included
a few links to online spiritual gifts tests.
You can take one of those or all of them. It's
not perfect, I know. But at least it gives you
some insights in the spiritual gifts that the
Holy Spirit has given you. Please take away this
from this insight. We have been authorized and
gifted to use the power of God's kingdom. And
like with all other areas of discipleship, this
area is developmental. It goes from hearing about
it to learning and then to doing. So if this
is a new aspect of discipleship for you, and
maybe you even feel taken aback a little bit
by it, can I encourage you, don't walk away from
it. Don't dismiss it, but open yourself. Open
yourself to growing, hearing about it, learning
about it, doing it. We're doing this together
as a church, seeking what the Holy Spirit has
for us, empowering us to build God's kingdom
on earth. One more insight that we get about
being empowered by the Holy Spirit from the book
of Acts. The Holy Spirit reshapes our inclinations.
A good idea may be a good idea, but it may not
be the Holy Spirit's idea. So we are journeying
with Jesus. There may be lots of things that
we think is fitting really well in that journey
and in our ministry. But we need to discern this.
There may be times where the Holy Spirit says,
hold on, you're going off track. I'm going to
intervene now and I'm going to change and reshape
your inclinations. This is what Paul and his
ministry team experienced as they were traveling
through minor Asia. This is the story that we
read in Acts chapter 16. Paul and his companions
traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and
Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit
from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
When they came to the border of Mysia, a lot
of ia, right? They tried to enter Bithynia, but
the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
So they passed by Mycenae and went down to Troas.
And during the night, Paul had a vision of a
man of Macedonia standing and begging him, come
over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had
seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave
for Macedonia, concluding that God had called
us to preach the gospel to them. So Paul and
his team had made a plan to go and preach in
an area called Bithynia, which is in modern -day
Turkey. We don't know what strategy they used
or how they came up with the plan of going there,
but hey, it's Paul, okay? So he probably had
thought about it for a long time. They had some
prayer gatherings, and they really thought it
was a good idea to go to Bithynia. It made sense
to them. Well, it didn't make sense to the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit had a different idea.
He wanted them to go to Macedonia, a completely
different place. Today, even a completely different
country. It's in Greece. So the Holy Spirit had
to intervene. The Holy Spirit had to change the
plan and the inclinations. So literally, on the
border of Bithynia, he stopped them. He gave
Paul a vision about his new destination and that's
where they had to go. Obediently they followed
that inclination that the Holy Spirit had given.
Loved ones, not everything that seems right or
feels right is of the Holy Spirit. We do well
to carefully discern if that what is in front
of us is really a God idea or just an idea that
we came up with ourselves. I shared with you
at the beginning that after knowing that the
Lord is transitioning us out of Bangkok, we really
thought he would bring us back to the Netherlands.
It made a lot of sense to us. I mean, my mother's
health situation, Honoka's aging parents, a country
that is in need of Jesus and probably could use
four or five other people to help with that.
Friends who had been asking us for a longer time,
could you please come back and do what you do
in Bangkok and now do it here? And even doors
were opening to some exciting ministry opportunities
in the Netherlands in September, October. It
made a lot of sense to us to go back home. And
I was even in well -advanced conversations with
a ministry organization in the Netherlands. So
mid -October, I flew there thinking this is the
final round of conversations. After that, we
signed a contract. And before I jumped on a plane
to Amsterdam, we were basically praising God
for his timing. Say, wow, Lord, thank you. You
make us aware in August of this, and it's only
October, and you're already telling us where
to go next summer. Praise you, Lord. We're kind
of looking for houses and schools for our girls.
So I got on the airplane, landed in Amsterdam,
and literally the moment of touching down, my
soul was deeply unsettled, and I had no idea
what that was. And it didn't go away that whole
week of being there. And when I entered the conversation
with the board of this ministry organization,
we were 15 minutes in, and we both knew this
is not going to work. This is not it. Unsettling.
Wondering, Lord. And I came back and I said to
Chanukah, I don't get it. I'm confused. Aren't
you? The Lord has made us aware. It made so much
sense to us. So why? Why not? Knowing now what
God has done over the past two, three months.
Making our paths cross with global disciples.
Moving us to the U .S. Now I know. that it was
the Holy Spirit who caused my soul to be deeply
unsettled because he wanted me to be aware, Rene,
it's not the Netherlands. It's something else.
Keep looking for me. I'm doing something else.
It's what the Holy Spirit does. Friends, can
I suggest this? If you truly believe that God's
ways and his thoughts are higher than your ways
and thoughts, if you truly believe that God in
all things is working for your good and for his
glory, can I then suggest that as servants devoted
to God, we hold our agendas loosely and we allow
the Holy Spirit to make a course correction whenever
he desires to do so. That is the attitude of
adjustability, the attitude of flexibility that
we need as servants devoted to God, trusting
that the Holy Spirit knows better than you do
and I do where to effectively use us for the
advancement of his kingdom, even if it's just
for a season. Hold your agenda loosely and allow
the Holy Spirit to intervene, to course correct.
whenever he desires to do so. I promise to get
back to the illustration of the windmills. I
hope you had not forgotten about the windmills.
When the blades of a windmill are rightly positioned
towards the wind, some really powerful things
happen. The blades start to turn. The rotor turns
with it. The generator is activated. And this
field of windmills powers up cities and nations
to bring light and power to those places. But
when a windmill is not rightly positioned towards
the wind, nothing happens. It will just be a
long stick in the ground, okay? Not so pretty.
Windmills are not so pretty. But windmills have
an inbuilt mechanism. So whenever the wind is
picking up, that mechanism causes the rotor to
turn towards the wind until the moment where
the blades really catch it and start to turn.
And the rotor begins to turn. The generator starts
to generate power. And the impact starts to happen.
That's us, friends. Empowered by the Spirit means
that the Holy Spirit is ready. He is ready to
empower you and me. But we need to be rightly
positioned towards Him. We need to catch wind,
okay? And the only way to do that is to position
ourselves, to attune ourselves to the Holy Spirit.
for our mind and our heart and our soul, for
our blades to begin to turn and then our rotor
and then the generator. And from that place,
we collectively, we can light up a city. We can
light up a country. We can light up the world.
We can bring light and life and order in places
where currently there is still darkness and emptiness
and chaos. How about that? You want to be involved
in that movement? Then attune yourself to the
Holy Spirit. Seek the Holy Spirit the way you
seek God the Father. Engage in intimacy with
the Holy Spirit the way you do with Jesus. Build
in those moments of careful listening in your
times with God so that you can hear from the
Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit boldly, Lord,
what is it? What kind of gifts do you have for
me? And how do you want me to use them for the
building of your kingdom? Position yourself towards
the Holy Spirit. Attune yourself to the Holy
Spirit. If the Holy Spirit makes you feel uncomfortable
because you do not have a theological category
for him yet, can I encourage you, open yourself.
Ask in your life group, ask your pastors and
your leaders about the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is indispensable for a holy life and he
is indispensable for leading a life of power
as servants devoted to God, changing cities,
nations, the nations of the world. Can I ask
you to be, Quiet yourself for a couple of moments.
And then I will pray. Holy Spirit, you are here.
With us. In us. And it seems that we're only
scratching the surface in our... Knowing and
understanding of you, Holy Spirit. But we want
more. More of you. More of your power. We acknowledge,
Holy Spirit, that without you, we will not accomplish
much. But with you, with you, Literally, the
sky is the limit. Not for our sake, but for the
sake of the kingdom of God. So Holy Spirit, as
we will sing a song of invitation to you, I pray
that you will encounter us in new and fresh ways.
And I especially ask this for those among us
here, brothers and sisters, who sense reluctance
in engaging with you. Whatever has caused that,
I ask you, would you gently break in, remove
any resistance there may be, and show yourself,
Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, would you empower your
church, ECB, Lord, it's not just a statement
on the wall that we are empowered by you. No.
We have seen you move in powerful ways in us
and through us. And we will see more of that.
But we cling to you. We need you. So Holy Spirit,
more of you for your church ECB. For the churches
here in Bangkok and in Thailand, Lord. For ministries
that are taking place to win this nation back
to you, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rain, rain
down. We love you, Holy Spirit. We need you,
Holy Spirit. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.
Amen. Thank you for tuning in to the ECB sermon
podcast. Whether near or far, if you are looking
for community or are in need of prayer, we welcome
you to engage by sending us an email to office
at ecb .asia. If God is calling you to support
our ministries, you will find giving options
on our website. And remember to join us next
week. God bless you.