WEBVTT 00:00:02.310 --> 00:00:04.429 So what do we plead for? Look and keep going. 00:00:04.570 --> 00:00:10.830 We plead on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:16.710 God. He made the one who did not know sin to 00:00:16.710 --> 00:00:21.429 be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness 00:00:21.429 --> 00:00:24.210 of God. Guys, this is pretty much straight up. 00:00:24.390 --> 00:00:29.629 Let me tell you, Jesus loves you. He wants your 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:32.469 life. He wants it to change. He doesn't want 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:35.109 you to live in this darkness anymore. And so 00:00:35.109 --> 00:00:39.250 I plead with you. I appeal to you on behalf of 00:00:39.250 --> 00:00:45.850 Jesus. I want you to know my Savior. I want you 00:00:45.850 --> 00:00:48.670 to know him. And so that's the motivation. That's 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:53.990 what's driving us as Radiant Church. As we go 00:00:53.990 --> 00:01:00.250 outward. See, God has given us. He's made us. 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:02.899 ambassadors. An ambassador doesn't live in the 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:05.900 country. He doesn't live there. That's not where 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:09.359 he's from. But he represents something to another 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.379 country. He says, if I'm a U .S. ambassador, 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:15.120 I represent U .S. to whatever country that I'm 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.739 an ambassador to. God is saying, you belong to 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:23.879 me and you represent me wherever you go into 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:29.379 this world. And you are his official representatives. 00:01:32.189 --> 00:01:38.250 And he makes his appeal through you and me. Now, 00:01:38.269 --> 00:01:41.230 let's go to John chapter 20. And I love this 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:43.409 because there's Jesus talking to his disciples. 00:01:43.590 --> 00:01:44.969 And let me give you a little context to John 00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:46.909 chapter 20. We're going to start in verse 21. 00:01:48.870 --> 00:01:51.709 Think about the disciples for a minute before 00:01:51.709 --> 00:01:54.950 we look at this text. They have spent three years 00:01:54.950 --> 00:02:00.140 of their life with Jesus. They have lived kind 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:02.739 of like a big family together. They know each 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:05.900 other inside and out. They have watched Jesus 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:10.960 teach. They have watched Jesus heal many people. 00:02:12.099 --> 00:02:14.780 They've watched Jesus confront the legalistic 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:20.000 religious leaders. They saw him love the outcast. 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:25.080 And even questioned Jesus loving those who were 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:29.840 the outcast. Right? They watched Jesus feed the 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.639 hungry. And they experienced this great rejection 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.780 in their lives because they followed Jesus. And 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:43.400 they watched Jesus weep over those who had hard 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.960 hearts toward him. And they watched Jesus experience 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:51.500 the worst possible death. And now Jesus has just 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:55.139 risen from the dead and he's come to them. And 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:57.719 he's shown them proof of the resurrection. He 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:01.300 says, look, I'm alive. And this is what he has 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:04.759 to say to them. And this is, look at verse 21. 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:09.960 And Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:17.599 As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:21.479 after saying this, he breathed on them and said, 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.550 receive the Holy Spirit. Okay. Pretty profound 00:03:25.550 --> 00:03:30.909 moment. It's like a relay tag and track. But 00:03:30.909 --> 00:03:33.689 it goes, Father has done a lap, and he's dropped 00:03:33.689 --> 00:03:35.949 it to the Son, and the Son has done a lap, and 00:03:35.949 --> 00:03:40.110 now he's dropped it to you. It's a tag. Boom, 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:43.509 boom, boom. Now finish what I've called you to 00:03:43.509 --> 00:03:50.530 do. Now in Acts chapter 1, go to verse 8. Jesus 00:03:50.530 --> 00:03:55.729 has some final words. to his ambassadors. And 00:03:55.729 --> 00:03:59.069 these words apply to us too. But he says this 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:05.789 as he's just about ready to leave. He says this, 00:04:05.889 --> 00:04:09.590 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:04:09.590 --> 00:04:14.210 comes on you and you will be my witnesses in 00:04:14.210 --> 00:04:16.910 Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and the 00:04:16.910 --> 00:04:19.129 ends of the earth. He's got his team together 00:04:19.129 --> 00:04:25.009 and he says, I know you can't do this in your 00:04:25.009 --> 00:04:30.189 own strength. But you're going to receive power 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:32.750 when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. To do what, 00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:36.490 church? To be a witness. We'll unpack that in 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:39.610 a minute. First of all, if you are in Christ, 00:04:39.870 --> 00:04:45.730 you are alive in Christ by the Spirit. That's 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:48.589 how it happened. It's one of the things we always 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:53.689 talk about when we talk about baptism. That baptism 00:04:53.689 --> 00:04:57.149 is a picture of identifying with what Christ 00:04:57.149 --> 00:05:00.170 did for you on the cross. When he died for you, 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:03.709 he took all of your sin upon himself. He became 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:06.829 your substitute. We call it substitutionary atonement. 00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:10.269 He atoned for your sin. This is a picture of 00:05:10.269 --> 00:05:14.509 death into the water. He didn't stay dead. Jesus 00:05:14.509 --> 00:05:17.089 didn't stay dead after he suffered for you. He 00:05:17.089 --> 00:05:19.730 rose again three days later, conquering Satan's 00:05:19.730 --> 00:05:23.250 sin as death. And the same spirit that raised 00:05:23.250 --> 00:05:25.610 Christ from the dead lives and dwells within 00:05:25.610 --> 00:05:28.889 us as we are followers of Jesus. We're in Christ, 00:05:29.050 --> 00:05:31.149 meaning we identify with his death, his burial, 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:34.750 and his resurrection. Meaning the power of God 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:38.550 lives there. It's in you. That's why Jesus said, 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:41.970 it's better for me to go. And I'm going to send 00:05:41.970 --> 00:05:47.810 my spirit to dwell within my people. The spirit 00:05:47.810 --> 00:05:52.089 lives in you. And has given you a new life with 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:54.610 new desires and new purpose. Does it mean you're 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:58.449 perfect yet? No, that day's coming. But for now, 00:05:58.470 --> 00:06:02.329 you are different. He's given you something different. 00:06:02.410 --> 00:06:04.970 It's a work in progress, right? But you are born 00:06:04.970 --> 00:06:08.870 again. Like, dead to alive in something new. 00:06:08.910 --> 00:06:12.889 New identity. The picture is a new identity of 00:06:12.889 --> 00:06:16.689 you. Now, you have a new vertical relationship 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:20.540 with Jesus. You do. You may not be utilizing 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:23.399 it the way you need to, but it's there. We can 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.899 talk to God. We have this relationship vertically 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:29.480 with Him. And church, we say this all the time, 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:32.240 it must affect your horizontal, but how does 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.660 it do that? Well, it has this vertical relationship, 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:38.199 involves the indwelling Spirit of God in you. 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:45.560 It does. Years ago, my very first... ministry 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:47.779 position i was called a youth pastor i didn't 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.019 know he wasn't even married at this point and 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:52.759 didn't know what meant to be lead anything but 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.839 i was a youth pastor and in a church and this 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.199 this church was putting on a weekend event on 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.779 evangelism how to share your faith and i was 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:05.439 super stoked because i i loved honestly loved 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:07.920 people and i wanted people to know my jesus and 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.240 i was like this is really hard how do you share 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.120 and so i was like oh this would be sweet And 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:18.240 so, how do you lead people to Jesus? And so, 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.220 as I sat into this like three -day, whatever 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:25.220 it was, conference seminar on how to share your 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:28.660 faith, I realized that it was all built on a 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:33.439 strategy to get people to pray a prayer. By the 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:35.860 way, that's not even in the Bible. And then the 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:38.920 second thing, it was like a sales tactics 101 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.800 combined with a network marketing thing. everybody 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.339 been to one of these and i remember sitting there 00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:50.240 going we're just feeling so frustrated and disillusioned 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.000 with like this isn't right this is weird like 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.480 i'm supposed to go over and try to break in and 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:57.920 figure out a way to have a conversation with 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:01.040 you so i could get you to believe like a certain 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:05.120 way like amway and funny thing is i was just 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.720 coming out of you ever hear mel luca i bought 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:12.639 in and realized it was so stupid, and I didn't 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.040 do it anymore. And I felt like I was at a Melaleuca 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.959 training time. But it was how to share your faith, 00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:21.199 and I wanted to tell people, I just wanted to 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.899 tell people about Jesus, and I wanted them to 00:08:24.899 --> 00:08:28.779 experience the love that I experienced, but that's 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:35.679 not what was being taught. Nowhere do I ever 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:40.259 remember... The role of the Holy Spirit being 00:08:40.259 --> 00:08:45.440 talked about in that training. In fact, we never 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.879 talked about the Holy Spirit. It's like we were 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.559 missing the third part of the Trinity. We understand 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:56.919 the Father and the Son, but no Holy Spirit. That 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.399 was the background that I kind of came out of. 00:08:59.419 --> 00:09:01.940 And I was realizing, like, what is up with Acts 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:08.690 1 .8? And so... Probably because we probably 00:09:08.690 --> 00:09:10.730 didn't do that, but probably because we were 00:09:10.730 --> 00:09:13.169 like really didn't want to get close. You know, 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:15.029 there are certain people that have certain weird 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:17.129 stuff and they call it the Holy Spirit and that's 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:18.710 bad theology. So we're just going to run over 00:09:18.710 --> 00:09:22.509 here and act like it doesn't exist. See, the 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:26.090 same spirit that was a part of giving you new 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:30.350 life lives and dwells in the believer. Do you 00:09:30.350 --> 00:09:35.710 believe that? See, you and I are to have a spirit. 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:40.210 led and in spirit empowered life that is in the 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:45.690 bible what's it look like i have to share this 00:09:45.690 --> 00:09:49.230 quote with you um from a guy named richard loveless 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:53.330 about what it means to live a spirit -led life 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:55.110 okay and it's up on the screen and i'll just 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:57.610 slowly work through it i think it's up there 00:09:57.610 --> 00:10:01.710 we should continue to walk throughout the day 00:10:01.710 --> 00:10:04.490 in relation in a relationship of communication 00:10:05.489 --> 00:10:10.029 That's like talking to the Lord. Before you go 00:10:10.029 --> 00:10:11.769 any farther, just look at that first sentence 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:15.909 and look at me. Do you talk to the Lord like 00:10:15.909 --> 00:10:18.850 he's right here? That's what he's saying. We 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:22.269 should have this continuous daily relationship 00:10:22.269 --> 00:10:26.990 of communication and communion with the Spirit 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:31.389 mediated through our knowledge of the word. Okay, 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:33.870 what's he saying first? If you want to know how 00:10:33.870 --> 00:10:36.059 to... to interact with the Spirit that lives 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:38.980 within you, it starts right here. It starts in 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:41.639 your knowledge of the Word. God's Word and the 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:43.519 Spirit do not contradict themselves. In fact, 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.620 they must match. Or you're listening to the wrong 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:50.639 Spirit. They go together. So His primary way 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.440 the Spirit speaks to you is actually through 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:58.159 His Word. Relying upon every office of the Holy 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.100 Spirit's role as a counselor mentioned in Scripture. 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:07.200 We acknowledge him as the illuminator of truth. 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:11.019 What's the role of the Holy Spirit? To illuminate 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:17.299 you of truth in his word, right? All right, where 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:19.759 am I at? Illuminator of truth and the glory of 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:21.919 Christ. Here's another piece of this, and now 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.639 I'm picking this apart. But as the Spirit of 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:27.620 God's work in you is not only to help you understand 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:30.919 this, but it's to promote Christ. It's to make 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:36.179 him known. okay so to illuminate that in your 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:41.960 life we should look at him as a teacher a guide 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:46.580 a sanctifier a giver of assurance concerning 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:51.100 our sonship and standing before and our standing 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:55.039 before god helper in prayer you ever go to pray 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.220 and just go god i don't know what to say ask 00:11:57.220 --> 00:12:00.379 the holy spirit to help you pray help you pray 00:12:00.909 --> 00:12:04.269 And then it says, and as one who directs and 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:11.149 empowers our witness. Okay. Acts 1 .8 again. 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:14.889 And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:22.450 comes upon you. You will be my, you will be my, 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:27.850 you will be my what? Witnesses. Where is your 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:31.110 power to share Jesus with people? Where does 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:36.830 it come from? The Holy Spirit. Two things I want 00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:40.690 to point out here. One is you will receive power 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:45.450 when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Being filled 00:12:45.450 --> 00:12:48.950 with the Spirit is both a one -time event and 00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:52.129 an ongoing experience. Now, if you want to look 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:54.529 at some different scriptures on that, you can 00:12:54.529 --> 00:12:56.990 look at Ephesians 1, verse 13 to 14. We're not 00:12:56.990 --> 00:12:59.110 going to take time for that. Or Ephesians 5, 00:12:59.250 --> 00:13:03.399 18. But here's the idea, that when you become, 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:05.840 when you're in Christ, the Spirit lives and dwells 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.399 within you. But then there's also this point 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:10.360 where the Spirit that's living and dwelling within 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:14.299 you is empowering you by His Spirit. Because 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:16.659 they both are at play. It doesn't mean like you 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:18.740 have a second thing. It means that the Spirit 00:13:18.740 --> 00:13:21.980 already lives in you, and the Spirit now empowers 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:25.500 you. The Spirit that lives within you empowers 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:33.059 you to be His witness. in my experience i said 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:34.700 this to my wife she goes is that your experience 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:39.259 yes it's my experience but in my experience one 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:42.580 of the tell signs that the holy spirit breaks 00:13:42.580 --> 00:13:44.860 into is is that the holy spirit breaks into your 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:47.820 heart and begins to break your heart for people 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:51.840 that they would know jesus if something happens 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.340 in you goes man i care about my those those that 00:13:54.340 --> 00:14:00.519 don't know what i have so What do we do with 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.100 that? Caleb, the Spirit of God lives in you. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:06.480 He must empower you. It's like weird almost. 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:11.840 What do we do with this? One word. You pray. 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:16.759 Let's unpack that for a minute. You pray. You 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:18.940 pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be upon 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:23.879 you. To do His work through you. To give you 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.580 an example of this, years ago when I was doing 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:29.629 Young Life as an area director, I started this 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:32.330 habit, I was challenged, that every time I'd 00:14:32.330 --> 00:14:34.029 walk into West Valley High School, it was the 00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:35.730 primary high school in Fairbanks that I was a 00:14:35.730 --> 00:14:38.009 part of. And every time I'd walk into that school, 00:14:38.169 --> 00:14:40.850 I realized, like, Lord, I don't know what I'm 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:44.389 doing. And I need you. I need you to empower 00:14:44.389 --> 00:14:48.000 me today. and so i begin to pray before i ever 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.799 walk to the halls of that school now i'm coaching 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.500 at colony high school and i do i do i do it there 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:54.960 too before i walk into the doors of the school 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.120 i say lord by the power of your spirit will you 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.480 empower me to be a representative of you wherever 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:03.559 i go i don't got it all figured out but i know 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:08.379 this pray and pray daily And you pray, and you 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:12.720 pray that God's word in this, like, okay, how 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.059 do we pray? We pray all the time in every situation 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:17.539 you can think of. But how about in the morning 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:19.840 when you wake up to read your Bible, the first 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:22.820 thing you say, Lord, teach me. Lord, by your 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:27.539 spirit, empower me to understand, to illuminate 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:30.620 this text. I say, I need to know. I need to be 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:32.860 changed. I need to grow. Spirit, will you do 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:38.529 it? Okay? Pray and ask God to show you your sin. 00:15:39.149 --> 00:15:41.169 Ooh, I don't want to talk about that. You need 00:15:41.169 --> 00:15:44.070 it. God's in the process of cleaning us and changing 00:15:44.070 --> 00:15:46.429 us, and the Holy Spirit will illuminate you, 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.929 your mind, as you present yourself, humbly surrender 00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:51.850 to him, saying, God, I need help. I know I'm 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:54.929 broken. But if he reveals to you a brokenness 00:15:54.929 --> 00:15:56.950 in your life, a sin in your life, what do you 00:15:56.950 --> 00:16:01.789 do with that? You give it back to him. You give 00:16:01.789 --> 00:16:05.019 it back to him. You say, I need your help. What 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:07.620 else do you pray? You pray for boldness. You 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:09.879 pray, God, I am scared. I don't want to go talk 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:11.879 to my friend. Well, God, will you give me boldness, 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:14.679 but will you also give me opportunity? I want 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:17.000 to reflect Jesus to them, and I don't know how 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.320 to do it today. So I'm weak, and you're strong, 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:26.620 and so I ask for boldness. Part of the problem 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.299 with this, though, is we're so selfish, right? 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:30.919 So ask the Holy Spirit to deal with your selfishness. 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:35.419 I'm always just looking at my needs. God, will 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:38.440 you help me with that? Holy Spirit, will you 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.559 do a work in me? Holy Spirit, will you direct 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:47.019 me today? I was praying for an opportunity as 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:49.740 we walked in the building yesterday to set up 00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:51.320 and try to figure this space out. And I said, 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:53.460 Lord, before we ever came in, I thought, well, 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:55.000 if I'm preaching on this, I better start having 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.639 this same attitude again, right? I was like, 00:16:57.639 --> 00:16:59.759 Lord, give us an opportunity. Well, lo and behold, 00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:03.110 the custodian that was here. One conversation 00:17:03.110 --> 00:17:05.210 after another, he needed encouragement. It became 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:08.329 very evident to me. He was somebody that, I won't 00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:11.549 go into all the details, but he was at one point 00:17:11.549 --> 00:17:16.910 in Kazakhstan and ended up being kicked out of 00:17:16.910 --> 00:17:18.690 the country by Muslims, and he ended up here, 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:21.670 and he speaks really, really poor Russian, and 00:17:21.670 --> 00:17:23.910 the first person he starts talking to is Josiah, 00:17:23.950 --> 00:17:26.730 and Josiah jumps right into Russian. And then, 00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:28.410 I didn't know how many of you guys speak Russian, 00:17:28.470 --> 00:17:30.980 by the way. I was impressed. Jared started speaking 00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:34.059 Russian. And so did Justin. And I was like, what? 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:37.180 I'm the only one that can't. But here's the thing. 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:42.460 He needed encouragement. And we got to be that 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:45.279 part. I don't know all the things that's going 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:47.279 on in his life, but it was very evident, wasn't 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.539 it, Jared? Pray and ask God to direct you. Ask 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:55.019 the Holy Spirit to direct you. You are a conduit 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:59.319 through which the Holy Spirit flows. So. Second 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.380 thing. Second thing that flows out of verse 8 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:07.380 to me is be a witness. Now, what's a witness? 00:18:08.500 --> 00:18:13.160 That's a question. What is a witness? Churchy 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:14.880 people should, you know, I may have a church 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.200 answer, but just in every day, what is a witness? 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.839 I mean, it tells the truth, okay? There's more 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:28.329 to it. What do you think? Huh? Yeah, you replay 00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:31.329 what you've, can I just say experienced? What 00:18:31.329 --> 00:18:33.750 have you encountered? You're a witness at a car 00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:37.089 accident. What do you tell the trooper? What 00:18:37.089 --> 00:18:41.410 you saw. That's all they're asking here. Okay? 00:18:41.670 --> 00:18:47.970 So share your experience of the gospel. You know, 00:18:47.990 --> 00:18:50.589 and you don't have to have all the answers. You 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:52.910 don't have to have everything figured out. You 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:55.789 simply share what you know. Right, Adam? Are 00:18:55.789 --> 00:18:58.160 you brand new with Jesus? What do you share with 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.539 other people? What you know. That's it. Share 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:08.119 what he's accomplished in you as a witness. Share 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:14.640 your sin and share his grace and share his transforming 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.680 power. Okay, so don't just share your sin. You 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.720 share your sin to point to the grace that you've 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.200 experienced to show how God is changing you because 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:29.160 of his grace. You get to share that. Share. And 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:30.740 the biggest thing is, can I just tell you my 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:32.960 story? You know one thing about telling your 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:34.779 story to somebody? They can't argue with it. 00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:39.059 It's your story. I want to close this way today. 00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:42.880 We're going to actually close in a time of prayer. 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.819 You know, it's interesting. In Acts 1 verse 14, 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:55.440 right after the disciples receive, they see the... 00:19:55.769 --> 00:19:58.430 instruction by jesus what you see is the church 00:19:58.430 --> 00:20:02.630 gathered together about 120 they're gathered 00:20:02.630 --> 00:20:06.549 together and what are they doing they're praying 00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:10.430 and i think this is really important because 00:20:10.430 --> 00:20:13.410 this is the first thing you see the church do 00:20:13.410 --> 00:20:16.069 and when in their prayer i think what you see 00:20:16.069 --> 00:20:18.829 is this picture of surrender that god i can get 00:20:18.829 --> 00:20:21.230 this figured out they're probably overwhelmed 00:20:22.009 --> 00:20:23.970 They were probably like, wow, we just went through 00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:25.710 the resurrection and saw this, and now this? 00:20:25.849 --> 00:20:30.549 Like, what do we do? And they were like, we're 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:33.450 going to pray. We don't know anything else. And 00:20:33.450 --> 00:20:36.930 so you see a church doing this, and as they pray, 00:20:37.130 --> 00:20:39.990 and so I think this is a good place for us to 00:20:39.990 --> 00:20:43.390 start. I wrestled with this all week, and so 00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:45.190 I'm not going to make this super awkward for 00:20:45.190 --> 00:20:47.589 you, but I am going to ask you to talk to the 00:20:47.589 --> 00:20:49.970 Lord today. I'm going to ask you right where 00:20:49.970 --> 00:20:52.220 you sit. To have a conversation with the Lord. 00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:55.700 And you can do it quiet. I wanted to make it 00:20:55.700 --> 00:20:57.140 so we could all talk out loud. And be pretty 00:20:57.140 --> 00:20:59.700 cool. But we're just going to do it. I'm going 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:02.059 to ask the band to come up. And we're just going 00:21:02.059 --> 00:21:08.440 to. We're going to close this way today. Let 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:11.920 me say this. Before we get to these prayer instructions. 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:15.200 When we're done praying. And we begin to sing 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:17.940 together. There is communion in the back. And 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:20.640 we do communion every week. To be reminded. to 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.119 come back to the good news of Jesus. That his 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:27.900 body was broken for me. His blood was shed to 00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:30.940 me. And as you go take communion today, I want 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:33.480 you to think about what has been given to you, 00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:37.099 and not just in Jesus' death and his resurrection, 00:21:37.180 --> 00:21:39.660 but also in the empowering of the Spirit in your 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:44.180 life. Here's how I want to pray. I'm going to 00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:46.880 just ask the band, I've asked them to come up 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.069 because of... I want Josiah just to kind of play 00:21:49.069 --> 00:21:50.950 quietly. I want you just to bow your heads. But 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:52.930 before you do that, here's something I think 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:56.430 I found to be helpful. You don't have to do this, 00:21:56.450 --> 00:22:02.430 but I encourage you to. You need to pray with 00:22:02.430 --> 00:22:04.910 a surrendered heart. Whatever you do, pray with 00:22:04.910 --> 00:22:10.049 a surrendered heart. And so for me, a lot of 00:22:10.049 --> 00:22:11.670 times when I pray with a surrendered heart, I've 00:22:11.670 --> 00:22:14.170 just got my hands open. And whatever it is, I 00:22:14.170 --> 00:22:17.180 kind of picture. My life, whatever the issue 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.440 is, is I hold it out before the Lord and I say, 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:23.400 God, it's yours. And so I'm just going to walk 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:27.160 us through some different prayer cues. And the 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:30.240 rest of the time is you and God. And so I'm going 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.359 to pray. I encourage you to bow your heads. Just 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.099 don't be distracted by anything else. Just talk 00:22:35.099 --> 00:22:38.140 to the Lord for a minute. You can open your hands 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:43.039 before him if you want. Before you do anything. 00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:47.059 In asking God for anything, I want you to just 00:22:47.059 --> 00:22:57.420 ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your sin. Just 00:22:57.420 --> 00:23:02.059 take a minute and think about what it is that 00:23:02.059 --> 00:23:05.480 is separating you from God or has separated you 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:08.740 from God. If there's sin that comes to your mind, 00:23:08.819 --> 00:23:11.579 I want you just to lay it down at the feet of 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:57.039 Jesus. He paid for your sin. I find sometimes 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.579 when I confess my sin, oftentimes the Lord gives 00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:04.599 me direction of what I need to do. Maybe you 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:07.359 need to go to somebody and seek forgiveness today 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:12.960 from them as well. But know that the Spirit's 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:16.799 job is not to bring condemnation, but to bring 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:20.940 conviction. And if He's convicting you, release 00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:51.190 it and surrender it to Him. Take a minute now 00:24:51.190 --> 00:24:54.069 and just ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to 00:24:54.069 --> 00:25:04.809 be a witness. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you.