1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,280 Well, happy Pentecost. This is a unique day in the year of the church. This is the day 2 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,320 we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into our world. He did not come knocking. 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:22,920 He broke down the door of this world. He flooded the hearts of all believers in Christ Jesus, 4 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:32,760 all followers of Christ, and he actually became the unbreakable bond that we have with God, 5 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:42,440 this Holy Spirit. He did not just show up with the New Testament. I think we associate 6 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:49,960 him a lot with the New Testament because of Pentecost, but it says the Spirit of God shows 7 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:57,040 up throughout the New Testament in different places. Primarily the main ones are Sinai. 8 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:03,640 When God's people went to Sinai and Moses received the Ten Commandments, when the Tabernacle 9 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:09,160 is instituted and when the Temple of Solomon is instituted. But whenever God shows up, 10 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:16,880 the presence of God, the Spirit of God is always associated with fire in some form 11 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:26,880 and wind, sometimes both, sometimes either or. The people present will hear the sound 12 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:32,680 of wind or they'll see the presence of fire. What's different about Pentecost is this is 13 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:40,960 the first time that that presence and that manifestation of God is not associated with 14 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:47,560 the place. It's associated with people for the first time. So it's not one manifestation 15 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:58,240 of flame, it's flame on each individual because God no longer dwells in this building of stone. 16 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:07,360 He dwells in each of his people. They hear the sound of wind rushing. This is all very 17 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:16,920 significant to this Jewish body of believers who had heard these stories their entire life, 18 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:25,440 who knows what this means, who knows what's taking place. Today we celebrate the fact 19 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,640 that we are each that Temple. That each of us is the indwelling place of God's Holy 20 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:40,520 Spirit and Pentecost is the day that the people of God became the partners of God in his mission. 21 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,960 We became partakers of what he is doing in the world and we join him in that. So we're 22 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:53,360 not just slaves or even staff members, but we are actual partners with God. So the Holy 23 00:02:53,360 --> 00:03:01,080 Spirit actually lets us know God and let's us participate in making God known to the 24 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:09,240 world. So in the Gospel reading we heard Jesus says, when the helper comes, the Spirit, when 25 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:14,160 the helper comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds 26 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:21,480 from the Father, he will bear witness about me and you also will bear witness because 27 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:27,360 you have been with me from the beginning. So we're partnering with God in this bearing 28 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:38,520 witness to the world. The problem is for as many times as I have born witness to God, 29 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:46,880 there are probably thousands more times that I have made myself known. My opinions, my 30 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:59,600 preferences, my priorities, anything that I want, my agenda, my interests or I've been 31 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:06,400 happy to go with someone else. Happy to go with someone else to lead me and not think 32 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:19,240 twice about God before doing it. If that's each of us, and I'm assuming it is, can anyone 33 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:28,240 not relate to that? If that's each of us, what do you have when you have a group of 34 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:35,720 Christians each insisting on their own way? It's not heaven, you have a committee. That's 35 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:40,320 what happens on committees, church committees, call committees, building committees. That's 36 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:46,040 part of what I do in the district. I build lists of qualified candidates for churches 37 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,880 that need a pastor and they will review those pastors, they'll interview them, they'll talk 38 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:58,480 to them and based on certain characteristics and profile, what they filled out, we'll decide 39 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:06,080 this could be a good fit in this setting. Before that happens, congregations will let 40 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,320 us know what they need. You'll fill out a survey, you'll say, here's the kind of pastor 41 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,240 we want, here's the kind of skills we want and usually it's a reflection of what the 42 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:25,040 individual wants. I don't want someone who's going to bring all this new age worship in, 43 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:32,000 I want my service preserved, I want my liturgy preserved or I don't want someone who's going 44 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,040 to come in and just do all the traditional stuff, I want someone who's easy going and 45 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,600 who's going to go with the flow and is not going to make me feel too bad about not doing 46 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:48,960 that. We each have our own preferences. I have kids in the congregation, I need someone 47 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,520 who's going to be good at youth group or we have to get this congregation growing so we 48 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,160 can have more money to sustain ourselves, we need someone who's going to bring people 49 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:05,080 out from the community, we need someone with charisma, we need a go getter. A lot of these 50 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:18,640 things have to do with our own personal agendas, our own personal opinions and God help you 51 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:27,680 if you've ever served on a building committee. I once almost saw an actual fight break out 52 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:33,960 over the color of light bulbs in the sanctuary, like actual fists because someone wanted the 53 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:44,040 daylight kind of bluish light bulbs instead of the warm light. This is not heaven, that's 54 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:49,600 not a manifestation of heaven. I grew up in a Christian school, some of the worst bullying 55 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,800 I've ever seen or experienced was in that school. Some of the worst things I've ever 56 00:06:53,800 --> 00:07:00,880 seen or heard of in the world, some of the most shocking and disturbing and hurtful and 57 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:12,760 hateful words and actions have been perpetrated and perpetuated by Christians. That's not 58 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:23,880 heaven, that's not bringing the kingdom of heaven to the world. A big part of it, I think, 59 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:37,240 is because as Christians we tend to have a one day problem. That is, well, one day everything 60 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:44,440 is going to be made right. One day everything is going to be how I want it to be, everything 61 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:50,680 is going to be how it should be. One day all of this pain will be gone, one day there will 62 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:58,480 be no more problems. So we have this one day problem and when is that going to happen when 63 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:11,600 I am in heaven? Thank you, when I am in heaven. That's the one day. One day I will be in heaven 64 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:17,520 and all of these things will be true. But I'm going to tell you the same thing that 65 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:23,240 I tell my kids when we're on a really beautiful drive and they have their faces down and their 66 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:31,520 devices are in a book. You're missing it. You're missing it. Look up, look around you. You 67 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:38,480 are missing it because heaven is here. It's right now. In the Gospel of Mark when Jesus 68 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:46,080 starts his public ministry, he goes, the first thing that Jesus is recorded as saying in 69 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:51,080 his public ministry is repent and believe the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is in our 70 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:59,920 Bible it says at hand. The word is has come, has arrived. So at hand, you know, we tend 71 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,520 to think like, well, it's so close, I can taste it. It's right there. It's so close. 72 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:08,400 But that's not what he's saying. He's saying it has come. It's done. The kingdom of heaven 73 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:16,320 is here now. It has arrived. Why? Because he has arrived. Heaven comes with Christ. So 74 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:27,240 heaven is here. Now there is one day that heaven will stop advancing, will stop, you 75 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:34,320 know, making transforming hearts. And that is the day that it will no longer have a place 76 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:40,720 to advance to. It will be done. All things will be made right one day. One day, all injustices 77 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:49,880 will be fixed, all pain and suffering will end. That's one day. But the joy of Pentecost 78 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:58,920 and our celebration today is that we don't need to wait until we see God face to face 79 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:08,240 to know him. We don't have to wait until that day for us to experience joy because that 80 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:14,400 day is here. That is the joy of Pentecost. You don't have to wait to know him. In fact, 81 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:19,240 Peter's Pentecost sermon, in his Pentecost sermon, he tells thousands of people once 82 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:25,160 the Spirit has descended on him, renewed his heart and given him those words of speed. 83 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:31,080 Peter says to this huge crowd, repent and believe, repent and be baptized every one 84 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,800 of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive 85 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:47,560 the gift of the Holy Spirit. Okay? You... Let me say that again. Please give it your full 86 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:59,120 attention because there is no greater reality. You will receive the Holy Spirit. You will 87 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:17,920 receive God. That's now. That has happened. We just saw it happen. It's incredible. We 88 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:27,440 just saw it happen. Now, what we see is an adorable child in front, you know, dressed 89 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:36,920 with the nines looking great and, you know, reacting to the cold water and it's cute. 90 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:44,640 What we know to happen, what we don't see happening on a spiritual level is a lot more 91 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:53,040 intense, which makes our promises more intense, which makes her future more intense. And 92 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:58,160 we forget that a lot of times. Those of us who have been baptized, we forget the intense 93 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:05,360 reality of that. But I don't want to forget that. I don't want to forget the work of the 94 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:12,360 Holy Spirit that seals us until the day, that seals us for all of those one days until Christ 95 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:17,440 comes back. That seals us and protects us and keeps us safe and comforted in the presence 96 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:23,640 of God. I don't want to forget that. So listen to what Paul says about what is happening 97 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:35,560 on the spiritual level in that baptism. Okay, what we just witnessed. Do you not know that 98 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:49,560 all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? We 99 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:57,440 were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was 100 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:06,520 raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. 101 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:15,600 We have a unity and a presence with God. We have him dwelling in us. We have an unbroken 102 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:24,240 bond. We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And she gets to grow up in that. A 103 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:30,560 lot of you have probably grow up in that reality. We tend to take it for granted when that's 104 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:41,440 the case. But it's no less a reality that we have been united with Christ. The Holy 105 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:51,160 Spirit eternally transforms a person through baptism. You have been forgiven, renewed and 106 00:13:51,160 --> 00:14:02,480 raised with Jesus in Jesus by the Holy Spirit as a citizen of heaven. And if you're a citizen 107 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,280 of heaven, that makes you an ambassador of heaven. You're an ambassador of heaven in 108 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:16,360 the world. What that means is you bear God's word about the King. Okay, what he would have 109 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:21,960 the world know about him and his kingdom, you are that ambassador. You carry that news 110 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:31,720 to let people know. Okay, now that responsibility is huge. And I think that can be a catalyst 111 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:37,960 of why we go so quickly to one day. When you hear like, well, yes, my responsibility to 112 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,720 carry the gospel to people and I know that I should be doing it. And one day I will, 113 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,400 once I know a little bit more about it, you know, I need to go to a few more classes, I 114 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:51,360 need to go to evangelist training, or I just need to get my act together a little bit more. 115 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:57,160 My life isn't quite what I want. I don't want people digging too deep into that. Or if somebody 116 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:03,320 has answers that I'm not prepared, somebody has questions that I'm not prepared to answer. 117 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:11,920 I just need more time. One day, I'll be able to do that to be the ambassador of heaven, 118 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:19,320 but not yet. So we get into that one day tailspin. You know, make disciples, I can't do that. 119 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:33,440 I'll learn more one day. But the fact is, our situation is far, far too urgent for that. 120 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:53,280 People are dying, dying. And to be standing in the midst of very sick people and clutching 121 00:15:53,280 --> 00:16:07,600 the penicillin to yourself is cruel. The situation is urgent. But you know, it's more than that. 122 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:14,320 I'll say it again. If that's you thinking, well, one day I'll do this, if that's you, 123 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:23,920 I'll tell you again, you're missing it. There is a joy in bearing the Holy Spirit. There 124 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:30,440 is a joy in knowing Him. There's a joy in telling His story, no matter how imperfectly 125 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:38,640 we might tell it. There's joy in that. There is joy to be had in the kingdom of heaven. 126 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:47,120 Now, I cannot dance, okay? Will not dance because I cannot dance. And I've heard it's 127 00:16:47,120 --> 00:17:03,400 fun. You know, I'm too scared to try. However, I can two step. It's easy enough that I can 128 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:11,800 two step. So when I was in college, I went to Concordia Austin. And every Friday, Saturday, 129 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:16,480 we would go to either Broken Spoke or Copeland Dance Hall. A group of students would go out 130 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:25,160 there. We'd go two stepping. And it's easy enough that I could do that. It's just short, 131 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:34,840 long. Easy, right? If you two step any other way, you're just wrong. But that's easy enough 132 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:40,480 for me to do. And the kingdom of heaven is similar to that. You know, we can get intimidated 133 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:47,760 by how much we think we should be doing or how much other people are doing and how adept 134 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:53,040 we think we should be in bearing witness to the Spirit. But the fact is, heaven is a two 135 00:17:53,040 --> 00:18:07,200 step, okay? Short, short, long. Easy. And I'll break it down like this. In one of our orders 136 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:14,880 of service, we have this phrase, I remember it because my dad was a Roman Catholic, so 137 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:21,440 whenever I would go to church with him, they would sing this as part of their liturgy. 138 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:26,800 Here's Sunday, I still remember the tune, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will 139 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:35,160 come again. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Can you say that with 140 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:44,280 me? Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. There you go. You're capable. 141 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:50,480 You're capable. You are now trained to two step, to bring the kingdom of heaven to people. 142 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,720 And the reason I say short, short, long is because that's easy for me to remember. Christ 143 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:01,680 has died. That's an event. Short, it happened, okay? At a certain point in time, that happened. 144 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:09,840 Christ has risen. That is a short event that happened in time one day. Short, short, Christ 145 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:15,680 has died, Christ has risen. Christ will come again. That takes a little bit more time. 146 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:23,720 That takes long, okay? And this is a simple breakdown of the Gospel, but you can go into 147 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:32,200 more depth with it. So, when I went two stepping, there was one particular guy I knew. He was 148 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,040 still two stepping, but somehow he was also like spinning people around his waist and 149 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,920 throwing them over his back and all that, like he was still two stepping. But he could 150 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:47,560 do all these incredible things that I think if I ever tried, I'd probably have a loss 151 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:54,560 here against me pretty quick. It would just be a disaster. But he could do that in the 152 00:19:54,560 --> 00:20:01,760 same way. Like you can stay as simple with this as the situation calls, where you can 153 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:13,440 get more complex as you get more comfortable with it. So, Christ has died. There has been 154 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:20,560 infinite inks spilled about that reality and what it means. You can go deep with that sentence, 155 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,280 okay? Christ has risen. Same thing. Christ will come again. Same thing. These are very 156 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:30,560 simple statements, and yet they carry a very complex reality. So, there is lots of room 157 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:35,720 to develop, to go into conversation and relationship with these things. You can get fancy with 158 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:42,800 the two step, and you can get fancy with the gospel, or you can keep it simple as the situation 159 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:50,840 calls for. The point is, if you're intimidated, if you're ever at a point where you can be 160 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:58,760 an ambassador of heaven, you can share the gospel, and you get intimidated. You get 161 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:06,480 clammy, you get that kind of cold sweat, because you think like, I know this is a chance that 162 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:11,320 I have to have this conversation. This is a chance that I have to share something. Most 163 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:16,680 of us have probably experienced that if you've been in the church for any length of time. 164 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:26,080 I firmly believe, I firmly believe that that's the spirit going, go on, go on. And we say, 165 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:35,520 don't push me, don't push me. I'm good. And we come up with all kinds of excuses why that 166 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:43,440 wouldn't happen. But just keep it simple. Don't get intimidated. Short, short, long. 167 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:51,240 It's very easy. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. We said it 168 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:59,800 together just now. I know you can. The fact is though, there are lots of techniques to 169 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:08,520 sharing the gospel. I've read books literally breaking down multiple techniques so that 170 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,880 you're prepared in any situation, whatever happens. You know, like someone's going to 171 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:19,840 like memorize this book and all of the techniques. We have evangelist training through the district. 172 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:26,520 Those are techniques. You have the words and the tools to be more comfortable. But the 173 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:32,200 fact is, you could have an infinite number of techniques. We do have an infinite number 174 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:41,480 of techniques. It's not about the technique. The joy of Pentecost is that it is not about 175 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:49,240 the technique because you have the spirit. The spirit that makes sense of those words 176 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:54,680 Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again for us to grasp that. The Holy 177 00:22:54,680 --> 00:23:01,560 Spirit does that. You have that spirit on your lips, in your heart, speaking that word. 178 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:09,800 But also, that spirit, that same spirit is in the ears of the person that receives that 179 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:26,560 good news. It's like a translation service, right? What doesn't make sense in here clicks. 180 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:35,760 The joy of Pentecost is that God is good to us, making us part of his family, incorporating 181 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:44,040 us in his mission, making us partners with him. This is what you were reborn for, to 182 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:50,960 be an ambassador of heaven and to bring the kingdom of heaven to people. As we heard when 183 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:56,640 we were doing the baptism, to make disciples, to baptize and teach in the name of the Father 184 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:08,200 and the Son and the Holy Spirit.