The Arrival of the Holy Spirit and His Gifts

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(upbeat music)

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- All right, I'm coming to preach from the floor

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this morning because I wanna spit on some people.

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And so that's why my table is down there.

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And I think I've got all the things.

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Look at somebody you don't like and say,

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I'm glad you're here.

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If you're joining us on live stream,

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I wish you were here this morning.

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I'm glad you're joining us.

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We're continuing our series on his word, his life,

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his church this morning.

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And we're in the section of his church and guess what?

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You are his church.

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And it is such a privilege to be a part of God's church.

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And you're a part of his church.

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And so what we've been doing over the last couple of weeks,

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and we're gonna continue today and next week,

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is we've kind of laid a framework for the Holy Spirit.

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We've been talking about the person of the Holy Spirit.

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And what we're gonna be doing between now and Advent,

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now and Christmas time,

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is we're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit's move

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through the book of Acts.

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And so I wanna encourage you,

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if you're not in a reading plan right now,

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I wanna encourage you, you might wanna read Acts,

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go through Acts and you'll keep up with this.

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We're basically gonna step through chapter by chapter

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and draw points from the book of Acts

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as it relates to the Holy Spirit

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and what the Holy Spirit did in the early church.

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Okay, so that's coming down the pike.

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But today we're gonna do,

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today's the first of a two-part message, okay?

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So next week will be part two.

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But today we're gonna talk about the Holy Spirit

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and the gifts that the Holy Spirit has available for us.

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So this is what I'm hoping is gonna happen.

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Now, Kevin, if I get in front of this and mess this up,

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it's not gonna happen the way it's supposed to,

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but hopefully it happens the way I'm intending

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for it to happen.

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So today what I wanna do is I wanna talk about

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what is the purpose of these gifts mentioned in Scripture?

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What are the purpose of the gifts that God gives us?

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A, and B, what is the barometer and the litmus test

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of a believer who's living their life by the Spirit?

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Okay, so those are the two things I wanna address today.

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And then next Sunday,

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we're actually gonna look at the gifts.

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We're gonna look at some of the gifts

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and we're gonna unpackage what the gifts look like

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and what they're about, okay?

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So this is part one of a two-part message.

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If I mess it up, go back and listen to last week's

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Wayne's message.

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He did a great job last week, didn't he?

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Person of the Holy Spirit.

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So I think that's everything I need to do to set this up.

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So we're gonna stand and read from 1 Corinthians.

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And I want you to read like you've had three espresso shots

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this morning.

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Here we go.

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Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters,

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I do not want you to be uninformed.

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You know that when you were pagans,

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somehow or other you were influenced

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and led astray to mute idols.

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Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking

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by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed,"

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and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord,"

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except by the Holy Spirit.

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There are different kinds of gifts,

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but the same Spirit distributes them.

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There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

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There are different kinds of working,

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but in all of them and in everyone,

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it is the same God at work.

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Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit

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is given for the common good.

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To one, there is given through the Spirit

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a message of wisdom.

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To another, a message of knowledge

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by the means of the same Spirit.

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To another, faith by the same Spirit.

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To another, gifts of healing by that one Spirit.

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To another, miraculous powers.

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To another, prophecy.

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To another, distinguishing between spirits.

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To another, speaking in different kinds of tongues,

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and still to the another, the interpretation of tongues.

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All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,

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and He distributes them to each one just as He determines.

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Father, I thank you that your word is full, it is alive.

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I thank you, Lord, that we have access to you, God,

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and we wanna be a people that have everything

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you have to offer us.

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So Lord, would you impart it to us today in Jesus' name,

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amen, you may be seated.

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The Holy Spirit is the most important person on the planet.

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And the glorious part of that truth

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is that you and I have access to Him.

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You and I have access to the God who created the universe,

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who breathed stars, who knows you by name,

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who created you, who set things in motion.

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We have access to the same God

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who's gonna split the sky one day and bring us all home.

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We have access to Him right now.

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There are many religions on the planet.

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We are the only religion that can proclaim a God

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who is alive and active today who we have access to.

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That's incredible.

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That's incredible.

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And it's unique to the God we serve.

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I would rather serve a God who is alive

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than a God who is dead.

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Our God is alive.

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Our God is alive.

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Now, I love, I love, I love getting gifts.

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Anybody here like getting gifts?

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I like giving gifts, but probably more than getting gifts,

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I love to give gifts.

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That's actually more, now, my daughter Nora

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would not be in that same boat.

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She, you know, yesterday was Sadassa's birthday

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and Nora was talking all day

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about when she's getting gifts on her birthday.

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And so there are people who are receivers

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and they enjoy the receiving end of things

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and there are people who are givers.

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Hopefully most of us are at least somewhere in the middle

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and not just the one side of receiving,

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but you know, some of us maybe live there.

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But I enjoy giving gifts,

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but I used to be a really bad gift giver.

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I used to be a really, really bad gift giver

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because what I would do is I would look

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at somebody like Cornelius and say,

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"I wanna get you a gift."

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And I would go to the store

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and I picked the first thing I see and I would wrap it up.

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Didn't matter what it was.

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It's just the first thing I saw.

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Maybe it was something that just struck my eye or whatever,

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but it had no significant value to Cornelius

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or any rhyme or reason.

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I just picked it up and wrapped it up.

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And the thing that I would do that's so interesting

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is I would get a gift and I would wrap it

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in the most expensive wrapping paper I could find,

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the most expensive bow, the most expensive bag.

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And so when you got this gift, you thought,

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whoa, this is something pretty awesome probably in here

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because of the way it looks

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on the, with the wrapping paper or whatever.

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And then the person would open it and I go,

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and they would, okay, great.

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And then it'd be regifted next Christmas.

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So, but I was really a bad gift giver,

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but I would always wrap the gifts really nice.

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Some of us are so concerned about what things look like

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on the outside that we don't pay attention

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to what we're putting on in the inside.

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And I want you to know that what's happening on the inside

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is much more significant

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than what's happening on the outside.

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In fact, I would say what's happening on the inside

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should overflow onto what's happening on the outside.

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But we are good at creating facades.

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We are good at masking what's really going on on the inside.

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And the Holy Spirit wants to get in

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and make true what's happening on the inside,

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what you're trying to project on the outside.

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And he can do that.

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And he wants to do that.

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But I used to give gifts, bad gift giver,

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but now I've evolved into,

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I've evolved into I think a pretty good gift giver.

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And that's because I know I put some thought

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into what I give,

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but I don't really like to give too many times

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tangible gifts.

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The gifts I enjoy giving are gifts of experience.

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Gifts of experience.

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If I could take you somewhere to experience something

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that you can connect a memory to,

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there's longevity in that gift.

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And I really enjoy giving those types of gifts.

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Paul's writing here to the Corinthians

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and he's going to list these gifts

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that we're actually gonna talk about next week.

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But he's listing these gifts.

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And in this portion of scripture, he says this.

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He says, "I don't want you to be uninformed."

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And the reason that he's saying this is he's saying,

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"Hey, look, there's an aspect to God here

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that you have access to.

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There's an aspect to the Holy Spirit

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that you have access to.

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There are these gifts that you have access to.

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And I want you to be well-informed about these gifts

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and what they're about and how they are to be used."

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And he doesn't want, and church, I'm telling you today,

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I don't want us to be uninformed about these gifts

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and what they are for and who they're for

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and all of those things.

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And so that's why we're taking time to do this.

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Now here's the dangerous thing.

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Here's the dangerous thing.

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We get sometimes attached to the gifts of the Holy Spirit

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and the glitz and the woo-hoo and the wow

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of some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

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that sometimes we will take a left flank

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and we will start chasing after the gifts

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instead of the gift giver.

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That's a problem.

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That's a problem.

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We never wanna be a people who are after the things of God

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more so than we are after God himself, God himself.

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And so I believe that this portion of scripture

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is designed to tell the Corinthians,

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to explain to us that there are some powerful gifts

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available to us if we will lean into them.

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And guess what?

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Every one of you, I believe have some type of gift

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opportunity available to you.

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Some of you multiple gifts, but every one of you have gifts.

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He told them in Acts, he said, "Listen, I want you

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to stay here and wait on the Holy Spirit.

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Do not leave Jerusalem without my power to go forth

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and spread my gospel to all the ends of the earth."

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Well, guess what?

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The Lord doesn't want you leaving your house

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without his power.

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He doesn't want you leaving your sphere of,

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going into your sphere of influence without his power.

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And he's got some real incredible, unique things

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available for us to tap into if we'll lean into them.

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So we don't wanna be uninformed.

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We don't wanna just grab a gift.

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Have you ever been given something and you decided to use it

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but you didn't read the instructions?

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(congregation laughing)

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Everybody, anybody try to build something

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and you had some extra screws left over?

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Well, it doesn't matter, it's held together, right?

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No, we're being given some instructions

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so that we're not misusing the gifts that we've been given.

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There's some real instructions on how the gifts

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are to be used.

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And again, next week we're gonna unpackage

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that a little bit more, but this is important.

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This is important.

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And I want us to understand, and I'm gonna read

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quite a bit of scripture today, but I want us to understand

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that even before these gifts of the Holy Spirit

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are talked about by Paul, I want us to understand

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that Jesus too also conferred gifts.

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He also conferred gifts.

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Let's look over at, we're gonna go to Ephesians chapter four.

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If you have your Bibles, a Bible is a good thing

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to bring to church.

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(congregation laughing)

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Kinda like when you bring an umbrella when it rains.

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A Bible goes with church, yeah.

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Chapter four of Ephesians.

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There is one body and one spirit.

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Can you say that?

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There is one body and one spirit.

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Just as you were called to one hope when called

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one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father

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of us all who is over all and through all and in all.

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Yet grace, say grace.

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Yet grace was given to each one of us

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in proportion to the measure of Christ's gifts.

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Skipping to verse 11.

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And he himself, he being Jesus himself,

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appointed such as apostles, some as prophets,

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some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers

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to fully equip and perfect the saints

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for works of service to build up the body of Christ

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until we all reach oneness in faith

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and in the knowledge of the Son of God

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to become a mature believer reaching to the measure

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of the fullness of Christ.

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So here we see that Jesus Christ himself

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gave very special grace gifts,

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but his gifts were in the form of offices

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or forms of people.

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And these are what they are.

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Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

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These are gifts, these are grace positions,

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graced people, graced gifts that are bestowed

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from Jesus Christ to people.

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So Jesus gives gifts in the form of people.

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The Holy Spirit gives gifts in the form of function.

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Okay, are you with me?

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Jesus gifts in the form of people,

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Holy Spirit in the form of function.

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For instance, the prophets,

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the prophet would be the gift from Jesus.

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This is the office of the prophet, okay?

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The prophet would render or bestow the gift of prophecy,

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the function of prophecy.

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Are you with me, okay?

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Now, when Jesus was saying this,

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when Jesus created these offices

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that we refer to the fivefold ministry,

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when we look at this, it says that,

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how long do we need to keep these going?

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Well, it says until we all look like Christ.

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So I want you to look at your neighbor and say,

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you don't look like Christ yet.

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So until we look like Christ,

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these are still in operation, yes?

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These are still in operation, okay?

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So these are special grace gifts

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given from Jesus, created by Jesus,

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so that the Holy Spirit can through them

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use the function of the gifts

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that the Holy Spirit has to offer.

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So now let's go to Romans chapter 12.

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Romans chapter 12 says this.

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"Therefore," Paul's speaking to the Romans,

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"I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God,

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"to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

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"holy and well pleasing to God,

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"which is your rational act of worship.

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"Do not be conformed to this world,

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"but be transformed and progressively changed

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"by the renewing of your mind,

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"so that you may prove what the will of God is,

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"that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

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"For by grace," say grace.

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- Grace.

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- "For by grace given to me, I say to every one of you,

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"not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think,

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"but to think so as to have sound judgment

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"as God apportioned to each a degree of faith.

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"For just as in one body we have many parts,

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"and these parts do not all have the same function

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"or special use, so we who are many

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"are one body in Christ and individually parts

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"of one another and dependent on one another."

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Listen to this.

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"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace,"

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say grace.

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- Grace.

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- "Grace given to us,

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"each of us is to use them accordingly.

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"If prophecy, let it be used in proportion

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"to the faith possessed.

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"If service in the act of serving,

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"if he teaches in the act of teaching,

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"he who encourages in the act of encouragement,

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"he who gives with generosity,

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"he who leads with diligence,

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"he who shows mercy with cheerfulness."

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Okay, so what I want us to understand here,

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what I want us to understand here

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is that Jesus Christ appointed these positions

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as special grace gifts, okay, special grace gifts.

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So he's equipped these people with grace

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to give grace gifts to those that they are leading.

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And what kind of gifts is he giving?

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He's giving the gifts of prophecy,

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he's giving the gifts, a gift of wisdom.

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But there are more grace gifts than just the ones

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that we are used to in 1 Corinthians 12.

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This is what I wanna get at.

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There are so many people

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that have walked with the Holy Spirit,

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that have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit,

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and you feel like you have been left out

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because you are not up here laying hands on people

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and manifesting some type of out-of-body experience

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for somebody to be healed,

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but you have been given the supernatural gift of mercy.

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You have been given the supernatural gift of service.

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You've been given the supernatural.

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Hal Laughlin is one of the best administrators

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on the planet Earth.

Speaker: 00:16:33

It's not because Hal's awesome.

Speaker: 00:16:35

Hal is awesome, but it's not because he's awesome.

Speaker: 00:16:38

It's because he's got a supernatural gift inside him

Speaker: 00:16:40

that the Lord has given,

Speaker: 00:16:41

and he's using it to serve the body.

Speaker: 00:16:43

Do you understand what I'm saying to you?

Speaker: 00:16:44

Wade Hutchinson has a gift of hospitality.

Speaker: 00:16:47

There's, it pales in comparison,

Speaker: 00:16:50

the way that, I mean, Wade serves

Speaker: 00:16:53

in the area of hospitality.

Speaker: 00:16:55

There is a supernatural gift

Speaker: 00:16:57

that he has in the area of hospitality.

Speaker: 00:16:59

What I want you to understand, saints,

Speaker: 00:17:01

is that whether you are a doctor, a nurse, a teacher,

Speaker: 00:17:04

a mechanic, whatever you are,

Speaker: 00:17:06

when you have asked Jesus Christ in your heart

Speaker: 00:17:08

and you have the Holy Spirit,

Speaker: 00:17:09

he has given you every tool that you need,

Speaker: 00:17:11

and he has given you a special gift

Speaker: 00:17:13

and a special assignment to use

Speaker: 00:17:15

for the glory of his kingdom,

Speaker: 00:17:17

for the advancement of his kingdom.

Speaker: 00:17:19

Nobody is left out.

Speaker: 00:17:20

In other words, I believe everyone in here has a superpower.

Speaker: 00:17:23

Everyone in here has something that they can lean into,

Speaker: 00:17:26

that you can gravitate to.

Speaker: 00:17:27

Now, you might not know what that is.

Speaker: 00:17:31

And part of being a part of a community of believers

Speaker: 00:17:34

is somebody to call out and say,

Speaker: 00:17:36

I see this gift inside you.

Speaker: 00:17:38

I see the Lord operating in this way inside you.

Speaker: 00:17:41

So what I want us to understand,

Speaker: 00:17:43

and the reason I'm starting here,

Speaker: 00:17:45

is I want us to understand that everyone's gift

Speaker: 00:17:48

is not going to be the same, A.

Speaker: 00:17:50

And B, just because you're not down here

Speaker: 00:17:52

performing what seems to be fireworks in the altar space

Speaker: 00:17:55

doesn't mean that your gift is any less of value

Speaker: 00:17:57

than the person who's doing those things.

Speaker: 00:17:59

Do you understand what I'm saying to you?

Speaker: 00:18:02

You have a gift.

Speaker: 00:18:03

God wants to use you in your gift.

Speaker: 00:18:05

He's given you, some of you have multiple gifts,

Speaker: 00:18:08

multiple things, and the word of God says

Speaker: 00:18:10

that God's gifts in his call are irrevocable.

Speaker: 00:18:13

You know what that means?

Speaker: 00:18:14

That means if you decide to go slide into the mud pit,

Speaker: 00:18:16

you decide to get in your flesh,

Speaker: 00:18:18

you decide to get away from the Lord, and you come back,

Speaker: 00:18:20

God doesn't just snatch his gift and say,

Speaker: 00:18:21

well, you messed that up.

Speaker: 00:18:22

His gift is waiting right there for you

Speaker: 00:18:23

whenever you return.

Speaker: 00:18:25

He is such a gracious God.

Speaker: 00:18:27

He is such a gracious God.

Speaker: 00:18:29

God never intended for the apostles, prophets,

Speaker: 00:18:32

evangelists, pastors, and teachers to do all of the work.

Speaker: 00:18:36

He intended for this group to equip the body

Speaker: 00:18:42

for acts of service so that you as the body

Speaker: 00:18:44

are edifying the body.

Speaker: 00:18:46

You are, your job is to edify the body.

Speaker: 00:18:50

You have a gift inside you that is supposed to encourage,

Speaker: 00:18:52

it's supposed to edify, it's supposed to build up

Speaker: 00:18:56

so that whenever you're doing life on a Tuesday afternoon

Speaker: 00:18:59

or a Wednesday night or a Thursday,

Speaker: 00:19:00

and somebody comes along your path,

Speaker: 00:19:02

guess what, I have the gift of prophecy.

Speaker: 00:19:04

The Lord's given me a word,

Speaker: 00:19:05

or the Lord has given me some gift of discernment

Speaker: 00:19:09

or wisdom or knowledge.

Speaker: 00:19:10

And you use that gift to edify the body of Christ

Speaker: 00:19:13

so that Jesus Christ can be exalted.

Speaker: 00:19:16

So that Jesus Christ can be exalted.

Speaker: 00:19:19

The grace gifts in your lives are there to equip you

Speaker: 00:19:21

to build each other up.

Speaker: 00:19:24

And the gift of the Spirit,

Speaker: 00:19:27

the gifts of the Spirit edify,

Speaker: 00:19:29

edify is just a fancy word for build up.

Speaker: 00:19:31

They edify the body of Christ, the body of Christ.

Speaker: 00:19:35

Okay, I said I like giving gifts.

Speaker: 00:19:38

Who likes receiving gifts?

Speaker: 00:19:40

Anybody like receiving gifts?

Speaker: 00:19:41

I bought some gifts today.

Speaker: 00:19:42

I would like to hand some of these gifts out

Speaker: 00:19:47

to a few chosen individuals.

Speaker: 00:19:49

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:19:50

- Oh, okay.

Speaker: 00:19:52

- Few chosen individuals, okay?

Speaker: 00:19:54

So I think I'm going to give Daniel one.

Speaker: 00:19:56

(audience applauding)

Speaker: 00:19:58

Let's see here.

Speaker: 00:19:59

I'm gonna give, look at people smiling at me real big.

Speaker: 00:20:02

Like, "Choose me, choose me."

Speaker: 00:20:03

See, show me the view one.

Speaker: 00:20:05

Let's see, live stream people hate this,

Speaker: 00:20:08

the camera people, because I'm like,

Speaker: 00:20:09

they have no idea where I'm going

Speaker: 00:20:10

and they have to follow me with the camera.

Speaker: 00:20:12

Let's see back here.

Speaker: 00:20:15

I don't even know if you can turn the camera.

Speaker: 00:20:16

Carrie, man, I've been wanting to give you a gift

Speaker: 00:20:19

all morning, there you go, buddy, okay?

Speaker: 00:20:21

Here you go, who else?

Speaker: 00:20:22

Who else do I want to give a gift to?

Speaker: 00:20:24

Here, right here.

Speaker: 00:20:25

- Zach's birthday.

Speaker: 00:20:26

- Is it Zach's birthday?

Speaker: 00:20:28

Is it your birthday?

Speaker: 00:20:29

Happy birthday, I'm not giving you a gift.

Speaker: 00:20:30

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:20:32

Let's see, it's because it's not even,

Speaker: 00:20:34

I gotta get over here.

Speaker: 00:20:36

Let's see, I'm gonna give you a gift.

Speaker: 00:20:38

All right, let's see here.

Speaker: 00:20:41

Ted, it's a gift, buddy, come get this gift.

Speaker: 00:20:45

Can you pass that down there?

Speaker: 00:20:45

Don't steal it, okay.

Speaker: 00:20:47

Here, I'm gonna put a gift right over here, okay.

Speaker: 00:20:50

If you received a gift from me, would you please stand?

Speaker: 00:20:55

- Uh-oh.

Speaker: 00:20:56

- Okay, can you see the people around the room?

Speaker: 00:21:00

Now, if you received a gift from me,

Speaker: 00:21:02

I have chosen you and you and you and you and you and you

Speaker: 00:21:06

to give gifts to.

Speaker: 00:21:07

Would you open your gift, please,

Speaker: 00:21:08

and hold your gift in the air?

Speaker: 00:21:10

Chocolate, we're about to have church, people.

Speaker: 00:21:23

Okay, hold it up, hold up your gift.

Speaker: 00:21:27

Okay, I want you to notice something.

Speaker: 00:21:29

I handed out seven gifts to seven individuals.

Speaker: 00:21:34

They're all chocolate, but they're all different gifts.

Speaker: 00:21:37

You with me?

Speaker: 00:21:39

They're all chocolate,

Speaker: 00:21:40

but they're all different brands of chocolate.

Speaker: 00:21:43

Are you with me, okay?

Speaker: 00:21:44

Now, you have a gift in your hand

Speaker: 00:21:46

and you're holding it in the air.

Speaker: 00:21:47

Be kind of silly just to walk around

Speaker: 00:21:49

holding your gift up in the air, right?

Speaker: 00:21:50

Just hold it around, all right?

Speaker: 00:21:52

But you know what, you have an option to do

Speaker: 00:21:54

with what you're gonna do with the gift.

Speaker: 00:21:56

You could put it back in the package

Speaker: 00:21:58

and put it under your chair.

Speaker: 00:21:59

You could throw it in the trash can on the way out.

Speaker: 00:22:02

You could put it in your car in the 100 degree weather

Speaker: 00:22:05

and let it melt.

Speaker: 00:22:06

You could say, man, forget this message.

Speaker: 00:22:08

I'm just gonna eat all this chocolate right now.

Speaker: 00:22:10

There's a lot you could do with this chocolate.

Speaker: 00:22:13

It's a gift that's been given to you,

Speaker: 00:22:15

and I'm not gonna take it back

Speaker: 00:22:17

because I've given you the gift.

Speaker: 00:22:19

It is your gift.

Speaker: 00:22:20

It's your gift.

Speaker: 00:22:21

I've given it to you, okay?

Speaker: 00:22:23

Now, I want you to open your gift,

Speaker: 00:22:26

and I would like you to distribute

Speaker: 00:22:28

as much as you're willing to distribute of your gift

Speaker: 00:22:31

to the people around you.

Speaker: 00:22:32

(audience chattering)

Speaker: 00:22:49

Just as much as you are willing to distribute.

Speaker: 00:22:51

(audience chattering)

Speaker: 00:22:56

Okay, my seven people who are handing out the gift.

Speaker: 00:23:15

Look at me, if you're one of the seven people

Speaker: 00:23:16

who are handing out the gift,

Speaker: 00:23:17

how does it feel to distribute gifts right now?

Speaker: 00:23:20

How's it feel?

Speaker: 00:23:21

Kerry, how's it feel?

Speaker: 00:23:22

Feel pretty good?

Speaker: 00:23:23

Feel pretty good?

Speaker: 00:23:24

Okay.

Speaker: 00:23:25

If you're one of the people who received a gift,

Speaker: 00:23:28

I want you to stand up.

Speaker: 00:23:29

(audience chattering)

Speaker: 00:23:32

Okay, now I want you to look around the church.

Speaker: 00:23:37

I want you to look around the church.

Speaker: 00:23:41

There are many more people standing.

Speaker: 00:23:45

There are many more people standing

Speaker: 00:23:46

than the original seven who were bestowed the gift.

Speaker: 00:23:50

Because the people with the original gift

Speaker: 00:23:53

understood something, that they were to take what they had

Speaker: 00:23:56

and to distribute it amongst the body.

Speaker: 00:23:59

And once they distribute it amongst the body,

Speaker: 00:24:01

look who's being built up, look who's being edified.

Speaker: 00:24:03

I'll tell you what, the minute I said,

Speaker: 00:24:05

let's give those out smiles all across the room.

Speaker: 00:24:07

People so excited, I might be the one who's chosen.

Speaker: 00:24:10

Now, if you're still sitting, it's because you are sinful

Speaker: 00:24:13

and you need to get your life together.

Speaker: 00:24:14

No, I'm kidding.

Speaker: 00:24:16

I'm kidding, listen.

Speaker: 00:24:17

So listen, listen, listen.

Speaker: 00:24:19

Listen, imagine, guys, go with me.

Speaker: 00:24:22

All of you have a package of candy

Speaker: 00:24:26

that have 10 bars in it and if everyone is handing out,

Speaker: 00:24:29

not only does everyone get edified,

Speaker: 00:24:31

but there's abundance in the house.

Speaker: 00:24:33

Do you understand that God wants to use his gifts

Speaker: 00:24:36

to edify his body to build us up?

Speaker: 00:24:39

That's your job.

Speaker: 00:24:40

We're supposed to be doing this with one another every day

Speaker: 00:24:43

all the time, all the time.

Speaker: 00:24:45

We should be building each other up.

Speaker: 00:24:47

We should be experiencing this type of joy.

Speaker: 00:24:50

Now, here's another question, ready?

Speaker: 00:24:53

Who gave you the gift?

Speaker: 00:24:55

If you were one of the original seven, raise your hand.

Speaker: 00:25:06

Okay, here's the danger.

Speaker: 00:25:09

The danger is when we say, Ted, thank you for this candy

Speaker: 00:25:15

and Ted says, you're so welcome.

Speaker: 00:25:17

I did such a great thing by giving you that candy.

Speaker: 00:25:21

I am the provider of this candy.

Speaker: 00:25:23

Look at me, I'm gonna go get some more candy

Speaker: 00:25:26

so that everybody can look at me

Speaker: 00:25:27

and I'm gonna get a business card that says I'm a prophet

Speaker: 00:25:30

and hand it to people and say, call me for 19.95.

Speaker: 00:25:33

Okay, I'm being just a little facetious.

Speaker: 00:25:35

Listen, listen.

Speaker: 00:25:37

It is so easy because we are flesh

Speaker: 00:25:42

to get in a posture of either A, putting the spotlight on us

Speaker: 00:25:46

when we're the one the Lord is using

Speaker: 00:25:48

or for everybody else to begin to look and praise

Speaker: 00:25:52

and elevate you because you're the one with the goods.

Speaker: 00:25:55

You're the one with the, and so it's so important.

Speaker: 00:25:57

There is a story in the book of Acts, you may be seated.

Speaker: 00:25:59

There's a story in the book of Acts chapter 14.

Speaker: 00:26:02

Paul and Barnabas, they go to Lystra and they heal a man

Speaker: 00:26:07

and then they healed this man and all of the people

Speaker: 00:26:10

begin to worship Paul and Barnabas.

Speaker: 00:26:13

How easy would it be to stand up and be worshiped?

Speaker: 00:26:16

Isn't that one of the fatal sin of man to be lifted,

Speaker: 00:26:21

that we would be acknowledged, that we would be lifted up?

Speaker: 00:26:23

So as you are conferring these gifts,

Speaker: 00:26:27

it is super important that you are giving

Speaker: 00:26:29

the acknowledgement to God.

Speaker: 00:26:31

In this instance, when somebody says,

Speaker: 00:26:34

Daniel, thank you for this chocolate,

Speaker: 00:26:36

the appropriate response would be, you're welcome.

Speaker: 00:26:38

Kevin is the one who originated it.

Speaker: 00:26:40

He's the one that needs to get the praise

Speaker: 00:26:41

because none of you had chocolate before I came into the room.

Speaker: 00:26:45

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Speaker: 00:26:47

Okay, so God's saying, none of you have

Speaker: 00:26:50

the gifts you think you have without me.

Speaker: 00:26:52

So I'm the one who needs to be acknowledged.

Speaker: 00:26:54

I'm the one who needs to have the gratitude bestowed.

Speaker: 00:26:57

And so when God does something, you get out of the way

Speaker: 00:26:59

and you make sure that it exemplifies Christ,

Speaker: 00:27:02

that it exemplifies Christ.

Speaker: 00:27:04

Now, what is the barometer of a person

Speaker: 00:27:08

who is living life by the Spirit?

Speaker: 00:27:11

What is the barometer?

Speaker: 00:27:12

It is not the gifts that you possess.

Speaker: 00:27:15

I said earlier that I like to give gifts of experience.

Speaker: 00:27:20

Do you know, there have been people that I have lavished,

Speaker: 00:27:23

I say such humility, truly, truly.

Speaker: 00:27:26

I have given above and beyond gift to individuals.

Speaker: 00:27:31

And when it gets just so far away

Speaker: 00:27:36

from whatever that gift is or that time, it's forgotten.

Speaker: 00:27:39

The gifts pass away.

Speaker: 00:27:43

The gifts pass away.

Speaker: 00:27:46

The litmus test of whether or not you're living

Speaker: 00:27:49

by the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit.

Speaker: 00:27:51

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

Speaker: 00:27:54

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Speaker: 00:27:56

gentleness, and self-control.

Speaker: 00:27:59

The gifts are not the indicator

Speaker: 00:28:00

that you are walking by the Spirit.

Speaker: 00:28:03

I'm gonna say something that's a bit

Speaker: 00:28:04

of a hasty generalization, but I'm gonna say it, okay?

Speaker: 00:28:06

Here's the deal.

Speaker: 00:28:07

I cannot stand, okay?

Speaker: 00:28:11

Believers who lay their hands on people to heal them,

Speaker: 00:28:16

speak in all sorts of tongues, swing from the chandeliers,

Speaker: 00:28:20

jump up and down in a praise worship concert,

Speaker: 00:28:22

but then go out those doors

Speaker: 00:28:24

and they are the unkindest, ugliest people

Speaker: 00:28:27

who don't, aren't considerate, selfish,

Speaker: 00:28:29

self-seeking, all of those things.

Speaker: 00:28:31

But boy, they can come in here and jump up high

Speaker: 00:28:34

and raise their hands and shout to the ceilings about Jesus,

Speaker: 00:28:37

but when they're out there modeling it,

Speaker: 00:28:38

they have none of this going on in their life.

Speaker: 00:28:40

The litmus test of your life

Speaker: 00:28:42

of whether you're living by the Spirit is this right here.

Speaker: 00:28:44

And this is what we are trying to achieve.

Speaker: 00:28:46

This is the baseline, this is the framework

Speaker: 00:28:49

that says that person's living by the Spirit.

Speaker: 00:28:51

Give me somebody like this,

Speaker: 00:28:52

I'll receive from them all day long.

Speaker: 00:28:54

I'll be happy to receive from them all day long.

Speaker: 00:28:56

Here's the thing.

Speaker: 00:28:58

The gifts of the Spirit are temporary.

Speaker: 00:29:00

The fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

Speaker: 00:29:02

When it comes to prophecy,

Speaker: 00:29:04

prophets gonna come prophesy and it's gonna be,

Speaker: 00:29:06

it's gonna pass.

Speaker: 00:29:07

The wisdom that you asked for, it's going to pass.

Speaker: 00:29:10

All of these moments and these gifts, they're going to pass,

Speaker: 00:29:13

but the fruit of the Spirit is everlasting.

Speaker: 00:29:15

And that is what we wanna lean into.

Speaker: 00:29:17

I wanna read this.

Speaker: 00:29:19

I wanna read this to you.

Speaker: 00:29:19

This is a very familiar passage,

Speaker: 00:29:22

a very familiar passage of scripture,

Speaker: 00:29:23

but if you're anything like me,

Speaker: 00:29:25

sometimes the most familiar things I need to be reminded of

Speaker: 00:29:29

over and over and over again.

Speaker: 00:29:31

I want us to pay attention with our hearts this morning

Speaker: 00:29:33

as I read this scripture that follows this passage.

Speaker: 00:29:38

You know that you can't take scripture

Speaker: 00:29:40

and just pull a section out and say,

Speaker: 00:29:41

I'm gonna run with it over here.

Speaker: 00:29:43

The scripture is the whole piece.

Speaker: 00:29:44

It's the whole picture.

Speaker: 00:29:46

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, all about these gifts.

Speaker: 00:29:49

And then he has something very important to say

Speaker: 00:29:51

in chapter 13.

Speaker: 00:29:53

So here we go.

Speaker: 00:29:54

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels,

Speaker: 00:29:58

but I do not have love,

Speaker: 00:30:00

I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Speaker: 00:30:04

If I have the gift of prophecy

Speaker: 00:30:07

and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge,

Speaker: 00:30:10

and if I have a faith that can move mountains,

Speaker: 00:30:12

but I do not have love, I am nothing.

Speaker: 00:30:16

If I give all I possess to the poor

Speaker: 00:30:21

and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,

Speaker: 00:30:24

but I do not have love, I gain nothing.

Speaker: 00:30:29

Love is patient.

Speaker: 00:30:31

Love is kind.

Speaker: 00:30:32

It does not envy.

Speaker: 00:30:33

It does not boast.

Speaker: 00:30:34

It is not proud.

Speaker: 00:30:35

It does not dishonor others.

Speaker: 00:30:38

It is not self-seeking.

Speaker: 00:30:39

It is not easily angered.

Speaker: 00:30:41

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Speaker: 00:30:45

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth.

Speaker: 00:30:48

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,

Speaker: 00:30:52

always purse of ears.

Speaker: 00:30:54

Love never fails.

Speaker: 00:30:57

But where there are prophecies, they will cease.

Speaker: 00:31:02

Where there are tongues, they'll be stilled.

Speaker: 00:31:05

Where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Speaker: 00:31:08

For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

Speaker: 00:31:10

but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

Speaker: 00:31:14

When I was a child, I talked like a child.

Speaker: 00:31:16

I thought like a child.

Speaker: 00:31:18

I reasoned like a child.

Speaker: 00:31:19

When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

Speaker: 00:31:24

For now we see only reflection as in a mirror.

Speaker: 00:31:26

Then we will see face to face.

Speaker: 00:31:28

Now I know in part.

Speaker: 00:31:29

Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Speaker: 00:31:33

And then he ends with this.

Speaker: 00:31:35

And now these three things remain faith, hope, and love.

Speaker: 00:31:40

But the greatest of these is love.

Speaker: 00:31:42

Why is love the greatest?

Speaker: 00:31:45

Because faith and hope are gonna come to completion

Speaker: 00:31:47

when we meet him in his faith, in the fullness of his love.

Speaker: 00:31:51

Faith, hope, and love remain.

Speaker: 00:31:53

Not the gifts, not the woo-hoo, not the thing.

Speaker: 00:31:56

It's wonderful.

Speaker: 00:31:57

It's a great, wonderful thing.

Speaker: 00:31:59

When we had the birthday party yesterday,

Speaker: 00:32:02

two days ago for Hadassah, when people are giving her gifts,

Speaker: 00:32:04

what's the first thing a parent says to their child

Speaker: 00:32:06

when somebody gives them the gift?

Speaker: 00:32:07

Make sure you, make sure you say thank you.

Speaker: 00:32:10

Why?

Speaker: 00:32:11

Because I don't want the gift to supersede the gift giver.

Speaker: 00:32:16

Nor should it be with us in our lives.

Speaker: 00:32:20

He is a good God.

Speaker: 00:32:24

So church, I do not want us to be uninformed.

Speaker: 00:32:28

Not just about what the gifts are,

Speaker: 00:32:31

but the purpose of the gifts,

Speaker: 00:32:33

so that we may use them to edify each other

Speaker: 00:32:36

and build the body of Christ.

Speaker: 00:32:38

The gifts are important, but they are never as important

Speaker: 00:32:41

as the one who gives them.

Speaker: 00:32:43

I give gifts, they get forgotten, I get forgotten.

Speaker: 00:32:47

So what?

Speaker: 00:32:49

He's the gift giver.

Speaker: 00:32:50

He's the one that we remember.

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All of this to say that the primary job of the Holy Spirit

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is to point people to Jesus Christ.

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And so the gifts that he gifts,

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that we would be pointed to Christ Jesus.

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Would you stand with me this morning

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with those who are gonna pray with people, come forward?

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We have been given a mighty, mighty gift in the Holy Spirit.

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And some of you this morning, I'm sure came with all sorts

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of things going on in your life that you need a touch

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from this mighty God.

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And guess what?

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He wants to meet you.

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This is so cool.

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He wants to meet you.

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And I hope that you do come and you agree with somebody

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in prayer 'cause in a gathering like this,

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the Holy Spirit does convict and he does speak

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to your heart.

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But can I just encourage you,

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the same Holy Spirit that's here right now at 11 45,

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this morning is the same Holy Spirit

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that you have access to on Monday morning,

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on Tuesday night, on Wednesday afternoon, on Thursday,

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you do not have to wait to get into this setting

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to get things right with the Lord.

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That's a lie.

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He loves you.

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He wants to do life with you.

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He wants to communicate with you.

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So let us be people who lean in to this God

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with every waking hour.

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If you have a need, come and pray as we worship.

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