Pentecost Service, 2008

Mother’s Day – different birthday celebrated today.

Pentecontext – Acts 1:14, 2:1

· “They all joined together constantly in prayer” – 212 nations; following ten days of prayer meetings around our city, citywide gathering last night, prayer leading into the service, in middle of citywide and national gatherings around the globe

· So, “when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”

· Birthday of Christian church marked by both prayer and unity.

· Outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked by both prayer and unity.

· Combined worship service – all together in one place.

· Traditional hymns – unfamiliar language to some – both lyrics and musical style.

· Contemporary songs – unfamiliar language to some – both lyrical style and musical style.

· Something for everyone, something not for everyone. Guess what? We aren’t singing for you.

· Thank God for the unfamiliar, that it’s blessing someone else. Don’t be passive – pray and praise, if not by singing, then some other way.

· When Jesus is the focus, unity results.

· Bulletin or powerpoint; standing or sitting; clapping, moving, or quietly praying – enter in. The more you put in, the more you get out.

· Pray. Come Holy Spirit. Gather us all together in one place. Unify us. Help us lift up the name of Jesus.

Praise and Worship

“He’s got the whole world in his hands”

· Start today with a global focus.

· Sing “He’s got the whole world”

1 Chronicles 16:23-35

Testimony (Mary)

Prayer for the world

Pray from around sanctuary

· simultaneously. Won’t be able to hear one another.

· speak if comfortable, so others can join your prayer

· listen to others and join in theirs

· pray your hopes for the world, for the church, for this day

Pentecost story – Acts 2:1-21

“He’s got the whole church in his hands”

· Move to a focus on our church, what God wants to do here.

· Sing “He’s got the whole church in his hands”

· Invite children forward – while coming, look over announcements

o Parking

o Adopt-a-plant next week

o Plantation continues this week; last week for children’s portion

Children’s message

Vision recast

· Primary purpose of the church = go

· We don’t exist for ourselves, since the one we follow gave himself for others, too

· Last November, God gave us a vision for turning theory into greater reality

· Existing church become core group of a church plant

· Not actually close what we have, but function from a new perspective

· God wants us to do it together, here

· Everyone has a vital part to play; nobody optional

· If we were starting from scratch, what would we do? Do those things well

· What assets do we already bring with us?

· Seeing it happen – young adults coming to faith, wanting God’s blessing on their lives, wanting to be baptized; five weddings, four in next four weeks; people noticing church, coming in, asking for help and prayer; volunteers stepping forward at unprecedented level out of sense of call

· Copies on table from Wednesday night

Testimonies

New partners in ministry

Peace

Offering/Worship

“He’s got you and me, (brother, sister) in his hands”

· What God is doing around the world, and within our own congregation, He wants to do in each and every one of us.

· Sing chorus twice

John 7:37-44

Sermon

Prayer – protection from the enemy
When my brother and I were kids, our family had a friend Ann who had a cabin in Madera Canyon. Several times a year we would go and spend a night or two at her cabin. Out back was what we called the big rock, and next to the big rock was a little stream that as I remember it flowed all year long. That was where Doug and I would spend lots of time, next to that stream. We’d make little boats out of leaves or sticks, or try to act like beavers and dam the stream up. There’s something inviting about streams. I remember more than once thinking, “Where does all that water come from? It just seems to go on forever!”

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Jesus said what? The gospel writer actually answers that one for us, letting us know that Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit. Whoever believes in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will dwell inside him like streams of living water.

Jesus was not speaking only of special Christians. He said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” Are you included in “anyone”? Are you? Yes. So, if you’re thirsty, you can come to Jesus today and drink. If you have a need, a hunger, a thirst, you can come to Jesus, because he wants to meet you today, to love you today, to serve you today. He’s got you and me, brother, in his hands. Not “you” rhetorically. Not “you” generally. You specifically. This is for you.

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Are you included in “whoever”? Are you? Yes, you are. So, if you believe in him, streams of living water will flow from within you, too.

What does that mean, this reference to being filled with the Holy Spirit? When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you have a peace that the world can’t steal from you. No matter what’s happening around you, you have the peace of God flowing inside of you.

When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you’re relieved of the horrible responsibility of having to live for yourself. You don’t have to create your own joy, your own meaning, your own purpose. It flows like a stream. You live life on purpose.

When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, things that might have bothered you otherwise aren’t such a big deal anymore. So, somebody did or said something different than you would have; worshipped in a style that doesn’t exactly match your taste; made a decision you would have made differently. So long as we’re not talking about a moral issue, that stuff becomes water under the bridge. You’re able to just let things go, because life doesn’t have to be all about you anymore. That’s part of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

When you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, streams of Jesus flow from you. You love the way he loved; notice people the way he noticed people; care about the things he cared about. There are no dead-end jobs when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. There are no pointless days when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. You know that every day you wake up provides another opportunity to change the world, because streams of Jesus flow from you.

If the word “anyone” applies to you… If the word “whoever” applies to you, then God wants you to flow with streams of Jesus. He wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Today. This isn’t just for special people. Well, actually, it is. And God considers you special. He died for you, specifically. That makes you special, wouldn’t you say?

Repeat after me: I’m special. (I’m special.) God wants me to be filled with His Holy Spirit. (God wants me to be filled with His Holy Spirit.)

On Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was made completely available to all believers, one of the signs of that was that people would be given dreams and visions. Old and young alike, men and women alike. That’s been happening. More than ever before in my experience.

God gave several people in the last couple of weeks the same vision about what’s happening in our church. Not the one I shared earlier, the big picture. More specifically what’s happening right now. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous sharing it with you. I’m taking a big risk right here. But I believe it’s Satan who’s trying to keep me quiet, not God, so I’m going for it. There’s a reason I asked every single one of our 160 plus prayer partners to pray specifically for our time together today.

God has shared with several people, including at least one who’s never even been to our church, that what He’s doing in the natural is what He’s doing in the spiritual, too. What’s happening on our property is happening in our spirits, too.

Thursday morning is when God told me to talk about streams of living water today. He may have been telling me that before, but Thursday is when I first heard it. Yesterday, we had not one, but two water emergencies here at church. Yesterday morning, a pipe broke out in the front yard. Streams of actual water flowed down the street. The water had to be shut down for the whole building. The break was repaired and the water turned back on five minutes before a memorial service started. Then last night, a faucet in the women’s restroom started spraying everywhere. The shutoff valve didn’t work. Water had to be shut down to the whole building again. Finally got turned on about 8:00 this morning. You think there might be a connection between what’s happening physically and what’s happening spiritually?

Physically, things that had become old and stale are becoming new and fresh. There’s a makeover taking place all over our building and property. That’s happening spiritually, too. When prayer becomes a passion and not a duty, you know God is up to something. Several people told me after the prayer vigil last week how they couldn’t believe how time just flew during their hour or two. They couldn’t imagine how they were going to fill a whole hour, but then, couldn’t believe when the hour was up. Things that had become old and stale are becoming new and fresh.

Several tons of prickly pear were removed from the front yard. Most of them had become old and were dying, literally rotting out from the inside. Same thing happened in my front yard; had to get rid of cacti that collapsed under their own weight, and replace them with new pads, which is part of the plan for the front yard, too. I know that not everyone might agree with the decision to remove the prickly pear from outside the building. But God is more concerned about prickly pairs inside the building. Pick your pair – contemporary/traditional, expressive/reserved, old/young, charismatic/evangelical, intense/laid back, structured/spontaneous, Christian in a Lutheran way or Christian in some other way, or one of my personal favorites – those who have virtually no filter between their brain and their mouth and say whatever crosses their mind, and those whose filter is more like a brick wall, who won’t say much of anything. Pick your pair – when it becomes prickly, that’s when God gets concerned. The different perspectives we have aren’t a problem. That’s one of our strengths. I’m not suggesting that we should ignore areas we need to improve in. In fact, I’m suggesting the opposite. But when you notice one of those, you can bring it to light in an encouraging way, or in a prickly way. God just doesn’t want the differences getting prickly. He doesn’t want to remove the pairs – just the pricklies.

When the first few prickly pear out front got removed, we discovered an infestation of pack-rats. A serious infestation of rats. The rats had to be removed as a health hazard, if nothing else. Well, sin looks and smells a lot like rats, too, and God wants to clear out sin infestations. Three different people in the last few weeks have had conversations with me about being internet accountability partners so that they can clear out an infestation of pornography. They’ve downloaded a free program onto their computer, so that any site they visit that’s questionable gets sent to their accountability partner. That’s getting serious about a problem, and dealing with it, instead of winking at it, making peace with it, or just feeling defeated by it. Last week, a couple came to me who was living together. They wanted to get right with God, wanted God’s blessing on their lives, and so they’re making a change. No wonder Satan’s breaking our water pipes. When Pentecost becomes “repentecost,” when the garbage gets cleared out, the rats do, too. The rats aren’t people; the rats are principalities, demonic powers, sins that steal God’s blessing from our lives and cause us to live under a curse instead. God’s cleaning house. And Satan doesn’t like it. Course, we already know the outcome of that one. Satan loses.

Things that have been broken down around our building for years are getting repaired. And a week ago Friday night, we believe God invited those present to pray for healing specifically for addictions, either in ourselves, or by standing in the gap for someone else. I believe that God wants to set captives free from longstanding addictions.

One more. Things that have been non-existent, are now coming into existence. Foundations are poured. Walls are going up. Where there were none before. A person this last week told me, “I have to confess I haven’t been all that active here, or even paying that much attention to what’s going on. But now everything has changed. And I actually believe God is calling me to be a pastor.” Within the last year, we’ve seen spiritual gifts like the gift of miracles, the gift of healing, and the gift of prophecy, all come into existence where they’d been rare at best before. God is calling into existence things that didn’t exist before.

And he’s got you and me sister, in His hands. Repeat after me: I’m special. (I’m special.) God wants me to be filled with His Holy Spirit. (God wants me to be filled with His Holy Spirit.)

I was praying with the Friday morning group two days ago, and God brought this verse to mind. “Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” It means, don’t look down on things that start small. Now not only did I not know where that verse came from, I wasn’t even sure it was a bible verse. So I looked it up yesterday. It’s Zechariah 4:10. It’s in the context of a vision. You know what it says three verses before that? “Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” The things that God wants to do here, and through here for others, he will do by His Spirit. And you know what it says in Zechariah 4:9, paraphrased? “The hands that have started this building will also bring it to completion.” God has used you to start the work He’s doing here, and He wants to use you to carry it through, too.

God wants each of us flowing with streams of Jesus today. He wants each of us living purposeful, Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered lives, marked by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He wants each of us operating in His supernatural gifts. Do you want it, too?

I will not despise the day of small beginnings. If only a few step forward, I will choose not be disappointed. Every ocean starts with a river. Every river starts with a stream. And every stream starts with a raindrop, or a teardrop. So I will not despise the day of small beginnings. But I firmly believe that God has something for everyone here today, and doesn’t want anyone left out.

I’m going to name a few categories, and ask you to raise your hand if the Holy Spirit says, “That’s you.” Then at the end, I’ll invite all who’ve raised their hands to come closer to the cross if you’re physically able to do so.

Some here today need to cross the line of faith and say, “I want to be a Christian from this day forward. I accept what Jesus did for me. I want to live for him.” If that’s you, raise your hand.

Some have a sin infestation that needs to get cleared out, or an addiction that needs to be healed. Some may be in need of physical healing today. If you need healing from sin or sickness today, raise your hand.

Some have been prickly, maybe just because change is hard, maybe because others are different than you are, or maybe for other reasons altogether. Some have noticed others being prickly, and have felt more inclined to judge them than pray for them, thus forming a prickly pair. If you don’t want to be part of a prickly pair any longer, raise your hand.

And some are ready to be sold out for Jesus today. You know God has more for you, and whatever it is, you want it. You want to make the most of every opportunity in everyday life. You want more courage to share Jesus’ love with others in appropriate ways. You want any gift God wants to give you – tongues, prophecies, miracles, a servant’s heart, whatever. You know that God wants to change people’s eternities through the ministry of this congregation, and you want to be in on it. You’re ready to say to Jesus today, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” If that’s you, raise your hand.

If you’ve raised your hand, I invite you now to come toward the cross, if you’re able. We’ll sing “Spirit of the living God” as you come. You are special: God wants you to be filled with His Holy Spirit today.