Ours for the Asking, Part 3

Jeannie Greer, the Holy Spirit comes into a church empowers each of us so that we build one another in the faith to maturity in a spirit filled church listen everywhere you turn your being spoken to by God. Would you like to be a place like that.

I ran through a list of people in your life, you need healing or maybe it's time to reflect on everything that you're grateful for you. Pray for family members or teachers for your kids. And those are all great things to pray about and definitely should be a part of our normal routine, but today on Summit life after Jeannie Greer reminds us of the most important prayer request might have slipped your mind.

Grab your Bible and we are in Luke chapter 11 inclusion of our message titled ours for the asking. Here is Pastor JD asked for fish a fish give him a serpent. Early aspirin will give him a scorpion. You then your evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. I want that verse to be burned into your consciousness at the end of this series noticed the position that Jesus puts us in in this in this passage we are in the position of the child or dependent children who cannot survive on their own.

We have to ask for the provision that we need right but God.

In this story is the ever watching merciful father loves to give the Holy Spirit when we ask there is the lesson that I have such a hard time learning how dependent I am on the power the Holy Spirit, the other side of this lesson is how will he guide is to give it I will tell you that when you have learned those lessons were that lesson. Prayer starts to become extinct.

If you there is a verse that I want us to pray together this week. It is Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 20 Lord says Habakkuk.

I've heard the report of you and your work. All Lord, do I fear another words I'm familiar in fury with the power that you have the x-rays in the midst of the years of my years revived it in the midst of my years making no soaking wet rap is what we deserve in wrath remember mercy. Let us have familiarity with it. There are three primary primary things I might try to show you about that verse number one that Velma try to show you one that every major spiritual awakening the Bible was connected to an intense time of prayer. Number two I will show you five things that the Holy Spirit does when he comes. Number three give you a couple of examples of what this looks like in the Bible one the connection between prayer and the power of the holy spirit the connection between prayer the power the Holy Spirit. Every major spiritual awakening. All of the Bible are connected to intense times of prayer right-center number 25 things of the Holy Spirit does when he's present. Things that only he can do one. He convicts he convicts John 16, eight, nine, Jesus said when he, the Holy Spirit comes he will convict the world concerning sin concerning righteousness and concerning judgments is number two, number two. He creates all the criticism will among the people you see that's too extra 43 when the spirit of God came in to the church a great sense of fear and all came upon every soul.

The sins of all God's presence and awareness of his largeness spirit of worship and a taste of his glory. Number three. He transforms appetites to be dispersed frequently or flipping through 13. It is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure to watch.

It's not just the Holy Spirit that gives you the power to do the works of God gets the Holy Spirit gives you the desire to do the works of God. He creates new taste in you so that you began to desire God right before you manifest God's power manifest God's power first ring is 14 Paul gives you a description of the spirit filled worship service and he says that one of the characteristics is edible unbeliever. A guess comes into contact with the church in the spirit of God is on the members so strongly that they are speaking supernatural words of insight and prophecy into him or her and it says quote the secrets of his heart are disclosed and falling on his face. He worships God and declares that God is really among you. Number five empowers the church empowers the church. This is something you get two more couple weeks but Paul says in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit gives them the Holy Spirit. God gives gifts to his church quote to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood. The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, the Holy Spirit, when he comes into a church empowers each of us so that we build one another up in the faith to maturity in a spirit filled church listen everywhere you turn your being spoken to by God. Would you like to be a place like that, that encounter powerful sermons accomplish spirit filled church members so that everywhere we go, you can't come into contact in our church with anybody without being contacted by Jesus himself. Now my last section here right work quickly is your couple biblical example showing how the Holy Spirit what it looks like when he comes into a church right you will feel test once menu which you want first new it is. Accept the seven verse 54 Stephen Stephen is a non-possibly just regular church member. He is a place where he's begin to testify to Jesus and he's in front of a lot of the religious leaders. A lot of the political leaders, and he basically tells them that the reason they don't believe in Jesus is because their hearts are hard, and for all of Jewish history hard to be hard enough or they rejected and killed the prophets so verse 54 when they had heard these things, they were enraged and they match their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, behold, he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man, Jesus standing at the right hand of God question you think that last statement helper is because of those people that didn't turn out well for Stephen to get started right after this right. Tim Keller says to bring them up for vices of this provides a pattern for being filled with the spirit little detail and that he should skip over it is unusual what position is Jesus at stimulus right Jesus standing what's unusual about that is every other place in the New Testament where Jesus is, by the very God is always seated, he set down the right hand of God. What you see happening as you see all of these leaders and hatred of Stephen picking up stones gnashing their teeth calling him a fool about to kill him. Stephen was up in heaven and he sees Jesus how some of this event stand was picked and turn to God and say they call him a heretic. I: Stephen sees that he is filled with a sense of God for him. He is filled with a sense of God's glory. And then he turns and proclaims God boldness to those that are listening. Here is what happens when the spirit of God fills you in prayer. God opens your eyes to his closest to you is advocacy for you.

You see the glory of Jesus that is the fullness of the spirit and then you begin to proclaim with boldness and power in a way that is compelling to people, by the way, the next verse tells you that there was a young man watching all this makes all and it was this sermon this testimony actually Judah believe that ended up causing Saul to become a believer who would change his name to Paul and become the greatest advocate for Christian missionary efforts ever. Here's what I thought when I read this is week one of things I pray for our church every single day. As I pray differ every day for different over unreached people groups places where church planting churches and in places where there is no church. One of things I pray that God will raise up the apostle Paul for backs, people group, which is not to be one of us is one of them. The thing about Paul was he was a Jew. He was the militant opposition against Christianity, that became Christianity's greatest advocate. Our people were there to try to share Christ with your possible future possible to that he changes from being a militant would advocate John praying God to give us these gifts to one for the Sudan gives one for Afghanistan gives one for Indonesia gives one for you know Tajikistan to give us one in these areas and I have a spotless. What if the future apostle Paul's male and female, for those people groups are right now in one of her universities. What if they are right now in one of our hospitals as if you were grandma series you know that we have the best and brightest from literally all over the world the past year, for four, six, eight, 12 years, sometimes with her right now in that place and what if one of our Stevens would you be you, not me. Can Stephen was a layperson not a pastor.

What if right now listen, you're in the midst of pain you're asking God to deliver you from the pain, but what God's intention is to use you to testify to Jesus in a glorious way in the pain so that one of those future apostle Paul's ears and is converted without really happening right now and you want to be insensitive about your pain.

I know that with you.

I will pray that God will deliver you, but you realize that God did not convert the apostle Paul to Stephen's deliverance he converted him through giving Stephen the ability to testify to Jesus in the pain. I am attorney equipment for deliverance understand what, if you also asked God for the ability to glorify Jesus in the midst of a because there was going to be a Saul who is listening would end up becoming the leader of, say, Afghanistan would end up becoming the leader of say somewhere in Russia somewhere in Indonesia that becomes the greatest apostle and missionary of the Christian faith in that area because of your testimony in this attack seven.

One more really quickly. Exodus 33 visual test Exodus 33 look like God is declared his intention is declared his intention to go with the people of Israel the promised land so that children of Israel gratefully respond by taking off their ornaments, which scholars say is indicative of them ridding themselves of any trace of idolatry ornaments that the word work on part of idol worship to get rid of all the ornaments and then Moses prays verse 13 members 15 he says this if your presence will not go with me. Don't bring us up from your house shall be known that I found favor in your sight kinder people. Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct either people from every other people in the face of the earth. Here's your pattern God announces his intention. They repent of their idols. Moses prays the presence of God comes upon them and the rest of the world sees that they belong to God when and if the presence of God manifest itself of the summa church.

It will follow this practice, there are a few things are always characteristic of the spirit of God taking over people. One forcibly did not pop up. I was leading at Briar Creek last week and after the service he came up to me to JDs and if you ever been in a revival and I said well it's hard to find that because technically anybody getting saved is like a revival for them in is like me like I like Wallace.

I would lose the people before I answered he said he said because I've been off like in one kind of major one. He told me about it to the reason I asked that is because what I'm sensing now in the summa church from conversations I had with individuals and from watching the congregation from the stage. He says, is the beginning of what I saw in that other time I will tell you this.

I have been in a few places. We tasted it here little bit summa church, but I've been in a few places where the spirit of God came upon us so strongly where it was like people coming to Christ right left the spirit of God without doing his homework.

We were seeing apostle Paul transformed from being against a being Christianity's greatest advocates and I know that the two things that were characteristic of that group of Christians at that time were there to think repentance and prayer.

There was this taking off of the idolatry. There was a that there was a short tolerance of sin, every major revival has a Korean Chinese in the last 50 years have been characterized by deep and quick repentance of sin.

The story it scares me that the "Joshua Lott brothers God, this guy Josh was leaving in the promised land presence of God thickly upon them, they gonna fight this little little battle in the midst of Joshua and they lose they should been able to beat them loose. And Joshua comes back and falls his face and says God what is wrong, you promised to deliver Joshua seven, God says there's a leader in your movement got hidden sin is because of him. I took my spirit away to figure out was getting aching that is have to ask.

I wonder sometimes what if the spirit of God wanted to move in our church. The hold up was you because you have some hidden sin and what if what if you needed to confess that sin not only for your sake and your for your family sake, but you get rid of it because it is hindering other people coming to Christ and the people of God been able to advance forward because of your hidden sin and your attitude of rebellion by keeping a few things like a content that belong to God, repentance, prayer group of students, but I was with walking around the campus where we were, sometimes for two or three hours praying over dormitories prayed over various areas were students were in the sink I would you send your spirit among these people. Spirit of prayer.

The spirit of repentance is what always characterizes a genuine and real revival. Jonathan Edwards leader.

The great awakening our country back to three years ago or so talked about the great awakening starting to view sermons a few new mission efforts and then he says and I quote, then God in so remarkable a manner to the work into his own hands and did as much in a day or two that under normal circumstances, the entire Christian community, using every means at their disposal. With the blessing of God more than a year to accomplish when you hear that normal Christian work member this incrementally moving along normal means of grace with blessing all the mission efforts basis and barely started to pray God's spirit came in a day or two.

What will it take you to accomplish. That's what we want. That's what we need to see there are there are there are still 6640 underage people groups 1.7 million people in Raleigh-Durham which are not a part of a church. We don't need incremental movement for their sake. We need the mighty rush of the spirit of God's way was in this growth rate. Summa church get this right. For the past 10 years has averaged out to 34.5% a year. Praise God that 34.5% for 10 years in a row with about 34.5% year-to-year.

I am severe is more severe is less between 2008 2009 we were 37% between 2009, 2010 were 36% between 2010 2011 it was 20% not sure without their fight between 2011 and 2012 relaxing this year we been growing at 37%. If we maintain that growth rate for the next 10 years to regrow year-by-year at the same rate we've grown consistently now for the last 10 years and the dispatcher was higher than the average, then by 2022 the next 10 years we will do this will help 111,401 people at the summa church. Newsflash we cannot sustain that growth.

There is no auditorium. There is no there's no campuses that we can't do enough campus is a container that many people in one church. I know when I say that you got the spirit of God, no, hear me out. Hear me out you what that means. That means that means that to maintain even the same amount of growth that we've had. We need God to bring revival to other churches to because I'm telling me I got you all and hope he does. But hundred 11,001 churches is not realistic. I was on the auditorium space as possible God premier ointment right but I'm just saying that I know that for us to be able to see this kind of revival is going to gotta bring revival to other churches to not discuss see the end of the day. The prayer is not about summa church prayers about our community were asking God to revive us, for their sake not just for our sake she we got an enemy that's coming in to take her children got an enemy this coming into pollutant to transform our community for evil. I praise God for the incremental ways that we are resisting him but we need the spirit of God to raise up a standard against him and we need him to do it here. We need him to do it in other congregations around the city of Raleigh-Durham so they look back on our time. And they say the spirit of God moved, not the summa church moved the spirit of God moved, I prayed it would bless other churches, I pray that they grow. I pray that their attendance urges.

I pray that they reach people.

We need to be awakened so that the other churches and our community can be awakened to the grace of God.

So here is our prayer. This prayers 2500 years old is from the prophet Habakkuk. So let me in on it again. Oh Lord, I have heard the report of you, we heard about God, we heard that you done stuff like this in your work. Lord actually moved us to worship and the fear, but in the midst of the years revive it now revival among us and our family in the midst of our years in our ministries and archive negation of my children make no in Ralph which is what we deserve. Remember mercy. Gotta talk about it.

I want to know what a feeling someone to move it summa that's what we are.

There's a question are you a can you personally are you the person of Aiken in the Old Testament. What are your pride what is idolatry what area of hidden sin, you need to bring to the surface. Confess your forgiveness for good news is listen. Jesus died to pay for that sin is some sort of penalty does not beat you over the head with that he's going to work for redemption is going to work for restoration to purchase the forgiveness you gotta believe it and embrace it yeah but for me to confess to send my cost me my job my cost me my marriage, I would take the spirit of God as are necessary in your life. It there's nothing that should enter you nothing. Even those things that should enter you being right with him walking with him spirit of God speaking to some of you right now I would urge you to confess to embrace back at 320 Lord I heard reported you and your work Lord why fear in the midst of the years revive in the midst of the years make it known in wrath remember mercy. Would you pray this first back to God.

We have heard the report of you. We know what your work is like in the midst of our years revive it. God make it known to us. Pray for your family right now.

Pray for your ministry personally. Pray for our church pray for our community in the midst of our years God make it known in the midst of our generation make it known God in your wrath, which we deserve.

Remember mercy. Lift your voice. Continue to pray and receive embrace the glory of rain right just read about the greening experience working mercy firsthand when encouraging message from Pastor Jeannie Greer here on Senate life. If you happen to join us late or if you've missed any part of our teaching series called rushing wind you can catch up online@jdgreer.com. The message from today is titled ours for the asking Jenny's teaching series for a little while now and can you help us back away just for a minute and give us the big idea and overview for rushing wind rushing wind is series in which we take a look at the often neglected member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit right he is the one that brings to us the abundant life that that makes that makes our connection with God intimate and that shares with us his heart and his mind in the Bible tells us that, apart from the spirit. There's really nothing that we can do spiritually that that makes any difference in so for for many people it's his energy and strength in his power. That's that's what's missing in the Christian life.

Now I know of course you got a lot of Christians that focus on Holy Spirit above everything else, but a lot of others treat him more like a theory that a person is always a grown-up that you know a lot of people there. Trinity was God the father, God the son and God the holy Bible.

The Holy Spirit is especially important part of your of your life for both of these groups.

God wants to show us at the spirit filled life has more in store for you than you can imagine, but it's a spirit leading that is attached to the foundation of the word and the centrality of the gospel during the series will hop around the New Testament little bit.

So to help guide you through the teaching I've created a 20 day devotional is called rushing wind that will just go along with the teaching that will help you coming keep your roadmap and where you are in Scripture and also help you dive in just a little bit deeper I think will be a blessing to you and so I'm delighted to be able to offer.

We'd like to get this resource to you today, so be sure to get in touch ask for your copy devotional about the Holy Spirit, titled rushing when when you donate today at the suggested getting level of $25 or more.

Your gifts enable us to keep these messages on the radio and when free of charge. When filling comes across this program while scanning nation when they share a message on different all thanks to your support. Join the team, 335-5228 552 20. The rushing wind 20 day devotional online.com Thursday every join us as we continue our rushing