The Coming of the Spirit and the Birth of the Church, Part 2

Today on some enlightened pastor Jeannie Greer talks about are tuned towards church, the sense of anticipation we come here to hear God give a decently entertaining you come in here to hear some music you come here to check out what what you your full you come in here expecting to meet with a holy God of fire, whose presence is now the Holy Spirit you come and ready to give words of God to others.

See words from God, you, that sense of anticipation Bible teaching ministry pastor Jeannie. I'm your host Molly.

That's when we're picking something like a movie theater for an evening out usually consider things like which one has the company or steeds or the better snacks right were concerned about what will make it the most enjoyable experience, and there's nothing wrong with that when it comes to entertainment that can be a real problem when that attitude translates to how we think about church is what I really what's most important. That's our subject today as pastor Jeannie Greer unpacks really looks like the church where the book of acts chapter 2 of you captured by the message of the gospel. Do you assent to what I know most of you a sense of what it's the reason your ear would have you been captured by are you consumed by ravaged by that, I will try to show you for matched up to what the coming of the spirit was like it was like in the number two of the believers response was to the coming of the spirit. So what it was like when he came in and what their response to him was asked to verse one.

Now the day of Pentecost arrived at a cost. By the way, was a Jewish holiday, suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind now. To be honest, I don't think the English there translates what the authors trying to say.

Well, it really means tornado and it filled the entire house where they were sitting in divided tongues as of fire appeared to be a rested on each one of them first for there were all filled with the Holy Spirit to begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance resort is that me request about so he explain verse five now there were dwelling in Jerusalem. You see, Jews develop men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude came together, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. That's an important phrase and they were amazed and astonished they are not. These who are speaking all these different languages allow all Galileans, but others mocking said, they are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the 11, lifted up his voice and addressed the men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you give ear to my words.

These people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only the third hour debate over does not a.m. They counted from 616 but this is what was uttered to the prophet Joel in the last days, it shall be, God declares I will pour out my spirit on all flesh in your sons and your daughters shall prophesy in your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.

Peter goes on it for. Mary preaches a sermon about who Jesus is the end of the sermon people call out Peter. What should we do Peter says repent and receive Jesus as your Savior and be baptized as a sign of that and 3000 people respond by Janetta verse 42, so they devoted themselves.

They devoted themselves to you before things by the movement of that spiritless in the movement of that spirit that mighty wind manifested itself in for devotions in their lives. What I want to try to show you is that if you really embrace the gospel if you been filled us by the spirit before devotions for you. Number one they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. That's the first thing you mention, they devoured what was being taught. See Christianity taught that salvation was a gift from heaven that it came from outside of you.

That's why the wind comes from the outside now from within. The fire comes from outside of them and dwelt on top of him and then come from inside of him. So you have to get the teaching in the words of God there coming from the outside, the apostles teaching to get them inside of you there something in your heart that is wrong there something in your heart that is dead. There somebody in your heart that is dissatisfied and what you need is not changes to your circumstances.

What you need is a renewal of your heart so you have to devote yourself to be apostles teaching because that word is gotta get in your heart that is the only way that a dead heart comes alive. It's the only way that a dysfunctional heart becomes normal. It's the only way that heart but doesn't understand what God wants from, it begins to have wisdom. There's no way around this. There is no shortcut to this. If you are going to be a disciple of Christ, you are going to be a learner.

Small groups are a tool for you to learn and devote yourself to the apostles teaching because there you take the words on teaching you and you get into them and you unpack them for what care you bury them in your heart devoted the apostles teaching number two they were devoted to each other. There were devoted to each other.

Christ had given up himself or them poured out his life for them so they devoted themselves to one another. Just like Christ done and they did this get this by meeting in small groups small groups where we give ourselves to each other by the way, it's not just being in a small group like that some your legalistic thing is what you do in the small group accounts. You look around verse 44 to see the word together. Start being repeated.

Verse 44, those who believed were together for 46 I attended the temple together. They broke bread together, they prayed together. The questions I just are you in a small group just a tool which is a facilitator. The question is are you investing in people's lives and opening your life. They can invest in yours. The question is not just for you together in a big group in a diverse church. The question is are you reaching across racial and cultural barriers personally and getting to know those who are like you. This is a natural response of the gospel to the gospel for them now. I hear people say why. Click on a small group because it just I just wouldn't get that much out of it.

When you look at the way that's phrase they devoted themselves they can save themselves away please I really how much you're getting out of it before you begin to give yourself away. Here's the irony you'll start to get stuff out of it when you give yourself away like a family. My family, I don't participate. My family based on how much I'm getting out of it.

I don't like you got hey Ron, come home for family dinner, because unless I family dinner was a lame conversation. I was ready talk about some stuff but we sent out what Jake and the Neverland pirates and door and I just I just went into some of the wheat somewhere else know I devoted to my family right and so I give myself to my for vacation subtlety with this before I had to change the name of vacations in my family to family trips because when I called them vacations. I would come back ticked off at how tired I was I that was on vacation for kids in the age of 10. You not vacate anything that I told my wife this summer, as I can buy ever come home after a vacation.

Less tired and when I left. That means I need to repent, because I didn't serve my family the way that I'm supposed to.

I'm devoted to my family. Now here's the thing being a part of the families the greatest fears of my life and I get more out of it than anything else, but it's not because I put my family like a McDonald's where I'm like hey I gotta take what I need from this of you not given me my way that I will go to Burger King check flight no you go, not a fast food restaurant you go to give yourself away when you give yourself away. That's when you become like Jesus. And that's when you start getting something out of the crystallized do you quit being consumers use our being disciples is a huge difference. It's an assembly that we had to get notes from people who like I like the church, but I love your sermons so I just listen your sermon podcast and I discuss it with two or three buddies.

That's not a church and I know you listen to me right now. Normally I'm talking to the church and you're listening now talking to you, you're not in church not you go to devote yourself to a body of people and that means you get all the messiness was that this is a strong statement about the maker but because I'll come hear me play around under that, according to acts two. You cannot be a true disciple of Jesus and be disconnected from the church, you can't devote yourself to each other. If you're not even committed enough to be a part of the body of people.

Or how about this when people say why love Jesus. I was like the church newsflash, you can't love Jesus and his bride Doug liturgical have credits. There's room for one more want to come join up with us. Hi there, we got a problem for the bride of Christ, and he died for us and he sticks up for his bride. You cannot love Jesus and hate his bride. If you can follow Jesus are to be committed to the church you like what you saying that Christians you are you saying that they're not Christians who are not in churches.

Are you saying that nothing, not exactly right. But there are humans without homes we call them homeless and resort ministries for them because is not healthy, Christians or churches or homeless Christians and is not healthy. So yes resort ministries to bring you in and were not content to leave you homeless because Jesus said if you love me love my bride to be devoted to each other. Number three. There were devoted to God's presence to verse 42, or says they were devoted to the breaking of bread as much as I would like to read that as they were devoted to eating. That's not exactly what it means breaking of bread was a way to talk about communion with the Lord's table.

Jesus had promised to be present at the Lord's table in a very special way is always present, worship, of course, but in the Lord's table for scripting 1610 says he is present in an unusually powerful way.

When you combine that with this sense that every believer had that they were filled with the spirit of God when they came to church. They expected to be in God's presence, Paul explained in first Corinthians that the early Christians came to worship service prayed up filled with the spirit of God, ready to hear words from God and ready to give words of God to others. They came to me with God. Question when you come to church when you come to your small group what you come expecting you expect in any way God you come in the sense of anticipation you come here to hear guy give a decently entertaining religious peptalk you come in here to hear some music you come in here to check out what what you hear for you coming here expecting to me with a holy God of fire, whose presence is now the Holy Spirit are you coming ready to give words of God to others and receive words from God, you, that sense of anticipation, we give you a few signs that you might not be expecting to meet with God that I'm not judging you really I'm not saying he's always mean that you're not expecting to be with God but if these things are true.

If you think it's at least worth you asking the question okay, like leaving early. I realize wife happens but I just know that for a lot of people to really show up late is because you and I will expect anything and I expect to meet we got here. Why think that we save her head down there real close like six that you stand out and have the door. What does that say about your sense of meeting with W respond to what you heard. By giving the presence of God, yet is your house on fire. You can text message about it all by but a lot of just curious as to what that tells me about the sense of what you expect when you come here one not bring a Bible nothing today notes with little look around. I realize that listen to friend him every time I say this. He sent me an angry email is the one that went to look at you and to another. My lap, okay, fine. There may be a few that are an exception to this, but I'd say for a lot of you to just indicate if you don't come with early 50 minutes.

I must have an open door to God you there's nothing they got José beautiful to remember and write down that is a nondrug week.

Nothing nothing when your boss meets with you. You probably bring a pad and a pen and you write down what he says or she says I'm not judging you. I'm just saying what is that indicate when you don't even bring a copy of the word of God to see if what I'm saying.

Coming out of there and you will bring a pen to write down the spirit. I might be saying to you for just miming. You're not expecting really meet with God when you come to church, one more decision. My having to gossip standing in the midst of forcible coffee cup in her hand, but there's a lot of things people do in the presence of God in the Bible stand with a coffee cup in her hand aboard look on their face is never one of them and I don't want to just turn this into a thing.

Your posture and you start acting on to say that your posture indicates some of you have no anticipation of meeting with the holy spirit of God, and they were devoted to its they were addicted to it. They were obsessed by it all came upon every soul on his for 43 all means this crushing weight is what defines defines our church a crushing weight of God's glory. You know I'm really preaching his own people yelling at me, that's great, is a before looking up to know my God without looking within saying I can't believe that God loves me this way or can't I see the sin of my heart is that sense of all what defines our church is that sense of all what defines your small group you come ready for that with anticipation prayed up ready to hear the word of God and ready to speak it to others. Member for prayer.

There were devoted to prayer. They seem to feel intimately.

Their dependence on God so afraid all the time all the time now because they were told their terms on this is natural that they felt the crushing weight of what got a call them to Jesus. Member this I give them the largest assignment and he left the pool did nothing but wait until the Holy Spirit came 10 days helmet waited to count the number between when you send of the 40th day of Pentecost the 50th day for 10 days. They prayed for 10 days and waited. After the parade Peter stood up to preach if you read a sermon takes about 10 minutes and pray for 10 days Biddeford for 10 minutes and 3000 people got saved.

Now we pray for 10 minutes. I preach for 10 days and three people to save Glover zeros in the wrong place when Alaskans were too good at what we do, not really, but we think we are. We have the sense that we can as it is not the sense of desperation. They haven't God. You gotta move. And if you don't move, it's all worthless people that feel a sense of inability naturally pray without needing to be told prayerless. This is always a sign that you've lost touch without the pain that you are on the fullness of the Spirit to do what you need to do. The problem is not that you be more self discipline. The pray note.

The problem is that you need more of a sense of how desperate you are on God to do things through you and that you understand that apart for him.

You can do anything.

When you crave the power the Holy Spirit when you know how desperately dependent you are as a parent as a spouse. As someone was witnessing. We know that as a church we will need to be commanded a break will do it instinctively and all who believed were together, that all things in common are all selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds all, as any had need. Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved to verse 40 73,000 people say to Peter for some of it now.

Day by day in the community. People are being saved there being say watch this is the church devotes themselves to these four things because it watch it is the church's devotion to these four things that demonstrates watch the power of the gospel and the reality of the spirit that is within the spirit of God is invisible is not the kingdom of Jesus is invisible. Something about these people that showed you the reality of the spirit that was within the that phrase in their glad and generous hearts. We see that glad and generous hearts. It meant that no matter where they were what they were doing. It was a sense of they had joy. Paul goes to prison with Paul doing prison.

He sings Peter Visser prison what to do. He sleeps singing major happy slick the major content they were content and they were happy after their backs have been ripped open with a whip and there in pain and they're in jail and their singing and their content and appointed people to the reality of a spirit and a treasure that nobody else could see, but nobody doubted because they sought a map and then people said first Peter 315 tell me about the hope that is within you. Because I see it's this week I assess how my dad and aunt reflected on member something on this.

I was talking with him because somebody told me outside by the second. But I remember the hell as a child.

Now is your typical you know mischievous kid in and do bad things in the cataclysmic in a cruel and skeptical doubted a lot of stuff to reflect on the fact that I never doubted the existence of God and why this week and that's because from the earliest memories I have as a kid, I remember getting up at 530 or six in the morning if I ever got a federally executive, that he be on his knees with his Bible open point out the needs of my family to God asking God for strength and I saw a dad who communed with the God that I could not see, and so they got answer prayerless all that God is the source of the strength of what my dad was a godless man that I've ever known. I never doubted the reality of the invisible God, because I saw the shape of him left and how my father was devoted to certain things this week. My dad told me this conversation and he's retired now and this is the thing I hate most about our new income is were not able to give away nearly as much as we used to say we still tied the course on the Social Security and the pens we still Tylenol that this is a match into a bit more than the type is my favorite thing when I had that source of income was just being able to give away stuff to the kingdom of God. I'm sitting here looking at him and thinking he's doing it again. He is painting for me unintentionally, a kingdom that I cannot see he's showing me that I wish that I could invest more in this kingdom because this is not that important to me, but that when this never doubted the reality of the invisible things because of seeing the shape of them and my father what your kids seen about the invisible God from your life. I know Jamal tells him what is your generosity. Tell them about the reality of the kingdom of God see this they see that a lot more than you realize that it they see what is real and what's fiction to you, not publicans, are you mountable you do when your kids see about your relationship with God under you bring in the church were they see you struggling with God communing with God depending on God, pray to God that they see him as the source of your strength. Have you given yourself to these four things if not again somehow to study. Maybe it's because you don't really believe the message. Remember been filled by the spirit of people who believe the message of Phobos.

It is naturally they believe God came from heaven to save them so they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to get the word in their heart they didn't like their lives depended on it because they knew they did. If you believe that your heart is what God says it is that it's messed up. If you believe in the world you live in is messed up like you like you like he says it does in your to make sure that when you're in college when your high school the rest your life pump and the water got into you. You could never hope to have a good home a good marriage, successful life. Never hope to please God.

Unless will I cut you. You believe God's word. The question is what should you believe in you come to church expecting to meet with God because you believe the fire of his presence dwells in his people and you can't wait to hear from your gracious Savior. Are you devoted to the gospel. If you're devoted to the gospel until the spirit will do all 46 devoted to the gospel to see the commitment issue observation issue. All of you listening all of your all devoted to some or all devoted to something. Are you devoted if you're devoted to the gospel show itself for the degree to which you need to act how words from Pastor Janie Greer here on Senate life.

If you missed any part of the message today, you can begin free of charge or study to complete an edited transcript Janie Greer.com now. Pastor Janie in her new teaching series sent we are looking at the book of acts and the birth of the church. In the event that kick started all of that was cost when the Holy Spirit came and still the disciples in Molly.

I can say that of all the sermon series that I've done I think the studies of the book of acts might've been the most personally fulfilling what you see in acts is that acts are supposed to be the continuation of Jesus ministry right on the key verses. Acts 11 tells you that there was a previous book that Luke is the author of acts that he wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach began means that we started in Luke is to continue in acts but now through his spirit as he walks to the church and so just like Jesus empowered his apostles when he was here on earth to do miracles. And just like Jesus was, was the power of God at work in the world. That's what happens now is when it comes to fighting sin in our lives when it comes to sharing the gospel when it comes to raising children when it comes to overcoming addictions.

It is the spirit of God in the spirit of God alone the gives us strength to do that. Jesus said jump at the bottom. Apart from me you can do anything and that the me in that sentence that that you that whose power you depend on.

We experience that to the Holy Spirit.

My prayer is that this series into the workbook that we created to accompany this help take you deeper into these truths to be encouraged to be encouraged to tap into the Spirit's power, both for your life and the ways in which God wants to use you in the last year there's only so much that we can get into any half-hour programs so to help you gain a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit's role in your life left to get you a copy of this new resource that we created.

Since the book of acts, volume 1, the personal Bible study can commentary study questions and topics for personal reflection is great for your daily cell after your copy when you donate today. The suggested level of $25 title again if volume will be available this summer when he returns 566-5224 gave online clear that I Molly then events certain listening into a very special method Senate life